The Responsibility Of Being A Teacher

Lessons Learned…

The Mirror

Look on the wall, there’s a mirror,

After looking around I see no one is near

So I try it, I try it.

Making my hand move so fine

Ha! Look at that! It is copying mine

And I see it, I see it!

Oh mirror, mirror I can see

Your motion does depend on me.

I blink my eye, so do you

I clap my hands and you do it too

Let’s stomp our feet now to the beat now;

Upon my face I place a frown

Just then the corners of your mouth are turning down

You’re just like me!

Oh mirror, mirror I can see

Your motion does depend on me.

When all at once, to my surprise

The mirror image left and tears filled my eyes

It was a window

And I did not know.

by darcy hill

Teaching. It bears a weight of responsibility such as no other. Precious children, uniquely gifted, wired, inspired, filled with wonder and dreams and infinite potential to touch, change and serve this world as no one else can; these are the treasures entrusted to our care eight hours a day, five days a week, nine months a year, every year throughout their most formative years. With clay feet and great weakness, I stand before each class, each day in full knowledge of my inadequacy. What have I to give them but love, encouragement, and the best of what I have and am.  I am honored and humbled to be a teacher.

Lessons Learned…

From The Heel-Digging-In-Place Called “I Can’t”

“There’s no way. This song is just too hard to play. I could never learn it.” The student was overwhelmed.

“Yes, you can. One note at a time you will learn it. You must learn it, because your choir director needs you to play it. I will help you.” The teacher believed.  

So began the arduous work of learning the piano accompaniment for Beethoven’s Halleluia Chorus from The Mount Of Olives, a brilliant, stunning, powerful, but outrageously challenging piece of music for this extremely ordinary high school junior piano student. Time. Patience. Encouragement. Commitment. Tears more than once. Then, at last, in the nick of time, accomplishment. I could. I did.

Fast-forward thirty-five years.

“There’s no way. The Gettysburg Address is way too long. We could never learn it.” The students were overwhelmed.

“Yes, you can. One word at a time. One phrase at a time. You must learn it, all of you, because it’s in the script. I will help you.” The teacher believed.  

Of course they learned the Gettysburg Address. Of course they could. Of course they did.

“I can’t” can be an insurmountable hurdle, a place where effort becomes paralyzed by doubt and fear of failure. Words of encouragement whispered optimistically, sincerely, and frequently from the heart of a “yes, you can” believer, a teacher, who promises to train alongside and then run alongside all the way, provide the impetus of hope that ignites the spark of a willingness to try. Encouragement believes. Encouragement inspires. Encouragement motivates. Encouragement energizes. Encouragement says “yes,” and more often than not, it is all that we need to move beyond “I can’t.” Have you been an encourager today?      

Lessons Learned…

Creativity In The Coloring Book, Extending The Picture…

It was a Mary Poppins coloring book and the pages were all a very light green, which was extremely awesome because then one could freely use a white crayon. Everyone knows that a white crayon is the loneliest crayon in the box and rarely is selected as it cannot be seen on the usual white art and craft paper. The white crayon enjoyed a bold, frequent presence in my Mary Poppins pictures. My dad and I colored together a lot, for in his wonderful innovative creativity, he was an especially brilliant coloring accomplice. Rather than coloring in the lines, Dad used a black crayon to extend the pictures, and liberally added hats on heads, props in hands, hot air balloons in the sky, every sort of fish in the lakes, additional furniture in the Banks’ home, unexpected and delightful animals in the parks, vendors selling treasures on the sidewalks, and all kinds of excellent, wonderful, highly imaginative and creative fun. With his black crayon, my white crayon, and all of the colors in between, we smiled, laughed, and created masterpiece after masterpiece, all the while, narrating the stories of the pictures as we colored. From my earliest days, I fondly and vividly recall being encouraged to color outside the lines. This great gift of exercising and trusting creativity has joyfully served me and through my humble hands has reached hearts of students through thirty years of teaching.       

More On The Priority Of Play

Lessons Learned…

Let Them Play

Let them run, let them be,

Full of fun and perfectly free,

Let them play, oh, let them play.

Let them laugh, let them hide,

Let them sing inside or outside,

Let them play, oh, let them play.

They are children too quickly they grow,

Give them joy, give them hope, give them room so they’ll know

That you love them.

