"Turning point!" the social studies teacher read off the slide on the screen in my room. "We should collaborate! I'm talking about turning points too, as in the Battle of Saratoga was the turning point of the Revolutionary War."
"We are talking about personal turning points," I told him, "times that changed the way the students thought."
He read some more of the slide. It had prompts to help the kids identify those moments. "Why Santa Clause?" he asked. " Is it because they didn't get what they wanted?"
"More like a time when they realized that they had been fooled and maybe there wasn't really any magic in the world," I said.
He shook his head. "See, I never believed in that stuff. I was the kid who ruined it for others from Kindergarten on."
"What do you think that says about you?" I asked him.
"More about my parents than me," he answered. "They were like, We bought you this stuff because we worked hard and earned the money."
"So it was kind of a lesson about taking care of yourself and not relying on other people to give you what you want?"
"Definitely," he said. "No imaginary fat guy in a red suit was going to get credit for that. You don't work? You don't eat."
"That shaped you, right?" I asked.
"You know it," he said.
"Well you are ready to write your essay!"
"We are talking about personal turning points," I told him, "times that changed the way the students thought."
He read some more of the slide. It had prompts to help the kids identify those moments. "Why Santa Clause?" he asked. " Is it because they didn't get what they wanted?"
"More like a time when they realized that they had been fooled and maybe there wasn't really any magic in the world," I said.
He shook his head. "See, I never believed in that stuff. I was the kid who ruined it for others from Kindergarten on."
"What do you think that says about you?" I asked him.
"More about my parents than me," he answered. "They were like, We bought you this stuff because we worked hard and earned the money."
"So it was kind of a lesson about taking care of yourself and not relying on other people to give you what you want?"
"Definitely," he said. "No imaginary fat guy in a red suit was going to get credit for that. You don't work? You don't eat."
"That shaped you, right?" I asked.
"You know it," he said.
"Well you are ready to write your essay!"
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