life's pop quizzes

today i gave my class a short quiz on inverse trigonometric functions. as expected, the announcement of a pop quiz was met with groans of dismay and lots of eyeball-rolling. not to mention the variety of on-the-spot reasons why we should not have the quiz today: hindi pa kami ready, ma'am.. or ma'am di ba kakatapos lang ng exam natin? or ma'am ang init dito sa classroom eh.. hindi conjucive sa pag-eexam.. etc. you get the picture. naturally, all their protestations did not change the fact that i was giving my pop quiz; so after a few more seconds of grumbling, my students grudgingly answered the items i wrote on the board.

there are times when my students' attitude towards learning bugs me. i mean, they do know they are expected to study for their exams. that's why they're at school, right? i should not have to remind them to do their assignments or advice them not to cram. they ought to be responsible enough to turn in their requirements on time and to copy notes from their classmates when they are absent.

i have to admit, though.. my students' attitude reminds me of my own. oh, i don't usually grumble and complain when i am given math problems to solve. i do gripe a lot, though, when faced with trials of a different sort. i do not enjoy being inconvenienced. i tend to make excuses when things start to become difficult. sometimes i blame other people when instead i should focus on my discipline and time management. i also get restless and impatient. it's funny how i get annoyed by my students' grumblings when i myself gripe and complain to the Lord whenever He is trying to teach me something important.

so this morning, when i realized how much i needed an attitude makeover, i sheepishly came to the Lord in prayer and said sorry. i mean, sure, i may be going through some tough times right now.. but in life, that's a given. that's what i'm here on earth for - to learn, to grow, to be more like Christ, and in the process, hopefully lead others to Him.

in short, i'm one of the many Christian-students in the Great Teacher's class.. and the trials i go through are some of His pop quizzes. being a teacher, i realize that tests - in the classroom or out - are not meaningless. i do not give exams to make my students' lives miserable. i need to give them tests so i will know which concepts are not clear to them.. so they will know which areas they need to improve on.. and so i will be able to explain certain ideas more clearly. and if my students are open to instruction, hopefully, they will learn from the quiz and be better prepared for the more difficult final exams.

i don't know how well i'm doing on the Lord's "pop quiz" right now.. but somehow i don't think my "score" is that important. because i have a feeling that He's pleased enough to see that i'm grumbling less and thanking Him more for His instruction. there will be more lessons to learn; and right now, i find that i am truly looking forward to growing up.