In my twenty years of teaching, I’ve taken lots of pictures. But the best ones are inside my head, where I can review them whenever I need inspiration or a really good laugh. (*Kids’ names are changed.)
On the last day, Casey comes out the bus doors and schwicks to me like a magnet. She wraps her skinny arms around my waist, her legs around my leg, and buries her face into my stomach. “Casey, honey, you have to get on the bus. I love you, too. Now, sweetie, let go.”
“NOOOOO! I don’t WANT to go to SECOND GRADE!” she wails. “I want you to be my teacher FOOOOR EEEEEVER!”
Click.
Me: “Okay, when you want to add a suffix to a word with a common vowel sound, you have to double the consonant.” Kids watch very seriously as I write on the whiteboard. “See, like at the end of swim. I have to put two m’s for swimming. Okay? And if I want to change clap. I have to double the consonant. So, when I change it to clapped, I can’t forget THE PP. Got it? Don’t forget THE PP. That’s very important.”
Five years later… Katelyn: “Hey, Mrs. Hall, don’t forget THE PP. Ha!”
Click.
In the hallway with Brian. “What’s wrong, buddy? You’re so sad today. What can I do, huh?”
Brian pulls me to the ground, climbs in my lap, encircles my neck with his arm and pulls me very close. “They don’t want me. My mom’s gonna live with her boyfriend from the computer and my dad is gonna stay home and they don’t want me. They were fighting over who had to keep me. She says her boyfriend doesn’t like kids and he says my face will make him think of her dumb face. They don’t want me. Can I come live with you?”
Click.
Me: “Ladies and gentlemen, I was so impressed at that assembly. I watched kids MUCH OLDER than you who were being disrespectful and rude. YOU kept your hands to yourselves, your eyes on the speaker and your lips zipped, unless the guy was funny, which he really was. I was so proud of you. I feel like, uh oh, it’s coming, there’s nothing I can do…” (I climb on top of my teacher table) “DANCE OF JOY!” (I dance with ridiculous arm flailing, leg kicking, and booty shaking.)
Click.
Me: “Okay, does anyone know the story of these underwear on the floor? No, seriously, these underwear right here by my table. Anybody? Is everyone still wearing underwear? Just do a little check. Anyone? Hhmmm. I wonder why these underwear decided to come to OUR classroom after they grew legs…”
Click.
I’m at my teacher table with a small group. Hayden puts his hand on my shoulder, waiting for my attention. When I turn to talk to him, he absentmindedly rubs his hand up and down my arm. Just petting me with love. He has told me that, when he becomes a professional baseball player, he will buy me a lime green convertible VW bug. What a great kid.
Click.
Crystal is crying her eyes out, because someone said her shirt was too short. Me: “Now, we’ve discussed this. You only get a certain amount of tears in your life. Are you SURE this is worth it? You may need those later in life when you find out your 2nd grade teacher has been moved to a nursing home. Don’t you want to save those tears?”
Crystal wipes her face on her sleeve, takes a deep breath and says, “Yes. I will need them for that. Thank you.”
Click.
Me: (finishing up directions for writing workshop) “Okay, peeps, a-one, a-two, a-you know what to do! Write!” Alexis comes straight to me and looks at me with sparkling eyes and an open face. “Yes, ma’am, how can I help you?” I ask.
Alexis squeezes my middle until I think I’ll burst. “I just needed to hug you some more. I’m good now.”
Click.
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