We are all made of Stars

Grading work kids have done ain't no easy job. It never really occurred to me what an impact a teacher have on children before the past weekend when i spent hours trying to figure what would and what would not be fair to give my class in terms of grades.

In all its efficiency the school system doesn't quite cater to the ones it really should. It doesn't even do it to the mediocre and most average of students. Its like a dilemma, except all the answers are equally wrong. How can you nurture the excellent minds of the children who are years ahead of their classmates, how do you save them from boredom, or even worse, taking to the habit of laziness and underachieving? How do you give hours and hours of patience to the children who just don't understand, cant write properly with a pen or wont talk? And how, in between all this can you give the time and the effort as well as the help to the ones who just plow trough every day with hard work? They too do need it.

I do try to think that since i lack an education on the subject that perhaps the ones who possess one are better in this environment. I also try to see as my main role to be more of a guide or a leader on the path that these youngsters are on, if only for a short while. Yet, when i have to start systematically grading the children on the basis of how well they do in different fields, forgetting all about their great personalities, their strengths that lie outside those numbers and letters, i feel a bit unfair.

Now don't get me wrong. Grades are great. Nothing is so much fun as seeing some sort of solid proof of the work you have done, this applies to children especially. However, its a pity so much is so centered on the grades themselves instead of the things that really matter. The fact, who we are.

An artistic impression of me, i think