I didn't want to do it, but I had to have that tooth removed.  It had been bothering me for a few weeks, and it was time to take care of it for good.

It's that wisdom tooth.  You know the one.  The one on the left, farthest back.  Only the second one I've ever had removed.  But the first one was different; I was unconscious for the procedure.  It was easy.  This one should have been similar, but the sedative (or what I thought was to be a sedative) had zero effect on me.  Zilch.  And the procedure was, let's say, unpleasant.

The experience in the dentist's chair was not the favorite thing I've ever done in my life.  As the doctor did whatever he needed to do to extract the wisdom tooth, my own hands were clenched into fists in front of my chest, and my legs contracted up in a concertedly uncomfortable position.  It took all I had to keep from yelling out in pain and discomfort as the dentist told me, "You're doin' great."

But I started thinking, as I am inclined to do, that my denticular amputation has similarities with teaching.  Yeah, I know what you're thinking...but it's not the hydrocodone speaking.  Hear me out.

• One bad apple can ruin the whole basket.  ​A week after my extraction, I still have a great deal of pain.  My energy level has drained with a lack of sleep and the constant thoughts of pain as I continue to pop ibuprofen every four to six hours.  It amazes me that such a small, localized area of my body can affect the rest so profoundly.  And the same is true in the classroom.  It is equally astounding how much one student or one action from a student can affect the rest of the classroom.  When it happens, I see other students rolling their eyes in frustration.  Some even clench their fists from time to time because of the "pain" that one student causes for the student body.  They do a number of things in self defense.  Just as I responded to the dentist's pressure, students may respond physically.  Others contract and suppress the discomfort that is caused by one unruly student.

Combine these things with the seasonal allergies and sinus pressure, and we might imagine a classroom with multiple disruptive pupils.  To put it lightly, I have been physically miserable for at least a week.  After four days, I returned to the dentist's office for a review of my condition.  I expressed to him my sensitivity and discomfort, to which he responded that everything looked to be healing nicely.  He then broke me the news that it could take 21 days to completely heal and up to a full year before the bone fills in.

• Expecting to dread something is worse than the true results.  As I thought about having this pain for 21 days, I wondered how miserable I would be after two more weeks of piercing pain in my jaw.  I know it takes time to heal, but I felt like this was going to do me in.  In the classroom, one disruptive student can be a "pain" to deal with in a classroom, if the teacher fails to see the student's potential to change and improve, the teacher can doom himself for the entire school year.  For a fact, it drains the energy levels to the level of a teacher burning out or breaking down.  That type of negativity can be avoided with a new mindset.

I'm thankful, in this occasion, that I have a student-teacher to fill in some of the gaps while my physical pain is radiated to the rest of my body.  I would have missed more days if it weren't for some breaks from the classroom. 

• In space, nobody can hear you scream.  Consider the teacher who doesn't have a support system to fall back on.  Consider the agony s/he may be experiencing, all because s/he doesn't want to leave the classroom to somebody else.  Teachers tend to work in a vacuum.  Of course, I often value my own vacuum, where I am free to do what I want to do, but at the same time, I need contact with people who can answer my questions, help me solve my struggles, and bring me back up from my lows.

Finally, I am thankful that the doctor told me my tooth hole (as Junie B. Jones calls it) will heal.  We tend to be impatient when we are awaiting improvement.  We do not want to wait it out.

• Patience is a virtue.  We want that kid to behave better, to improve academically, but we are often unwilling to put in the time it takes to heal.  It's not a magic show:  those improvements don't always happen before your very eyes.  And it doesn't happen without effort from both the teacher and the student.  Again, it is a mindset.  With my molar, I have already failed this test of my mindset; I have felt like this pain will never leave.  Can you imagine a teacher convinced that nothing she does will ever have a positive effect on a child?  I pray, first, that I can always look at students with the idea that s/he is hopeless, and second, that I can possess the patience to make it happen.

