Today is the perfect day for the beach. We are sitting and working on essays in a semi-AC-induced coma. What I love about Saturday school is it's a chill but focused atmosphere. I have a lot of students who come to my class, which I hear is rare, and who really want to work on the assignments I create. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from the older students in the school, who I usually only interact with in a hallway exchange of love. What I love about BK is its family feel. Sometimes I struggle with the cold and calculated ideas of a school, and how some schools feel like jail. I believe that it is possible to have both academic rigor, to push students to think and work hard, and also to be loving and caring toward them. Caring for them, and being open about that, is not a weakness.
So, instead of going to the gym after work, I feel that I have earned the right to go sit on the beach and bask in sun. I deserve a reflection eternal, sankofa (looking back to move forward), a sigh of relief at the end of a hard week and before the beginning of the last difficult week of school. It is important for me to take time for myself to just breathe and be, to nourish my body and my mind with the company of quality people. In these past few months, I've been spastic and lethargic at the same time, but I have much to accomplish this summer. In the way of resting, growing, and preparing myself for an even more successful year next year. More end of the year reflections to come, as my students will be grading and assessing my class, too, which always brings out the deep thoughts from within.
Last night we talked about the need to create a new language, because some of our words have lost their meaning, and because there are not enough words to reflect the myriad emotions we deal with daily. Like, for instance, what's between like and love? There is a vast empty space where we need a common vocabulary to match the gradients of our hearts.
Keep my students in your thoughts as they push hard to try and finish out their 9th grade year with strength and focus. I've watched them grow so much and am not ready to let them go. That's all for now... to be continued...
xo
L
