Being an elementary school teacher has changed me. In the 7+ years I've been in the elementary classroom, I've had to deal with a lot of different things. Fingers stuck in faucets, boogers, blood, barf, fixing coat and backpack zippers, tears over frustration, friends, and football games, counseling, conflict resolution, social skills, and building a positive self image are also part of a regular day. There is so much more to teaching than textbooks.
No matter how frustrated I can become over the kids who won't work to their potential, those who bully other kids, or the irrational parents that sometimes come our way, I love teaching. The 24+ kids I have each year have a way of sneaking into my heart. I'm the teacher that bawls on the last day of school...every year...because I love my "kids", I truly do. I remember each of my students because they are a part of my life.
The hardest part of teaching is being a grief counselor. I was with the kids as they tried to make sense of the horrific events of 9-11. I've had two students who have lost their mothers to brain cancer. Students with parents in prison. A student who's mom has been in a coma since she was 2 years old. Students who live in homes where physical and emotional abuse are common. Students dealing with divorce. Students grieving over the death of grandparents, goldfish, and puppies.
I was just given a "heads up" that one of my students is being told today after school that his/her parents are divorcing. The dad is moving out tonight. Tomorrow this student is expected to come to school and care about long division and soil. As if any of that truly matters in the life of this child. What matters to this child is that their world as they know it will never be the same....and they probably have no idea why anything has to be different at all.
We Are Responsible for Children
We are responsible for childrenwho put chocolate fingers everywhere,
who like to be tickled,
who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants,
who sneak
popsicles before supper,
who erase holes in math books,
who can never find their shoes.
And we are responsible for thosewho stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
who never 'counted potatoes,'
who are born in places we wouldn't be caught dead,
who never go to the circus,
who live in an X-rated world.
We are responsible for childrenwho bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who sleep with the dog and bury goldfish,
who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money,
who cover themselves with Band-Aids and sing off-key,
who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink,
who slurp their soup.
And we are responsible for thosewho never get dessert,
who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their parents watch them die,
who can't find any bread to steal,
who don't have any rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren't on
any body's dresser,
whose monsters are real.
We are responsible for childrenwho spend all of their allowance before Tuesday,
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
who like ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed, and never rinse out the tub,
who get visits from the tooth fairy,
who don't like to be kissed in front of the carpool,
who squirm in church and scream in the phone,
whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles can make us cry.
And we are responsible for thosewhose nightmares come in daytime,
who will eat anything,
who have never seen a dentist,
who aren't spoiled by anybody,
who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
who live and move, but have no being.
We are responsible for childrenwho want to be carried
and for those who must,
for those we never give up on
and for those who don't get a
second chance;
for those we smother . . .
and for those who will grab any hand kind enough to offer it.
(author unknown)
Yes! They can!!
Saturday night Jaxon and I were driving down the road to the store. We had only traveled about 1 mile before this animal (first thought to be a cat....ended up being a very large raccoon)decided to dart into the road. My first reaction was to swerve, but then realized that there was no time. The car, as Jaxon said, went bump bump, and that was the end of it. I didn't cry (surprise, surprise) but I was freaked out over the whole ordeal. Jaxon talked about how only cars are supposed to be in the road for the rest of the drive. Smart boy.
On Mulberry Street and the big sandy beaches 
