Feeling sad

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triumphguy

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I should, and I do, know better:

I’ve just finished this semester teaching religion to grade 11s (in a Catholic Highschool).

I am happy about a couple of things - I read an entire Gospel to the kids passage by passage throughout the semester, and had the kids write a reflection on it each day.

I believe that I was able to reach some kids throughout the semester, and in particular the more marginal kids.

We prayed at the beginning of each class, and the kids learned both the Benedictus and the Magnificat.

Yet, in a final reflection on the course only one or two expressed any kind of belief in Christ as the son of God.

None felt they had a relationship with Him.

Many felt/believed that the teachings of the Church are on par with any other “opinion” out there,

I feel a bit gutted right now, and like I have failed…

(Totally self absorbed of me I know, and very unrealistic - yet that’s how I feel).
 
It is extremely hard to be a teacher under any circumstances. Yours are particularly difficult–how supportive of the Church are the parents at home? How much secularism are the students getting compared to the amount of time they spend with you?

Even saints who have raised their own children have had children who fell away…

But the main thing, imo, is to plant a seed. I taught CCD briefly and was kind of a failure at it, but I do hope that what I did teach would, even if not absorbed at the time, would be like little seeds. Maybe in a few years some atheist will say something to one of them and they will think of something I said and it will click.

From your user name, I assume you are male, but I myself am not, despite my username, so I hope you will not take this amiss if you are not: the words and example of men make more of an impression on young people. Studies show that if dad goes to Mass, there is almost double the chance his children will (I think 75 to 34). I think its great you have 11th graders to teach!

Pray for your students, and remember where they are.
 
triumphguy said:
I should, and I do, know better:

I’ve just finished this semester teaching religion to grade 11s (in a Catholic Highschool).

I am happy about a couple of things - I read an entire Gospel to the kids passage by passage throughout the semester, and had the kids write a reflection on it each day.

I believe that I was able to reach some kids throughout the semester, and in particular the more marginal kids.

We prayed at the beginning of each class, and the kids learned both the Benedictus and the Magnificat.

Yet, in a final reflection on the course only one or two expressed any kind of belief in Christ as the son of God.

None felt they had a relationship with Him.

Many felt/believed that the teachings of the Church are on par with any other “opinion” out there,

I feel a bit gutted right now, and like I have failed…

(Totally self absorbed of me I know, and very unrealistic - yet that’s how I feel).
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I think all teachers go through what Catholics call the dark night of the soul. We wonder whether we have made any impact at all on our students. As a psychology professor, I have these thoughts as well. Even with respect to my best students, I often ask myself whether I have really inspired them or whether they are just concerned about grades. This is a normal feeling; but, I can assure you, you have planted an inspirational seed in more students than you, or they, realize at the moment.
 
well you said you felt like you reached some kids, that you managed to reach any is an accomplishment, and even if you only reached one child in the class it is still an accomplishment and worth the time and effort. We were all children an teens at some point in time, how many of us can really say we understood or cared about a relationship with Christ ? It is deff planting the seeds at this point in young peoples lives. I have just begun my second i guess semester teaching a very small 8th grade CCD ( 3 children ) absolutely no training on teaching I was basically recruited and given a book to work from and I am doing the best i can and am lucky to have receptive children, so I am learning how to teach as they are learning more about what it means to have a relationship and faith in Christ/ God… Adults and teachers in general have their backs up against a wall trying to teach children and teens anything as they are distracted by everything that glitters and are being misguided by society at the same time.

Then think about how many poor to just flat out bad teachers in general there are out there teaching children and teens, who may have started out caring and just don’t any more. An they are hopefully not teaching any kind of religious ed class.

Chances are you did the best you could, and you probably do care a lot or else you wouldnt even bother being upset to begin with. The only thing you can probably do is to be receptive to what the children are telling you… and to learn from it so you can adjust the material or the way you present it for the next class.
 
It sounds to me like they are victims of a “Public” education, which
placed these ideas in their heads. I wouldn’t be afraid to ask them
what they have been taught in school about religion.
Things have changed so much. You gotta take the gloves off.
 
triumphguy said:
I should, and I do, know better:

I’ve just finished this semester teaching religion to grade 11s (in a Catholic Highschool).

I am happy about a couple of things - I read an entire Gospel to the kids passage by passage throughout the semester, and had the kids write a reflection on it each day.

I believe that I was able to reach some kids throughout the semester, and in particular the more marginal kids.

We prayed at the beginning of each class, and the kids learned both the Benedictus and the Magnificat.

Yet, in a final reflection on the course only one or two expressed any kind of belief in Christ as the son of God.

None felt they had a relationship with Him.

Many felt/believed that the teachings of the Church are on par with any other “opinion” out there,

I feel a bit gutted right now, and like I have failed…

(Totally self absorbed of me I know, and very unrealistic - yet that’s how I feel).
Click to expand...
I wish you could reach them, but honestly, we all know it’s the parents’ influence that is the strongest, and if they’re not getting anything at home, it’s very unlikely they will have an epiphany in your classroom, as sincere as you might be. Your society up there is very secular in general, you must recognize that, so religious fervor is seen as a type of insanity.

