Enlightenment

Yesterday, when I was teaching a class at a high school, I had a student ask me if I was related to a Jennifer.  I replied that I was, thinking that she was referring to my cousin.  I asked how she knew her, and she replied that she had her as a French teacher.  It was then that I knew that she was referring to my sister-in-law Jenn.

Over the next 70 minutes, as I taught that class, I gained a new respect for my poor, poor sister-in-law and her efforts to educate children such as this one.  She was...difficult, to say the least.  Disrespectful, loud, unfocused, loud, and a bit on the noisy side.  

I imagined myself in a classroom full of children like this, all a bit younger (the junior high level like Jenn teaches), and I felt a new admiration for all the years my sister-in-law has taught these children and not whacked one of them.