I am an elementary teacher. This will be my 6th year teaching the most precious little children. I am always super excited to meet my class. There is something different about the way I see them this year. Don't get me wrong, I have always loved them. In fact for years they have been the children I didn't have. Sweet hugs from my school babies helped me forget sometimes how much I longed for a precious baby of my own. I guess my feelings toward my children haven't changed, it's more my feelings toward the parents. You see I always have tried to put myself in the place of my children, I've tried to be aware of their concerns and their fears. I have wiped their tears and tried my best to make them feel comfortable. I have put myself in the shoes of the struggling reader or the shy pupil, which has always allowed me to create a classroom environment where students weren't afraid to try. I try to be aware of how scared the new kid must be by remembering my days a new teacher.
The difference now is that I never realized exactly what the parents must go through. I think about tomorrow, and my heart goes out to all the parents. How scary it must be to send your world into the care of a complete stranger. My mom is keeping Dani Marie. She is the most loving, nurturing, kind, and capable woman I know. I know every day when I leave Dani Marie with her that she will be well taken care of. I know she will be showered with kisses, hugs, and laughter. Knowing this doesn't stop the tears. I know she is fine, but I miss her just the same. So the thought of having to send my baby into the arms of someone I met only for a few minutes on orientation night......Wow! That is hard to take in. I know those days are ahead, and I know that the Lord will prepare me for them.
In the meantime, I now look at each one of my students and I know that some parent is sending me "their Dani Marie". I have always seen the 7 year old who was nervous about her first day, but now I notice the mom who is fighting back tears. I watched a dad fill out the emergency contact form. I imagined how scary it might be to trust decisions about his son's care to someone he had only known a few minutes. These 19 kids will be with me each day during the school year as much as they will be with their parents.
This new perspective makes me so thankful to live in Booneville, Mississippi. I thank the Lord that I work at a school like Anderson Elementary. I know these teachers, and I look up to so many of them. Teachers who go out of their way to cover the smallest scrape with a Barbie band-aid, because they realize that the" boo boo" hurt Sally's pride more than her knee. The teacher that gives the entire class some goldfish mid-morning, because she knows that Joe was running late this morning and didn't get a chance to eat breakfast. The kindergarten teachers who hug a little extra, the teacher on morning duty who always has the biggest smile, I have the privilege of working with these amazing people every day. I think the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child" is spot on.
I'm blessed to live in a community where I can feel good about sending my little girl to school, church, etc.
I'm very thankful for the new perspective that God has given me this year. Tomorrow morning I will start my year the way I always do, by praying for each of my students who come to me. This year I will also being praying for the parents who are letting them go.
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