If you haven't read my previous post, you should read that first.
So today we celebrated el Dia de los Muertos. I brought in pictures of my grandparents and talked about them first, and then I told the kids that talking about my grandparents doesn't really make me very sad since they all died years ago. I miss them, but I'm not terribly sad. Then I told them about Ada and how talking about her is very sad for me because it's so recent and, well, she's my daughter. In every class you could have heard a pin drop when I was talking - and if you know 7th and 8th graders you know how rare that is! I heard lots of "awww"'s and I could tell by their faces that they really cared. I showed them the blanket and told them how we already knew it was a girl and that we named her Ada Elizabeth. I told them it was the blanket that I used to hold her. I told them that Wednesday is my due date and that today probably would have been my last day with them for a couple of months. The kids today were all so sweet.
My last class is my favorite. There are 28 kids, and 22 of them are girls. Sometimes they can be a little chatty, but for the most part they are really good kids. I think some of them were even crying today when I talked about Ada. After I talked I let other kids come up and share about a loved one they're remembering today, and in that class at least 10 kids got up to talk. (I only had a handful in the other two classes.) They have lost pets, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and teachers. Several of them cried as they talked, and then they would hug each other. When they were all done the room was really somber, so I got back up and said, "Okay, this is a happy holiday!" and they all laughed. I told them that as they did the different crafts that they should talk to each other about the fun times they had with the people (or pets) who died...and they actually did that! I heard some really great conversations.
I was so happy because rather than teaching my kids, "Here's what they do in Mexico," they actually got to experience the holiday in that culture. That's exactly what foreign language teachers should do. Anyway, I'm also happy because now my students know about this important part of my life. I felt like I was lying to them on the first day of school when I said that I didn't have any kids.
I had two different girls come up and talk to me. This first one broke my heart - she said, "I can kind of relate to your story about your baby." She went on to say that her mom had a baby last year (and here I am waiting for her to say that the baby died), but her mom put the baby up for adoption because the mom is an addict and wanted to use the money for drugs. WOW. Poor kid. She doesn't live with her mother, but somewhere out there she has a little baby brother she'll never get to know. The other girl was so sweet. As the whole class was leaving for lunch, she came over to me and all she said was, "I'm so sorry to hear about your baby." It meant so much to me to hear those words. Not all 8th graders are completely self-absorbed.
So today we celebrated el Dia de los Muertos. I brought in pictures of my grandparents and talked about them first, and then I told the kids that talking about my grandparents doesn't really make me very sad since they all died years ago. I miss them, but I'm not terribly sad. Then I told them about Ada and how talking about her is very sad for me because it's so recent and, well, she's my daughter. In every class you could have heard a pin drop when I was talking - and if you know 7th and 8th graders you know how rare that is! I heard lots of "awww"'s and I could tell by their faces that they really cared. I showed them the blanket and told them how we already knew it was a girl and that we named her Ada Elizabeth. I told them it was the blanket that I used to hold her. I told them that Wednesday is my due date and that today probably would have been my last day with them for a couple of months. The kids today were all so sweet.
My last class is my favorite. There are 28 kids, and 22 of them are girls. Sometimes they can be a little chatty, but for the most part they are really good kids. I think some of them were even crying today when I talked about Ada. After I talked I let other kids come up and share about a loved one they're remembering today, and in that class at least 10 kids got up to talk. (I only had a handful in the other two classes.) They have lost pets, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and teachers. Several of them cried as they talked, and then they would hug each other. When they were all done the room was really somber, so I got back up and said, "Okay, this is a happy holiday!" and they all laughed. I told them that as they did the different crafts that they should talk to each other about the fun times they had with the people (or pets) who died...and they actually did that! I heard some really great conversations.
I was so happy because rather than teaching my kids, "Here's what they do in Mexico," they actually got to experience the holiday in that culture. That's exactly what foreign language teachers should do. Anyway, I'm also happy because now my students know about this important part of my life. I felt like I was lying to them on the first day of school when I said that I didn't have any kids.
I had two different girls come up and talk to me. This first one broke my heart - she said, "I can kind of relate to your story about your baby." She went on to say that her mom had a baby last year (and here I am waiting for her to say that the baby died), but her mom put the baby up for adoption because the mom is an addict and wanted to use the money for drugs. WOW. Poor kid. She doesn't live with her mother, but somewhere out there she has a little baby brother she'll never get to know. The other girl was so sweet. As the whole class was leaving for lunch, she came over to me and all she said was, "I'm so sorry to hear about your baby." It meant so much to me to hear those words. Not all 8th graders are completely self-absorbed.
4 comments:
I'm glad that you shared Ada with your class and that the kids were considerate and caring towards you. Its encouraging to hear stories of kids being kind and showing emotion because you mostly only hear bad stuff about kids today.
This is awesome. I'm so glad you shared and that the kids opened up to the experience. I know you will never forget this and talking about Ada is what you love to do as her mother. I'm glad the kids were so receptive and it sounds like this is something that meant a lot to them as well. Great idea!
How sweet of your students. I'm glad you shared her with them.
I'm so glad it turned out to be such a positive experience for you! Your students sound really sweet.
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