I Resolve

Let poets speak of spring as a new beginning. For me, fall is the time of renewal. It is when there is a touch of energizing cool in the air however distant, the time when vacations are a pleasant memory and school and work begin in earnest.

As a child, born of immigrant parents, I entered a classroom filled with books, crayons and blocks of paper and I was starry-eyed. After I married, I watched my five children enter first grade and learn the magic of reading, writing and arithmetic. As a teacher, I faced students with anticipation and joy for each year is a collaboration of learning that is an ever-surprising wonder. Today as I look forward to the start of another year, resolutions come to mind as memories tumble forth.

When my first child entered kindergarten, I resolved to listen to her recount exciting experiences away from home with as much interest as I welcomed my husband's at the end of the day. I would try to keep the excitement of learning the delight it should be. I would also try to remember that fatigue, over-stimulation and frustration might make her weepy and irritable but if it angered me, it was doubly hard on her. To keep episodes of explosive exhaustion to a minimum, I would see to it that she got enough nourishment in the form of snacks and enough sleep at night and maybe a nap before dinner to maintain a sunny disposition.

I would encourage sharing of new-found knowledge with siblings and encourage them to share with one another, for learning is a two-way street comprised of informed teacher and willing student working together -- no matter what the age.

As my children continued, I reminded myself that the academic thrust was only a part of it. In the right environment, they would learn responsibility, morality and respect for themselves and others which I and my husband would reinforce at home. I resolved to be a part of their school life in the form of joining Parent's Auxiliary and Booster Clubs as a supporting member and make their school life part of their family life as we joined in becoming a part of the school. By the same token, I recognized that a quality school provided a loving extended family that would nourish and support us as parents. For this, my gratitude was real. I resolved to express my thanks at every opportunity.

Even though I knew that each of my children was different, I needed to remind myself of that fact and celebrate the good in each while at the same time helping them become better rounded. Jimmy was not academic but his sense of sportsmanship on the baseball diamond later translated into people skills. John was academic but needed to learn how to be more playful. The gentle urging could have been turned into criticism without careful awareness and resolve. School helped illuminate each child in his own special place under the sun.

When my youngest child went to school, I took a deep breath and looked in a different direction to fill my time meaningfully. Going back to teaching, I resolved once more that my students would never feel cheated; that they and their parents would receive full value for their expenditure of time and money. Hard work is exhilarating when the results are positive and visible. That was not to say that each student could earn "A's". It did mean that the "C" student could become the best "C" student possible.

By the same token, I resolved to give a rich share of attention to the child who was gifted, recognizing that what appeared as boredom was often only laziness formed over the years when only minimum effort was sufficient to keep up with the others. I would then work to keep the various academic, ethnic and social groups in touch with one another, for our society is a colorful palette with richness of color and hue that contributes to our dazzling world picture.

Still, I realized that the world was not always righteous and pure, therefore I would be alert to signs of drug use or emotional turmoil in my students as well as my own children. Pressures are a lot different today than when I was growing up.  Pain and confusion is not readily apparent in children who disguise unhappiness via indifference or artificial cheerfulness, so I resolved to watch and not be shy about asking questions. Should my suspicions prove right, I resolved never, NEVER to give up, for a child's life is always worth the rescue.

Resolutions are not ignorance but persistence and determination. It's the American athlete as shown on the TV commercial, working out against all odds in the wilderness or on the farm until achieving success. It's the Nobel prize-winner who has put in thirty years of work to claim that one shining moment. It's the less than perfect parent who helps a handicapped child, finally achieving a breakthrough no matter how small. It's the teacher who deals with a classroom of thirty kids and still manages to reach one problem child in a significant way, even if it happens only a week before the school year ends.

     And when all of my students do well on a test, confirming my skill as a teacher, it is the support to keep me at my task.       For we are never alone. Therefore as a celebration of the human spirit and the gifts given to each of us, So I resolve…

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