Presents Are Fun, But What Do You Give?

This music teacher had a lovely Christmas season.  The choir sang beautifully before the local Christmas parade, then sang the National Anthem for the Harlem Globetrotters.  The fourth graders performed their sweet little Christmas show with only a few glitches.  Little ones sang and danced and played jingle bells in class.  Who could ask for more?  I teach a bunch  (400+!) of sweet darlings that smile, laugh, hug, and love on a daily basis.

I got two sweet gifts from students this year. I am not a homeroom teacher, so there's never been loads of gifts.  As a one-time mom of elementary students, I understand it financially!! Anyway, I got a golden (my description to kids) cup with a lid and hot chocolate/marshmallows enclosed and a palm tree LED candle.  I love them, and I will keep them - if I may be truthful,in years past that hasn't always been the case. I think they are beautiful. I share this with you, my friends, so that you can see all sides of reality in the teaching world.  Please don't take this wrong - this is not a complaint!  I have, given the opportunity, always chosen the schools with a population that is more in need.  I choose to teach darlings that may not have much. I will state with no qualms whatsoever that sharing with these young people is more rewarding than any fancy basket full of gifts.  I get a deep satisfaction from what I can give them! If you are a teacher in a Title I or low-income school, you understand.  There are five things that I try to give children on a daily basis.  I believe giving these things is paramount to helping these young lives grow successfully.

First, I give them a positive interaction to start their day. It's a privilege to greet them at breakfast and call them by name.  Asking if they are all right and encouraging them to have a great day is a great start to my day as well.  Not all of these sweeties come from a routine of ease in the morning, so I do my best to instill confidence in them that school is calm, consistent and ready for them to do their best.

Second, I give small challenges.  I give challenges they can meet.  If they are a particularly rowdy individual, I encourage them to get right to work in the classroom without any fuss.  I encourage them to say "yes m'am" three times and just follow the instruction. All types of students rise to the challenges.  I encourage older ones to "kick their test in the rear end"! (I might even say "butt" and then act like I shouldn't have....it makes them laugh!) Sometimes they smile, laugh, or just hang their heads, but they all say that they'll try.  After that, I make sure I instill confidence and tell them "I KNOW you can!" - with my most brilliant you-can-do-it smile.

Third, I give assistance. Someone took your headphones on the bus?  Let's go get help. You accidentally came to school with you shirt inside-out?  You have permission to go fix it.  You lost the homework sheet?  Let's try to find another one.  Goodness knows my own children probably needed help in the morning in elementary school, in spite of my best efforts as a parent.  The students know that they can trust me to help.

Fourth, I give hugs.  Some little ones need "their hug" every day.  Others just occasionally need a "hey, you're great" hug.  We load them with responsibility and talk to them about how grown up they are all the time; but they are children.  And sometimes they need a hug.

Fifth, I give them love. I started a few years ago telling my students that I love them.  Saying it out loud, to their face.  It felt weird at first, I've always been somewhat reserved, but when it comes to children, those words are magic.  I tell them I love them with the first morning hug and I tell them when I am re-directing or correcting them.  At the end of the 2017 school year, a little six-year-old in Jackson, MS was murdered during a car theft.  It was driven home to me that these precious children can never hear those words enough - and I can do my part to say it.

Education has changed so much in the past century - I've personally witnessed the past thirty-five years from the teacher point of view.  As we collect data and reduce children to scores and graphs, it's more important than ever to remember that love helps them grow equally as much as any work they may be doing. I am so grateful to work at a school at which every adult knows this; they greet, challenge, help, hug and love the children the same way I do. It's worth it.

I Want to Run With the Hobbit! 12/14/13

I saw the second installation of "The Hobbit" last night.  Yes, I'm a fan.  A regular fan, not a Comic-con level fan (although I have attended Comic-con, go figure!) I have read the book quite a few times during my life, including one time OUT LOUD, completely through,  to my children. I love Bilbo, the dwarfs, their escapades, Gandalf, Gollum, even Smaug.  Orcs and dragons are bad.  Hobbits, dwarfs and elves are good.  What's not to love?

What I love best, though, is the way that the characters that are small in stature think that they are setting out (in the beginning) to accomplish a small task, for themselves.  The dwarfs want their homeland back.  Bilbo simply wants to experience a little adventure.  However, since they have to cross the paths of other species, travel strange lands and awaken old rivalries, they end up being elevated to little heroes whose somewhat selfish endeavors could actually save their world from evil!
(My own liberal summation, apologies to Mr. Tolkien and all the experts.)

I sat through the opening of the movie, wondering why I didn't feel sad.  Last Christmas, our family of four saw the first one together.  There aren't too many occasions on which an entire family can see a movie adaptation of a book they have all read and loved.  We even saw it at a restaurant/cinema place, similar to the one we were at last night. But I didn't feel sad.  I have the 'he should be here' thoughts, but the atmosphere, being with my girls, the food.....the sadness was not able to attack.  I'm glad it wasn't, because it enabled me to enjoy the movie from the very opening, where I was completely inspired by two scenes. 

Near the beginning, the dwarfs, Bilbo and Gandalf have to run from the Orcs.  The director, Peter Jackson, (who is extremely passionate about bring these books to film - I suspect he is part hobbit...) takes advantage of the beautiful New Zealand countryside and shows a long shot of the whole group just running across a beautiful field backed by gorgeous mountains.  They must have acted the hell out of that running, because it got me.  I sat there thinking "I want to run with the hobbits!!"  A few scenes later, they cross some similarly gorgeous landscape, only this time on Beorn's stately horses.  Once again, I could only think, "I want to ride with them! Go, you dwarfs and hobbit, go!"

The dwarfs and the hobbit were running and riding away from evil Orcs, but they were also running with a purpose to accomplish some good.  They don't realize at that point in the story just how much good, and at what a cost, but they were running! They were riding horses, fast!  I am inspired to run to do my small good things.  I am inspired that if I do some small good in my life, that it might fit together like a jigsaw puzzle with others who do small good in their lives......and greater good can happen!

Almost everyone I know strives to do their own good each day.  I have been fortunate in life to always be able to surround myself with positive people.  I do know that we live in the real world, not Middle Earth.  But I hope that the good that we all put out there every day can make a difference.  Our enemy is not an evil sorcerer/wizard.  We all use our good to counteract neglect, meanness, hunger, poverty, disease, all those "bad" things in the world.  I'm glad I saw the dwarfs and hobbit running.  It gave me joy.  It had me cheering for the good guys.  And it let me know that small good can work together for bigger purposes.

Sometimes, though, I approach my day, my golden opportunity to put more 'good' out there, with a sigh.  I've had some good reasons, but I think it's time to try and run.  One sigh or one deep breath can help, but then it's time to run.  Time to smile, time to look and listen and encourage. That won't be easy every day, but it's worth a try.  I want to run with the hobbit - but since that's impossible, I will try to "run" to make my own small difference for good.