The Moment

I’ve been observing Grayce Seelig’s 11^th grade chemistry class for about six weeks now. Her students are so great and always asking questions. However, chemistry is a tough topic, and it does not come as easily to everyone. Grayce does a great job of making it easy to understand and as fun as possible. This week her kids were learning how to name different compounds. She warned her class that although the rules sounded easy, it was harder than it seemed. I don’t think everyone believed her at first, until they started doing their worksheets. 

I was walking around assisting students as much as I could, when one student stopped me to ask for help. He normally does not work on his class worksheets, so I was surprised to see he had started. He asked me to help him match the names of the compound, and I asked him a few questions to get him to realize the answer on his own. He found the right answer, and continued on to the rest of the questions. I was going to go help another student, but he tried to get me to stay. I told him, “You got this. You don’t need my help.” His eyes light up, and he turned to Grayce as she was walking towards us and he said, “Ms. Seelig, I got this.” Seeing the moment when a student begins to understand a concept is awesome. We've talked a lot about the different teaching styles, but we have yet to mention how rewarding it is to see your students learning. This week I got to witness it, and I can see how moments like these inspire teachers.


- Kristi Webster