yesterday, my post was a note from a former student
with a list of her top 5 things
that I had taught her
while in my class
way back when she was little.
we had a multi-age pre-k room
so children stayed with us for two years
we saw a lot of
growth and change in them
over that span of time.
she was always
very responsible
a rule follower
she learned to open her mind
to new ideas, to use her imagination
we made fairy houses together
she created art and wrote stories.
in contrast
another student
told me
that he had tried for two years
to teach me something
that i never seemed to really learn
he loved facts and non-fiction books
in the spring of both years
when we’d go out into the woods
on adventures in nature
looking under green sprouts and budding trees
i was always looking for the fairies
while he was always trying to teach me
that fairies weren’t real
because ‘they were not science.’
he did teach me a lot about science
but I just never learned
no matter how many times he tried to tell me
about the fairies
I always said
‘it depends on what you believe,
whatever you want to believe is true to you.’
he would just shake his head.
but every so often
I would see him
peeking under the budding stems and leaves
(where they might be hiding)
or blowing the dandelion seeds
(to spread the new fairy babies)
and just maybe….
—
‘only the curious have something to find.’
-sean watkins
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Where would we be without imagination, Beth
“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” ~ Albert Einstein
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Right
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So sweet, Beth! 💜
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❤️
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Yep, imagination is very important and a curious mind
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Yes, both are important
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Glad you agree!
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We have all blown the dandelions, and searched hopefully. Part of the process of growing.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Right
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whatever you want to believe is true to you…
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Yes
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Bravo to all the types who you got to experience in class, Beth.
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I’m a fan of both science and imagination, there’s always room for both, and we all learn from each other
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How awesome 👏🏼
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❤️
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🥰🥰🥰
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I don’t think science and fairies are mutually exclusive.
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One of the scariest things that imprinted on my brain as a kid was a space vampire on the “Buck Rogers” TV show.
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Ah – funny what sticks
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Agree
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I was once in a writer’s group which got into an argument about the “rules” of being a vampire, dividing between people who had read too much Anne Rice and those who made allowances for personal metaphors.
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So funny
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It must’ve been interesting to see the variety in thoughts and approaches to life and learning in your young students and to see how they bloom and blossom during their time with you.
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Yes, I love it all
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I say there are “fiction” people and “nonfiction” people, defined in my “line of work” as those who love poetry and those who don’t. Sometimes I find ones who combine those traits, and I treasure them.
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I like how you put this
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I am with you… there has to be something a little mysterious, something that we simply have to believe. I get science, I teach it, but I often wonder is there something behind it all…. I mean, how can a universe exist without something mysterious… faith, belief, wonder… thank you Beth. Faith and wonder, the age old question. I am with wonder.
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I’m in for all of it –
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I’ve posted quite a few stories about fairies over the years, and whenever I’m writing I get this strange feeling that one of them is looking over my shoulder!
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You are probably right!)
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Sweet 🥰
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This post just sparkles with curiousity and possibility. I love it!
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That would be my 6-year-old grandson, trying to teach me facts. But he is also artsy and creative. Your experience with this student shows me that you both learned.
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I love this so much…
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Seems to me that complete understanding requires both science and fairies.
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absolutely –
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The wonder of children. It’s what makes teaching so interesting because people are wired differently through a combination of nature and nurture.
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that’s right –
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we all have our little blind spots, Beth —
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that we do –
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I wonder where he is today. What a mind for such a small one.
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he is not far away, just a few grades ahead. I’ll see him if I stop by school and we can chat –
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If it wasn’t for science, we wouldn’t have fairies…or is it the other way around. :) Chris
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chicken and the egg….
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Oh, I’m so there with you outdoors, balancing fairies and science, and realizing both are true to what you believe. Wonderful, Beth!
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❤️
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