Haystack

wisepuppet:

Oh meggy meg meg…sorry I’m like- stalking you today! It doesn’t really bother me though because I just have to say this. You’ll be an awesome teacher. I think that’s all anyone ever saw you doing in the future, which is totally a good thing. Not everybody knows exactly what they want career wise at our age. So you got that goin’ for you :P. Times are really, really different. Even though it has only been like a decade and a half since we were preschool age, things have changed. I’m not sure if it’s because parents are getting younger or just because of the somewhat new obsession with material things. I know that when I worked at the elementary school over summer 2010, all the five year olds had ipods and facebooks! It’s scary and it crosses my mind all the time, but I guess it just takes some getting used to. Whatever the reason, kids don’t seem to listen as well as they used to. A lot of parents these days claim it’s because of a lack of physical discipline…but obviously no one wants that. You have to know how to lay down the law without the archaic “spanking” thing. Plus, I know you’re not like that at all anyway. We’re only in our first year of college, you have time to figure out your style. I know nothing about teaching (you’re the one majoring in it!) but it’s probably all about trial and error just like everything else. Obviously for you, today was an error, but that’s what is supposed to happen. Teachers or not, we’re all gonna have to deal with children who don’t listen. I think the best quality about you is that you have such a silly sense of humor (which kids love) but you take the things you love seriously. That will come through in your teaching and sure, there will be moments like today but that doesn’t mean that you have failed. Think back to our elementary school teachers. They were beloved AND they disciplined when they needed to. Looking back, the students you once had will most likely remember the good times with you. The important thing is that you teach them what they need to learn. We all know you’re doing it for the right reasons. You love kids and you genuinely want to help them. Some teachers I look at and think….why would you EVER go into teaching? And there’s no chance that you’re going to be a horrible mom. Look at YOUR mom!!! The fact that you acknowledge these worries just means that you care. It would be bad if you didn’t read as much into them. Oh jeez, I hope this makes sense. I love you! You have nothing to worry about. This is what you were meant to do and everyone can see that. 

needle-girl:

I noticed this today in the preschool and it sucks because then I start freaking myself out that I’m going to be a horrible teacher, mother, and disciplinarian. After this one little boy refused to put on his snow gear when I asked him to. First I just repeated the question. Then I tried the whole…

this kind of made my entire week :) It’s always good to hear from you, my dearest Marzipan and this was definitely the kind of encouragement I needed! I’m actually thinking of printing this out and posting it up on my bulletin board or something so i’ll be reminded of it :)

But yes, a lot of what you say is true. Just from the first week of working with some of these kidlets, I see how much power they have over the parents who come and pick them up. It’s a scary generation, but for some reason a lot of educators are just getting more and more lenient about discipline.

Gahhh I love you so much <3 A friend that I know will always be there to support and to laugh with. You and I were the coolest preschoolers around.