Kalea, in her tiny white shoes, got to the playground first. I heard her squeals before I saw her feet. Then, in three double-footed leaps, she bounded into view, brown eyes wide with the spark of mischief. Over her head (with both hands) she held a green fish made from construction paper. She sprinted past, […]
Tag Archives | leadership
Trap
From across the playground, I could see a pack of fourth graders encircling a boy named Tobias. They barked at him and he barked back. “You’re out, man. You’re out.” “I’m not out. You lie.” Still more boys joined the ring around him, hollering. Tobias stuck to his post at second base. He stood in […]
Refuge
I had heard that a new second grader would be arriving and the contact in our central office promised to fill me in on details. I received no call. However, the boy himself did arrive, tugged along by his mother. She shooshed him and shoved him inside as a howl of wind slammed the door […]
Grudge
Jasmine is eight, round, and short. Her mother dresses her in florescent colors like hot pink, blinding orange, or way-too-lime green. None of this bright fabric can ever quite cover Jasmine’s whole body. Her belly and back side seem to want (and find) a way out. A couple of additional tidbits that complete the picture: […]
Second
At the end of recess last Friday, I blew the line-up whistle. The scramble began. It took only one child switching from walk to run and then the pandemic spread. In an instant I had twelve students dashing across the playground to be first. Several boys showed remarkable cutting skills, slicing in front of their […]
Signal
As I stood on the playground this morning, I wondered whether the way I felt showed. I was having a flood of thoughts and feelings – signals – that wanted to rise to the surface. The timing was bad and I hoped that I could keep these internal communications tamped down. Still, on a playground […]
