Juxtaposition

I am amazed by the juxtaposition in the students here at RVA.  On the one hand, the elementary students are some of the most well behaved students I have ever taught.  I have never seen so many students sit quietly for so long.  Usually, music is the class where they are wiggly and chatty because they have been sitting for so long in the rest of their classes, but these students just sit and listen. Pray for me as I find ways to reward this good behavior, while still teaching the material they need to learn.  

Then there are the high schoolers.  It's been a while since I've taught teenagers, but I have heard that their attitudes have changed from what we were like back in high school.  Somewhere along the line the philosophy that "the teacher isn't right" developed in the minds of society.  This mindset gives the students the right to question the teacher.  Now, I'm not saying that the teacher is always right, because we are human and can get it wrong, but I think that one of the sad things about students thinking they are right over the teacher, and taking it upon themselves to tell the teacher how it should be done, is that they are too young to also realize there is a right way to get what you want and there is a wrong way.  It's easy to assert yourself and say, "I don't like this, it's 'dumb' and we want to do something else," but the reality is, that doesn't make the person who has been working hard for you want to change.  The current "teacher's aren't right" philosophy leads towards an attitude of ungratefulness.  

I saw this in the high schoolers at RVA when I came to visit in May and knew I would need prayer to show love even when I don't get it from the students.  I am hitting this need hard.  Please join me in praying for the Holy Spirit to direct me.