Best E-mail of the Year

Last Wednesday, a fellow teacher and I were attached to an e-mail that a student's mother sent to our principal. It's easy to get down about teaching because 99% of the time, it's a thankless job. It's easy to get so frustrated that you wonder why you ever signed up for this torture in the first place. I had been feeling both of those emotions when I read the e-mail and it completely changed my outlook on things and made me realize that I'm doing this for a reason.

"Mrs. Brown -

"I want to pass along compliments to Mr. Trent Lowe and Miss Emily Misconish. I wish EVERY teacher could be as encouraging and excited about teaching as they are. They are in constant communication with parents and an obvious caring for their students. It is clear they want their students to learn and enjoy the process.

"Miss Misconish is always eager to help her students with tutoring or is available by email or text if my daughter has a homework question. M's understanding of math has improved by leaps and bounds this year.

"Mr. Lowe finds new and unique teaching methods to keep his students engaged. M never fails to come home and tell me something she learned in his class. Mr. Lowe encourages her to write and to read quality books instead of some of the frivolous books teenagers read these days.

"I am so thrilled M was able to experience each of these teachers' passion for teaching as that is the career path she has chosen. I am just sad that her year with them is almost over.

"Thanks for listening,

"A.G., M's mother."

Usually I don't like to toot my own horn, but this made me too happy to pass up. Way to be Ms. Conish, I mean Ms. Misonthis, I mean Ms. Macintosh, I mean....

Pee in a cup?

Thursday, there were a bunch of kids fooling around in front of the school before the morning bell rang, which prompted the assistant principal to ship everyone into the auditorium for a "Come to Jesus" morning assembly that had been brewing for awhile. The weather's getting warmer, which means kids will begin to get Spring Fever and start acting up, so the assembly came at an opportune time. While the classes were waiting to be called to the auditorium, one of my honors students asks, sarcastically -

"Mr. Lowe, are we all getting drug-tested?"

I answer, "Yep, they're gonna line up all 1,100 students and have you pee in a cup."

In the back of the room, one of my funnier female students made a joke but she didn't know I could hear. She turned to her friend and said -

"I sure hope we have to pee in a cup."

Friend: "Why?! That's disgusting!"

Student: "Because I LOVE peeing in cups. It's probably one of my most favorite things behind playing in traffic!"

Well-played, DD.

Needless to say, we didn't have to pee in any cups.