Lessons From a Bean Field

I found myself in awe today of the fact that I get to teach. I get to dedicate my life to helping young minds grow. I get to help my students along the journey towards becoming the people that they always dreamed they could be.

Part of that journey took place in a Maine bean field.

A colleague of mine, who I hold in the highest regards, organized a trip to a local farm for the entire 7th grade as well as the students in my program. We boarded and rode hot buses on an unseasonably hot and humid day, then filed out into a very organized plan-of-attack at the farm. We all bent down and grabbed handful after handful of fresh, tender green beans, put them in buckets and then into bushel baskets that will soon be served to our students for lunches. He has been doing this for a while and I am amazed at the passion that comes through when he speaks to the students about the Farm to School program, the benefits of eating locally grown crops, and the wonder and amazement that nature can produce such diverse and delicious bounties. It was great to see him teaching to and from the heart today.

In the midst of this great experience were a few events that unsettled me a bit. Actually they rattled me to my core. Rather than going into detail or even giving an overview, I think it is more important to share the lessons I learned from them. With this year and this blog I choose to stay positive and look for ways to help be a part of solutions. Problems arise, I understand, but for me to just vent about them without offering any plan for a solution or how I will use those problems to help me and my students grow would be to go through this life without a sense of joy or eager expectation of how I can help make the world a better place.

Geez. There's that Hallmark moment again. My apologies.

So the lessons from the bean field:

I choose to seek out the positive in students, however hidden it may sometimes be. I choose to pick and choose my battles understanding that my tone of voice or the words that are said can quickly undo any progress that has been made to build a connection with a student. I choose to let go of my expectations if they do not put the needs of my students first. I choose to remember that what is best is not always easy, and what is easy is not always best. Whether that is in regards to my choices and behavior or my students'. My students need as many people modeling for them how to choose what is best over what is easy. I choose to be one of those individuals.

I choose these things, but they are not one-time choices. I must make and remake these choices dozens of times a day. Sometimes I choose poorly. Sometimes I take the path that is easy, rather than the one that is best. Some days are a string of poor choices. But I can also choose to allow those days filled with poor choices and me dropping the ball to become learning experiences for me and those around me.

 I choose today to teach to and from the heart.

Now cue the sappy music...