While Leo Buscaglia
was alive, he told a humorous story about his childhood at the dinner table.
Each night, he and his three brothers were expected to share something they had
learned that day.
He recalls going
to the encyclopedia just before going to the table, opening the book randomly
and finding the population of Nepal. Joyous, his father told Leo to get the
encyclopedia and the family had a discussion about Nepal, the people, the
altitude, and, well, all things Nepal.
I don’t do the
story justice, but the video of him telling the story still brings me a smile.
What he and his older siblings thought was a waste of time was a memory
Buscaglia carried with him late into adulthood. The idea was that there is
nothing too small to be learned. And anything can be learned and turned into
joy if one allows it to happen.
This past week, my
school district brought in John Antonetti, author of “17,000 Classroom Visits
Can’t Be Wrong” among other books, and who calls himself, “a learner.” Over 500
of us worked on ways to reach kids, teach kids, and help kids to think. There
were no magic formulas. He didn’t wave a wand like Harry Potter and do magic.
Well . . .
Actually, there
was magic.
There were teachers
and school administrators and district administrators, some older and quite
experienced, others newer to the classroom and less experienced. No matter, he
gave us a spark. Perhaps more than a spark. In some of us, perhaps many of us,
he helped kindle a raging wild fire.
He helped us see,
once again, why we entered the profession in the first place. He helped us see
that kids really need us, or rather, we need the kids. Honestly!
The final day,
John told us the story of Kevin. A poor kid whose mother was dying of cancer.
The day following the day he and Kevin connected in a magical moment, he never
came back to the school where John taught. His mother had died over the holiday
weekend and he and his brother were split up between relatives and John never
saw him again.
Until about twenty
years later.
Kevin recognized
John. At first John had no idea who he was. I have to admit that happens to me.
I mean, I’ve been in education for forty years and that’s a lot of kids, so I
can understand John not recognizing a kid. I get that.
But Kevin
recognized John. Kevin was a kid who had a disability, but was later given the
designation of gifted. That hit both my wife, Kim, and me. Our son was
similarly classified. Wil had a learning disability- reading and math, but was
also gifted- art. It was art, particularly photography, where Wil thrived.
Kevin told John
that he had become a mechanic- a lead mechanic for a major company we all know.
And Kevin thanked John for helping him get there. You see, there were days when
John would bring random things, dump them on a desk, and tell kids to make
something from them. Kevin explained that it was exactly what mechanics do. And
Kevin was thankful that John helped him discover that Kevin could do that.
Again, I don’t do
the story justice. I can tell you it was moving. Kim had to leave because the
story had certain parallels to our son, Wil and his story. As John told Kevin’s
story, she had thought about Wil. I had tears in my eyes and a lump in my
throat. I’m sure Kim and I weren’t the only ones in that auditorium with tears
and lumps.
Two things
happened . . .
The first was that
John asked each of us in that auditorium to picture a student, any student, and
write that student a letter how we will try to make a difference in his or her
life this next school year. We spent about six or seven minutes writing a
letter which was then placed in an envelope to be delivered to us later in
August.
I picked Jonathon,
a sophomore kid who I had come to know. A kid with a smile. A quiet kid from a
large family. A good kid skating in the land of B grades and C grades. Nothing
remarkable, really. Just a good kid. But I see potential in him. My challenge
is to help him realize it.
The second was
that John sang us a song. Didn’t know he could sing. Nice voice, easy to listen
to. The song, and I have to say I will probably get the title wrong, is “A
Little Homework To Do.”
A Little Homework
To Do. Each of us. All of us.
You see, the
minute we stop learning, we stop living. As teachers and as educators, the
minute we believe we have nothing left to learn, we fail kids. We end up
failing ourselves.
So yes, John, I do
believe that I have A Little More Homework To Do. I know I do. Even after forty
years, I have a lot to learn. And John, I believe as you do, that we come full
circle: The Teacher Is The Learner, and The Student Is The Teacher. I have a
lot More Homework To Do because I have a lot more to learn. Perhaps each of us
have a lot More Homework To Do because each of us has a lot more to learn.
Something to think about . . .
Live Your Life,
and Make A Difference!
I finished my
fifth work of thriller/suspense fiction,
Caught in a Web and I’ll keep you
posted as to when it will be published. I am actually working on my sixth, Spiral Into Darkness and I’m having fun
with it.
Please feel free
to connect with me at:
Twitter at
@jrlewisauthor
Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
If you like Thriller/Suspense fiction, check out my
novels:
Available on Amazon for .99 the Lives Trilogy Prequel,
Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete
Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys
left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they don’t know
one another, the lives of FBI Agent Kelliher and two boys become interwoven
with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them
are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives are in jeopardy as
each search for a way out. http://bit.ly/Taking-Lives-JLewis
Stolen Lives, Book One of the Lives Trilogy:
Two thirteen year
old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI
agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all the others- dead!
They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the possibility exists
that one of his team members might be involved. http://bit.ly/Stolen-Lives-JLewis
Shattered Lives, Book Two of the Lives Trilogy:
Six men escaped
and are out for revenge. The boys, recently freed from captivity, are in danger
and so are their families, but they don’t know it. The FBI has no clues, no
leads, and nothing to go on and because of that, cannot protect them. http://bit.ly/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Splintered Lives, Book Three of the Lives Trilogy:
It began in
Arizona with death and it ends in Arizona in death. A 14 year old boy has a
price on his head, but he and his family don’t know it. Their family vacation
turns into a trip to hell. Out gunned and outnumbered, can this boy protect his
father and brothers? Without knowing who these men are? Or how many there are?
Or when they might come for him? http://bit.ly/Splintered-Lives-J-Lewis