Phone Calls Home. Part 2--Speaking with the Student

I spoke with 5 students today! 2 days before school starts.  They were adorable.  So sweet, so honest, so flabbergasted to be speaking to their teacher on the phone.  And I was a bit flabbergasted, too.  Not just because that's a fun word to write, but because these little children are unknown to me.  Even the children I have met before in the hallway don't have a clear connection in my brain to my classroom and being my student.  It was like talking to a disembodied voice.

More so, for the student I thought I had a clear picture of.   I was proven wrong by this student today.  Probably not the last time for the year, either.  But I can't be happier to be wrong.  I had met this child before, many times in the hallway.  I was a bit overwhelmed at having them in my classroom.  I had labeled this child to be a "gets-their-own-way-no-matter-what" kind of kid.  But wow, we spoke for the longest time.  This child is so eager to be back at school, with friends, with a new teacher (me!).  After having me read the entire class list (perhaps a little of that get-their-own-way?), this child was excited to have known friends in the class, excited to have new kids in the class to befriend, excited just to have a class.  Respectful, helpful, eager, filled with the excitement at returning to a place that they obviously love to be.  It's good to be reminded that personality is made up of more than just that one characteristic.

So now I have a picture of this group.  It's not a physical picture it's a feeling picture.  And the picture I have is of a truly sweet group of kids.  Mind you 5/38 is probably not a big enough sample to make a whole class judgment, but if nothing else I know that 5 kids are on my side.