Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Thankful

Today felt like a long day. By the time the last class came through, my head was pounding and my back hurt. This was a large group of first graders, whose greatest strength is not their self control. I felt so awful that I just wasn’t doing my best teaching. It felt like all I could do to get them through the glazing of their pinch pots. Afterwards, I gave them “free choice” time.

I like quiet classes, but at this point I didn’t have it in me to crack the whip to attain that. About all I could do was to bide my time and make sure no one was hurting anyone else.

When two little kiddies asked me if they could help clean the tables, I was so thankful. The tables had glaze residue on them and I wasn’t looking forward to cleaning the mess myself. I could have asked for volunteers, but that even felt beyond me. So these happy little ones really helped me a lot. They warmed my heart just for their kindness. I am thankful for people who offer their help before you ask for it.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy, Happy Thanksgiving friend!

Little Ol' Liz said...

Helpful hands are a wonder, aren't they? I remember as a kid working my tail off for the recognition that comes with being a Helper. I'd about kill myself to clean up when Sister turned her back -- me and about 7 other little girls!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that sounds like quite a day! Thank goodness for little helpers!

When I was 18, and fresh out of high school, I did some substitute teaching... my very first day was a class full of first graders. Yikes. They had to hold the buses from leaving waiting for my class to get their coats on. I had NO IDEA it took so long to get 30 six year-olds into coats!

Hooray for Thanksgiving break!
Kim :-)