I wanted to structure my thoughts this week into chronological order because it feels like this week has been at least a month in length!
I have been really fortunate this week and earlier on have had some truly meaningful ‘connecting’ conversations with people and this has really made me think carefully about what we do, why we do it and how it impacts on us.
Shel Silverstein’s book ‘The Giving Tree’ came to mind during one particular conversation I had on Wednesday. It made me think about just how hard everyone is working and giving, giving, giving until they have nothing left to give. The book itself is quite controversial, with many questioning the morality and messages behind it. My reading of it is not that the tree is not receiving anything in return, but that the tree is giving generously and selflessly. Just like we as teachers do…
On a side note, it was during my PGCE year when I was first introduced to both ‘The Giving Tree’ and ‘Walter Fish’. Our tutor Geoff (who my teaching partner Aimee nicknamed ‘good-looking dad’) had an amazing storytelling voice and drew his listeners in. I can’t honestly remember exactly what the lecture was on, but it was something about stories with meaning and selflessness which don’t necessarily have to be religious and the importance of sharing stories with students, enabling them to connect with issues on a different level. Nothing ground-breaking for most of you reading this, but as trainee secondary teachers, this was rather revolutionary!
This then got me thinking about my, albeit very small, stash of books I have in my office. One of them has travelled the world with me and is one I used when I taught Y4 in the UK – ‘Have You Filled a Bucket Today?’ I bought it before the idea of Random Acts of Kindness was a ‘thing’ and when I needed to explore how we have a huge impact on others’ feelings. The conversation I had on Wednesday with a colleague, the short messages I shared with both family and friends back in the UK definitely filled my bucket and gave me fresh perspective as well as allowing me to validate my feelings and emotions. The message I shared with my mom was of bittersweet amusement about the fact that the hem on my dress had been hanging down all day. (Please be assured that I was indeed brought up to be able to mend my own clothes and look presentable in public and ‘what would my mother say?’ is now a standing joke in our house). So, I did what any self-respecting daughter would do and sent her a photograph. She apologised about not being able to mend it for me and suggested I could mend it in my spare time. I suggested putting it back in the wardrobe until the summer. She agreed that was a good idea and that she would get her sewing box out ready. We both filled the other’s buckets that evening.
Moving through the week, today is World Children’s Day (and definitely the onset of winter). According to the Nord Anglia communications bulletin, it is ‘a day that celebrates the power of children to change the world’. One of the things which I am most proud of about working here at BISS Puxi is that we are enabling all of our children to do just that. Some of you may have seen that the secondary school voted for their choice of Chair and Vice-Chair of the student council earlier this month. All of the candidates spent at least some time in our primary school; although none of them were in my class, they were all in my Y5 cohort. The Chair and Vice-Chair have both been with us for many years; Jocelyn since Y2 and Joey in Y5 (and I remember his first day in 5P). It is with great pride that I know that their teachers from primary will have given them the foundations to be so successful. I am also connected with some ex-students on LinkedIn and they are undoubtedly changing the world. Some of you will have seen from our Facebook feed that, alongside some of his fellow Engineering students from Imperial College, Leo has been talking about his entrepreneurial experiences and working on a start-up during a pandemic.
I would like to finish by reminding each and every one of you that you fill others’ buckets on a daily basis and I sincerely hope that yours are filled in return. You definitely fill mine.
Happy Friday!
By the way… I’ve given up on Spotify playlists and have made my own: ‘Random Stuff I like’. The Caravan of Love has just finished, and it was Zombie before that. I’m re-connecting with my long-ago youth. I’ve also decided to put a positive spin on the weather; we could be back in the UK now because it’s cold and damp!
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