~and He calls them "the children"~

I came down with something Friday evening that carried over all day long Saturday and still is trying to hang on.  Some kind of upper respiratory stuff is going on around these parts and try as I might not to catch it, well I did anyways.  All day yesterday I stayed in bed, sleeping almost 12 hours before waking up this morning.  I'm better but this tickle in my throat and accompanying cough is going to drive me crazy sooner or later.  Tomorrow at school it should be very interesting.

I don't plan on saying very much, that's for sure.

Thankfully I have not run a temperature and more than likely this is just one of  those wonderful viruses that make their appearance from time to time.  Hopefully the worst of it will be over by the morning and except for a chance of coughing, I should do ok.  I happened to run into one of my families from school in the local supermarket a couple of hours ago, and I told them that I'd been sick with what many of the kids seem to have at Big Pasture.  The momma smiled and said something that made me feel a bit better.

"Well, that's what happens when you have a community!"
She was right.
It surely is.

Our third grade classroom at school is run on the concept of community, and in my heart I know that it is the best way for a class to be managed.  It took me a while to figure that out, but several years ago I did just that.  We share everything from our pencils and school supplies to our germs and disagreements.  We rejoice with those who have had success in their school work, and we encourage those who find themselves struggling from time to time.  We take care of each other, and stand beside one another in all things.  No one gets left behind.

That's what a community is all about.

Someone asked me once, a year or so back now, what was the best way to build a sense of belonging in a community within a classroom.  I always give the same answer to anyone who asks me, and the answer is this.

"The most important thing is this. You have to get to really know your kids and their families.  Are you willing to pay a home visit and meet families at their convenience instead of yours?  If not, then you have some work to do. You have be willing to think outside the box sometimes and not always follow a rigid schedule.  If something is happening and there are some concerns with children, you have to be willing to stop and address what ever it might be.  The best time to stop problems from happening is immediately when you see them starting.  I don't like to wait until after my lesson is over.  If it's important enough to take care of, then it's important enough to stop a lesson over.  I have done so many times. They call those "life lessons".  Kids must feel a part, an important part, of everything that goes on in the classroom.  In a community they take ownership and credit for that which happens, be it bad or good.  Equally important, and I really mean this, in a solid classroom community the kids see the teacher as a human being, and one who sometimes makes a mistake or two or even three during the course of a day. Parents know that you are approachable as well as a willing listener.  In a classroom community we don't always have to agree with one another, but we should be able to show respect and at least listen to one another."

So tomorrow I will head back to that little place I call my home for the school week.  I'll bust open a box of kleenex, keep my yucky old cough drops at my side, and let the children do most of the teaching.  They are perfectly capable of doing that, you know?  I'm thankful 99 percent of the time to be healthy and well.  I've been burning the candle at both ends lately and it's kind of not working out so well this weekend.  The same God who watches over a little girl named Peggy Ann while she is well is there watching over me while I am sick.  As if that was not enough, He arranged for some other little angels to help out.

And He calls them "The children".

He takes good care of me always, but especially when I am sick. Time for a bowl of his homemade chicken noodle soup and early to bed this evening.  Rest is what I'm ordering for myself tonight.