Short and sweet. And right on, too! In education Spring is a time of testing. The limits, patience, times, and brains. Today was the brains’ turn. And quite a whole bunch of those too! It just so happens that it this one is a beta, with all the mishaps that brings…so the unexpected became a dear friend.
I was supposed to roam and help out as needed. Unexpectedly, I was needed all the time. It’s a good feeling to be needed. Makes one feel…well, needed. Important. Helpful. Desired. Special. I’ll stop here. One of the new hats was called “reliever”. Boy, were those teachers relieved each time they saw me popping my head in their room and waving my little sign-in board at them…Perking up like little rabbit ears in a vegetable garden, they would immediately agree to “take five”. Of course, the “five” sometimes turned into 35… but that goes to show us that not all men are created equal. Women, too.
One of the times I was “relieving”, standing in the middle of the class watching like a hawk, I laid my eyes on a large book that a student was highly engrossed in. A hand went up and a whisper flew my way. Couldn’t tell what it was. My eyes grew big and I tried some mime games…turns out I’m not as good at it as I though… The owner of the hand just needed a restroom break…too easy! Maybe that’s how I missed it.
In the still of that eerie quiet, even breathing was reserved…my eyes wondered to the big book. I was so curious!.. I wanted to know! I had to know! I started walking slowly toward the child’s desk. There were so many packed in that room, and so intricately placed, that it felt like going to the fall fair, wandering in the maze… I finally reached my destination and two dark eyes looked up to me. “Is it interesting?” I asked in half-a-whisper. “shhh!” came the answer, “we’re not allowed to talk!”. My back sprung straight. Well! I say! Now that is true dedication! I lingered around the desk for a few seconds and I peeked at the book over the child’s shoulder. My brain went blank. The enticing lecture was a great big dictionary!…I don’t know about you, but I’ve never ever been so bored that I felt I needed to read a…dictionary!… It used to be that my own imagination would paint me the wildest pictures, and stories heard or made up would fill my empty times…
It saddened me. Is imagination lost? Are we raising our children without it? How will they survive? What will their life be without it?…
I returned at the end of the testing time and talked with the class while the teacher was taking the tests back to the testing room. I told them stories from afar. They listened with bright eyes, asked thousands of questions and gave me a little insight into their lives… And then I knew. They had no idea it was true! The world as they know it is only a street long…and there’s an ocean at the end, but they can’t swim…Maybe I’ll teach them to build a boat…a raft…anything that would take them further…they deserve to see…
Indeed!
Well said.
Maybe the kid is reading deep literature and needed the dictionary to get through it?
Excellent observations. Loved this part: “The world as they know it is only a street long…and there’s an ocean at the end, but they can’t swim…Maybe I’ll teach them to build a boat…a raft…anything that would take them further…they deserve to see…”
I worry there is so much emphasis on teaching skills like how to read – the kids aren’t discovering the Love and Joy of reading – and the worlds they can explore: places and ideas both!
Good job on this one
Thank you, Phil. I wish I could lend them my eyes…but unfortunately testing and standards are killing the “joy”, so all they have left is a bunch of tired, overworked teachers who must comply with yet another requirement instead of focusing on having a blast with them. Learning is a group activity, more than an individual task…