14 days, 14 minutes

The effects of a two week Christmas vacation are without measure. The class I left in December is composed of the same students, but they are now very different people. They have lost teeth, grown taller and their faces have changed somehow. When you're six everyday makes a difference. Not only that, but they are able to do things they weren't able to do when they left. It's like all the information they took in before break was on simmer on the back burner in their minds.

Two weeks can do a lot for a teacher too. I was able to get back to basics and remember what it is I want to accomplish with my class. I remembered how I want to treat them and how I should require them to treat each other. I remembered what we were striving for and how close we are getting. I came back with renewed energy and passion. Everyday I've enjoyed just being with them. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are still some pistols in there, but you know... There have been some great moments. One just happened yesterday.

I don't know how many of you have gotten a chance to sit and read with a child, but it is something awesome to behold. For a child to go from illiterate to literate is quite a transformation. It really opens their mind and increases their self awareness; reading unlocks other worlds to them. So, yesterday I was sitting with a little boy in my class who isn't very academic, and up until yesterday I thought of him as a bit hyperactive and disorganized, and yet there is still something very winning about him. We were sitting right next to each other, he had one half of the book on his lap and I had the other half on my lap. He sort of leaned against me and started reading. The book he chose was one he's been practicing at least half the year, not all the time, but he keeps going back to it. As he was reading I noticed he was using a lot of the strategies I've been teaching him. Going back and rereading sentences so they are fluent and don't sound robotic, guessing what words are based on context, etc. We struggled through it and his reading wasn't perfect, but I realized in that small moment in our day together we had bonded over reading a book. I realized how much he looked forward to reading with me, and how he really was listening to me when I was coaching him in how to read. Looking back, I should have realized that this time would matter a lot to him. He was one of the first to notice he could read a book that was full of beginning words, and he told his brother after school, "Gabriel, I read!"

It was like yesterday I discovered Freddy for the first time. A sweet boy who won't ask or beg or demand my attention, but will cherish what he gets. Who wants to learn, and is starting to harness his disorganized mind.

People, this is why I got into teaching. Kids are so real. There is no mask, there is no pretending. Everything about who they really are is right up front. God fasioned each one in my room. And sometimes, and I say this at the risk of sounding too saccharine, if I take a moment and I have my wits about me, I get to see God's handiwork.

This is what two weeks can do.