Sometimes I feel like the Duggars. You know, that super huge family on TLC that keeps having children, just happy with whatever they get. I am kind of like that except these are not my natural children, but "my kids," those students I adopt every year since they are part of my classroom. And just like a proud parent, I welcome them all, ever searching for their strengths, acknowledging their weaknesses and going through life together; one day at a time.
You see, that is what teachers do. Those kids become our kids, or at least they do for me. And so today when I got wind that an old student of mine was coming back and was being placed in the other 5th grade room, I asked for him in my room. I am in a position this year where I teach a 4/5 combination class and therefore have quite a few of my old students. He therefore belongs with me, someone who already knows his strengths and also what he needs help with the most. More importantly in this situation, stability will aslo be a great benefit. So although my class keeps expanding, so does my hopes for it. Yes, one more student means more work, but it also means more learning opportunities, more friendships, more successes, and more happiness. So when I waddle my kids down the hallway and I look back at them, we look like the never ending line of students and that is alright with me.
And yet, I wouldn't trade my kids for anything, not even a smaller class size or an "easier" day. As our class sizes grow (I may be getting another student as well), I hope that my kids are not taken away from me. Even though we have only spent a week together, I am connecting and connected. I want these students to trust me, trust each other, and trust themselves. I want them to know that we are on a journey together and that none of them are expandable.
So while some teachers may joke that they are going to retire as class sizes increase or lament the prep time they just lost because they had to help with a student, me; I don't mind it. It means that I am with my students, helping them learn, which is, after all, my job. The joke in my family is that I am like the Statue of Liberty sometimes, always beckoning lost souls to enter and find a home. And perhaps it is true, maybe I do connect well with students, maybe I just happen to catch them at just the right time in their life. Whatever the reason or circumstance; something clicks and more often than not, we become a family. I believe in all of the kids I am trusted with and I believe more importantly theat they have tremendous potential, whether they want to believe it or not. So go ahead, send me another student or two. I promise to work hard to make them feel like one of my kids, to make them learn, to make them grow. Because that is what teachers do.
