My why is the three year old in my classroom who embraces me everyday and looks up at me with big brown eyes. He lives with his single mom who has her own story, a story that I decide to meet with love instead of judgment.
Throughout the school year he bounces from one couch to another and is classified as homeless, but his mom makes sure he’s at school everyday. He looks at me with big, sleepy brown eyes after waking up from naptime, the best sleep he gets. “Melton, did you put some food in there for my mama?”
I pack a bag of food every afternoon so I know he has something in the evenings. Of course buddy I say as I smile at him, give him a hug and zip up his bag.
My why is the curly headed four year old in my classroom who challenges me everyday. He’s strong willed and stubborn. He often acts out and has angry outbursts. He’s the youngest of four with his older sister only being 9 months older, practically twins. His single mom works hard to do better for herself and her kids.
By the time I have the opportunity to be his teacher, I know the importance of meeting attention, getting outbursts with love and open arms instead of frustration. And that’s exactly what I do, little by little he softens, he learns it’s easier to ask for a hug or space than to get angry.
I have the incredible opportunity to teach him two years in a row. I see the immense changes from the previous year and know this year is another opportunity to cover him with love and affirmation.
My why is the five year old placed in my class mid-semester, she was removed from her caregiver in an emergency CPS case and placed with another family member who she has no prior relationship with due to them being in jail. “We know your class is full, but you have the trauma knowledge and background, we need you to be her teacher.”
I smile and welcome her in, not fully aware yet of the way she would change my life. She struggled to know how to function in a classroom environment and I had 22 other students that still needed to learn. Sometimes that meant holding her during a story or holding her while teaching the lesson.
She affectionately became known as Sweet T. All she needed was to know that while there may not be a safe place in her life, my classroom was a safe place, a place she could take a nap if she needed, or a place she knew she’d get to eat at, a place of stability and love.
After a while I was greeted in the halls with a big smile and hug, it was no longer a fight to get her off the bus or have her sit on the carpet during circle time. Just a little time, love, and care. She wasn’t in my class long before she moved schools for the remainder of the year. But, I’ve heard when she returned to the school I taught at the next year, she still asked for me, so maybe I left a little impact on her life, like she did on mine.
These are just three of my “whys”, the three prominent little humans that forever changed me, that shaped me, and opened my eyes to the need for so much more in our classrooms.
They are the reason I share about mental wellness. Why I’m writing books about identifying emotions.
They are why I believe in my soul that if we take the time to build solid relationships with students and recognize them for where they are, we have the unique opportunity to help grow their social emotional skills and regulation.
