Dr. Seuss Goes to 8th Grade

       1 day
       4 teachers
    450 eighth-graders
+  108 Dr. Seuss' birthdays
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1 amazing birthday celebration  

     What better day to celebrate our first cross-curricular day than Dr. Seuss' birthday?  We started the day together to learn more about this man we think we know so well, but really don't know at all.  Then off we went to see the world through Dr. Seuss' eyes.
     As 8th graders, we were finally old enough to learn the grown-up meanings behind Dr. Seuss's stories.  We read his political cartoons and discovered amazing insights and connections with our world today.
     After all that hard work, the Cat in the Hat came to play.  We tried out our own funny cat tricks with flips and kicks, tongue twists, and crazy beard hangings.  We even created a human pyramid for a minute.
     Time to relax and hear a great book with The Sneetches.  We chose an amazing thing about ourselves to share with everyone.  We have officially been together for five months, but some of us have known each other for years, and we still learned new things about each other.
     Finally, time for reflection on the words behind the man.  So many amazing quotes to choose from.  After choosing our favorites, we illustrated them in Dr. Seuss' style and explained the reason these quotes impacted us so much.
       A wonderful day together celebrating with Dr. Seuss and each other.  Here's to many more days together.

Doing it for the Kids

     Change is a scary thing.  We have to take a risk and move out of our comfort zone.  We might fail - big time. It is hard work and the pay off might not be worth all of our efforts.  Sometimes the bad we know is better than what we might get.  The present may not be perfect, but it is safe and reassuring.
     Unfortunately our students are unwilling to let us stay in that safe zone.  They expect us to give them everything we've got and then to give even more.  They don't care about our fears or the time it takes or the amount of work.  To them, these are just excuses, and they refuse to give us what we can't give them.  Our students also decide to play it safe.  They stop taking risks and thinking in new ways.  They don't do the work we give them because if it isn't worth our time to create it, it isn't worth their time to do it.  When asked to read or write, they question why they should do something we don't even do ourselves.  Playing it safe doesn't work for us or for our students.
     As a new teacher I thought my students would sit at my feet and hang on my every word like the disciples of the Greek philosophers.  Luckily my students let me know that wouldn't be the way we would be doing things.  They questioned, pushed, debated, argued, and negotiated what they needed.  I begged, cajoled, bribed, and threatened before I stopped being defensive and listened to what they needed.
     Being new, I spent hours developing curriculum for my students.  Everything I heard, saw, or read was likely to end up in my lessons.  It was scary and difficult to live day to day, not knowing what I would be doing next.  It was also exhilarating to create something new each day that fit what was happening around them - the music, movies, books, current events...a sparked discussion from today's lesson might lead me a whole new direction.   Still, I longed for the day I would have all of this down and I could stop living day to day.
     Fast forward twenty years and I'm still not there.  I rarely do the same things twice.  Even if I do the same book or theme, there is always something I can do better than the way I did it before.  One of the blessings of teaching is that you always get a fresh start; nothing is set in stone.
     The kids I teach are the same age as the kids I knew twenty years ago, but the world has changed and so have they.  I am preparing them for a world that I can't even begin to comprehend as an adult.  How do you explain how a man could blow up his sons in a horrific show of violence?  How do you assure them that although we must practice a lock-down drill, they are safe and I will actually risk my life to get them out of the bathroom if they are locked out while a gunman lurks outside?  Reassure them for the millionth time the world won't end just because the Mayan calendar ends?  Help them choose the best classes for high school credit with all of these new choices?  And this is just this week.  None of it my doing.  None of it my curriculum.  All of it asked because I am one of the adults they trust in this crazy world they live in.
     If I try to teach with the lessons I prepared twenty years ago, I prepare them for 1991.  It is hard.  It is scary.  It takes lots of time.  My students deserve nothing less.  

A Man I Loved and a Fish Song

     I saw the obituary in the newspaper last week and instantly recognized the man, even though I hadn't seen him in 38 years.  He wouldn't remember me, but he changed my life.
     My Kindergarten teacher taught us "The Fish Song."  Then she told us we were going to sing it for the principal.  I was terrified.  I spent the line-up-and-walk-down-the-hall-time nervously going over the words in my head so I wouldn't mess up.
     When we got there and crowded into his office, his smile lit every corner of the room and his hello snuggled me in warmth.  Suddenly I wasn't scared anymore.  He was totally present, looking at each one of us, and smiling.  When we were done, he said, "What a wonderful surprise!  How did you know that was my favorite song?"  I thought it was strange that an adult's favorite song was "The Fish Song," but I was thrilled we happened to pick his favorite song.
     I was extremely shy and literally never said a word to anyone.  My teacher thought I had a learning disability and sent me to special ed.  When the ladies there realized I understood what they were trying to teach me, they focused on ways to help me with my fears.  The wonderful man in the office was a huge part of that.  He loved to tease me and try to get me to smile or laugh.  We worked up to saying hi in the halls.  With his love, I slowly began to talk.  Time passed and I moved away, but I never forgot him.  I knew I wanted to grow up and make other kids feel like he made me feel.
     I am in the middle of becoming a school administrator now, and I talk to lots of people.  Many of them tell me I should stay a teacher because you can make such a difference as a teacher.  When I asked a principal about it, the response was, "Being a principal is different.  You don't make a direct difference, but you do make an indirect difference by making the school a great school."   I have loved every second of being an intern, but I'd started doubting my choice, wondering if this was going to be enough for me.
     A few days later I saw his smile and suddenly realized it could be so much more, if I chose it to be.  I cut out the obituary and put it on my vision board.  His smile shines among the other pictures and sayings and thoughts, reminding me that it's me who makes the difference, not the job.      

