As you know from previous posts, I teach. My school is my home away from home, and it's a lovely place. I consider my grade partners and all of the lower school teachers around me as my extended family, and we get pretty cozy together. The hallways are a fun place for teachers no matter the time of day, but there is a common denominator that is only prevalent during the morning hours in the school...and that would be, coffee. This is probably true in most professions in the morning, but I can only speak for teachers, and as I mentioned last week, we're 'loving and mothering' our way through the day, so...it's cozier in a school.

If I'm lucky, my coffee won't disappear too quickly, and it will last through the morning hours. When I report to the two first grade classrooms to pick up my reading groups, we, meaning my grade partner, students and I, greet each other warmly and socialize for a bit...and our coffee is present. It's definitely an amiable way to begin class, and the students are relaxed and receptive.

Sometimes, it's more than coffee we share. On one particular day when I arrived at my second classroom, I wasn't feeling good. I was hungry and lightheaded and thought I should sit down. That particular grade partner had just started peeling an orange, one of those little 'cuties.' I wouldn't normally ask her for a bite of her food (well, maybe I might), but this time I did. She handed me half of her cutie and we shared the slices while reviewing for the upcoming class, all the while, the first grade children sat and observed while their teachers demonstrated care and kindness to each other.

Later that evening while I was on a walk, I received a text message from that same teacher. She just wanted to let me know how much she enjoyed sharing her orange slices with me. She said, "You know, it's the little things in life that are so important." I laughed out loud and thanked her again before continuing on with my walk, thinking about what she had said. She was absolutely right. It was a little thing, but her small gesture had made such an impact on both her students who witnessed it and me, that it really should have been categorized as one of the bigger things in life.

And with that thought, I was reminded of a video I had seen. I hadn't given the thought of categorizing life too much until I saw the video, but I guess we all kind of do it without realizing. It makes sense that we reserve the most amount of time for what's really important in our lives, and allow only a small amount of time for what's not so important...and it's imperative to not reverse this process. The video really brings it home for me, though, perhaps since I'm a multi sensory learner. I do my best learning when I hear it, read it, and feel it, emotionally. I've seen different versions of this video, but like this one best because of the music. It's five minutes long, but well worth your time, and the ending is perfect...brings it all home.

If you have the time, click on, The Mayonnaise Jar. You won't be disappointed. I enjoy teaching moments that stay with me, causing me to give it some extra thought. I think it is easy to see what my silver has learned from this...that I already knew just how important the big things in life are...even if they are very small.

The Silver Side of Life