Sunday, November 20, 2016

The Thing About Stories

The thing about stories is that they have so much value!  They take their readers to places they have never experienced in the world and in themselves.  They provide comfort and inspire curiosity to those who devour the content of their pages.  They teach empathy and understanding. They have the power to fuel your soul.  

The thing about stories for me though, is until about 10 years ago, I never read them.  Ever.

I would read, but I would stick to things like school assignments, directions, and Facebook posts.  The idea of picking up a book to fuel my soul?  Well, that just was't happening.

See the things about stories is they tell as much about the reader as they do the characters that live in them.  And as a reader, my story had not been good.  

When I was in kindergarten, I was identified as "gifted" . I didn't know what this meant, other than I got to go on a field trip to learn about musical instruments from around the world and I thought that was pretty cool.

In second grade, it turns out, I was no longer "gifted".  I didn't know this until my field trip buddies went without me to learn about Oobleck and I thought that would have been pretty cool.  

By fourth grade I was identified as dyslexic and placed into the resource room.  I would find myself in remedial English classes for the rest of my educational career.  My field trip buddies kept learning things that were pretty cool and I kept learning how to decode the word because

So while I always knew that reading was valuable and that it brought so much joy to so many children and adults, for me it was just another reminder that I wasn't like everyone else.  That I wasn't the student they thought I was going to be.

So I stopped trying to find the pleasure in reading and I put down the stories.

Until one day, when I first started teaching and I picked up Phillip Done's 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny and I didn't put it down.

I was able to see myself so clearly in the stories he told.  I found comfort in his struggles and hope in his accomplishments.  His writing was honest.  And it was easy to read.

There is a misconception in education that in order for a story to be meaningful it needs to be complicated and deep.  Done's book provided me with greater meaning than anything I would have been able to synthesize from Shakespeare or Hemingway.  I found acceptance and a story that was able to fuel my soul.  

As a teacher, I work hard to empower my students to pick up books and find stories that are meaningful to them.  I stock my bookshelves with all types of stories.  Some that I love, like Frindle and A Chair for My Mother.  Some that they love, like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants.  All are meaningful.  All are valued.   

I hope that all my students love books, but I know this is not true.  So I also work hard to show my reluctant readers empathy and support when they feel forced to put stories down. It is not easy to watch them pull away, but I don't lose hope.  I know, that if we create an environment that is safe and values all stories, that one day they will pick them back up.   

See the thing about stories is they are not for everyone all the time. But, when you need one, and it's the right one, it can change your life.  Thank you Phillip Done for changing mine.              

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Finding My Voice Among The Crickets

A dear friend of mine has this wonderful way of describing awkward silence in just two words:

Crickets...Crickets.

To me it so adequately explains that empty space that hangs at the end of a question and is filled with nothing.  That space that you know should be filled with something, but isn't. There's just nothing...except the sound of crickets.

We are not talking about that silent, peaceful moment at the start of a school day before the kids arrive, or the comfortable silence that my husband and I enjoy at the end of the day. We are talking about when I point-blank ask a student if they are buying lunch today and they just stare at me:

Crickets...Crickets.

And that is exactly the space I find myself in now.

A few weeks ago I declared to my principal that I was going to start blogging because I had something to say.  Something important. Something worth sharing! 

My principal was thrilled! He gushed and he encouraged. He said all the right things. And then he asked the inevitable question:

So what do you want to say?

Crickets...Crickets.

So maybe I jumped the gun here.  I don't know what I want to say, but I know it's in there.  I can feel it.  

It's the same feeling I get at the beginning of something - the beginning of a relationship, the beginning of a school year, the beginning of summer vacation!  It's the feeling I have at the beginning of Star Wars! When those first few notes play, my heart dances with anticipation and excitement.  It's that feeling that something great is going to happen. 

That is how I feel right now.  The crickets maybe chirping, but I know this is the beginning of something great.  

I'm just not sure what that something is yet.