"I Gotta Dream We Gonna Work it Out Out Out...One Day"

We've been reading some Civil Rights literature lately. A couple of weeks ago we read a children's biography of Martin Luther King Jr. in Spanish. Those moments in my classroom will be imprinted in my mind forever.

As I read about one of the most influential leaders of the Civil Rights Movement and of all time, my bilingual Spanish/English students translated for the rest of the class. We realized we couldn't have done that fifty or sixty years ago. I watched students look at their friends, astonished and appalled that they couldn't have learned alongside each other, much less easily forged a friendship. I watched their eyes turn to me, the realization setting in that I couldn't have been the teacher to all of them.

We spend a lot of time learning academic vocabulary at school - defining words they'll need to know throughout their school career. Segregation. I don't think it's a word they'll soon forget. It wasn't on our list of terms to learn, however the visual representation of the term from our nation's, our world's history, and sadly our present made the definition very clear.

It was one of the few moments in elementary school when everything is completely still, completely silent for a couple of seconds. Goose bumps raised on my arms as I thought about how each child in my class, in my school, in our country, in our world does not get an equal chance...far from it really. Here were 24 kids from various backgrounds starring at me, some with looks of frustration toward the power and corruption that has hurt innocent people, toward inequality, and mostly a sweet, innocent frustration that people have ever thought it acceptable to deny children from being friends based on color, nationality, gender, or faith.

Children are always the hope of the future. Always. Common's Song "I Gotta Dream" is infused with Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech. As each face of the students in my classes passes through my mind this song plays. It's like a beautiful slide show where each student is captured in their purest, most shining moment, the moment when they are exercising their full potential as a person against all odds. One picture has a voice over. The student shouts, "I'm black and white. Don't they get it? We all have the same insides."

No matter their background, these kids have an undeniably exquisite capability to love. Right around the time we were reading about Civil Rights, I shared with my class about some time I spent volunteering in Russia in an orphanage. I teach second grade. My students are only seven and eight years old. They amazed me. They connected to the plight of orphans. They recognized injustice. Many of those kids have enough to worry about with their own lives. They were not dealt a fair hand in life - yet they care about other people. Even my classrooms are only a small fragment of the population, they are encouraging me that more than my generation, they are ready to rise up out of the injustices in their own lives to find freedom for others. Oh the possibility of Heaven on Earth if the kids of today run with that fire in their bellies that screams out against injustice and demands equality and peace. They give me a dream that, "We gonna work it out out out..."

I know the world is not perfect. But, it is not doomed either.

Blissfully Unaware

Second grade is still such a time of self-unawareness and I need to treasure it. In a system that is working to fit much into the day and holding kids to high academic standards (as they should!), sometimes I forget they're kids and they just need to be eight years old!

That being said, as I appreciate their developmental stage, I can't help but laugh! Whether they know it or not, my kiddos give me a good workout everyday! I haven't done crunches since I started teaching...laugh so hard each day I don't need to!


Recent Favorites:

1.A student loudly proclaiming, "I gotta wedgie!!!". None of the kids seem to think it's abnormal. I'm trying not to laugh. Who's the adult now?

2. A student coming back from lunch late and interrupting reading by saying from the door, again, loudly, "I wet myself. Didn't make it to the bathroom in time. Need to go to the nurse for pants. Can I?" Yes, it was that matter-of-fact. Again, I stifled laughter and took care of the issue discretely. I seemed to be the only one who thought this was slightly odd!! Did the other kids not notice?? Or were their thoughts, "Dude, don't worry. Happened to me last week."

3. I sent home a field trip permission slip yesterday. The trip is next month. One student brought his lunch for the field trip today. I think that is still topped by the student who last year chowed down on her lunch on the way to the field trip...on the bus...at 9am....while no one else was eating. :)

4. There has been a recent rash of "I like you" type notes in our classroom. They are ALWAYS written on the corner of a math workbook page and left inconspicuously around the room.

5. After Christmas, a student was particularly intrigued with airport security pat-downs. After he talked about it in the morning, I should have KNOWN he would pat a kid down at lunch. Duh. I'm glad he has our school's safety in the forefront of his mind...

6. On 101 day of school, a student wrote, "If I had 101 dollars I would buy a gnringlfd car, a grninglfd laptop, a gringlfd watch..." I found out that gringlfd = golden. Exchange rate must have changed. 101 dollars is buying a lot!

7. Sitting like a puppy at community circle and licking paws/hands. I don't think I'll ever figure that one out.

8. One student, who's locker I never should have put next to the girls' restroom, seems to have more snow clothing than anyone else. It is such a process. And, his boots almost always end up in the doorway of the girls' restroom. He has no idea. I've started carrying his snow clothes into the room for him to change into. Bless his heart. He's usually distracted and doesn't realize where I've gone for at least a minute.

9. I've figured out that one, usually very quiet and reserved student, has a crush on a girl in our class. He busted his SWAGGER out. Wish I had a video to attach!

10. One little cutie forgot her boots all of last week. She had her giant snow pants and coat...which she wore with her sparkly ballet flats. Guess who had soaked feet? Guess who did the same thing the next day? And the next?

Kids will be kids, right? Gotta love the small things they do.