Choose Love and Empathy

Today is a new day. We are strong. As educators, we have a job ahead of us. Our children need us. The world has changed. You can see that just as it did with Brexit in the UK, it is changing here in the US. Many of us didn’t see it or want to see it coming. I watched the results and just kept shaking my head. How could this happen? I tossed and turned all night. I just know in my heart that we cannot have a world based on fear and hatred. We have to base our world on love and empathy for each other.

It’s our job now to fight for our kids and each other. It’s about love, not hate. It’s about caring for each other and not giving up. Pam Lowe (@prlowe91) wrote a post last night on the Currency of Love and shared this quote from @robdelaney: “Sometimes the truth is so simple and delicious it glides like satin across your skin. The currency of love is focused attention.”

Pam responded beautifully with “Focused attention is what we crave in relationships. In it’s absence, we feel an empty chasm, that leaves us wanting. We never want our students to feel this.”

Yes, we never want them to feel an empty chasm. It is about being there for each child, friend, or loved one. We need to be the model and not go low or be angry. Show the world what we are made of. We are strong. Let’s make each classroom a model of a caring and compassionate environment and share each one with the world. Let’s teach our children how to respond thoughtfully and kindly and how they can become the best person they can be.

We need to remember how difficult it was for Martin Luther King, Gandhi, and others who believed that love and kindness win out over hatred and bullying. They didn’t stop believing. We need to focus our attention on building the relationships around kindness, empathy, and love not to hate.

So if a child is bullied, be there for them. Help the bully realize what they are doing and find out why they behave as they do. Help them turn around.  Share quotes about kindness and love. Bring in the idea of paying it forward. Read Pam’s post and check out the resources she shared on bullying. I added a few to keep on keeping on with what you believe for all our kids. We need to teach them out to think and become self-directed, independent learners who reach their fullest potentials. We can turn this around only if we work together.

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A few resources for teachers and parents:

Teaching Difficult Moments http://www.crlt.umich.edu/multicultural-teaching/difficult-moments

Parent Connection Tip on Working with your Teacher  iswc.com/32kIC307910 

How One Middle School Teaches Digital Citizenship  https://t.co/Ga1qozsq80

Deepen Your Discussion of Document Questions http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol12/1204-vilen.aspx

Teaching for Civic Discussions  https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2016/11/03/civic-engage-academic-discussion/

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Choose Love

I just had to add this from Lin-Manuel Miranda: Love is Love

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