Teaching

Tap, tap, tap, “Mrs. Rausin.” Tap, tap, tap, “Mrs. Rausin.” One day I smiled and tapped back before I answered-I couldn’t resist. I wondered where he had learned such a habit. He looked at me with bewilderment and laughed. That’s what my days are filled with, moments of silliness, laughter and sometimes exhaustion because third graders have a tremendous amount of energy.

I am reminded daily of how peaceful my life once was. I used to spend my mornings sipping coffee and typing in silence creating characters, now, I have a room full of them by seven-thirty. “Mrs. Rausin did you know that boy humpback whales sing?” “Mrs. Rausin instead of Mozart can we listen to country music?”  “Mrs. Rausin, you have a pointy nose.”

My mind is a tape recorder playing their precious voices over and over long after I’ve returned home. I feel happiness for the students who have tasted success and are flourishing. I feel sadness for the few who have experienced difficulties at such a young age and I search for ways to help them. These seventeen children have found a place in my heart when I didn’t think I had any more to give. Perhaps that is the lesson life was teaching me-there is always more to give when it comes to children.