The Time They Aren't With Us

7 hours. For the most part, that's how much time we have with the students in our care on a daily basis. And then they leave. We send them off to, hopefully, a home where they can be loved and cared for. A home where they can get what they need. A home where they can feel safe. I was lucky--I had a home that had these qualities. Every child should have a home with these qualities. Unfortunately, this isn't the case for all of our children. My own upbringing doesn't give me the experience to even come close to understanding what some of our students experience when they leave our schools. Sure, you hear the stories of what some of the students go through, but this week I got some firsthand knowledge from one of my students. I'm not going to go into details because, well, I want to respect the confidentiality around the student involved and the situation at hand. However, I feel I can comment on how this affected her time at school. As teachers, we all know the fact that the students bring their home lives to school and aren't able to focus on their learning when they are carrying these stresses.
I saw her by her locker, crying. I checked in with her to see what was wrong, and she said she had a bad headache. She wasn't in my class during that period, but I let her know that she can talk to me if she needs anything. During the beginning of the year inservice meetings, a lot was said about making connections with the students, and I think this was the connection she needed at that moment. The following day, she and I had lunch together, and she opened up a little more as to what her life is like when she isn't at school. My heart sank. No child should have to endure what she has to, but I know there are many who do, and sometimes worse. I'm sure she isn't the only one in our school. My hope for her is that the situation she is in is able to get corrected, and quickly. I know that isn't always the case, but I can hope. And I hope she knows that she can see school as a place she can feel safe and a part of a family. I think she does. At least she knows there are people here to talk to.

Mindfulness thought for the week: Nothing can make a home in your mind unless you allow it to do so. --Inspired by Tom J Deters on the ProYou Podcast.
This was an interesting conversation to have with the students. Many of them connected this to learning and how you can't learn something new unless you allow your brain to make a home for it. Deep understanding from 5th graders...I had introduced the thought with the purpose of combatting negative thoughts from finding a home in your mind, and they spun it into a positive related to learning :-)

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