A present from students

I bet you teachers have a box at home or a designated corner at your desk to display presents you receive from students. I used to dedicate a wall to put up cards and pictures I got from my little friends. I still have a card from a little girl whom I taught in my first year of teaching--a picture of a woman wearing a crown and a girl rope-jumping with the huge colorful writing that says "Ms. Wulansari and Skye." :)

Well, having moved around so much, I couldn't always bring those treasures with me. When I was packing my stuff to bring to the States, I seriously wish I could compress the gifts in one of those vacuum traveled plastic bags :p

Due to the stupid immigration law of the States, I am not allowed to work. So here I am, school-less since I moved to Pittsburgh. I was pretty upset at the beginning, but I got over it as soon as I discovered different opportunities where I don't have to be student-less.

Since several weeks ago, I started tutoring at a night adult class where adults learn math, english and some other subjects to get their high school diploma. This organization that I work for is open to any adult who is interested in pursuing further education. They come at night to do self-study on topics that they have to work on for that week and a tutor is there to help--that's me! Some people come everyday, while others show up depending on their work schedule and family stuff. So far, I really enjoy this particular tutoring experience because I am required to know "everything"--one minute I might be studying fraction with a student, the next minute I would be helping a student with her reading comprehension, and at the end of the class time, I would end up with a student trying to polish her creative writing piece.

Ok back to the present topic...


Last night I got one of the most unforgettable presents from my students: A lady who is probably 50 years old has been working on multiplication for several days. Boy, she must have the biggest determination I have ever seen in a student! Whenever she's done with the problem sets I gave her, she needs to see me and ask me to double check her answers. Even after 50-something questions, she continued to get confused with "a number x zero is zero VS. a number + a zero is the number itself" problems (ok math is confusing!). So I asked her to go over the problems again and again, until at one point last night:
Regina: Tia, I'm done!
Tia: Go over your work again. You want to avoid those careless mistakes.
Regina: I did, twice!
Tia: OK, let me see... (As I'm checking over her work, I asked) Now what happened if you make a mistake this time?
Regina: I AM JUST GOING TO DO IT AGAIN UNTIL I GET THEM RIGHT! (with a big smile on her directly looking at me...).
Oh dear, at that point, I wanted to cry and hug her... She gave me the best answer that I could ever ask from a student!

On my way back from tutoring, I realized something--the best gifts from my students are more than just the pop-up cards, pictures, home-made cookies, or a mug that says "thank you for being my teacher." My students gave me the best presents when they show me their high motivation to study hard and strong willingness to do better each time BECAUSE they inspire me to be a better teacher for them...

So teachers, when things aren't looking so good coz God-knows-how-many-things-you-have-to-do-NOW, think of your students and cherish again those precious moments you shared with them that will bring you back to the point where you decide WHY YOU BECAME A TEACHER IN THE FIRST PLACE...

teachers, have a wonderful day with your students! :)