stuckbetweenStations.

Why we do what we do; Why I am what I am

Seven small days ago, I was worn out. At my end, & faced with, figuratively speaking, mountains which felt immovable and a survival instinct nearly extinct. There is redemption in the low only in that you know it’s got to have a complementary high. And here we are, at the end of a week much different than the last. Where I love this job despite flaws & accept every inch of this position & the children it services.

We are working within a system that is broken. Often, it becomes difficult to hold on to what is good about teaching when what is bad blankets every inch of our society. What is good, though-what is not broken, and what can still be salvaged, are the children.

So I forced the high to come. I planned activities that exposed & showed the true nature of those I teach. Who they are, who they’ve been, and who they want to be. The strongest of such assignments is the poem posted below. Their words are true. Their poems are extraordinary.

Below are two parent e-mails. Responses from sending a homework assignment which required the child to read the poem to the parent & talk through the memories it contained. I post them now to remember, always, that I am about the children. They are not broken. Not yet.

I believe so much in what I do. But that belief isn’t enough to get me through days like last Friday, when it all feels wrong and impossible. Perhaps posting the positive will help anchor me to what matters most.

Ms Solesbee,

I just wanted to tell you that I read my son’s poem yesterday  and I want
to ask you one thing…

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY CHILD ?  He hated to read or write and now you
have him  writing poetry ! !

You have taken him to a point that I NEVER thought any teacher would be
able to in school!

Oh!  and I LOVED his poem it really expressed who he is as a person and
who we are as a family.

You are truly a gifted teacher. ‑ THANK YOU .

-Mom #1

Hello and good morning!!
Oh my! I can’t even begin to express the pride, love and admiration I had as my son read his rough draft to us last night.
He stood in the kitchen choking on his words,
 tears streaming down his cheeks as he lovingly read his words aloud,
waiting for the impact of the words so carefully placed on paper knowing that they would forever be imprinted on our hearts.
Thank you for caring so deeply about your students and their families. Sharing  their success and trials with them, being there as they continue on the journey that will make them life long lovers of language.
Thank you for all you do and all that you are!!
Have a wonderful day!

-Mom #2

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