Growing Up and Learning

Sometimes, it's easy to forget these students are just nine-year-olds when they're able to tell you in detail how to navigate through a video game...relate closely with the characters in the books they're reading...hold a conversation with an adult for more than five minutes...work independently and successfully...or manage being a student-athlete, student-musician, or student-student (outside classes like Vietnamese school, etc.).

Then there are days when they show their naïveté about life and need lessons on...
...getting along with each other
...developing sensitivity and compassion to different people's needs
...understanding that people will hurt your feelings purposefully OR accidentally and knowing how to discern between the two (and more importantly, how NOT to let it affect you)
...knowing when lying is bad and "good" (i.e., not telling strangers you're home alone)
...remembering the "road to perfection" is fraught with trials and tribulations as well as...
...perfection in itself is not the sweetest part; the journey is what made it delightful
...remaining in control of your actions
...never losing the "big picture"
...and the list can go on.

Those are the moments, as a teacher, you truly realize the capacity and responsibility of your position...as well as the challenge of having about 180 school days to "accomplish" all of the above (and then some).

So, THANK YOU for working with your children and teaching and reinforcing the essentials and preciousness of life: people, time, resources, etc.

And that we're ALL on the same planet, living in the same continent/nation/state/city/ community/neighborhood, so we need to learn how to co-exist, or get along.

Though it can take a lifetime, it's an important life lesson to learn.

Have an enjoyable weekend with your loved ones.

"A candle loses nothing of its light by lighting another candle."  - unknown