Teachers make a Difference

 I looked up and instantly recognized him, even though he was a foot taller and a foot broader.  You never forget people that change your life.  He stood in the door shyly until I ran up and threw my arms around him.  He smiled shyly, but I could tell he was happy I remembered him.
     Six years ago, Eric was a small, shy, hurting twelve-year-old boy who hated school, hated life, and everyone in it.  His mom and I did everything we could think of trying to help him be successful.  I wasn't sure if any of us were going to survive that year, but we did somehow.
     Today he stood in my room, looking so much the same, but totally changed.  Here on a ten-day leave after finishing bootcamp, he stood with a grace and confidence I had never seen before.  He wanted to spend one of his ten precious leave days with me to say thank you.  He told me Boot Camp was nothing compared to what he had gone through in 7th grade.  Then he told me that if it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have made it to today.  His mom came with him and as she hugged me, she said, "I know for a fact he would not have made it if it weren't for you."
     Last night I got an e-mail from a new co-worker who told me what a difference I made last year for a student.  Thanks to what she learned last year, she was able to be released from special education recently.  I was having a horrible night and sliding quickly into the pit of feeling sorry for myself and wondering why I bothered to do anything for anyone because no one even cared.  Tears forming behind my eyes, I put everyone to bed and began working on my homework.  I opened my work e-mails and felt the touch of my guardian angel showing me the way.  
     It is so easy to get caught up in our own lives and forget that we are here for one another.  We are not here for our jobs or our video games or our sports or any other things that take our attention from one another.  We are here to make a difference in one another's lives.  When I start to feel resentful of the time or energy it takes to care for people in my life, I remember these moments.  We all have them once we stop running past each other and stop to put an arm around each other and help each other.

I Have no more to Give You

   When we are out of love and exhausted from holding ourselves together, we can't give anything to anyone else.  When we are surrounded by people who are barely able to keep themselves together, they can't help us.  We need triage.  We need our own interventions.  We need someone to build us back up so we can pay it forward.  Frustration at their lack of caring doesn't change the fact they have nothing left to give.  All we can do is love them at their worst and give everything we have to give.

Dancing Right from the Start

     September is here and the dance begins again.  We don't know each other yet, so we dance around each other, trying to decide who will lead and who will follow.  It is exhausting at first, but if we do it right, we will dance through the year in perfect sync and the year will be a joy for all of us.  If we do it right.
     The dance begins from the first moment they meet you on the first day.  First impressions are so important.  Do you smile?  Do you share your passion for what you do?  Do you welcome them?  Do you make them feel excited for a whole year with you?
     How would you feel walking into a room where no one welcomes you or seems happy you are there or starts telling you how hard it will be and how much work lies ahead?  It doesn't motivate me or make me feel excited or want to return the next day.
     When I am in a place that feels welcoming, surrounded by people that care about me, and I have fun, challenging things to look forward to, I am happy.  It is the same information, but it is a totally different feel for the students.
    Kids who are excited for the things you have planned or love you, will do anything for you, no matter how hard the task.  They are people.  People first.  Students second.  When you forget that difference, your students start treating you the same way.  They model the behavior they see.  Dress up, laugh, plan some of your favorite activities for the first days, and celebrate the first day together.  It makes all the difference later in the year.  Enjoy your dance!
     

Putting Trust in this Stranger

  It takes an incredible determination and perseverance to come to a country where you can't speak the language.  I can't imagine how scary it is to put your trust in strangers to guide you through everything in life.
     This week a woman brought her six-year-old daughter in to register her for 1st grade.  She didn't speak any English.  I had to tell the little girl what her mom needed to show me to register her for school, like "proof of residency."  Then the little girl explained it to her mom in Spanish.  Her mom handed her documents and the little girl asked me which ones would work.  I was in awe of her maturity and also sad for her.  It's hard to be a kid when your family needs you to be an adult.
     Another couple came in.  The gentleman spoke a little bit of English, but his wife didn't speak any.  The woman at the desk tried to explain a legal technicality to the man.  He was confused and frustrated.  I interrupted to tell him that I had been in the same situation for several years, but it had always been okay.  They just had to tell him it could happen, but it probably never would.  He looked relieved, smiled, and signed the papers.
     In education, we talk about students who speak another language as their first language.  It is usually with the words "low" or "lack" as if these kids are less than other people.  We often complain about their low test scores or low grades, their lack of motivation, their poor attitudes.  I don't see them as less than, I see them as greater than.  As an adult, I could not go to any foreign country and get a new job, find a place to live, enroll my kids in school, open a bank account, get a driver's license or any of the other things that life requires.  I was a pretty good student in school, but I know I wouldn't be able to have done much in an another country where I had to not only learn the content, but learn the content in a language I didn't understand.  I admire my students immensely.  I couldn't even come close to what they manage to do every day.  And that's before you add their responsibilities at home like translating for their family, babysitting while their parents work multiple jobs, and working to help support their families.
     It is humbling to be a person who hold so much trust in her hands.  I hope I am always worthy of their faith in my ability to help and not hurt.