 

• No pain, no gain.  Don't forget that effort piece.  We hear all the time that there is no silver bullet or magic words that solve your educational woes as an educator.  As cliché as those things may sound, they are true.  As an educator with woes of my own, I understand that I need to keep an open mind, that I need to make mistakes, and that I need to find solutions rather than whine about the problems.  My response to the pain I feel in my tooth hole is analogous to this.  Yes, I have done my share of whining, but I have also expressed to people that the pain is a sign that I am still alive.

In my post-operative visit, the doctor said I was healing on schedule.  Thanks, Doc, but it still hurts.  Then he gave me a new directive:  rinse often with salt water.

• Be the salt of the earth.  I had already started rinsing with salt water, because I know that salt has antiseptic qualities.  The doctor explained that using salt water would keep the "surgical" area cleaner and help it heal properly.  Any individual in our class community can also be like the salt.  Just as one student can negatively affect the dynamic of an entire classroom, a student or a teacher can influence the entire system for the better, as well.  We, like the salt, can add flavor to the conversation and preserve the positive family atmosphere we strive to maintain.  Any student - even one that seems unlikely - can be that kid who leads a classroom into greatness.

I think we all know that tooth extraction is really not the same thing as teaching fourth graders in Southwest Missouri.  But then again...if I'm doing the same job as a dentist, shouldn't my paycheck be a little bit larger?

The latest round of MAP (Missouri Assessment Program) testing has finally come and gone.  The class worked very hard to decipher and decode all of the questions during the six-part test for fourth graders.

I don't know how we did.  I suppose I'm not supposed to know.  I'm to monitor the testing process, but I am not supposed to read the questions over students' shoulders.  A certain amount of that happens just by being in the same room and remaining available for kids who have technology issues during the test, but the teacher is not expected to see or study the test questions.

So I don't.

Besides, from past experience, I can testify that watching kids make their answers can be highly frustrating.  I cringe behind their backs at the answers they select.  In the past, on different tests, I've encouraged students to go back and check their answers only to watch them change their correct answers to wrong ones.

As I have explained though, those who are in the know understand that a standardized test is little more than a test of what a person can do in a subject at one particular point in time.  It certainly does not provide a clear picture of the person.  More than anything, I can use the conglomerate of scores before me to identify trends in my classroom.  It may not be as much an evaluation of my students, but of the system I lead.

Every year, I try to improve that system, based on futures and on the trends in behavior and testing data.  At the same time, I never forget the humanity that sits in chairs (or on the floor) in my class.

Still, before all of that reevaluation can occur, it is nice to be able to say, "It is finished."

The experience made me a stronger, more confident teacher.  I hope my Professional Biography is still true when it says this:

Are there Core Behaviors outside of our school?  Do the things we teach in class apply in the "real world"?  I believe they do.

Last week, I was called for jury duty in a court case that was to last the entire week.  I was not selected to serve on the jury, but I did get to experience the jury selection process.  Sitting in the courtroom, my fellow potential jurists and I were asked a number of questions to determine who would be the "fairest" for the specific case of Mr. and Mrs. ___________ versus the _____________ Company (I'm not at liberty to discuss anything about the case here.).  The selection process took the entire day.

