Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Matt. 10:40
Last year, at a parent-teacher conference for one of my boys, the teacher was slamming my son. The more she complained about his messy work and work space, the more I realized she just did not understand or accept how adolescent boys are.
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Shifting My Perspective 
Claire, in your sharing here, you took me back to my teaching days when I taught five classes of adolescent boys some years, and others years, both freshmen and junior classes. In that particular high school where I taught for 19 years, we were fortunate to participate in regular teacher workshop days where professional educators and psychologists would present enlightening and helpful information and strategies for meeting and totally understanding each student’s unique method of learning and organization in general. One such workshop focused on a scientific book entitled, Right side, Left side, referring to the brain, and how we each fall into one or the other of the two types. Now as much as I reject any labels or categories of humans, and being one of those teachers you mentioned who truly loved every student in my classes, I appreciated learning about right-sided students, who being creative, talented and imaginative, are often seemingly messy and seemingly unorganized, even in their school lockers, but just as intelligent, motivated and
dedicated in their pursuit of education as left sided, organized, systematic student types. Yes, each so called brain type needs to and can become more balanced in their approach to learning etc. but these characteristics do not define the character, essence and Gift every child is, and I was saddened to think that a teacher would
show no acceptance of what you, the mom who knows your son best, was telling her, and most of all that the teacher would be so narrow in her critique. In my books, that teacher should look for another profession!
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Oh, Jackie! I wish I called you on the night of this Parent-Teacher Conference to get your wisdom and insight then! However, it’s just as valuable to me now. You so beautifully captured how gifted we all can be in our own unique ways, while still falling into certain categories. It seems to me, you should be the one now giving those workshops. You could benefit so many teachers, and in turn, the students and parents. Oh how I wish I could enroll my son’s teacher in your class!
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