The Cycle

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

“To work, to try, to learn
Is not a simple thing.
My teacher, though, thinks learning
Comes on swift, effortless wings.

“I’m sure she never struggled
To get words to come out right.
Or understand their meanings;
Recognize them all on sight.

“She’s prejudiced against me;
Doesn’t like me above half;
Just wants to cause me trouble;
Wishes I weren’t in her class.”

“I know how Peter struggles.
I’ve heard him heave the sighs.
I’ve seen his eyes drift out to rest
On azure-colored skies.

“He thinks I’m hard and unfair
When his homework’s never done;
When I make him keep re-taking tests
Instead of having fun.

“He doesn’t know I struggled once –
Knew the failure and the shame.
Has no idea the reason I teach
Is to save him from the same.”

 

6 thoughts on “The Cycle”

  2. I can relate to this with my daughter at this moment, and no matter what we say…??
    Well written Sandra, like it. 😉

    Reply

    1. Thank you, Gerry. I didn’t personally have a struggle in school, but as a teacher for most of my life, I have had so many students for whom studying and learning was a major hardship. I am so grateful to the Lord
      that many times He showed me specific things to do to help a lot of those students, and I saw their lives turn around. The main point is that every good teacher really does understand and truly wants to take away the pain and find some easy pathways for all of those who struggle. If we can get the students to TRUST that truth, we can almost always help them.

      Reply

    1. I never had to struggle in school personally, and I have always been so grateful to the Lord for that, but as a teacher, the Lord allowed me to see and feel what so many of my struggling students were seeing and feeling. It was His Spirit and His grace that caused me to work so hard to help them. And it was His Word that showed me what to do. When you apply the truths of God’s Word to any situation and any life, it works.

      I remember having an entire 8th-grade class (all boys except two) who were problem students. When I went on staff at that school, all the rest of the faculty told me they were “hopeless.” A few of the boys were doing all right, but most of them were failing miserably and causing trouble at school all the time. It seemed that everyone had given up on them, and the labels were going to stick for the rest of their lives.

      But the Lord gave me a love for those boys and showed me how to apply super-strict discipline — with significant and obvious love and respect for them — and get them turned around. He also showed me how to get their families involved with daily prayer with each boy for a miracle in their lives. He gave me a plan for giving them extra tutorial help, and after they had been with me a few months, their grades took a decided upswing, and their attitudes did as well. By the time they were 3/4 of the way through the year, they were all making A’s and B’s, and they were not causing any more trouble. After that, they were on the honor roll for the rest of their school careers — all the way through high school.

      The Word of God works when we work it.

      Reply

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