FOWC with Fandango – Precious

Fandango’s word for the day is precious.  I can think of numerous precious things surrounding my kids and grandkids of course. But I decided to think back to my teaching days. 

A few of my precious memories:

When I first started teaching, I taught Kindergarten. There were numerous precious moments. I remember when a little five-year-old excitedly ran up to me telling me that the red crayon said RED on the paper. It was so precious that he wanted to share his aha moment with me.

Another time when I was teaching a K-1 combo, I had been talking to the kids about taking an imaginary trip to the north pole later in the week. I had a plethora of holiday related activities. One little boy came to school with a backpack, a down jacket, a sleeping bag, and a pillow. I looked quizzically at his mom for an explanation. She said no matter what she told him; he was convinced I was taking him to the north pole. It was so precious to me. I learned a valuable lesson while teaching the little ones to be truly clear about real and pretend.

When I moved to middle school to teach, I was not sure if I would have many precious moments. Happily, there were many. One September (back when school started in September) I had a young man run up to me shouting, “Mom, Mom, look at this.” It was a precious moment for me. But even more so, was the fact that not one of his peers made fun of him for calling me Mom. It made my heart swell.

Once when our school was vying for a state honors award, we were having visitors in every class. Of course, we were all on our best behavior. A young lady came to me upset and crying because something was leaking in her backpack and she could not get the zipper open. I went outside with her to try and stop the spill on the floor as well as the worry she had. Unbeknownst to me, a reviewer had come into the room via the computer pod. I was nowhere to be seen, which was not a good thing. We reentered the room a moment later and the sweet young lady jumped in to explain that I was helping her with a crisis. It was precious that she didn’t want me to be in trouble for helping her. Luckily, the gentleman calmly said, “I would have done the same thing.” We were both relieved.

Another great precious moment came when word got out that I was retiring. My homeroom class decided to break the rules and throw a surprise party for me. One of my students asked to speak to me outside the door about something important. I of course obliged. Meanwhile, from the back door the students, and parents, brought in treats, balloons, and flowers. It was a precious moment I shall never forget.

Of course all the while writing the blog for this my brain kept singing: