In my working world, (the one where I get paid), I’m a
substitute teacher for Gilroy Unified. The district pays us well
and our schedules are flexible, but that’s not why I keep this
sometimes thankless job.
In my working world, (the one where I get paid), I’m a substitute teacher for Gilroy Unified. The district pays us well and our schedules are flexible, but that’s not why I keep this sometimes thankless job.
I do it because of the kids. Their innocence, humor, questions, and antics. They’re so full of life and hope.
Sure there are times when I come home from a day with less-than-winsome cuties and declare that I’m going to get a real job. One whose success doesn’t depend on keeping 32 children-shaped bowls of Jell-O in their seats and on task.
But most of the time, I enjoy working with God’s littlest humans and laugh for months over the things they say and do.
Like … the little girl who wanted to know if I “was somebody’s grandma.” I had to tell her, “No, but I wish I was.” And because I assumed it was because she thought I was nice, I said, “And, why do you ask?” Without an ounce of guile, she answered, “Cuz you have a LOT of wrinkles!” (Name withheld to protect the innocent.)
Then … there was the kindergarten student who wondered if they had a substitute so the teacher could get “her hair blonded.” (Name withheld to protect the teacher.)
Then … there was the first grade boy who wanted to “talk-share” about the games his parents play in the bedroom on Saturday mornings. (Name withheld to protect the parents.)
But … my all time favorite is the time I subbed for a first-grade class on Veteran’s Day. The teacher had laid out an age appropriate book on the American flag and then we were supposed to discuss the Pledge of Allegiance. Seemed simple enough.
Just minutes into the lesson, I discovered that the tiny patriots didn’t understand all of the words they recite with right hands over hearts every morning (i.e. pledge, allegiance, republic, etc.) A few simple definitions quickly brought those terms into focus.
There was one word, however, they just could NOT understand: indivisible.
Hmmmm, nothing in the brightly colored book or the lesson plan to help me with this one! Time to improvise.
I decided to show them what it meant by dividing the class into parts. First I sorted them by gender. Then by eye color. Then by those who like chocolate ice cream and those who like vanilla. Then by those who like to play Four Square and those who like to hit a tether ball.
Finally, I sat them back down in story time formation and told them, “indivisible means that even if you look different and like different things, you all belong in Room 4. Your differences don’t put you outside the classroom or separate you from the rest of the students.”
Lots of smiles and head bobbing. Three little girls in the front hugged each other to prove that they couldn’t be divided. Zachary used his outside voice to say, “Ooooooh …. I get it!”
I decided to have Mr. Confidence explain “indivisible” in his own words.
With hands still raised in triumph, he said, “indie-da-visible means that no one can see us.”
Oh no!
“Thumbs up if you think that’s what it means,” I said with a tiny shred of remaining hope. All 19 thumbs flipped up while my heart sank.
“I think we’re going to save that word for another day.” I was out of explanations and time.
That night, after I told the “indie-da-visible” story to my family, I realized that maybe those first graders were on the right track after all.
Our flag stands for a lot of things that can’t be seen, touched, smelled, or felt. In ordinary times, we tend to forget about those invisible virtues. We group and regroup focusing on what we believe, who’s like us, who’s not, who likes us, and who doesn’t.
It’s when we’re forced to face a Dec.7, 1941 or a Nov. 22, 1963 or a Sept.11, 2001 that our differences fade and the normally invisible becomes apparent. We remember that it’s the big picture that counts and not the individual brush marks.
As Zachary said so well, those are the times that, “no one can see us” because we’re standing as “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
