Open your eyes and see me

My needs and weaknesses

And strive to help me thrive

And overcome the obstacles I’m sure to face

Within this building

 and life itself

try not to look at me and only see an amount of effort that you don’t want to give

Or just another problem child to step around

Teach me

Give me the tools to excel in all that I do

Get me interested

 it wouldn’t kill you to get a little excited about your class

and maybe then

I’d get excited too

Don’t just read me the steps or process

Show me

Paint a map in my mind

One that guides me to the answers and explains how I got there

Give me something to do with my hands

Something that will engage me and let me

Actively participate

Something that will help me to connect the dots

Something that will make me reach deeper into my understanding of things

And motivate me to completely rewire it all

Something that makes me see old things through new eyes

Eyes that now understand all that was ever misunderstood

Don’t make me sit in a generic desk that digs into my back

 and compresses my spine

bored out of my mind

And left to stare at the walls

the walls that are so blank and empty

that they nearly mimic my brain each and every time I step into your classroom

blank

empty

void of interest

and full of disdain for the space allotted to you and your subject

(which I will probably never understand)

paint them

please

something warm, something soft

not something that reminds me time after time

where I am, what I’m being forced to do, and how early I had to wake up to get here

make this all worth it; make me think to myself that my education really is important

and that I will get something out of all of this

try to make me feel accepted

like a piece to the puzzle that is your class

don’t just pick your favorites on the first day

and spoon feed them the answers

while I struggle to merely grasp the idea of the lesson

because you are too busy gossiping with them

to see the hand I’ve had raised in the air so long

that it has begun to go numb

don’t overlook the kid in the corner

getting his name rhymed with obscene things

and being told he’s worth less than nothing

stand for him

be a leader to us

someone who treats everyone equally and brings us together

not someone who separates us by our looks and smarts

but someone who can look into each set of eyes present

and instill in them a feeling of self-worth

and confidence

feed my brain, give it something to chew on

something I can figure out

don’t mutilate it and then push it to the side

leaving it confused and lost on all levels of consciousness

guide me, prepare me

and when I do something good, or note worthy

please acknowledge it

tell me I did good

heck, maybe even try to pry a smile out of me

it would be nice

to just smile

a real smile

at least once

while I’m here

we could maybe even share one of those teacher-student movie moments

and then maybe

just maybe

I could appreciate you

Trust you

Form some sort of hope that we could be friends

Or at least act civil toward one another

But it takes time to form a relationship with your students

And patience

So maybe you should give a little and try to have some

And attempt to make up for lost time

Anything would be better than your fluctuating mood and lack of respect

RESPECT

Don’t demand it from me if you aren’t going to even TRY to have some for me

That’s how it works

I respect you, you respect me

Not I respect you and you flounce all over everything I believe in

 and neglect the very reason I’m here in the first place

You are a teacher

You teach

So act like it and teach me

Teach me something

Something that matters

Matters to me

maybe then, you will awake my mind,

and a deep hunger for knowledge that’s been locked away for far too long

and maybe then we will begin to form some sort of bond

and maybe then I’ll learn something from you

but only then