But I ask again, do the things we teach apply outside the walls of our school?  We certainly hope that they do.  In fact, our goal is for our Core Behaviors to be adopted city wide.  Here are some things I thought about while I was sitting in the courthouse (The numbers have been changed to protect the innocent.):
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• Jurist 16:  Dress professionally!  The form you received in the mail mentioned dressing appropriately for the decorum of the court.  Don't wear you old, ripped jeans, your miniskirt, and don't wear shorts.
• Jurist 29:  Don't lie to the judge!  You know you exaggerated the excuse you gave in the effort to be excused.  You even admitted it to Jurist #30 sitting beside you.
• Jurist 19:  Stop showing off!  For some reason, you have the idea that you should let everybody know about you experiences and your ability to lead.  You attempted to dominate every question.
• Jurist 4:  Pay attention!  You will not be able to actually effectively serve on the jury if you are finally selected.  The parties involved deserve to be heard.
• Jurist 35:  Stop rolling your eyes and groaning!  Jury duty, like voting, is an important civil responsibility. Serving is part of who we are as citizens of the United States.  We should be happy to accept our patriotism.
• Jurist 41:  Respect other people!  Don't act like we're stupid.  You're acting like an airhead to get out of serving, but you're just perturbing everyone.  The lawyers have done this before, and they're on to you.
• Jurist 41 (him again):  Show up on time!  Seriously, you were late to your seat in the morning and late to return after every recess.  More than 50 people have to wait on you before proceedings can continue.
• Jurist 1:  Speak up!  People need to hear your responses.
• Jurists in general:  Don't cheer for shirking!  I know you're happy to get out of your responsibility, but it's in bad taste to audibly cheer.  The parties involved can hear you through the open door that separates us.

At the same time, there are positive things we could mention, as well:
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• Jurist 20:  Thank you for your military service.  I noticed that you stood when you spoke (as instructed), and you responded with "yes sir" and "no ma'am" when called upon to do so.
• Jurist 32:  You are of advanced age, and you never complained.  I can certainly respect that you carried your diabetic supplies with you in order to take care of your needs as they arose.
• Jurist 20 (same guy):  You dressed for the setting.  I see that you shined you shoes and donned a coat and tie for the occasion.
• Jurists in general:  For the most part, you were respectful.  In most areas, only one or two people fit into the negative bullets above.

While I was relieved to not be selected, as I knew I wanted to teach on the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing on the next day, and I already had an appointment for a tooth extraction on Friday that I didn't want to reschedule.  At the same time, I was disappointed when I was not selected.  I hope to happily participate in the process in the future.

In any lesson about whatever is lovely, one can expect to hear something about the things that are not lovely. That's what David and John were talking about when they made this statement.  They were encouraging their listeners to put lovely things in their buckets - or their hearts - and leave the unlovely things behind.  If I do not carry those words and actions in my bucket - or in my heart - I will be less likely to spill them out onto other people.

We talk about protecting our reputations by checking our conduct.  We wonder what others think about us when they see us partake in particular activities.  We may even think more, or less, of someone based on the company s/he keeps.  The bucket analogy is a good way to think about it.  I hope my students consider filling their buckets with lovely thoughts and deeds as they step into the future.

Our interim superintendent, Dr. Norm Ridder points out often that adult behavior is just as important to consider as child behavior.  I can certainly respect that.  We see people, all the time, who choose without wisdom.  They choose their vices, the activities, and their companions - even their spouses - without weighing their own sanity.

When our new superintendent, Dr. Mendy Moss, introduced herself to me, last week, she found out that I am one of the few veteran teachers in Joplin Schools.  With my 27 years of experience, she asked if I was considering retirement yet.

I am not...but I have started to consider the possibilities of a future retirement.  I cannot believe it comes so soon.

Dr. Moss gave me a wise proverb.  She told me that a person does not retire from something, but that he retires to something.

Now there is something on which I must meditate. 

In Bearden's book she, too, considers the way all of this works.  She understands that a wise person - a visionary - needs to walk toward something.  When one turns away from evil, he turns toward​ good...and vice versa.

May we not only teach the art of bonding to the right people, places, and activities, but we must also practice what we teach.  Otherwise, could it be that we exercise the art of hypocrisy instead.

More importantly, once again, is the theme itself.  Leave Your Mark is nice and broad.  Undoubtedly there will be discussions about both good and bad ways to leave a mark on something.  We will have conversations concerning where and how to leave our own marks.  Will we leave marks on the floor and the walls?  Or should we talk about the figurative marks we try to leave on our school, on the community, on our nation, or on the world?  I'm really looking forward to see how people display this on their bulletin boards for next year.

