Feeding the soul vs. training for standards....

This week I was reminded that sometimes we, as educators, need to nurture the soul of our students, not just their minds (purrr). At the middle school level there is a big shift in expectations. We keep telling our ten year-old fifth graders that they need to act more maturely and that we expect so much of them, while the year before they were still kids that played with dolls and celebrated holidays. This year I fought for the giving of valentines. I know it seems simple, but it was something that no one would agree to last year (twitch). There was a feeling that it would add to the middle school drama and that they couldn't be trusted to handle it maturely(twitch, twitch). In fact, with a few conversations about not leaving people out, the kids handled it marvelously. I realized that the kids couldn't learn to be accepting of others and show their maturity without these opportunities(purr). It was one of those opportunities that we remove under the pretense that Valentine's day is for elementary school, it takes too much time and that kids wouldn't want to participate anyway. Well this year the kids filled each others' envelopes with notes of friendship, small treats of appreciation, and more importantly, EVERYONE walked away knowing that someone in that school cared about them. The kids got a lesson in humanity and a boost to their fragile self images through a day of recognizing and building on relationships with their peers. Yes, I took a day out of our busy schedules (5th-8th) to make handmade valentine receptacles instead of working toward the standards, but isn't it just as important to feed their souls, and to teach them to be caring human beings? I don't think you're ever too old to appreciate another person or to be appreciated.