I’ve had this post rolling around in my mind for weeks. Years maybe. When I think of all the kids I’ve taught, I think of how different and unique each of them are. I think of their strengths, struggles, and likes. I remember those very small details. Because it is in the details of our lives that we truly understand each other. We connect. On a deeper level. A level that only the heart can see.
I’ve been watching my own child grow. Yesterday I watched her at the playground, playing with another child. She’s honestly never met a stranger. She doesn’t see stereotypes or have preconceived notions. She can only see one thing: A completely unfiltered view of who the person is. She’s never seen the heirarchy of things and known he inner workings that you don’t say the same things to your principal that you’d say to your closest friend. To her? Everyone matters in the same way, equally. Trust me on that, when she was six, she asked her school Principal if he was really qualified to be giving her a spelling test. Unfiltered.
I realized that I can never see things her way. I have years of ideas and thoughts, and preconceived notions I try to leave behind. But they are always there. I can try, but can I ever really see that view? Unfiltered. Everyone matters. Equally. Not status, not one person better or worse, just people.
What if what she is doing is connecting with people’s hearts instead of filtering them through a “what I think I know about you” view that only hinders our connections?
And as I watched her on the playground, I realized something. Even thought I might never truly understand her view and her view is different from mine, it’s not wrong. In fact, I can learn a lot from her and the way her mind works. Especially when I choose to see her heart. A lesson for us all, in our daily work in classrooms, schools, and the world.
Connections matter so much in our schools and in our classrooms. Those moments where you connect? You can’t put a score on them. They are human, necessary, and real. They are the fertile soil that grows learning. They are the sun that warms collaboration. They are the water that soaks into the roots and inspires your soul to keep going.
