A Little Bit of This, a Little Bit of That

I have bus duty this week. You can always tell the ages of the students by the way they walk. Sixth graders run like crazed Labradors on speed, hauling their way to the bus because BY GOD, THEY MIGHT MISS IT!! :confused2:

The seventh graders walk at a fairly normal pace. The eighth graders are still in the hallways five minutes after the bell has rung, and then they saunter outside in groups of 6-8. It would take a cattle prod to get them to move faster, I swear. It isn’t until the bus ignitions fire up that they finally decide to mosey on.

I had to laugh because I encountered a seventh-grade boy in the hallways just before bus duty. He has Teen Living as an elective, and they are doing the Baby project where they have to carry a rubber infant doll around for so many days. It cries and behaves similar to a real baby, and they have to feed it and so on. The boy had a look of desperation on his face. He begged me for help because he couldn’t juggle getting his books into his bookbag and the baby simultaneously. “Could you hold him for me, please?”
I said sure, and he was careful to inform me that I had to hold the doll exactly like a baby (he even demonstrated), because otherwise it would cry. I nodded, telling him that I thought I could manage since I had two children of my own. He looked doubtful.

I think that’s a great activity for kids, though it’s no comparison to the real thing. Sometimes I feel like a war veteran, having faced some of the worst enemies life can throw you. I’ve seen a 104 degree temperature and taken my 2-year-old to the emergency room with pneumonia. I’ve watched my eldest strew the contents of his diaper across his bed and somehow he made it to his next birthday (only just!). My stories don’t compare to some mothers, though. I can’t imagine the pain of losing a child, nor do I want to.

But I think it’s made me a better teacher. I can understand a parent’s perspective now when I meet with them in a conference. And I feel lucky sometimes, to have known so many students and to have been a brief part of their lives.