Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Parent-teacher gardens

I've learned in all of my classes that the parents can affect the child's school performance by encouraging reading and holding their children accountable for their behavior. But I learned yesterday from one of the French teachers that kids like to have their "petit jardin," or their own garden at school, that they alone are cultivating. That may be why a parent who asks their first grader, "What did you do at school today?" gets the corresponding response, "Nothing." It's the child's own garden to protect, maintain, and produce. Letting other people in is hard for them.

I don't know what is better, over or under-involvement as parents. Parents who want to be let in on their children's conferences via video chat from Australia or divorced parents who don't want the other parent to meet with their child's teachers and see their school reports. Parents who haven't slept in days, parents who meet with every psychologist possible to figure out what their child needs to stay in a bilingual environment, or parents who don't know the same kid at home that the kid's teacher know at school.

I always reflect on my own experiences, wondering what I was like in first grade and what my parents heard at parent-teacher conferences. I like to think that I was doing well, reading and writing, paying attention in class, no behavioral issues. I don't remember my parents telling me otherwise, but I do remember anxiously waiting for them to arrive home from conferences so that I could hear what they had to say.

So, my question and challenge as a teacher is this: what do I want to cultivate in children's gardens, that they can learn to take autonomy over as I gradually release the responsibility? and how can I get them so excited about it that they want to go home and share what they've planted and grown with their families?

Monday, March 8, 2010

Emotional Creature

I have to steal my friend Emily's byline on this one, I feel things pretty deeply. I don't know if it's how women are made, as Eve Ensler likes to think, or if it's just me, Meg Garner, Gem Renrag, Miss Gardner.

I feel when I am walking from place to place- feeling things about the city.
I feel when I am touched by one of my kids, in particular the one who likes to think he is a cat and purrs against me five times a day.
I feel when I hear from people's voices and can connect over the phone, even though we aren't in the same place.
I feel when one of my classmates experiences a potentially threatening situation.
I feel when I experience something that moves me- a song, a story, a movie, that I have a personal connection to.
I feel when I'm studying about ideas or situations that I care about or want to reform.
I feel when I'm artistic or creative in some way- it might even be swashing the green paint over egg carton caterpillars.
I feel when I think about Africa and the people there.
I feel when God does something, shows me in some way, that I'm valuable, that He loves me.

I feel when I'm hungry, tired, anxious, depressed, over/under-caffeinated, awake, hungover, elated, vulnerable- in community, by myself.
I feel almost every moment of every day- even though my feelings aren't always founded in reason, they seem logical enough for me to feel them. They don't want to be ignored, suppressed, or belittled.