Let them dream, let them build,

Imagination can only be filled,

When they play, oh, let them play.

Let them care for many a pet,

Let them splash and get themselves wet,

Let them play, oh, let them play.

They are children too quickly they grow,

Give them joy, give them hope, give them room so they’ll know

That you love them.

By darcy hill

The Priority Of Play

Lessons Learned…

From A Garden of Play

To be able to problem solve is unquestionably an extremely desirable and highly useful skill. Problem solving requires a mind that sees connections and extrapolations, it requires considerable confidence, and it must be carefully cultivated. Problem solving grows from seeds of divergent thinking which grow from seeds of creativity which are watered, weeded, and sunshined in the childhood garden of unstructured, fully imaginative, and wonder-filled play. The priority of this sort of play is critical, for the impact and power of this sort of play desperately underestimated. Kids need to play. Creatively play. With duct tape, tinfoil, pipe cleaners, rocks, boxes, old socks, and all of the things all around them that can readily become something else with a pinch of imagination. All children have imaginations. One of my students informed me that imaginations live under people’s hair. Absolutely right. All children love to play. They must play. Have we traded forts out of blankets for technology toys? In our pursuit of vast opportunities to enrich our kids, have we enslaved ourselves and our kids to schedules so structured that there’s little to no time left for unstructured play?  Have we sacrificed the garden of play for captivating screens and a light speed, leave-you-breathless pace? Have we maintained a healthy balance in our culture of extremes and superlatives? What are our children learning from our choices? If we are to cultivate a generation of problem solvers, a generation of well-balanced deep thinkers and innovators, we must, we must let them play.     

Lessons Learned... Abe Lincoln

Lessons Learned…

…From The Life Story Of A Great American Leader

In a cabin in Kentucky, he was born and he lived there for a while,

So much he never had, but he never felt that bad, for he was loved;

At seven on to Indiana, for new and better possibilities,

And though his momma died, Abe always tried, to do his very best.

From a cabin to the State House to the White House to the hearts of a nation, Abraham Lincoln.

From humble beginnings to the highest height in all the nation, Abraham Lincoln.

A mountain of a man, so tall and wise he’d stand.

In Illinois his family settled, when Abe was twenty-one,

He helped them build their home, then set out on his own, he worked so hard and long, he was so very strong;

Many jobs and always a good worker, his word was true, and he read all the time,

A lawyer he became, and honest was his name, he treated people well.

From a cabin to the State House to the White House to the hearts of a nation, Abraham Lincoln.

From humble beginnings to the highest height in all the nation, Abraham Lincoln.

A mountain of a man, so tall and wise he’d stand.

by darcy hill

So many great leaders have served this great country. Happy Birthday, America!

Lessons Learned...

Lessons Learned…

…From a Drama Teacher About Centrifugal Force

I had seen it done countless times. All successfully. I had tried it and done it successfully numerous times myself growing up in the country with all of the neighboring kids and all of the projects and games involving buckets and water. It always worked. And it was something close to magical to see because despite the spinning around and again, not a drop of water ever spilled. It was the perfect five minute science filler that would stir awe and excitement and leave the kids saying, “Wow! That was cool!” From there, it was straight to lunch and recess with big science inspired smiles. It wasn’t a particularly big bucket and it wasn’t overly filled with water, but the entire exhibition was just right for the first grade scientists for whom it was designed. We went outside with the necessary accoutrements, sat in the grass, and prepared to be amazed. After a very brief and simple explanation, I spun the bucket three or four times not spilling a bit to an accompaniment of gleeful ooohs and ahhhs. “Please show us again!” “And again!” Perfect! As we were lining up for lunch, Nathan asked, “May I try it?” Why not? “Sure, Nathan!”  After two successful spins, Nathan’s spinning arm picked up some momentum, rapidly. “Nathan, it would be really good to stop now; you did a great job!” “I can’t!” Faster. Faster. Then, in a move such as one would make to jump in on a double-dutch rope jumping  game, I moved in on Nathan’s spinning arm. It stopped in midair, upside-down, drenching us both, but saving his arm. Silence followed charged with a certain amount of awe, fear, disbelief, and hilarity. One quiet giggle pierced the silence; it was Nathan. “Wow! That was cool!” he erupted.  Uncontainable giggles. Then off to lunch and recess with big science inspired smiles. Perfect.