My best friend is a brand
new fifth grade math and science teacher.
We make it a point to get together
once or twice a week to walk and talk, although with her schedule and stress
about being a newbie, it's been a little bit more important for her to prioritize
family. I get it! However, our walk n' talks are important too.
As a new
teacher she looks at her students grades for signs of how well she is doing. How they behave in her classroom and how they
do on tests is one way for her to give herself feedback and judge whether or
not she's finding creative and fun ways to make the stuff she's trying to teach
stick. Again, I get it.
During our walks we talk about her progress, the test
results of her students and discipline issues. And as a mom that is not a teacher,
I can't help but always bring it back to the kids. Together we explore the
person behind teachers, students and parents. It's good for us.
I was with my
friend when she decided she wanted to become a teacher, was with her while she
visited counselors and experimented with psychopharmaceutical meds for herself and her boys, was
with her when she went to school and insisted on remembering the plight of the
student.
It was her Teaching Philosophy that inspired the writing of my
Parenting Philosophy.
She insists on remembering the person behind the student
but struggles because of the person behind her teaching. We remember during our
walks that it isn't us against them. But it is us who sometimes has to remind them.
It's
our job to advocate for ourselves and for our children. We will do a better
job, I believe, if we always remember the person behind the label. All the labels!
Hugs, smiles, and love!!
My Parenting Philosophy
My children are the four most important people
in my world. I will always observe, listen and ask questions so that I can know
them as completely as any outsider could. However, it is important to remember
that I will always be an outsider. It's important to remember this so that I
don't make the mistake of assuming. Assuming I know what they mean when I
listen, or assuming they understand what I want
them to learn when I teach.
So I will listen with all my heart, not just to
their words but to the nuances and clues; and remember to teach by example. To
be the person I can always be proud of presenting to my children. A person who
laughs, reflects, make mistakes and laughs again! To be the me that I love and
respect, and in that way remember to expect and teach it in return.
Parenting is loving by example. Parenting is
praising accomplishments large and small, and asking for more. It is sharing a
life with people who you desire to know so deeply that you are willing to truly
know--and love--yourself. Because you would ask it of them.
Parenting with intention is the greatest way to
discover yourself. And you are the ultimate gift from the Universe.
