Today, I taught the follow-up lesson with my 10th grade ESL class. This is the same class that Inbar has been teaching and the one I began with on Tuesday. I was excited to be back with them and to bring home the lesson on Rabbi Yehuda’s poem, “My Heart Is in The East.” We revisited the norms of engagement before writing to remind us of what we all need to have a successful experience and then got down to work. We took Yehuda’s poem conveying longing and a desire to be where his heart feels at home-in the land of Israel, and wrote in pairs a poem of our own to be shared with the class. They could either use the form I created for them or write abandon it and write on the 
theme. Knowing how important it is to participate in the experience with students, Inbar and I sat down to write our own to perform for the class before moving around from pair to pair to help students with their own poems. I was so happy to see just how these students gave themselves over to the experience. Consequently, I think they had a good time while experimenting with language and syntax. I wish I could have more time with these students. They do good work.
In writing this blog, I am reminded about the good that comes from remaining open and giving oneself over to an experience. It is hard to do at times-to step out of our comfort zones-to trust the process-that we will benefit from being just a bit uncomfortable. It is hard for most of us to do that on the daily, and yet, if we are doing our jobs well, then we are putting our students in that position on a daily basis in our classrooms. Ultimately, we know that learning comes from the right amount of challenge and that as educators, we are always looking for that sweet spot of cognitive dissonance.
I failed to remember that on our boat ride down the Danube tonight. I had a preconceived notion of what that experience should look like based on others I have had, and so I almost missed out on a beautiful view of the night skyline of Budapest. These incredible buildings and bridges that make up the landscape of Buda and Pest and which I have had the privilege of seeing up close are even more glorious from the vantage point of a slowing moving boat with friends/colleagues.
Give oneself over to an experience. Remain open to learning and curious. Trust the process. If we do these things, then we won’t miss IT when IT comes along.
