“It’s not supposed to be this way. I started teaching 15 years ago. Never did I think I’d be navigating teaching during a pandemic. Children who have been home for months are now going to be in my classroom. I honestly can’t believe it’s come to this.”
‘Someone WILL get COVID-19 in your school.’ My heart ached as they put their masks on. It isn’t supposed to be this way.’: Preschool teacher shares experience during pandemic
‘This is the third time you’ve been here.’ My son witnessed it all. He made a scene. She wasn’t having it.’: Woman thanks restaurant manager, reminds everyone to ‘be kind’
“I thought I knew what I was supposed to do, but it never felt right. I woke up 2 hours early. ‘Why don’t you tell me what you need?’ she said. ‘You had my son as a customer and he witnessed the whole thing.”
‘On our way home, we ended up front and center for a local protest. My daughter said, ‘Mama.’: Mom wonders about George Floyd’s final words, ‘I wonder if in those last few breaths, he was calling not on her, but us’
“I thought she was asking for me. She wasn’t.”
‘He held up his sign: ‘Cancer is hard. Being black is hard… I want to survive both.’ Just then, a police officer turned back around.’: Police officers touched by childhood cancer fighter
“Just then, a police officer blew his horn and turned back around to introduce himself. He wanted to know everything AJ has been through. He vowed, ‘I will teach my kids to love everyone.’ I want my son to know you don’t need a big crowd to voice your opinion.”
‘Well, mommy, I’m not just black. I’m white too!’ I had to explain, ‘I know baby, but people may just see your hair and tan skin.’: Mom to multiracial family urges ‘race talk’
“With everything currently happening in the news, I began to realize I needed to have ‘the talk’ with my children very soon. To see the confusion on their faces hurt.”
‘She came to us asking why she felt so much anger. Jeremy gave her a hammer. The slightest thing sets her off, boiling just under the surface.’: Daughter ‘relieved to know she wasn’t alone’ after parents help her to ‘release anger safely’
“Our 12-year-old has been struggling with anger lately, erupting when the slightest thing sets her off. ‘Why do I feel this way?’ We found an old desk on the side of the road. Jeremy gave her a hammer. We wanted her to dismantle it. It went faster than I anticipated.”
‘She murmurs in a low voice, ‘But, um…girls at school will make fun of me for wearing unicorn stuff.’ I was at a loss for words.’: Mom urges ‘let’s show our daughters how to be a kind girl’
“The few that circulated rumors. The few that always had something derogatory to say about you. The few that would always leave you out of the loop and make you feel unworthy of being apart of the ‘in’ crowd. I moved to a new city to begin my career as a Nurse Practitioner. I was hit with the reality the mean girls club still existed.”
‘Today, reality hit me straight in the face. It hit me by a 6-year-old holding a box of Ziplocs.’: Teacher receives special gift from student, re-examines idea of ‘success’
“Want me to be honest? Today was rough. I don’t cry and I cried 5 times today. I was ready to crawl in a daggum hole.”
I lied to my students today.
“There is a dirty little secret that most people don’t know. But ask a Title 1 teacher about it, and they’ll nod.”
‘She held my hands and told me how worthy and valuable I was’: 10 ways teachers changed their students’ lives
“It was the first time I ever felt special.”
