A difficult work week...

I have always made a pretty conscious effort to set boundaries for myself with work and non-work because I know burn-out will happen if I don't do this. This week was interesting because although my hours at being work didn't change too much, my mind and heart were consumed by it. I was not consumed with the act of doing work or feeling stress about work that needs to be done, I was consumed by the pain and hardships some of my students and their families go through on a daily basis. I often talk with other educators about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (a psychologist's theory).. Meaning that we can't get anywhere with kids when their basic needs aren't even being met. I had a student this week who lost her mother suddenly. This student has pretty severe Autism, and is nonverbal. Her mother was all she had. There is no other family around and no Dad in the picture. And because of that, she is going to have to go into foster care or a facility that can meet her needs- which will most likely be far away from the school she was attending. Therefore, this girl who is very structured and needs routines, is losing EVERYTHING familiar to her because a horrible tragedy occurred when her mom died unexpectedly. My heart breaks for her. Another one of my students lost his father one year ago. He has a really hard time engaging in normal peer interaction, and craves adult attention because he isn't getting any at home. He wants nothing more to be loved, and even wrote about that recently in a class writing assignment. My heart breaks for him. If we simply could provide the one basic need that is so important, I feel like a lot of problems in the world would not exist.

This week a 32-year old man opened fire at a middle school in the school district where I work. Luckily no one died, but two children did sustain some serious injuries. A math teacher at that school ran and tackled this man as another teacher took his gun away. They prevented any other people from being shot. I want nothing, but to believe I would do the same thing in that situation- but I have no idea how I would respond with something like that. I do know that those teachers showed how much they love those students- that they are willing to put their lives in jeopardy to protect them. My prayer would be that all students everywhere would experience love like that from the adults in their lives. My guess is that 32-year old gunman has not experienced the love he needs.

I do know I don't have much control over what happens when the kids I work with go home at night. But I do know I have the capability to show and make sure they feel loved when I get to see them on a weekly basis... and I feel blessed for that opportunity.