I Should Have Closed My Laptop

I should have closed my laptop. Why didn’t I? It’s not complicated. I had convinced myself that what I was doing was really important. I was Skyping with a group of teachers to show them how I use a digital tool to document school work. For them, it was possibly useful. For me -- a second-year teacher -- it made me feel self-important. Enough so that I missed a pretty big opportunity. I lost sight of what mattered.

But when a student from the previous year came in to say hi, I should have closed my laptop. I should have told the teachers on Skype that I needed a minute, or as long as my visitor wanted to chat, and closed my laptop.

But I didn’t. I gave Malorie a half-hearted wave and mouthed, “I’m on Skype. Sorry!” to her. I cringe every time I think about it.

The greatest thing that can happen for a teacher is to have a former student come back to see them. That is visual, tangible evidence that the teacher made an impact.

And I wasted that opportunity.

So, Malorie, feel free to stop by again sometime. Catch me up on where you’ve been and where you’re going.

I promise: this time, I’ll close my laptop.


Russ Goerend: Husband, dad, teacher, son, writer, reader. Having fun with all three. Some other stuff, too.