the little ones came to school
most for the first time ever
filling our room with emotion and energy
a few minutes into our day
one had me write
an urgent note to her mom
that read:
“bring the car!”
we’re all tired and mostly all happy
tomorrow we begin again.
—
“be willing to be a beginner every single morning.”
-meister eckhart
“when you really pay attention, everything is your teacher.”
-ezra bayda
—
sugarbush park, ann arbor, mi, usa – summer 2022
“there is nothing wrong with loving the crap out of everything.
negative people find their walls.
so never apologize for your enthusiasm.
never.ever.ever.
-ryan adams
may you all live like this forever. and ever. and ever.
love, your teacher
(who lives like this too)
heading out on a rainy day
to explore, discover things, and learn
in the much larger classroom of the universe.
—
“the universe is a great university.”
-sai baba
not my class or horse, but a tiny bit similar if you squint your eyes.
the quote below perfectly sums up my vocation.
—
“if you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. that’s a heck of a day.
you do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.”
-jim valvano
—
weareteachers.com (1950s vintage)
on the first of three days
of parent-teacher conferences
at the end of just our second family meeting
one of us
(names are unimportant)
closed the conference
with a friendly goodbye –
“have a great weekend!”
only to
glance up
noticing
it was actually
tuesday at 10:02am.
almost there….
—
“begin with the end in mind.”
-stephen covey
—
i’m ready for you, kinder!
—
art credit: gary larson, the far side
have you ever touched a rainbow?
it’s pure magic.
“and as he spoke of understanding,
i looked up and saw the rainbow leap with flames of many colors over me.”
-Black Elk
i will never forget
it was a friday
show and tell time
sitting on the floor
they took turns going around our circle
each child sharing their special thing
other children kindly looking at it
showing appreciation for what the others shared
then we came to n
who clearly had forgotten to bring something
yet said “i have something too”
he proudly walked around the circle
both hands together
gently cradling a single crumb
that he had picked up off our floor
showing each child
talking about his crumb
as the others
were all so kind
smiling at his crumb
complimenting him on his crumb
accepting the crumb as his special thing
without judging his crumb
my favorite show and tell special thing of all time.
—
“the wise learn from the experience of others, and the creative know how to make a crumb of experience go a long way.”
-eric hoffer
so happy to be celebrating
*Love Makes the World Go Round;
But, Laughter Keeps Us From Getting Dizzy Week: 8-14
i feel lucky to have a job that keeps me laughing.
who else gets to say/respond to such great things at work?
–
“you need to have pants on.”
“try not to touch every person in the room”
“i know you washed your hands this morning, but it is afternoon now.”
“fish don’t really like to be hugged.”
“try to bend your legs to sit on the sled, that is called making them stiff and that is different, try to bend…..”
“did you call me grandpa?”
“it’s important to have both shoes.”
“before we start we all have to promise not to cry if we don’t get to the candy castle first.”
“behind you is that way.”
“why did she call you beth?”
“if you put that in your nose, it might not come out.”
“your snowpants are backwards, let’s see if i can help you fix that.”
“you want to be called something new?”
“i’m pretty sure these are your boots because your parents put them in your bag and they have your name on them.”
“your mom is having a baby but you’re not supposed to tell anyone yet?”
“i’m not sure that ranch dressing is good to drink.”
—
each day is the best day ever.
never a day goes by without a laugh or ten.
—
image credit: puffin puff pastry, google images
I didn't have my glasses on.... 