You did the best you could, let go and let God handle the rest. I know you pray for your students. That is such a gift to them.

:love::love::love:
 
Thanks for the kind words everyone:

I know that when you plant seeds you don’t harvest in the same season.
 
triumphguy said:
Thanks for the kind words everyone:

I know that when you plant seeds you don’t harvest in the same season.
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If it makes you feel any better, I felt the same way when I taught high school, and I taught math.

I’m sure there is a 43 year old man out there somewhere who, in his failing efforts to build a shed in his back yard, is saying to himself, “I wish I’d paid more attention in Miss E’s geometry class.”
 
I’m guessing this was your first year, which is usually the worst. If you do it again you’ll have the benefit of experience: you may jettison things that didn’t work, try something new, reinforce what did work, etc.
 
1ke said:
If it makes you feel any better, I felt the same way when I taught high school, and I taught math.

I’m sure there is a 43 year old man out there somewhere who, in his failing efforts to build a shed in his back yard, is saying to himself, “I wish I’d paid more attention in Miss E’s geometry class.”
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And you know what, I was a 39 y.o. man (this was over 17 years ago) who said “I wish I had paid more attention in catechism class…”. I couldn’t even remember how to recite the Our Father or the Hail Mary.

Time flies, it’s hard to believe it’s been 17 and a half years since I’ve come back to the Church I abandoned when I was 17.

Don’t worry Triumphguy… some day, one what you taught to one of those kids in your class will be their salvation both on this Earth and beyond.

Sometimes we have to fall on our own swords to realize we need help.
 
I’m guessing this was your first year, which is usually the worst. If you do it again you’ll have the benefit of experience: you may jettison things that didn’t work, try something new, reinforce what did work, etc. I’m in my 9th year of catechizing 6th graders, and the kids & I have a great time.
 
kkollwitz said:
I’m guessing this was your first year, which is usually the worst. If you do it again you’ll have the benefit of experience: you may jettison things that didn’t work, try something new, reinforce what did work, etc. I’m in my 9th year of catechizing 6th graders, and the kids & I have a great time.
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It’s my first year back after a decade out - but previously I taught mainstream subjects to “marginal” kids (streetkids, gangbangers etc), now it’s a marginal (to them) subject to mainstream kids, so in many ways a new experience.

I gave up my business in order to come back to teaching and specifically to teach religion after undergoing a re-conversion process a few years back. It took a while to get re-certified.

I feel very alive in my faith but for years I didn’t. I guess I expected that if I share my faith they would all go “Wow” and want to share in it too:o

I’ll survive - I was in the insurance and mutual find business for the last decade - hide like a hippo, me:p
 
triumphguy said:
I should, and I do, know better:

I’ve just finished this semester teaching religion to grade 11s (in a Catholic Highschool).

I am happy about a couple of things - I read an entire Gospel to the kids passage by passage throughout the semester, and had the kids write a reflection on it each day.

I believe that I was able to reach some kids throughout the semester, and in particular the more marginal kids.

We prayed at the beginning of each class, and the kids learned both the Benedictus and the Magnificat.

Yet, in a final reflection on the course only one or two expressed any kind of belief in Christ as the son of God.

None felt they had a relationship with Him.

Many felt/believed that the teachings of the Church are on par with any other “opinion” out there,

I feel a bit gutted right now, and like I have failed…

(Totally self absorbed of me I know, and very unrealistic - yet that’s how I feel).
Click to expand...
ONLY one, or two? That’s cause for celebration, rather than sadness! Isn’t it?

3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

(Luke 15)

I say well done reaching even one.

🙂
 
I would like to thank you for working with the kids and taking on a difficult subject. You seem very dedicated and the kids and the school have a great asset in your devotion. I think the response that you described is probably common in that age group and in our culture in general so don’t get too worried about your immediate success. You are making a positive and meaningful impression on impressionable minds and even if you don’t immediately see the results you have fought the good fight. The good things that you have taught will take root in some of your students even if it lies dormant for awhile. God is very pleased with your effort and will guide the kids as they go forward in life if they are willing to hear Him.
 
triumphguy said:
It’s my first year back after a decade out - but previously I taught mainstream subjects to “marginal” kids (streetkids, gangbangers etc), now it’s a marginal (to them) subject to mainstream kids, so in many ways a new experience.

I gave up my business in order to come back to teaching and specifically to teach religion after undergoing a re-conversion process a few years back. It took a while to get re-certified.

I feel very alive in my faith but for years I didn’t. I guess I expected that if I share my faith they would all go “Wow” and want to share in it too:o

I’ll survive - I was in the insurance and mutual find business for the last decade - hide like a hippo, me:p
Click to expand...
A reworked version of “The Paradoxical Commandments” written by Dr. Kent M. Keith is written on the wall in Mother Teresa’s home for children in Calcutta.
This version is credited to Mother Teresa:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
 
fred_conty said:
A reworked version of “The Paradoxical Commandments” written by Dr. Kent M. Keith is written on the wall in Mother Teresa’s home for children in Calcutta.
This version is credited to Mother Teresa:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
Click to expand...
This is wonderful! It reminds me a little of the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling, that we all read in junior high school.
 
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