Monday, September 20, 2010

Remember: We're Here for the Kids

Happy Monday!  If only we could get everyone as excited about Mondays as they are about Fridays. :)

Last week was a crazy, long, busy, never-ending week.  For EVERYONE.  For me personally, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, administering DIBELS assessments and teaching in 1st Grade classrooms.  I rarely if ever sat down, and at the end of each day I was beyond exhausted.

Now, we all know that I love to run.  And you'll probably get sick of my running comparisons.  But last week, I realized that when I am running, it's just me and the pavement.  Nothing else matters.  It's my moment of peace, my minutes of clarity, my time of solitude.  The whole world seems to melt away, and it's just me and the road ahead.

I feel the exact same way about working with kids.  In all of the craziness that ensued last week, everytime I sat down with a class of students or a single child, all of the chaos disappeared.  Nothing else mattered.  Not my to-do list, not my exhaustion... nothing.  It was just me and the kids.  It was all about the kids.  And that's how it should be.

Sometimes I think we get so wrapped up in what we have to do, that we forget why we are here.  I've been working hard both personally and professionally to BE PRESENT (one of the mottos of the FISH! Philosophy).  Somehow, it's so easy to be present when I'm in the company of a child.  Maybe because children live just that way - They aren't thinking about what they have to do after school, or what they even have to do in thirty minutes - They innocently live in the moment.  If only we could all train our minds to do the same.

So let the background noise melt away, forget about the chaos of your day, and every time you are in the presence of a student, BE PRESENT.  Don't ever forget that we're here for the kids.

Upcoming Dates to Remember
-September 21st:  4th Grade On-Demand Writing Task
-September 23rd:  Curriculum Night 6:00pm-7:30pm
-October 1st:  Transportation Day
-October 22nd-28th:  1st Quarter Testing Window

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