I can look on the bright side.  Recently, I addressed the benefits of having a student-teacher.  Today, I want to take the opposite approach, because, believe it or not, I do like to teach my class.  So here are the ten reasons I do not like having a student teacher.

1.  I don't get to see my kids.
This must be the first reason.  I don't get to interact as much with the children in my class.  I don't get to make the same connections I would if I were present in the classroom for longer periods of time.  I miss that, and I feel in some ways that they have changed as a result.

2.  I get bored.
While I have kept myself busy with school-related planning and activities, there have been a couple of moments when I have felt like I wasn't earning my salt.  I strive to keep my mind occupied and on task, but any time a person has to be self-driven, that can be difficult.

3.  I have to bat cleanup.
On a few occasions, I have had to enter a situation that I don't know anything about.  I've had to sort out some behavior infractions that happened while students were not under my direct supervision, and I expected myself to "fix" the situations.  It is understandable that kids will push limits.  The chemistry with a different teacher will always change, so this is to be expected, but negative reactions are not invited.  Sometimes I felt successful, and sometimes I felt lost.

4.  I don't like to interrupt.
The teacher-candidate needs to feel that the class is hers.  That's something that's hard to establish while the regular teacher is still in the room, so I try to leave the class in her hands as much as I can.  That said, I still need to monitor her in order to guide her through the experience, but interrupting the flow of her lessons is difficult, and I don't want to be a distraction.

5.  Time moves too slowly.  When a person is displaced, the anticipation of something to come can be a hard thing to overcome.  I understand that anticipation of this type - the anticipation of a return to glory (if that's not overstating things) is something that makes time crawl.  It has certainly slowed down the third and fourth quarters of the school year for me.

6.  Time moves too quickly.
With all of the ideas and plans that I've tried to create during my times outside the classroom, I still have not had enough time in the day to work through them all.  Before I know it, the morning has passed, and it's time for lunch - at which time I try to check in with the student-teacher and my peers.  Then the afternoon flies by in the same way. Just when I get started on something in earnest, the time is gone.

7.  People think I have free time.
They see me at a keyboard, or they see me in the hallways, and my peers assume I'm avoiding work or playing.  It doesn't matter if I've filled in for absent teachers and teachers who needed breaks.  It doesn't matter if I've had professional discussions with the principal or if I've prepared schoolwide notes (or more targeted messages for a particular group of students).  It doesn't matter that I've searched for and discovered some amazing tools and trends for education or if I've created many of my own materials to use in the coming weeks and years.  It doesn't matter that I've developed and come to understand my own methods and how they align with researched educational practices.  It doesn't matter that I have assisted in the reorganization of the school's disaster/safety team or that I have given suggestions for the school's system review.  Nothing matters except that they see me outside my classroom and away from my students; therefore, I must be slacking.  Could it be that they are projecting onto me what they themselves would do if they were in my shoes?  Hmm.

8.  I'm called to do "special" projects.
Did I mention that I have had some special assignments?  Some of those are really not enjoyable assignments, but I grinned and bore them anyway.  Sometimes I'm taken out of my comfort zone, which is not always where I want to be.  As a so-called team player, I've had to fill different roles in the interest of the team, and I accept them (but I don't have to like them).

9.  I am tied to the university forms and schedules
In many ways, university leaders and state legislators are disconnected with the ways classrooms actually work. They've created a quagmire of forms and schedules that every one of their teacher-candidates have to follow, and they don't allow the cooperating teachers (including me) to establish our own methods for helping their students develop professionally.  The evaluation forms are limited to specific scores in specific areas and do not always tell the whole story about a candidate.  This can frustrating, let alone the idea that sometimes it feels like jumping through hoops to fulfill requirements instead of doing the things that are necessary to truly guide the teacher-to-be.

