"Okay guys, it's time to read from your story books... everybody go get one, they're in the back" I said, as I scanned my classroom of 12 bright-eyed 7 and 8 year olds. As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt a little one at my side, looking up at me with that little blond head and sparkling blue eyes saying, "Miss Beth, can we pleeeeease go pick a partner?" Well, how could I resist?
They got into groups of two and the reading began. I went around the room, making sure Donavon and Lecyrus weren't at each other's throats again, and making sure the kids were actually reading. As I went from group to group, sitting at each for a couple of minutes, the story unraveled. It was called "A bundle of sticks" and as I began to piece the story together, from segments at each group, I found that it was about two brothers who were fighting over who was the better of the two. The father, saddened by the constant bickering, gave the boys a task. He gave them a bunch of sticks and told them to break them all at once. They quickly realized that they were, seperately, too weak to break them and had to do it together to accomplish the task.
After every group finished reading, I called them all back together to discuss the book.
"Do you guys ever fight with your siblings?" To see all the hands that went up in the air, you would think they were a gospel choir at a Baptist church. As I picked on the hands that were raised, I got the full lowdown of exactly how it was between these kids and each one of their siblings and exactly how their parents punished them. They would tell stories of, "... well, this one time, I pushed my brother, and my momma came and gave me a whoopin'!" or "... I couldn't play with my x-box anymore." Some even had stories of an infamous "spank spoon" or a certain corner they had to go sit in.
Then, I asked them this question: "Who do you think it hurts when you fight with your brother or sister?" I thought of all the different responses I could get... and the one response I actually wanted to hear. The kids answered about it hurting their mom, dad, sibling, or grandparent. Not one of them said that it would hurt God- that was the answer that I was fishing for.
This was a public school and the name Jesus or God was obviously not to be spoken by me as a teacher. It was okay to talk about God if a kid asked a question about him... but even then, I was to clearly state that it was only my opinion. I guess I asked that question because I wanted to see what they had been taught about Jesus, if anything at all. All throughout the day, I had seen snapshots of their home lives and this was just another picture.
One teacher told me that day that she could never be a nurse and she doesn't know how we do it. I told her that I could never be a teacher and I didn't know how she did it. What I actually meant by my statement though, was not about how hard it was to teach a class full of rambunctious kids. It was that I could never work in a place that didn't allow me to speak about God. I felt like I was about to burst when I asked the kids that question. I can't imagine feeling like that every day!
... so, I have a question for my readers. Why must teachers refrain from speaking about God in the classroom?
Dang. I wanna hear what the teachers are going to say. Speak up, teachers!
ReplyDeleteMmmmmm...so good!
ReplyDeleteI don't think that people generally misunderstanding God is a good reason to keep everyone from talking about Him, but I think that's the reason.
ReplyDeleteWhat about this idea to make working in that kind of environment bearable: only some people hear God talking through nature, but nature makes everyone ask questions. What if for those students being in your classroom was like walking through the woods?