What I’m Here For
Everyone
knows that a teacher’s life isn’t easy. There are endless lessons to plans,
papers to grade, standards to meet, and students to reach. Even in Haiti,
separated from mainstream education systems, these things can be exhausting.
These past two weeks though, I’ve gotten many reminders as to my purpose of
being here this year.
My
class and I have sort of an agreement. We can have fun and run things
differently as long as we are safe, respectful, and learning. This works out
well for us usually and allows for our small class bond to grow. I started to
feel though, that maybe we were too close and that they were too clingy. It
started with read aloud time where I just read through a fun novel. Instead of
sitting at their seats, I allow them to sit on the floor or in the coveted
comfy chairs. Now, most of my students want to be right up next to me or at my
feet within reach. At snack/ first recess time, they want to spend it inside
with me. At lunch, it’s a race to see who will ask me to sit with them first.
Then recess comes and they still want
to sit and talk with me. (Note: this is not every day and every time, they
still play with their friends, but it is a very common occurrence). It was to
the point where all my food/recess/break time that I use for prep was taken up
each day.
The
teacher in me would groan. Didn’t they realize I had work to do, copies to
make, lessons to plan? All the work that comes with giving them their education? Then I felt a nudge from God
reminding me why I am here and why I ever wanted to be a teacher in the first
place. I’m here for the relationships. I’m here for the hugs, the laughs, the
drying of tears, the lunch table discussions. I’m here for the hand-in-hand
walk down sidewalk in the mornings, for the “Miss Kacie, did you know”s, the
never-ending stories, and lame fourth grade jokes. I want them to confide in me
when they are frustrated with more than a math problem and trust me to know
their fears and life questions. I want them to see how I live my life and think
that maybe they want to follow my Jesus too.
After
this reminder, I found a lot more joy in my days and a lot less exhaustion. I
am still definitely tired, but it’s that good fulfilled, satisfied tired. I
enjoy sitting with them and taking part in their conversations. While some days
the conversations are wacky, others bring a lot of nine-year-old wisdom. No
matter what the case, our time is now being cherished a whole lot more and I
look forward to what the rest of the year will bring to me and my clingy class.
