When the World Feels Broken

I'm sitting at the desk in my classroom... it's 4:43pm. My students have left and I am alone here, preparing for tomorrow, reflecting on today. Teachers are always looking forward and looking back. It's the little dance we do on a daily basis- did they get what I was trying to teach today? Do I need to give more time tomorrow? How does my storyline of yesterday help me know how to move forward today? There is always so much on the mind of a teacher as they take care of minds and hearts simultaneously all day long. But, as I sit here in my thoughts, I cannot shake the school shooting at Oxford that happened yesterday.

'Teaching the Days After'

Teaching on the days after is a term so many educators use when you have to scrap what you planned because another big event has happened that you need to make space for in your classroom community. There have been way too many 'Teaching the Days After' kind of days in the last several years. Students need to process the result of a divisive election, police brutality, natural disasters, separation of families at the border, and, unfortunately, yet another school shooting. The fact that I write 'yet another' makes me absolutely sick.  

Students need to make sense of why these things happen.

 Students need to hear factual information. 

Students need to problem solve how that thing can never happen where they live or in their neighborhood or at their school. 

Students need to know how they can help. 

We can't just go about our regular day after something like this.

How to Heal a Broken Wing 

The weird thing with this particular event, was the picture book I had selected to read with them on the day the shooting happened (Tuesday). A story about a bird who had flown into the window of a building and landed on the ground, still alive, but broken. No one had seen this bird as person after person was shuffling around in the hustle and bustle of a busy city, until Will walked by. This little boy noticed the injured bird immediately and brought it home to nurse back to health. Although this book had very little words (but told a beautiful story through pictures), there was a few powerful lines. 

Will's parents tell him that "a loose feather cannot be put back... but a broken wing can sometimes heal.  With rest, and time, and a little hope... a bird may fly again." 

We spent a while talking about all the different brokenness a person can have: physical, mental, emotional. How often do we take the rest, time, and hope needed to heal our own brokenness? How often do we take the rest, time, and hope needed to help heal someone else's brokenness. 

We could not talk about the shooting today without talking about our picture book conversation from yesterday. We need an abundance of "Will"s in the world: people who are aware of others, who care, who spread kindness, and who take the time to help someone else's brokenness. 

I have a lot of hope that while I'm walking around my classroom, I'm staring into the eyes of a lot of "Will"s. 

There is Much to be Done

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that thoughts and prayers don't help, because I know that they do. I'm also not going to sit here and tell you thoughts and prayers are enough because they are not. 

We have oh so much to do to take care of the kids we are raising to make sure their mental health is honored and talked about. We have so much to do with the way policies and laws are passed to better ensure the safety of our kids and the safety of all other humans. So much work to do on guns in this country. I'm not sure how many more of these events need to happen before people ACT on the brokenness of our systems... so many broken systems. It is overwhelming- the failures, the needs, the changes that should happen. 

While I feel powerless of SO much, what I can do is help raise my sons and support my students in never adding to anyone else's brokenness.

I will forever be grateful to picture books who always seem to say the words I am looking for. 

My kids deserve to be safe, feel safe. 

My students deserve to be safe, feel safe. 

And I hope there are a lot of "Will"s out there looking out for people's broken wings.