10.  Our family doesn't seem as cohesive.
Back to the beginning (number one, above):  have you ever spent an extended time away from your parents or your siblings?  When you returned to their presence, do you feel like you have to play catch-up?  That's how things are for me and the kids.  I feel like they've moved on in a sense, that they have broken up with the old guy and moved on to a new relationship.  As someone who never liked break-ups, it's hard finding myself in the middle of one - even if it is only temporary.  At best I feel I'm in an off-again/on-again relationship.

I don't know what the solution is - especially since there are some refreshingly positive things about having a student-teacher in my classroom, as well.  I've already addressed a few of those in a previous post.  Like anything in life, it is what you make it; I hope I have made it worthwhile for everyone involved.

I think this may be the most apparent when I talk to the parents of my fourth graders.  After nine years of living on Planet Earth, it is sometimes amazing to parents how far a student can turn around in just nine months - or even in the first nine weeks.

It still surprises me, too.

Kim Bearden's Crash Course addresses the concept of low expectations versus high expectations in our students. Truthfully, it is a difficult decision to teach to the top.  It can be frightening to a teacher who wants to individualize instruction.  Truly, we don't want to leave any child behind.  But we do a disservice to most of our students when we spend all of our time teaching students at the lowest levels, and we leave out half of our students when we teach to the middle, which is most often our strategy.

Kim definitely comes from experience in the area of setting expectations high.  At the Ron Clark Academy where she teaches, the expectations are among the highest possible.  And her students - whether high or low achievers, whether impoverished or affluent - achieve at the highest levels.  Granted, the teachers at RCA bust themselves with activity all day long, and follow up with after school and weekend activities, all for the good of their fifth through eighth grade kids.

While many teachers find it difficult to raise expectations for all students, I feel that sometimes our own parents aren't on board either.  But it's different.  In some cases, a particular parent is accustomed to seeing low scores and grades, and getting calls about improper behavior, and when I build up his/her child, s/he feels like I'm lying just to make "points".

As long as educators and parents continue to set low expectations (and secretly, they still pray for success even at the lowest levels), we will continue our disservice to students.  When we set a goal too low and a kid achieves it, that's great, but at the same time, big deal.  So what if a kid can jump a low hurdle.  He still watches his peers jumping higher (and running faster), and he knows he is deficient.

But get that kid up to the same high level, or show that kid how to make one more step on the way to his higher goal, and watch what happens to the self esteem rise off of that kid like steam!

Talk to teachers about all of this, and it makes sense to them.  They may also respond that getting there is a different story.  It does nothing to set the goal high and do nothing to teach those students.  That's t-e-a-c-h.  It's right there in your job title.  And it means to take a kid who doesn't know something and make things happen to aim that child in the right direction.  It means to learn new things, and not just rehash the old​ things for one more year.

Maybe it's refreshing to hear a ghost story that doesn't try to give some inflated explanation about why the given situation is what it is.

Then again, maybe it's more disturbing than refreshing.

That's what author Mary Downing Hahn often does in her "ghost" stories.  The apparitions just are - no explanation necessary.   Took is no different.

I read this Mark Twain Award nominee very quickly, finding it very compelling.  In other words, I had a hard time putting it down.  I don't typically read this genre as a choice, so it always surprises me when Hahn keeps my attention so well.

Took is sufficiently creepy because it puts a young boy in the role of lone wolf.  He, and he alone, can get his sister back from the mysterious and ghostly old lady who lives on the property.  Sister, Erica, has been took, somehow crossing into some other reality, taken as a slave to the "witch" in return for another girl who has served the role for 50 years.

A visit to another strange character provides the boy a single chance to get his sister back, but not without danger of being attacked by the old lady's pig-son-pet along the way.  It's all quite unbelievable and weird, but I suppose that's why people read scary stories in the first place.

Some teachers do not want to have a student-teacher in their classrooms.  They want to keep their class for themselves.  I understand that.  It is hard to leave a class of students, after working with them for a full semester.

