Today was the first day of school, and though my schedule still needs tweaking, I think that by next week, we will be settled in our working routines.
It doesn't seem appropriate any longer to call this journal Ant Farm Analogies, although I do have the ants in my classroom. My focus has shifted, as it should, from the amazing ants to my amazing work.
I spoke to a little kindergartner today after she had completed her first day in school. I work with her mother, also a teacher, and the child was waiting for her mom to come back to her classroom. I asked how was her first day of school. She told me all the wonderful things she did today with excitement, her eyes wide and alert as any healthy five year old can be. "We danced, and sang, and played, and made art, and had fun today." Then she went into details about her visit to the library. "We went to see the lady in the library, the lady who owns the library, and she let us look at all her books." I thought that was so cute. I've got to tell Nancy about that one... the lady who owns the library.
Today the kids learned of our expectations of them, and the rules, and learned that we are learners together, learning with them. Teachers, yes, but learners first.
We want them to be respectful and caring people. We want them to take care of their things, their books, their classroom, their school, and by the time they are adults, we hope they will become just as caring for the earth that grounds them, feeds them, and inspires them. We want them to read, and write, and solve problems in their heads and on paper, but more than that, we want them to understand community, and living together with others, whether they are like themselves or different. We want them to regard their words and the effect of their words on those who hear them spoken, whether spoken with compassion or anger. We want our children, the future caretakers of our world and of us, to value life, to honor their elders, to think beyond their little circle of friends and try to see things from another's point of view. A little compassion can go a very long way toward making peace between two people, two families, or two nations.
Academics are important, and it's convenient to evaluate a person's achievement and assign a grade to it, but let's not forget the achievements that often go unrecognized. Being a good citizen, responsible, dependable, trustworthy, fair, kind, and compassionate are all good qualities that we take for granted in others when we see them. For some kids, it is all they have going for them right now. And for some kids, it is all they will have when they graduate from high school.
We are building citizens here and now. These are our future neighbors, pilots, doctors, nurses, policemen, teachers, engineers, entrepeneurs, writers, bakers, mechanics, restaurant service personnel, cooks, electronic engineers, recreation directors, entertainers, landscapers, food producers, songwriters and artists, interior designers, real estate agents, custodians, government employees, city planners, board of education members, politicians, craftsmen, ministers, veterinarians, farmers, plumbers, home construction workers, and so on. Surely, some of our kids will grow up without a sense of responsibility toward others, without a sense of being a part of the community that raised them. Some, when they are grown, will look back and wonder where was the community that should have raised them. They won't know because others did not get involved in their lives, and because they didn't experience compassion from another.
I write this to remind myself that while I am trained to teach reading,writing, and mathematics, I cannot forget to model caring and compassion with my words and my deeds, but first with my thoughts. I am what I think, and what I think grows from what I experience, what I see, hear, read, and do. If I think someone is a hopeless case, I will say things that make him sound hopeless to others, and I will do things that will encourage hopelessness. I must recognize the potential each person has, and nurture that. I must find what is good in a person and nurture that. I must encourage them in their strengths and help them overcome or compensate for weaknesses. Every child has strengths, and every child has weaknesses.
It is the same for adults. We don't stop growing just because we are 30 or 40 or 50 years old. We never stop learning. Not while we live.
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