Teaching Triumphs

I had Saturday School today for a few students who needed extra help on certain assignments in class. It was a nice day because there were only 5-6 students there, plus it was sunny outside, which is so rare these past few weeks as to be an instant mood lifter. I had one mom come with her daughter to check in on her progress in my class and give some focus during the extra work time. Late in the morning, when it was just the three of us, I heard my student start telling her mom about the unit we've been studying. I have a poster of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton on the wall, and my student was telling her who they were and what they did. And then she started telling her all about the unit -- on the abolition, suffrage, and temperance movements. She clearly didn't understand everything we'd studied (which came through on her test, too), but she had taken away a lot and was able to teach her mom something new. Her mom listened carefully, asked questions, and even borrowed the movie we watched in class (Iron-Jawed Angels, an HBO film about the NWP and the end of the suffrage movement). While my students worked, her mom studied for her biology course. She's an LPN who wants to become a surgical technician, so she's going to back to school and has to retake some science classes. Some days -- some very few days -- I'm reminded that, if we all work together, they can learn.