D E T A I L S
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Time to love bomb all the wonderful gals (and gents) in your life with kindness, cuteness, and the perfect Valentine’s Day teacher gifts for your bestie! This time of year, morale starts to decrease and the realization that standardized test preparation is just around the corner and… (insert all the other teacher responsibilities that are piling up).
And… I actually just hit backspace on everything that I had typed. I was doing my final (first read after writing ha) editing and had to just say no. Sometime’s the heart wants what the heart wants!
So, here’s my Valentine’s Day gift of thought: How do you teach and model love in your classroom? One of my core beliefs in education can be summarized in the word love. I believe what is done in love is done well, thus all things should be done in love. Love. Not expectation, not curriculum, not self-doubt, not proficiency, just love.
Love to me, is the guiding principal that fosters resilience and purpose. I operate under the belief that love is patient and love is kind. I’m trying to hold back from going on a massive rant, but could you imagine if all things were done in love? What type of learning would happen? What type of world we would live in?
To my students, I try my hardest to give them unconditional love– someday it’s challenging. When I taught middle school, I believed in tough love, but I don’t anymore. Tough love only works if the child or human, believes within their heart that you love them– patience, kindness, and all. If you don’t, tough love often backfires. Many of the students I work with doubt my love for them. They try to test my patience and drain my kindness. I can see they are just waiting for me to fail– for me to reinforce what they believe. That is a battle I will never let them win. And that is where the patience comes in.
I think what i’m trying to say is, if a student rips up the incredibly thoughtful Valentine’s Day gift you slightly pinterested failed– show them love. If they tell you they hate you and give you the gift of the middle finger, show them love. And if they draw pictures of you getting fired, steal your stapler, and staple their wonderfully detailed personalized drawings around school and you get a phone call from another teacher informing you of what’s happening, still show them love.
Sweet notes, kind gifts, and thoughtful gestures shouldn’t just be for all kids on Valentine’s Day, it should be on all days, for each and every kid.
Choose love. Trust me, it makes the world of a difference.
—> In other news, I LOVE ALL THESE ITEMS ON THIS GIFT GUIDE! And… I’ll let this picture speak for its self.
In case you were wondering, right next to the pencil stab mark it says, “the end.” So… My post is officially over 🙂
