I wrote a comment in response to a post by Misty and I wanted to share it because it is a lot of what I have been thinking about lately and kind of sums up my day:
I wonder similar things often about children. I teach 8th grade science and my students can irritate me with their irrational behaviors and brighten my whole entire grey day with their jokes and antics. I love them in the end and with 110 of them they all balance each other out (at least this year). Their sense of time is fairly warped and the things they are so completely certain of I see as shifting sand or the ocean itself.
I printed out your post a few months ago with the picture of you and your son and the quote about children laughing more than adults. Ever since you posted that I have been thinking about it and noticing why my students laugh. I will sit at my desk just staring at them trying to figure out why they find each other so incredibly funny. Every little thing is unbelievably hysterical to them. They are 13/14 and they think the world is at their feet and they don't care one bit about the rest of the world. It is so hard as a teacher to get them to comprehend more than their world. And in turn this means that their problems and crisises completely drown them. That is hard to watch and even harder to save. But the joy they have is something to learn from. So why do adults who laugh have to be incorrect and insane? I don't know. All I know is that I have as much to learn from my students as they do from me.
I wonder similar things often about children. I teach 8th grade science and my students can irritate me with their irrational behaviors and brighten my whole entire grey day with their jokes and antics. I love them in the end and with 110 of them they all balance each other out (at least this year). Their sense of time is fairly warped and the things they are so completely certain of I see as shifting sand or the ocean itself.
I printed out your post a few months ago with the picture of you and your son and the quote about children laughing more than adults. Ever since you posted that I have been thinking about it and noticing why my students laugh. I will sit at my desk just staring at them trying to figure out why they find each other so incredibly funny. Every little thing is unbelievably hysterical to them. They are 13/14 and they think the world is at their feet and they don't care one bit about the rest of the world. It is so hard as a teacher to get them to comprehend more than their world. And in turn this means that their problems and crisises completely drown them. That is hard to watch and even harder to save. But the joy they have is something to learn from. So why do adults who laugh have to be incorrect and insane? I don't know. All I know is that I have as much to learn from my students as they do from me.