Family

This is actually a hard time for me realizing that this is actually the last post we will share together a this group. I have cried with you, laughed with you learned a great deal from you and become close to you. But most of all you have become like family to me. I looked forward to receiveing your encouraging words. We are now looking forward to our future which we are now even closer to. Thank you for everything. I would love to stay incontact with you my personal e-mail is rhdaniels54@gmail.com stay in touch. Have a blessed holiday and please remember to keep the familys in prayer that lost their love ones.

Blankets

 Teacher to Teacher

 

     When one of the teachers that I work with came up with the idea to do something for the Sandy victims I was more than happy to help her set plans in motion. The forming of the group began with our principal giving permission to allow us to have a blanket drive for people in need especially the Sandy victims. Our principal agreed to allow the students to bring in a blanket and as a thank you the students were allowed to wear jeans, Wearing jeans to school means a lot to the students because we wear school uniforms.

     In three days the students and teachers collected 103 blankets for those in need. Our goal was to collect 300 blankets. In an effort to help I agreed to match the blankets by asking members at the church to donate blankets. The blankets were then moved from the school to the church where they were on display for others to see and hopefully be encouraged to help us reach our goal. It was a success and we now had 200 blankets. Not wanting to give up on our goal we began to reach out to other churches and we even purchased more blankets. Once again we were successful collecting approximately 300 blankets.

     The journey of the blankets had only begun. When the teacher came up with the idea it was agreed upon that we wanted to directly put these blankets into someone’s hands that would be responsible for seeing that those in need would receive the blankets. A native of New York I agreed to take the blankets from North Carolina to New York. Little did we know that what started out an idea for a blanket drive was about to turn into a journey.

     Last Saturday around 12:00 noon someone broke into our church stealing the after school programs 51’ Flat screen TV off the wall, 3 computers, their Blue Ray DVD among other things. We were naturally hurt but in the midst of the hurt a miracle had appeared to have happened. All the blankets for the blanket drive were located under the TV that was stolen. In order to get to the TV a person would have to throw blankets on the floor, knock the Christmas tree over and stand on the donated food that was around the Christmas tree in order to step on the table to take the TV. None of the above happened. The blankets were in place, the tree was upright and the food was still in place. That means whoever stole the TV knew that the blankets were very important to us, enough that they removed some blankets, stood on the table, stole the TV and then took time to place the blankets back.

     Well I am in route on my way back home from New York. With a team of 8 volunteers, 4 men, 2 ladies and 2 students we successfully went to New York and delivered the blankets. Through fate and my cousin we were linked together with a group of outreach volunteers called Manna of Life who faithfully work with people who are displaced, in shelter homes and they help with feeding the hungry in the area. Before we actually left there was a lady who came in the office asking for a blanket (conformation). The beautiful thing about the trip and giving the blankets was Manna of Life had been given toys for children, this group was touched so much with our donating the blankets they donated over 100 Christmas toys for our youth in the after school program.

     As I was leaving the lady who had been so kind and thankful for the blankets put her arms around me and said I am a school teacher and I work with children. What an ending, from teacher to teacher what started out as a desire for a teacher to reach out and show ended up in the hands of another teacher to carry her dream on. As I passed all the beautiful blankets which now had a new home, I reached out and picked up a colorful new blanket and held it real tight, this was the adjourning stage the final journey of the blankets with me.

     There was a moment of sadness so much had transpired since the children first began to bring the blankets. The blankets had survived a robbery, and traveling over 500 miles to reach their new destination. At that moment it was not important how much money had been spent, or how many tolls had been paid, or even the hundreds of dollars spent on gas, what mattered most was that it was done from the heart. After all this is the season of giving and because of these blankets over 100 toys will bring joy to several children at Christmas time? The team of 8 had completed their goal walking away with a better feeling of self-worth.

 

Reference

 (Adapted from O'Hair and Wiemann, 2012,

 

Disagreements

Disagreements

     Daily I disagree with students in regards to how they disrespect their teachers. Students try to explain to me why it is alright to argue back at a teacher, be rude and disrespectful to their teachers, use profanity or harsh words and sometimes threaten their teachers. Regardless to how upset these students are with their teachers I try to hear them out and then offer some good sound advice. I have stated in the past that I am old school and regardless to what the teacher said under no circumstance were we allowed as we were told to talk back.

     The biggest disagreement that I have with the students is that no one listens to them and everyone believes the teacher. It’s hard to explain to a student that you are not saying the teacher is always right but what I am saying is that you have no right to be disrespectful. My instruction to them is if there is a problem go home and tell your parents, they are the adults and let them handle the situation.

     Big mistake, the student’s remarks to me is if I tell my mom or dad they will come out to the school and curse the teacher out and then the teacher will really be mad. So the students prefer not to tell their parents for fear of their parents making matters worse. This puts me right back where I started at telling the students if they will not tell their parents then they must be responsible enough not to try to handle adult situations themselves.

     Trying to explain to them that being disrespectful will not help their situation and it will only make matters worse. Usually after talking to them for a while the student usually calms down and I am able to talk to them and reason with them. My ultimate goal usually is to  bring the student and teacher together to talk about the situation. Prior to the meeting I ask the student to apologize to the teacher for being disrespectful. Most of the time they feel that they do not owe the teacher an apology but the teacher owes them an apology. My answer to them is you are not apologizing for what they have done to you but you are apologizing for being disrespectful.

     After the student is willing to apologize I bring the teacher and student together. I introduce the two to each other as if it were the first day of school. This sets the tone for a new beginning for both the teacher and the student. They shake hands, the student apologizes and often the teacher apologizes and states that they are sorry if they have caused any hurt.  This approach sometimes does not work but I am thankful for all the times that it has worked and teachers like the idea of starting all over and giving it another try.