Through Fresh (and Tired) Eyes
Back in 2013, I started a blog, with an amateur attempt at being punny, titled "Hardwyered to Learn". I was three years into the teaching profession, newly wed, with all the time in the world to experiment with lesson plans, recipes, and new TV shows. The blog's inception was brought on when the 7th grade teachers at my middle school were told we were beginning a blended learning pilot. So long were the cutesy worksheets and fun fonts that I envisioned teaching to be, and hello to a growing new vision for what a classroom could look like. I used my blog as an outlet to share what was working, and what needed to be revisited. It pushed me to try new things and reflect. Some days, I still look back at the blog with nostalgia and pride about the lessons learned, and the risks taken, even if I cringe a little at the title.
Fast forward eight years, three kids, two new schools, and one pandemic later, and I am in the same boat of rediscovering a new landscape of education. I have less time and more caffeine, but a revival felt necessary.
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Life is a funny thing, because once you think you have it all figured out, a curveball is thrown your way to present a new perspective. For me, one of these biggest perspective changing moments has been becoming a mother. I am a mama to three boys, Henry, Grady, and Connor. My three boys hold vastly different personalities, with such different strengths and interests. As they are on the brink of embarking on another school year, one being the big kindergarten year, I am again reminded of the clarity and realization of my role as an educator. That every child is unique. They do not fit in a box. They should not fit in a box. And it is my duty to make sure I provide room for each child to fill their potential, not a prescribed potential.
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| ©Kristen Nicole Photography |
Henry is six. He is highly intelligent, and he taught himself to read after learning letter sounds. He memorized state capitals, and he can remember things for me when my mom brain freezes. His smile lights up a room, and he wants everyone to feel happiness even if it means sacrificing something he wants. He likes order and routine, and he dances and moves like his mother... awkwardly. His engineering and problem solving skills give him confidence and pride. He can't handwrite...yet.
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Grady is 4 and a half. His imagination knows no bounds. His quick wit and creativity inspire me to jump into his colorful world. His agility and speed runs circles around me, especially when he has something he knows he shouldn't have and wants me to **try** to get it from him. He draws and colors characters with extreme detail. He notices and picks up on every gesture, movement, and inflection of voice in every show, movie, or real life scenario he is a part of. He cannot identify letters...yet.
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Connor is 8 months. We are still learning about him every day. He is observant, and he goes with the flow. He is curious and explorative to the world around him. He wants to touch, grab, and discover every new item that comes in reach. He loves new places and new scenery. He is intuitively curious, and his world is for his to figure out...in his time.
Every parent could write the same synopsis for their child. These are are mine. They all hold their special talents, and they each have their individual struggles. The struggles that can sometimes land them in a category where they feel "less than". With the growing pressures that educators are faced with on a daily basis, we feel pressed to get hung up on turning the struggles into the priority thus adding to the frustrations. When we begin to put the talents at the forefront, the confidence grows, and the struggles become less daunting.
As we enter into this next school year. Filled with questions and worries...still. We must continue to focus on the child. The child with a unique potential, one that we must handle with care. As my oldest enters kindergarten, the mama in me naturally worries about how the world accepts him. And my forever hope is that each of my boys are welcomed by their strengths, and find resilience through their struggles, but mostly, that they are loved at each step of the journey.
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