Kindness

I found an acquaintance on Facebook tonight.  We primarily associated with one another in middle school, although we went to the same high school.  I was a pretty awkward middle schooler (then again, who wasn't?), and I remember this girl Cheryl would reach out to me.  She was pretty popular, and while we never became good friends, she would always acknowledge me when I was around.  It is amazing that so many years later, I can still remember this, and that it had such a profound impact.  Cheryl refused to see me as invisible, as many popular people do to those they feel are beneath them.

On a somewhat related note, there is a boy in my class who has been out for five days in a row.  He has some pretty big emotional issues that I'll leave at that to protect privacy, etc.  Not one of my kids has noted his absence....NOT ONE.  I have two other kids who are pretty chronic with absences (like 40 days this school year), and someone will almost always say.....He always misses on Mondays.  They notice....they say something.  I know this student is a loner, but could things really be that bad for him each day, that no one has felt the need to bring up his absence?

We had field day today, and the kids had a really good time.  We had a big "Think Tank" meeting afterschool for two hours.  While I don't like staying that late, especially in the there is a million things to do before the end of the year phase, I feel privileged to be a part of a school that is so forward thinking.  Not only does our principal push our thinking, we give wings to ideas.  One of the hardest things I had to repeatedly tell my student teachers this year was, "Most likely these things won't be going on at the school you get hired at."  I wasn't trying to be negative to them, but I wanted to give them a real picture of what was out there.  Since I came from a specialist role back to the classroom, I've been in a ton of schools in our district and state, and can say I feel like I speak with some experience in this regard.

I bought my graduation dress tonight!  I also bought three other skirts.  I love skirts.  Look for some pictures on the blog soon.