Meet blogger Clint Edwards, who is also a young father. He writes a blog entitled No Idea What I’m Doing: A Daddy Blog. He recently described a trip to a pumpkin patch with his daughter’s kindergarten class that is a clever tribute to teachers everywhere. Join the fun in this slightly edited excerpt:
“I chaperoned a kindergarten class field trip to a pumpkin patch, and let me just say, I haven’t had a drink in 16 years, but I wanted a drink today – real bad.
“Listen: I love my daughter, but other people’s kids are a bit much. This trip left me with an incredible respect for people who work with young children all day. I only had five in my group, and they listened about as good as goldfishes. The whole time I was afraid I’d lose one in the corn field, they’d never be found, and ultimately end up as the premise for a Stephen King novel.
“I was only with the children for about four hours, but it felt like an eternity. Between the mud at the pumpkin patch, and the smell on the bus that I couldn’t quite identify, and that one wild little boy that is either destined to be a ground breaking artist or an inmate, I ended the afternoon with a long hot soak in the bath, TOO many cookies, and a handful of Tylenol.
“In contrast, my daughter’s teacher successfully orchestrated the children changing their shoes twice: once before getting off the bus, and once before getting back on. This was to prevent the children from getting mud on the bus, but I’m pretty sure if she listed this act on her resume, she’d be as respected as any military general. I mean, wow! No child lost a shoe and she smiled the WHOLE TIME!
“If my life ever depended on my own children finding their shoes, I’d be dead, so for her to pull off this shoe swap with 20-something 5 and 6 year-olds places her on par with Batman.
“If you are a teacher reading this, give yourself a huge pat on the back. You are incredible. And if you know a teacher, give them a huge thank you.”
These final sentiments are not new from this column, of course, but I thought his humor drove it home in a special way with a unique perspective.
I’ve seen and experienced similar kindergarten miracles myself, though without the pumpkins. My sister has recently retired as a kindergarten teacher, and I’ve experienced her classroom. Never for periods longer than a half-hour or so, but long enough to marvel at her super-hero skills. How do you have a private moment with a student who has a special need at that instant, while simultaneously keeping the others ‘on-task’ – and enjoying it! – with nothing more than the eyes and body language?? I always knew there is no way I could have done that.
And, of course, it’s not just kindergarten. Similar scenes occur in every classroom in every hour of each school day.
(As a side note, I used to always be amazed at watching the phenomenon of different future teachers being drawn to and repelled by different age levels of students. How does the balance always work out?)
I’ve often thought that every non-teaching adult, as a rite of passage, should be required to spend a day ‘in the pumpkin patch’ – or the classroom – with 20+ students and a good teacher. I suspect school districts would never have trouble passing a school bond again.
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