The last two days I've had wonderful successes in my turma. I've walked in, started to give a lesson on a difficult concept, gotten stuck to where I've tried to explain it 5 different ways without the students understanding, then magically with only a few minutes left I find a way that makes sense and I see faces light up. That is the most wonderful feeling in the world - and the students love it, too.
One student, after I successfully (and finally) explained the "independent separation of characters" in Mendel's 3rd law, stood up and asked me - completely different than the plants I was talking about - if his leg comes from his father and his head from his mom. I screamed "Yes!", knowing full well that it's not like that in reality but that he applied the concept I was teaching about plants to a concrete example. He and the rest of the class lit up, as he held out his hand for me to shake it.
The class cheered as I did. Lessons like that make you feel like you're really making a difference. Then I went over to a student's home later to eat dinner and I started to really feel how much of a difference I'm making...conversation is a real good barometer.
Peace
John
