School's Out. (800 Blips)

What has Grade 1 taught me this year?

I have been reminded that it really is a year of firsts - wearing a school uniform, having your own desk and chair, calling your teacher "Mrs", reading, writing, swimming in a gala, sitting in assembly, playing chess, playing on the big field, reciting poetry,

All young children are born with an inner glow. Inside of them is an ember waiting to be ignited. You can see it in their faces, their smiles, their eyes and hear it in their voices and laughter. In Grade 1 I have had the privilege to witness that glow ignite into a flame after every first success. Writing, reading, maths, speaking, swimming across the length of the school pool, taking a book out of the library or even reciting a group poem at assembly.

Each first experience allows the flame of learning to grow and mature. As a teacher you can never forget your role in keeping that flame alive. If every teacher realized that their actions have the power to extinguish or protect that flame they might look at their learners through different eyes.

That flame has to stay alive right through a person's life. The desire to continue to learn until the day you die is the biggest gift a teacher can give to a child. Never underestimate a teacher's role in the life of a child. Never forget the feeling of the first time you achieve something.

I have witnessed so many firsts with the children this year. Their amazement at what they are able to do is a pure joy to witness. It is so easy to forget that those moments of firsts happen every day and not just in Grade 1.

This year I have had the opportunity to experience my own personal firsts. These experiences have allowed me to build and strengthen myself as a person. Imagine the development then of the young children in my class?

I am about to pass the children in my class over to their next teacher. I have tenderly cared for their flame of learning this year, nurtured and encouraged its infancy. It is fresh and bright, just a tiny little flame. It is still new and vulnerable. It can so easily be discouraged or blown out. A careless word, a discouraging expression, indifference, impatience, un enthusiasm or harsh words and manner can easily squash it.

So vulnerable is this flame if it is not cared for and fed. In years to come it will have times when it shines brightly and also days when it wavers, moments when it is barely visible. My hope is that it is given every chance to radiate and outshine any obstacle that crosses its path. My wish is that it shines brightest each time a teacher has the opportunity of creating another first experience for this young flame.

Never forget the feeling of exhilaration of the first time you do something and continue to experience first times your whole life through. For it is when we stop learning that our life comes to an end.


"If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, the excitement, and the mystery of the world we live in." --Rachel Carlson