My Feet Hurt, My Heart Hurts More

I made it through another week! The more weeks that go by the closer I get with each of my students. This week was just as crazy. We have followed a recipe to make puppy chow, practiced reflections through painting, made reflections with are bodies in various dance poses, and enjoyed the latest addition to Miss C's music collection...The soundtrack from Where the Wild Things Are. But don't start smiling yet. Or laughing because you understand how I am. I have also obtained "a look" as the kids tell me ("Shh...Miss C is giving us her look), gotten down at eye level and sternly spoken to a student, and somehow managed to make three girls cry. Trust me it's chaos everyday but I absolutely love it. The students deal with more each night when they go home than I could ever imagine. Another teacher in a different district but similar demographics was yelling at a student of his (8th grade):
"Why don't you care about context clues?! You didn't even do your homework!" Why didn't you do your homework?" said the teacher.

"Cuz I was in jail last night." replied the student.

The teacher got quiet and said, "Oh....so that's why you don't care about context clues."

I overheard a conversation in my room one day of students discussing how much they don't like the police. "I never like it when the police come to my house because..." or "I wish the police would just stay away." I realized that having the police involved in your life has become the norm for some of them. Domestic violence is common. And it has been hard for some students to look at one of their own parents as "the enemy". As I talked to one mother, I listened to her tell her story and at the end I told her to try to have a good day and we will take care of her children. Relief flooded her and with a smile she replied, "I will." You have to understand that I am here to form equal bonds with people and make relationships in a world that puts little value on people. It's not about the poor and the rich, or the fortuneate and unfortuneate. Her story is real, her child's story is real. Sometimes it is hard for me to understand why I get the honor of being in their path to hear their story. Go out and get into someone's story.