Saturday, November 20, 2010

I Could...

...write a happy post, or a seasonal post, a ranting post or a raving post; but what is on my mind is a sad post, an all too real post for many public school teachers in urban classrooms. Last week a kindergartner sat on the 'story chair' and was heralded with a sweet rendition of 'Happy Birthday To You' by his classmates. The song ended and the teacher asked the new six year old if he would be doing anything special on his birthday. His eyes opened wide, he smiled and said "Yes! We are going to see my dad in his new jail. We won't be able to touch him though, there will be a thick glass window between him and us. But we will get to see him and he can watch us play at the jail for two hours."

As I become a veteran teacher I may cry less, but I care as passionately as when I was 25. Between 9 and 3 everyday there are teachers in classrooms showing compassion by providing a listening ear, predictable daily routines and high expectations. And this week I have gone to bed wondering what more can be done.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, that is so sad:( To think that he was so exited about this and to share the news with the class. Just another instance to let our kids know how good a life some of them have. Lisa

Anonymous said...

Sure is a sad one and to think there are so many children all over in this type of situations. I hope he has a good mother and I'm sure he loves you and his friends at school .

Mom

Anonymous said...

This is a heart-tugger...but we need to be reminded of our roles in the lives of these vulnerable young beings.

Teresa said...

This week in my church prayer group one of the questions was: "Where do you see Jesus' compassion?" We pondered that one for quite a while.
Someone else in our group, who works with the homeless, expressed frustration and sometimes anger that Christ didn't just come down and do a quick fix for the helpless and perpetually downtrodden people she sees in her work. I could relate. Then someone else said that maybe it is the the Christ in each of us that needs to do the work of compassion. That's a response I can live with but I sure do wish more people would 'step up to the plate' and show their compassion to the less fortunate.

Geri said...

Yes, it is so sad, but so glad that he can be happy about something. We just came from the movie "Conviction". Very good. The man's sister became a lawyer for him and it took 18 years to free him. Meanwhile his 18 yr old girl never knew him till later. Six months later he fell and died. So- yes, you are right, we need to let Jesus shine through us. This is the only day we have.

Barbara said...

Over the years the stories about the children I teach has changed a lot...I have a hard time with the lack of family unity..."I was at my mom's last night, but tonight I will be at my dads..." We are asking 4 and 5 year olds to decide were their loyalty lies on a daily basis sometimes...Maybe it is getting time for this old lady to retire...then one of them calls me Grandma and I know that whatever Part in their lives that I play it is important on a daily basis too..
I guess we just keep on doing the best that we can to love them.

Mrs4444 said...

The blessing is that he knows nothing different, for a while, anyway. Sad...