11.24.14
New
page open. Favorite font selected (Century Gothic FYI). Writing commences.
Got
some left over burrito.
Ate
it.
Almost
opened FB. DID NOT.
Watching
puppy eat my grocery bag. Ok got it.
Sigh.
Ugh.
Ate
the burnt piece of the burrito. Better than staring at the blank page. The
ideas seem so clever as they formulate and percolate in my brain throughout the
day. This is why I do not write them down. Because the writing part is the hard
part. Where to start? How to slide into the topic- fluidly, humorously, with my
own voice…
When
I started teaching almost 15 years ago
in New Mexico, we had a really rough year. Our school community lost three
students in a very short period of time. Weeks. Two were murdered and one was
killed in a horrific car accident on the same route that I drove to school each
day.
One was in my 5th period Study Skills class and I stared at her
empty desk every day. It was jarring for the kids and staff alike. The loss
felt very real, very close like one could reach out and touch it. I had never
lost a student before and their faces were on my mind every day for a long
while.
The
following Thanksgiving, on a whim, I handed all of my kids a piece of paper and
I asked them to think about someone in the school community that they are
grateful for. We talked about thankfulness and gratitude and appreciation. I
asked them to write a simple ‘thank you statement:” a clear thank you, to a
specific person, detailing a specific action that made a difference and sign
his/her name.
I
remember hoping I’d get a note or two. Every teacher wants to feel appreciated
and as I sorted the notes into piles, I was floored by all the different people
that the students were grateful for: the nurse, the janitor, the library assistant,
the grumpy Social Studies teacher, the quiet kid and yes, me. I had decided NOT to read the notes and just
deliver them to the recipient, but I couldn’t resist opening a note or two.
Even
more fulfilling was the hand delivering of these notes to each and every
recipient. I started by explaining what we had done in class: the gratitude
talk, the specific directions, it’s Thanksgiving time, blah, blah, blah. But
then I soon realized all I needed to say as I handed the small scrap of paper
over was someone is thankful for you.
I
have returned to teaching after being away for ten years raising kids. It has
not been an easy transition, but it has been a worthwhile one overall. This
current school year, I find myself wandering through a job week to week with
lots of doubt, insecurity, resentment and little gratitude ( my own that is). I
took on a funky workload with not enough time in my contract to really do my
job. I find myself in a school setting where the culture is unclear. Each
family revolves in their own little home school world and it has been difficult
to feel that connection teaching has always given me. I have moments to passion
and breakthrough, but they don’t always inspire or lead to what happens next.
Tomorrow,
the kids and I will talk about gratitude and the power of the words THANK YOU. We
will all write little notes and I will deliver them with the message someone is thankful for you. I am going
to start now.
Thank you Elbertha, for
opening my door each morning when you get there first.
Thank you MJ for the lovely
drawing you did of me being a teacher. It was a welcome gift on a low day.
Thank you Makena and Becky
for thanking me for class each day.
Thank you Mary for reminding
me to slow down and a teacher and a person.
Thank you Mrs. Titus for the kind,
respectful way you communicated your displeasure with my curriculum. I felt
listened to and considered
.
Thank you to the parents that
gave me an opportunity to listen to their concerns and communicate my goals for
my classroom.
Thank you to the seventh
graders that have no trouble telling me they just don’t get it. We work at it a
different way and then they work harder to get it. That is all I could ask for.
This
year, I think the writing of the notes will be the best part for me.
