Random Thoughts Thursday part 10

School days are in full swing, and I feel much more energetic than I did in the summer. There is something absolutely contagious about the excitement of children. I watched them come back to school and squeal with delight as they met up with their friends, some of whom they hadn't seen over the summer. Their joy is so genuine that I wish we could bottle it and save it for some of the gloomy days of winter. ;-)

In my last post, I know I wrote a lot about my teaching philosophy and what I think is the best approach to learning, but I just felt like a continuation was in order as I thought about the perspective of my students. Most of the time, kids come into school eager to learn something new. Elementary-aged schoolchildren are remarkable vessels of energy and seem to manage school at full speed from morning until late afternoon. I am always amazed at the teachers who can manage to keep up with such a pace. For me, now that I am in my mid-40s, I enjoy visiting small children for short periods of time! I love their innocent questions, their simple dramas that seem "oh so life-changing" in their young minds, and their contagious laughter. Kid laughter is simply the best.

Today was the first day I started our school's elementary chess club. I happen to have seven young ones interested in learning the game. Due to packed schedules, kids have to decide if they want to go to recess and play or stay in the cafeteria after lunch and play chess. It is a difficult choice I wish active children did not have to make, but since PE falls on the same day, I know they have had an outlet to run around. My routine goes like this: I make sure the cafeteria is set up with the proper number of chairs for each grade level. Kids come in and sit at their class tables. Today was story day, and I read to the kids using a microphone as I paced back and forth the length of the cafeteria, showing kids the pictures as I continued our journey through the Magic Tree House series. I like to read to the kids because it helps them stay calm and eat their lunches instead of getting too absorbed in chatting with their friends and not eating their food. Towards the end of lunch time, kids chat and clean up, and the "chess club" stays with me while the rest of the kids go with their teachers to play outside.

We have several new teachers this year, and they all asked me, How can you teach little kids chess? How can they even begin to understand it? How can they even sit still and focus on the game? I didn't really have any answers for them except the general answer that it's not hard, they do pick up patterns easily, and they love the game. I never really thought about it, but I have zero, absolutely no behavioral issues when teaching little kids chess. I put the boards on the table, and the kids find a seat and start setting up their boards. I usually play with the child still learning how to move the pieces, and if there are too many beginners, I have the most advanced teach the piece movement to the very beginners. I keep an eye on all the games, and I come around and make either a great move or a blunder move on the board for the kids. They can tell me why it is good or bad and choose to make it or not. If it is a move that gives one kid an advantage, I always make sure to balance it out later by making a great move for the other student. So far, none of the kids have complained about this, and they have learned a lot. We talk about piece values, fair trades, and uneven trades. They are starting to understand the basic math of calculating how many attackers are on a square and if it is a good idea to attack or wait. It is a beautiful thing to watch a child learn chess from the very beginning.

When we finish club, the kids know to pack up their boards, set them on a side table, and follow me to go back to their teachers. The boards are left on the table for anyone else who would like to play during their breaks before I take them back to my classroom. These simple acts of investing in the lives of children get rewarded in some of the sweetest ways. The title of this post was "An Apple for the Teacher" and the apple in the picture was a gift from a former student from long ago. My current students often give me little thank-you notes or treats their moms make for me—little trinkets and cute gifts their parents help them wrap and present. It is such a cute time in life when small humans are so humble, generous, kind, and grateful,... and then...

We continue to grow into adulthood and have to choose to continue on this path of gratitude and kindness or to take a more defeatist perspective. In case you didn't know by now, I am a people person. I listen to people's stories and offer kind feedback on whatever has been entrusted to me. Some people have been through so much negativity in their childhood that I am often shocked that these are the happiest people around me. It is like they went through a trauma and are grateful for the life that they made for themselves. Some people had a comparably great life with not much in the way of drama at all and yet complained about their life being so hard and having the worst situation in life. It is very hard to hear these woes, but I still try to be empathetic in that I understand that for them, the "trauma" is real, and unfortunately, they are blind to the many privileges they have in life that others could only dream of having.

And this brings me back to children. For the most part, children are happy and carefree at a young age. With the help of parents and teachers, they are learning how to navigate the world around them. Some will maintain a positive perspective, and some will shift towards a victim mentality. For this reason, I think the roles of parenthood and teacher are critically important to helping children choose the path of joy and kindness.
Be positive! Smile! Laugh like a child! It is a wonderful thing!
Just some random thoughts!
Cheers!