Day 2: My Saving Grace

Let me tell you about some of the best people in the world...

Durfee. Magnet. School. 

While I was at Illinois State, I did a 3 week clinical observation with Karen Walker's 5th grade class at Durfee.  Durfee is in Decatur, Illinois, about 50 minutes south of Bloomington/Normal.  I'll be totally honest when I tell you my first thoughts of a "3 week clinical."  I was living a cushioned, senior-in-college lifestyle with class Monday-Thursday, getting done by noon everyday.  I enjoyed naps, sleeping in on Fridays, and three day weekends.  I dreaded the thought of ever waking up pre-6 AM.  That was, of course, until I met my class.  I still remember my first day at Durfee.  My carpool of classmates decided it would be a good idea to arrive roughly 7 hours before school started.  I remeber sitting outside of the office reading some newsletter until the sun rose.  As soon as I met Mrs. Walker and her students, I felt right at home. They made me look forward to "pre 6 AM" everyday.  If I could, I think I would just commute the 17 hours from San Antonio each day. 

Simply put, Durfee was great.  It was a great place to learn about real teaching.  It wasn't a college classroom, hearing about someone else's experience of teaching. It was real.  I learned from my students as much as they learned from me.  We did awesome things like learn about space, the Star Spangled Banner, and our favorite: read There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom. They are a group of kids I will never forget. 

Since leaving Durfee, I've kept in contact with Mrs. Walker's class.  I e-mail them pretty regularly and they send me letters in the mail.  Their letters always seem to arrive on days in which I have left my new school feeling unmotivated and frustrated.  Nothing is more refreshing and uplifting than to read their letters and hear about things happening in their lives.  They are a bright group of kids with big hearts.  They, too, are the type of people this blog is meant to find. 

So, here's where things get really great.  Today I arrived home from one of those frustrating days of school I spoke of earlier.  I stopped at my mailbox to see if I had any mail.  Today I did. Again, in case you were wondering.  I had a note saying there was package for me waiting in the apartment office.  I was surprised to see such a big box.  My parents are the only people who send me packages and I knew that they were not planning on sending one anytime soon.  I saw the return address of Decatur and I was immediately excited.  After removing several rolls of packing tape from the box, I was finally able to open the lid.  What I saw left me speechless. 

Packed to the very top, was a box full of snacks, gum, and treats I absolutely love.  I'm not even being polite when I say I will eat absolutely everything that came in this box.  For packing purposes, the box was also jam packed with grocery bags.  Little do they know, I use grocery bags as a daily lunch box and was running low on my supply.  They really know how to make a guy happy.  Even included in the box was my personal favorite...

To say this box of goodies made my day would be a grave understatement.  And they weren't done there.  (If you're reading this, kids, never start sentences with 'and').  Also included in the box was some serious Durfee gear including pencils for my new class, a smencil (which I'm totally keeping for myself), a Durfee pen and post-its,  a book on how to be an effective teacher (hint? I think so), and some letters from everyone. 

The fun continues... During the clinical, I became well acquainted with-- as Mrs. Younger called them--'copy machines.'  They are an ingenious technology some scientists must have invented.  Mrs. Walker would occasionally send me to make basic copies of things.  After 30 minutes of self-failure and a trip to see Mrs. Younger, the copies were returned.  (I always lied and said there was a line for the machines.)  In the box, Mrs. Younger sent a copy-friendly sorting packet of post-its and other goodies.  They will undoubtably be put to good use. 

In conclusion, I didn't exactly meet any new people today, but I was reminded of all the great people I have met. Besides teaching me things like using a copy machine, the faculty and students of Durfee taught me a very important lesson: teaching is what I want to do someday, and it is always worth waking up early in the morning for. 

So to everyone at Durfee, I thank you.  For the life lessons, the Swiss Cake Rolls, and many, many, many other things.