I taught a Writer’s Workshop enrichment program this summer for kindergarten-second graders and third-fifth graders at our daughter’s elementary school. The 4 week session has ended and now we are ready to live carefree moments exploring the lingering dog daze of summer.
It has been a joy to teach writing with my children alongside the many other eager minds. As always the children taught me as much as I did them.
My sweet Max will be a kindergartner this year. A huge milestone for our family as our children will be attending the same school for the first time. I have enjoyed the frivolity, exuberance and creative pleasure of the preschool years. Although we had a nursery school of our own, it was important for Max to claim his independence 3 days a week, separate from the routines of mommy and daddy’s school. He came home inspired and independent; shared new ideas, and applied everything he learned at both schools eagerly. Two times the preschool for our little man.
This week we received a well wishes letter in the mail from our favorite preschool teacher Mrs. Noreena. Everyone has their favorite extraordinary educator in mind and she is ALL that and a bag of chips.
Here is our good bye poem, delivered as the doors of Teddy Bear Preschool were closed and the breeze opened new windows of inspiration for our beginning steps and milestones waiting in the combined elementary years with Max and Mia together.
It is a special poem because it was written with passion for one of our favorite teachers and because it celebrates a true collaborative writing effort by Writer Dad and me. Our minds meld well together and with the right material it feels like magic.
Namasté
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Wonderful to hear about children having awesome teachers and that you could give back with a heartfelt poem of appreciation — education the way it should be!
Lori: Thank you. Reciprocity is the best.
As a teacher, I KNOW how important it is to have the support of the parents. This is a beautiful tribute, done in that awesome Writer Dad and Mom style.
Randi: Thank you. Mrs. Noreena was the teacher I always hoped to for our children to have, but I never was one of THOSE parents to make a request. We would always visit her room at Open House and think, “WOW this gal thinks out of the box. Our kind of teacher!”
Traditionally, the last year of preschool children go to Room 4 which is where all the oldest children are placed with 2 teachers and one instructional aide in preparation for kindergarten. This year Sean came home and said, “You are not going to believe this. They SHOOK things up a bit and he’s in Room 3.” I literally cried. The hurtful part was that other parents were upset and made lots of rude remarks that their child wasn’t in Room 4 and there were lots of complaints in the office in front of the teacher. Sean was offended as he was standing at the end of the line waiting to say good bye to our boy and shook Mrs. Noreena’s hand and thanked her graciously for being our teacher this year. She smiled so big after the deluge of complaints she had endured. We wrote her a beginning of the year letter poem and she kept it at eye level next to the door the entire year. We knew how lucky we were and well the other overs either figured it out, remained ungrateful or lived in their shallow world of “thank goodness my child is out of my hair for a few hours.” It takes all types to make the world, but I’d rather live with the genuine souls that can embrace change and get to know the opportunity that has been given to us. Mrs. Noreen has taught for many years and has 3 boys: 2 are adults and one is almost finished with high school. It is beyond obvious that she knows what she is doing and for goodness sakes you would have to be blind and deaf to not see that she shines the brightest when she is on her stage with the audience she loves most… Preschoolers.
This beautiful response brought a tear to my eye, especially…”either figured it out, remained ungrateful or lived in their shallow world of “thank goodness my child is out of my hair for a few hours.” I’ve dealt with all three types of parents. I can’t believe people would be so rude in front of the teacher. I’m glad Sean was there as a bright spot for her. I truly love teaching and the only moments I have felt like quitting have never been because of the children, but always because of the parents.
I have one parent that I have dealt with over the past two years who thrives on trying to make me miserable. She is a teacher as well, and an excellent one at that. Yet, she has no self-confidence so she uses me as her way of bringing herself up. This year when her son was one of my fifth graders she said to me, “My son is so bored in your class. You need to figure out a way to keep gifted children from losing interest.” She always said that the reason her son didn’t get good grades was because I was too boring. I said, “Then why don’t you just move him up to sixth grade with you? That way he’ll have the challenge that he needs and you can be his teacher?” No, she’d much rather complain about me.
When I went into that class two years ago, they struggled as fourth graders, because the year before as third graders, they had been split into two very competitive classes with frequent teacher changes. They gained very few math skills in third grade. When I got them as 4th graders, they didn’t know their times tables, they couldn’t tell me what two numbers add up to ten, and were still using their fingers to add. I stopped working in their text that first quarter, with principal recommendation and just worked on their basic skills. This parent complained that they weren’t progressing in the book fast enough and that I was wasting too much time teaching them times tables. Yet this year that same mother said that if I had focused more on teaching times tables, her son wouldn’t be still struggling. I am constantly having people come up to me saying that she told them that she is so grateful I will not be their teacher this year. Aargh. I know how Mrs. Noreena feels! By the way, my daughter’s favorite teacher as a child was a Mrs. Noreen! Must be something in the name!
I am sorry the parent could not see her deficiencies as the issue. Excuses and blaming are guarded lies. We all know which side of the fence of teaching you stand on. Good on ya for standing tall. Criticism is a true sign that your life has vitality and apparently this person had some time on her hands and maybe should be using it to enhance her son’s learning potential rather than playing the blame game with 3 fingers point back at herself. It takes a village and I would gladly teach and learn in your village Randi.
I would love to teach and learn in your village too! Can you imagine the fun we would have with those kids? Yeah, I’m not sure why this parent enjoys picking me apart. She is such a great teacher herself and we could really be good friends if not for her constant belittling my efforts to everyone who will listen to her.
Do you have any teaching heroes? Mine is Rafe Esquith. I’ve read his book “Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire,” and admire his ability to keep kids interested in school for almost twelve hours a day!
Buddha.
Patti Daigle my first mentor in New Orleans, Charlie Stempien, Houston TX a former nun that married the priest and taught me what a true bilingual kindergarten program looks like and feels like and Dr.Linda James Perry my former principal and now director of Long Beach Unified School District Head Start program. Published people I’d need to reflect.
Can I be in your village too?!
This was such a lovely tribute, Cindy. Having your boy in her class and conversations with you or Sean every day about child related issues must have been a dream come true for Mrs. Noreen! I’m government qualified to teach language work to 5-18 year olds but know in my heart I haven’t got what it takes to do it at the moment. I’ve become even more passionate about how much I love life and kids (I graduated and did most of my teaching before I had my kids) and I know I would burn out. I have immense respect for folk like you who manage to keep the passion at a steady burn every single day; many parents don’t realise how much it takes out of you, no matter how passionate or skilled you are. Good teachers are fuelled by love.
@Randi
Teachers have so much power and it makes me angry fit to burst when they abuse it. I remember being really upset the first time I heard about this experience of yours with the parent/colleague, thinking how painful it must have been to have affected your sunny, loving, philosophical energy and sense of fairness so deeply. What makes it worse for me is that, as Cindy said, the woman in question could have been taking more responsibility herself instead of being so blame focused. So many possibilities come to mind; jealousy, insecurity… but it makes me so sad that she’s missing out on having a friend like you when Cindy and I would love to have you living and working close by!
Janice: You can pow wow in our village every day. We embrace happy learners and teachers. Teaching to its core is performing arts, passion, and possible. It is fortunate that like minded people can come together under the umbrella of education and a tragedy when someone that holds a highly regarded position as teacher squanders the opportunity with negativity, idle chatter, and a dismissive demeanor. Those who can teach, teach. Those who can’t, step back and we will show you the way. Janice, you teach every day. Your platform is your place where an audience shares and gathers. Good onya!