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Not gonna lie.
At some points this week I felt I was drowning in despair.
Students are writing expressive/reflective pieces for me and the stories I am reading are not the happy-go-lucky, beach party, silly teenage antics that so many people believe high school student life is like.
I'm reading stories of abuse and neglect, family suicide, and homelessness.
I'm reading stories of loneliness
I'm reading stories of self-abuse, family issues, and fear of deportation.
They believed me when I told them
Your Story Matters.
They took those words to heart and shared with me the parts of themselves they seldom share with others. They trusted me. And slowly, most of them are trusting at least one other student in class with that story.
That's reason to celebrate.
They laugh, they smile, they relax in my room.
That's reason to celebrate.
They are committed to finishing school and they come most days and work hard to make the ending to their story happy.
And that's reason to celebrate.
I celebrate you and space you create so that students can write the stories that matter!
ReplyDeleteThis the greatest compliment - the trust the students show in you when honestly writing about their life. I celebrate togehter with you the grit students are showing in writing and finishing school.
ReplyDeleteYour gift to them, acknowledging and celebrating those stories, no matter the sadness and challenge. I wrote about story today, too, and didn't touch on the student stories from the past, but so glad you did. For teachers to know how important this is, the trust shared. I hope you'll share this in other ways too, Deb.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad there are people who listen to the stories people decide to share. Sometimes the darkness seems able to overtake everything but kindness, love and celebrations can keep them at bay and eventually ward them off completely.
ReplyDeleteWow! I'm glad that you are providing space for them to reflect and express themselves. This is powerful because their stories do matter.
ReplyDeleteWow. Heavy stuff. I celebrate trust and break-throughs!
ReplyDeleteMy Celebrate the Week
I celebrate you. You who have given your students enough safety that they can express what at times sounds like the inexpressible.
ReplyDelete