Thank you PLN, I could never figure out how much support I could get. Yes, the power of love when we are part of a community.


Reflecting upon things that go well in the classroom is always rewarding, but what happens when suddenly everything goes unexpectedly wrong?


I would like to thank all my community and especially my good friend Chuck Sandy, Master Chuck, as some members fairly call him, Cory Koby, and Shelly Terrell.


Last week was difficult for many reasons; the bills, the family, the work. I didn’t feel good, so much so that on Tuesday I took the decision to cancel my Wednesday morning class. Why? Well, as I teach one to one, there’s lots of love in the classroom and with time, we become friends with some students. I have always tried to be careful about being in the classroom and being friends, but this time I just couldn’t take it any more and suddenly it all went wrong.


I had arranged to have an extra class on Friday with my student, as I had not been able to teach on Wednesday and she agreed.


On Thursday I emailed her to confirm she could make it and she answered “Yes”.


So Friday morning I waited for her at 9 and she didn’t turn up on time, but called me at 9:20 and said she was in the Court but that she would try to get to the class in 10 minutes. Maybe, because I over protect my students, instead of saying a straight “OK”, I asked her if she thought she was going to be able to make it as she had to go back downtown at 10:30. She said,”Well, you tell me if you want me to go”, “Of course honey, I am waiting for you”.
And she called me once again at 9:45, “I can’t find a place to park”, “Don’t worry, I will open my garage, and you can park your car inside”, “No, I’ll try to find a place, I’ll call you back in a couple of minutes”. Two or three seconds later she said she was downstairs at the door and there I went to welcome her. She was in a bad mood, this was very obvious, but I must say that I had been having this strange feeling of her being a little aggressive lately, we headed to the classroom, I offered her some coffee, which she thanked and then she told me something which sounded bad to me, actually unfair, as I always try to be warm with her and every one in my class, I held my breath, and took the decision to speak my mind. 


She didn’t agree with me, and I said that it was OK, that I respected her viewpoint and that learning to disagree is important, and I invited her to go on and share our class, but unexpectedly she took all her stuff and said “I’m leaving, I don’t want to take the class”. 


I tried to support her but it just didn’t work, she wanted to leave. This is the first time something like this happens in my class.


When we were going downstairs I told her I would be waiting for her on Monday (today) at 9, she answered she didn’t know if she would come.


After this event, I started reflecting and thinking if I had been right to ask her to stop telling me such aggressive comments, some friends told me I could not allow people to tell me such things, and I think this is right; but I was sure the answer was inside of me. I had to work this out my way.


I took the weekend to read and study, and I found the answer to my dilemma after reading and sharing with my good friend Chuck, and Shelly, and a new friend Cory.


I am now totally aware of the impact of a community, I was not even close to its real value, until this episode. 


I filled my heart with love, and today at 9, my student came. I smiled at her and said “Good morning, wonderful day Mary”, “Hi Debbie, wonderful day today” and we headed to our classroom, shared a cup of coffee and enjoyed our class.


I am so thankful for all the support and so relieved I have not lost a friend, I have not lost a student and I was able to express feelings.

This is Cory’s contribution:

        
And I can’t upload Chuck’s contribution. But I’m sure that if you are still reading this, you know why and understand.


Debbie