A CONVENIENCE IN ROOM 2

Perhaps I should think of myself as a “convenience” for my students, something that assists them in building a relatively competent and satisfying academic life for themselves. Just as a laptop computer is seen as a convenience for the traveling executive, making her or him a more effective and efficient manager of the company’s affairs, I might consider myself an aid or a tool for my students to utilize as they pursue their studies. Don’t we surround ourselves with conveniences, and aren’t some of these conveniences exceedingly important to us? If I want to read at night, I have lamps conveniently ready to glow and give good light for my eyes. If I want a drink of water, I have the convenience of the faucet and its trustworthy flow. Conveniences make it easier for us to do essential tasks, and isn’t that what a teacher does? The students want to learn – need to learn -- and Mr. Salsich is there to make the task easier, more convenient, for them. Similar to a stapler or a pencil sharpener or a laptop, I’m ready to assist the young people as they climb the trails of appreciation and understanding. The word “convenience” derives from the Latin word meaning “to come together”, and I guess what I’m doing as an English teacher is helping my students come together in the classroom to learn, helping their talents come together to write truthfully and read wisely, and helping their faith and trust in themselves come together inside them so they can smile in my class, and perhaps in their lives, a little more often.