"I'm going to miss you."
---The voice came from my laptop, the screen of which was filled with the big eyes of a beautiful boy from Kenya, one of my Grade 4 Extended School Year students.
"Miss, you are such nice teacher."
---That voice also came from my laptop, the screen of which was filled with the beautiful face of a Pakistani child new to our country, one of my Grade 7 Summer Destination students.
"This is just not enough time with you. I look forward to it every day and then when you are here it goes too fast."
---Laptop again relaying the message of an ESL child with whom I was blessed to share my summer months using math and Language Arts as our excuse to form a relationship.
Why do I share this with you? Because quite simply and honestly these moments illustrate how the angst of our hearts can be quelled by the sentiments of beautiful children who are anything but unaffected by our on-screen demeanor. This is validation. This is what we all need to know and keep in mind as we head into the new school year, parts of which will be spent behind a mask, and the other parts behind a keyboard.
Teachers are a unique breed of people who define their professional lives by the touch and feel and emotion of relationship. As the school year begins, we will soon head into a new dimension of our work where the touch and proximity with which we relate to our students will be monitored and/or completely denied. Think about it, even doctors who by their nature spend intimate time with patients, are only with them for a short period of time.
But teachers?
No, not us.
We sign up for 181 days, sight unseen. We adopt a roster which includes the names of people whom we do not know, but yet commit to love and cherish for the upcoming school-year and beyond.
So don't be fooled!
Be inspired!
This year, though unlike any other, is calling you to be the same as always, in a different way.
- Be the same lover of children, the one who just can't get enough of being around them.
- Be the same sweet, kind, caring person to whom your students know they can turn.
- Be the same smile, the same voice of reason and compassion and the same passionate planter of seeds, whether academic, social or emotional.
I believe we can create in our students the same level of love and relationship regardless of the guidelines that will dictate HOW we do so. We've Got This!!!
