One of my favorite high school math teachers, Rebecka, texted me this yesterday and the day's events brought it to my mind multiple times.
In this world we call education, we are buoyed by the outstanding accomplishments the kids attain, the barriers and challenges they overcome, the simple goodness that each kid has within him and her.
Then when a decision is made that jeopardizes those children either because the student made a poor decision or a decision has been made that impacts the child, we watch from the floor seats - helpless to influence the consequences - hopeful we will get to pick up the pieces and try again.
So we tie ourselves to each other, with ribbons and strings, with paper clips and copy codes, with curriculum maps and common assessments, with tape and broken pencils - we tie ourselves to each other.
No one gets to float away, and no one gets left on the ground. The ties that bind us one to another - the strings of each child's heart - allow our joys and our losses to be borne by our school family - they allow our souls to sail or they serve to stitch together our broken hearts. Neither sailing or stitching would be possible without the hands of others.
These kids don't know..... but we keep pulling at the strings; we keep watching for the broken pieces; we keep each other, so we can keep them.
#golighttheworld.