Ahhh..I actually have a moment to sit and breathe.. to think..to write..to relax. Since my last blog I have been through ..no surprise.. a whirlwind of emotion and stress. I have now officially survived a little over 2 weeks of school and I can say it's finally getting a little better. Well, maybe not my kids, but my confidence and comfort level at least. My blog today, and probably most of my blogs, will be about my kids, because they are what consume my days and thoughts. So metaphor land here we come..hang in there with me, I have some background to set up first. However, you may find some humor in the chaos that is life now :).
I have 24 little 6-7 year olds in my class...2 of them have severe ADHD and one of them is either undiagnosed or extremely immature. Now 2 diagnosed problems out of 24 may seem like good odds..but throw in some inconsistent meds, and those 2 pack enough energy for a whole classroom of children. Let me give you a little glimpse into my day yesterday:
Every morning we start off seated on the carpet in front of my whiteboard for our morning message time. Mornings are usually good because sleep is still waring off, but when both of my..lets call them..special friends..are waiting for meds to kick in (sometimes I wonder if they ever do), it can be a little crazy. Ok so I've got all 24 little bodies seated, criss cross applesauce on my rug, and as we are going through our message one special friend is flinging his head back and forth and side to side, sometimes laying down in the front row or stretching out, and the other is touching every child in his proximity. My second, "handsy" friend is either shouting out answers or simply just making "whoooing" noises. That was the first 15 minutes of my day.
After that we proceeded to do a "secret word" activity in which my "whooing" friend decides that our lesson needs the added noise. I can't let this distracting behavior continue, so I calmly go overt to him, bend down and give him 2 options: 1. He can go in the hall and take a coloring break (with my Para of course), 2. He can take Mrs. Harris (my para) to the library..because she "doesn't know where it is". To which he replied by locking his hands on the bottom of his chair and repeatedly told me "No, I am NOT moving." So, I did what only made sense, I picked him up, chair and all, and removed him to the hallway with Mrs. Harris. Funny how my class got real quiet :).
So after calming down in the hall for probably 20 minutes, I decided to give him another shot. Agreeing that he could participate and stay quiet he returned to join in center time. Whats the first thing he does? He goes to our letter magnet station, picks up the letters and flings them at the whiteboard to see if they will stick. Lovely. Lets keep in mind I have 23 other kids I have to keep in order and teach while all of this goes on. Well somehow we made it through the first hour of my morning. After P.E. and Music, he proceeded to hide under his desk until he passed how for the second hour of our morning.
The day was a continuous stream of putting out loud outburts and redirecting him. If he was making noise or talking, he was flinging his dry erase board sock around in the air, touching the other students' desks , blowing into a ziploc bag with individual manipulatives, or moving my board magnets around. Oh yah, and then I have my other special friend on top of all that. Luckily he has his own personal para, but she can't control his vocal chords any better than he can.
Sigh. Are you tired yet? Ok, so here's my metaphor. I was reflecting on my class, and on my day, this morning, and I realized they are a picture of how us humans must look to God. There are those of us who flat our refuse to listen to Him. Who flail around and demand our own way, giving no regaurd to Him. Then there is my other boy, who wants to do right, but he just can't fight the urge to slip back into outbursts and destructive behavior. And then, my immature, undiagnosed kiddo, is like so many of us who are just that..immature. We think life revolves around us and cry when we don't get our way. And lets not forget the other 75% of my class, who, when they think the teacher is distracted, that they have license to do what they want. How many of us look at others and think "Well those people need God way more than I do, and since all of His energy would be better focused on them, I'm just gonna let these little areas of my life slip on by." . And then of course there are my "pet" children. Those who strive to do there best. Those who are so punctual, and quiet, and well seemingly perfect. They are dependable, smart, growing young minds and I love it.
At first I was thinking that we all fall into those different catergories, but in reality don't we all encompass each of those at some point in our lives? Being in the "teacher" position, it made me realize just how frustrated and exhauseted God must get with us. He knows what's best, He just wants to teach us, and love us, but we humans don't always like to listen. Wouldn't it be nice if God would just literally pick us up sometimes and move us from our destuctive behavior? Or redirect us when we need it? Hmmm.. I think He does do that, we just sometimes don't choose to see it. In the end, I realized the most important thing of all.. as frustrating as they can be, I still care and love for each one of them...and I cannot, and will not give up on them. Sound familiar? God loves and cares for us infinity (for lack of a better word) more!
Funny, seems like I'm the one being taught here. God is so good. Let's try to reflect on how our lives must look to our Heavenly Father who only wants the best for us. Love.
1 comment:
Thanks Court, wish God would pick me up ...chair and all sometimes...but I often seem to just sit in my own "problems". So glad our Heavenly Father loves us right were we "sit" until were ready to follow His way.
Hang in there girl...were ALL learning from you!!!!!!
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