However, I also feel the obligation to pass my experience to the next generation.  Here are some of the reasons I love having a student-teacher (or teacher candidate) in my classroom.​

1.  I enjoy creating stuff.
Leaving my students in the hands of a novice can be a difficult proposition, but I have been allowed the opportunity to create new lessons, activities, and projects for future classes.  In some cases, these have been made available for the teacher candidate, helping her "fill the time" from bell to bell.  I feel a little guilty (not really) allowing myself the time to search for materials and gather them into a useful pile, but I have been productive and very little time has been wasted.

2.  I don't like grading papers.
When the teacher candidate is fully in charge of the classroom, she needs to get the entire teaching experience. That means I have not had to fully grade papers, which is a huge load off of my responsibilities.  Now, that doesn't mean that I don't still have responsibilities in this realm.  I still have to touch every paper and record every justifiable grade, and at times I have to discern the purpose or the weight of certain grades.  With another person grading, report cards are interesting.  Since a variable has been changed, I plan to compensate for that change after the assignments are tabulated.  Still, not having the day-to-day headache of meticulously evaluating assignments personally is a relief of which I will gladly take advantage.

3.  I get a feel for the pulse of the school.
Being in the halls more during the times I normally teach has shown me more of the personality of our school. Teaching is a profession that is typically done in a vacuum, without a lot of collaboration with peers.  That's usually OK with me, as I tend to march to the beat of a different drummer, but sometimes listening in on other classes - or even stepping in on other classes - gives me a better feel for my environment. 

4.  There is great value in experience.
I see a difference in the experienced teachers and the newer ones.  Just as there is a change that occurs between kindergarten and fifth grade, there is also a maturity that comes with serving a number of years as a teacher.  For some, the changes are subtle, but for others, there is a certain confidence that drives us.  Hopefully, we don't overreact to the choices our students make.  And also maturity may not be the best way to describe us, we are able to articulate issues and solutions at a higher level than some of our younger peers.

5.  I'm a seasoned educator; pass it on.
The last few years have been years of growth in my career.  They have not always been easy ones.  Changes in direction for our district - both positive ones and negative ones - have affected me tremendously.  I know what it is like to hit the wall and to get burned out.  I understand better, now, how to survive more than tornados and terrorists.  I know better, now, that I have to work through the pain.  There is a blue sky after the storm, and the world is not going to crumble if I don't kill myself trying to comply with all of the requirements of my job.  Teachers in training do not have that view.  Their walls are years into their future, and their challenges are very different.  My challenge as a cooperating teacher is one of calm support.  The teacher candidate has to understand that being quick to listen, slow to anger, and slow to speak is golden advice.  It will save a great deal of heartache in the future.  I gladly pass on little bits of wisdom throughout the experience of having an unripened educator under my wing.
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6.  Shop 'til you drop.
Sometimes there are materials, concepts, and ideas available to us that we simply don't have the time to discover. I enjoy the hunt, and I have discovered some treasures that I now have to find a way to acquire.  For example, while I have watched the STEM movement grow up around us, but I have not invested much time to develop or collect materials to bring the movement into my classroom.  Having a teacher candidate in my classroom has allowed me some time to explore some of the STEM materials that are out there.

7.  The good ol' days are alive and well.
Seeing a new teacher find her niche and grow professionally, in spite of there being such a short time period in which to do so, has often drawn me into my own first years.  I remember the simple things being not so easy.  I remember the people who helped me.  I'm sure those years were tough, and I remember feeling quite inadequate, but as with most of us, those were the good ol' days.  My reminiscing is filled more with the beauty a time removed from reality.  And I appreciate those stepping stones that made me who I am today.

