When I have students in my middle school classroom, I love looking at them and imagining two things:
- What they were like as a baby in their parents’ arms, and
- Who they will become as adults
It makes me invest in them, deeply. It helps me understand their parents, and it motivates me to treat them like someone’s everything.
Yesterday, I saw on social media, I (we) had lost a former student. She was a bright and spunky young lady with loads of personality.
The first week of class, 7th grade, she had been testing the limits, and I decided to ditch the angry yelling, and I told her what I saw, 1:1, in the hallway: “You are so smart. You are so special – did you know I think you will be one of my best students? But don’t be sassy to me, you are too smart. It’ll hurt you”. Over the next two years she and I had a really great relationship and learning experience, and later on, when I was doing discipline, it shifted, but she knew I had high hopes.
And, I’m sad. For her family, her friends, and for the hopes I had for her. I am thankful for the lesson she taught me about investing in kids, and being upfront with my hopes and expectations for them.
As teachers, we have hundreds of pieces of our hearts out there in the world. Little investments- hoping for the best for each child-and sadness when things don’t go as we hoped. It leads to so much joy in their accomplishments, but it also opens us up to a very real pain when they lose a loved one, end up in tough situations, or, we tragically lose them.
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