Teacher

When we walked back into the gym, the kids were spread around the gym practicing foul shots.  KC was walking from kid to kid, correcting their shooting form.  He told the kids with the worst form their accuracy would get worse before it got better. 

“You’ve learned to shoot 50% the wrong way,” KC said to a blond kid. Being Pepper’s best friend he had been destined to earn the tab “Salt.” Salt listened intently to everything KC said. “You’ll probably shoot 20% when you fix your form, but by the end of the season you’ll shoot 70, maybe 80.” KC added.  

All the kids tried to shoot the way KC showed them while he was standing next to them.  Most of them kept shooting correctly for five minutes or so after he moved on to the next kid.  All but a few of them went back to their old form in ten minutes or so. 

Salt and a couple other kids followed KC’s instructions to the letter.  They accepted taking a step backwards on KC’s promise they’d take two steps forward.  I thought ‘these are the kids who deep down see KC for the teacher he is.’   

 I remembered the few teachers I had truly listened to, and how I had always benefitted for doing so.  Many of them had never taught in a classroom, but somehow I had recognized their wisdom.  I tried not to think of all the wise men and women whose counsel I had ignored, always to my detriment.  Too often I hadn’t listened because they didn’t work in a classroom. If I wasn’t going to be tested on it, if the information wasn’t going to help put some initials behind my name, what was the point?

Today I will look for and listen to the teacher, no matter where they teach.

Life on Life’s Terms II © 2015 by Ken Montrose

(Just a reminder: LOLT II is a work of fiction.  Any resemblance to anyone you might know is purely coincidental.)