8.  I get the chance to professionally reflect.
In the same ilk, I have been given the opportunity to reflect upon my own current practices in the classroom.  I have done more professional reading in the last year than at any time in my career, and in the last semester I have especially developed a pattern of applying what I have learned to my teaching philosophy.  Much of this has affirmed what I believe and try to practice, while others have challenged me to change or try new directions.  I don't think teachers typically do this; more often we tread water, trying to keep ourselves alive while we feel overwhelmed from all directions.  When I develop myself professionally and in a self-driven manner, I am better prepared to face the challenges that can arise from peers, pupils, parents, and principals.

9.  I have the challenge of old problems.
I forgot the challenge of time management - of not knowing how long a project will take, of forgetting to leave in time to get to lunch or art, of forgetting that dismissal is at 2:55.  It's a challenge that still rears its ugly head from time to time, but not in such a rudimentary manner.  With a student-teacher in the room, I have gotten to revisit my old nemesis of time.  Now, I have the responsibility to lead another human being in addressing the challenges of class management and time management, leaving me with a feeling of supportiveness. 

10.  Contact with other branches of education are important.
I have not been in college for a few years now.  I have not been in contact with our regional professional developers in years.  To rekindle relationships at those levels, albeit with different people in positions, is a valuable part of my time as a cooperating teacher.  More and more, I am convinced that I have more to offer to education than what I present daily to my fourth graders.  Networking with educators outside of the bubble of my own classroom or even my own school site is something more teachers should take on.

As you know, we focus on conduct in Room 404.  And we focus on conduct a lot.

I need my students to think outside themselves.  Outside of their personal bubbles.  Some call it the Golden Rule, but whatever you call it, it is helpful to my own sanity to show compassion to others.

Ten-year-olds are immature.  I get that.  But I also understand that they are on the cusp of understanding a lot of things.  If I can just pull them up to the next level of understanding generosity to others, I will have made a broad stride.  The more they allow themselves to wallow in their own thoughts and feelings, the more they will take on the stench of self pity.

I'm not a doctor.  I don't speak of this from a medical point of view.  But I think that anxiety and depression (I suppose those are medical terms.) might just be staved by thinking about others.  Author and teacher Kim Bearden, writes about this in her book, Crash Course,  My thoughts here go beyond the writing in her chapter about generosity.  At the least we might say that caring for others can be a distraction from our own issues.

Regardless of the personal benefits, we can agree that working with each other and for each other's benefit are better than working against one another.  Perhaps we can even agree that working together is more beneficial for the world than only caring about number one​.  That has certainly been true in our classroom, as it is in Mrs. Bearden's.  Everything she says about her students (below) is true in our own class, as well.

At least I hope it is.

One of the first things visitors will notice, during a whole group lesson in Room 404, is that students have each other's backs.  They do clap and cheer for one another, as Kim wrote.  They initiate much of that encouragement themselves, understanding that when a peer is struggling with an answer, somebody can say, without gaining permission, that, "You've got this!" or "You can do it!"  This encouragement, and the applause that follows, often offers enough time for the student to come up with an answer - or at least the beginning of one.  And because of this, there is more achievement.  And because of this, a kid's self esteem advances and isn't hindered by another blow.

Honestly, we also try to take care of our dirty laundry.  Sometimes we have to air our grievances.  We circle the wagons, look each other in the eye, and talk out our issues.  Sometimes we laugh together...and yes, sometimes there are tears...but we become a closer-knit family when we do.  We come out of the situation smelling of the roses of success rather than the stench of self-pity.  We solve problems together, rather than airing our dirty laundry in public.

I wonder what the world would be like with more compassion, honesty, and generosity toward our fellow man.

I've just learned a lot about a lot by reading Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's The War that Saved My Life.  It was an intriguing book from the start.  I longed for a time when the main character could accept herself and trust others who genuinely did not care about her deformities or lack of knowledge.

There is a lot going on in this story, but never did it become so much that I couldn't keep up with it all.  Bradley kept me engaged from start to finish, taking the time to include facts from the World War 2 era from a British point of view.  It even made me want to investigate more about the things that really happened.  I highly recommend this book.  Sadly, there was some choice language in the last pages that was inappropriate.