Teachers, we have the power to extend that love. Our faces can show joy or disapproval embracing acceptance or rejecting disdain. It IS our job to love our students. If they don't feel it, how can they be free to try? More importantly, how can they be free to fail? So much is expected and society forgets that these are babies. Really.
To those of you that impact the lives of children who have secure homes and loving families, you also have tremendous power to extend love.
And what about us, the "trained professionals"? Yes, I believe we are also looking for love, acceptance, and significance. We cultivate a culture of love in our classrooms that, through time, is reciprocated by our students. We crave the acceptance of our peers and that truly collaborative relationship that extends beyond the school day. And finally, didn't we go into teaching to find significance--to make a difference in the lives of others?
I have had the privilege and blessing of finding theses things at an inner city school. I have made friends for a lifetime, with bonds forged in the fiery furnace of shared trials. I have helped students to achieve more than they (and their parents) dreamed possible. I have also found love in pint-sized packages.
One little girl who had experienced more trauma in her five years than most have in a lifetime put this in perspective for me. After weeks a withdrawal, skirting the classroom, refusing to join the group, she came up to me, took my face in her hands, and stared at me with huge eyes in a pinched face. Finally she said, "Mrs. Fallin, you eyes is blue." "Yes, Baby, my eyes are blue," I said. "Mrs. Fallin, you eyes say love."
Ah, yes, we're all looking for love.
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