All I really need to know I learned teaching first grade

Every month my friend and I meet at Panera by the mall for a long, leisurely lunch.  Christy and I used to teach together – she was a kindergarten expert and I was lucky to have her kids in my first grade classes until I left Greenwood in 1999.  Since then I’ve had the pleasure of working as a yoga instructor with kids from age three to eighteen.  Still, I’ve always thought that if I had to go back to formal education, I’d want to teach first grade again.
          This past Saturday I said as much to Christy (who now has moved up a grade herself) and we both agreed first grade is such a vital year for kids.   There’s nothing quite like watching a child’s eyes light up when they realized they can read…or discover how to subtract…or spell the word “school”.  Yet the lessons I remember most -- and the ones my former students recall whenever I run into them around town - aren’t the ones I wrote on the overhead projector or handed out for homework.  Robert Fulghum’s poem All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten graced the walls of many a classrooms at Greenwood, encouraging kids to Put things back where you found them and Be aware of wonder.   My person favorite is Live a balanced life.  

Now, in my early fifties, I’ve come to find that all I really needed to learn to navigate this ever-changing, ever-chaotic world in which we now live, I learned teaching first grade.   Feel free to add your own life lessons in the comment section below.  I look forward to hearing from you.

All I Really Need to Know I Learned Teaching First Grade

·         The world is full of people who come from vastly different home lives and histories.  Practice patience. 

·         Not everyone thinks or believes as you do…nor should they.   Be open-minded. 

·         Sometimes you’ll have to say or do something ten, twelve, or even one hundred times before it will sink in.   Be persistent.

·         On a rainy day, the most wonderful thing in the world is a cozy corner and good book.  Indulge for at least fifteen minutes every day, rain or shine.

·         The best way to remember something is to involve as many senses as possible.   Live a lush life and experiment with as many scents, tastes, sounds, and textures as possible. 

·         Learn a new poem every month…with sign language if possible.

·         Everyone is good at something.  Find your talent and while you’re at it, celebrate the gifts others bring to the world.

·         The greatest way to stay curious and creative is to discover the way in which you learn best. 

·         It’s okay to cry in front of other people, especially on the last day of school when you have to say good-bye.

·         Trust that even on the hardest days, what you’re doing moment by moment makes a difference. 

·         Be kind.

·         Be kind.

·         Be kind.