Loving my students...

I love being a teacher. I love teaching first grade more than anything else. Actually, I don't think it is the teaching part I love as much as it is the watching these kids grow part.
Kids amaze me more than anything in the world. Two months ago sixty 5 year olds walked through my classroom doors. Some were scared, some were independent, some seemed ready to get out and face the "big kids world". They just finished kindergarten a few months earlier and everything changed then. The primary (elementary) school is in another buliding on the campus. There are few toys in the classroom this year. They have a lot of homework every night. They have mid year exams. They are expected to converse and write in three languages. They are expected to pay attention to a teacher for 6 hours of lessons a day. They are expected to learn and do so much. These kids are amazing. They have no idea how much they learn.
Every week I like to pick a few kids and go through their books with them and celebrate their accomplishments. I like to show them how much they have changed in the two months that I have been lucky to know them. I like to celebrate them so that they get to see a glimpse of how amazing they are.
I love how willing to love these kids are. There is an innocence in them that lets them love people completely. This is one of my favorite things about going to work everyday. I love walking into the school and hearing "Miss Nora is here!!!!!" and seeing 20 kids charge towards me with open arms. I love the fact that it takes me 20 minutes to walk across the playground because kids are running up to me to talk to me, to hug me, to share with me a story that makes them proud. These are the real reasons I love being a teacher. I love feeling this unconditional love that I wonder if I truly deserve or not.
I have this adorable student. He is a year younger than his peers and he is one of the brightest kids in class. He is a blonde haired, blue eyed, 100% Egyptian boy. Not surprisingly, his name is Ahmed. Ahmed is cute. He tries so hard to impress me. He runs and hugs me whenever he sees me. All teachers love him. Whenever another teacher talks to him.. he replies with.. "I love Miss Nora." He is cute. Sometimes I wonder what I do to deserve this child's love.
I have this other student. She started the year very shy and quiet. She was scared. She would get the deer in the headlights look whenever she was called on in class. She came to school in the morning and seemed to count the minutes before she could leave. Now this girl loves being in school. She speaks English so well now and is always trying to learn new words to tell me. She gets off the school bus in the morning and comes looking for me. She finds me and without saying a word she slips her hand into mine. She doesn't leave my hand until she absolutely has to join in the morning lines. She runs to me when I walk into the classroom for her English session. When it is their break (recess) or their lunch she starts looking for me. She asks all the teachers where I am. She has learned that if I am not outside I am in the classroom doing something. She comes and looks for me. Without saying a word she jumps on my lap while I mark books or chat with a teacher. She sits in my arms and spends her lunch break that way.
Last Thursday I was sick and was just about dying in my classroom. I just wanted to be alone and cry during lunch. She came and she found me. She jumped on my lap and into my arms and said she was feeling sick. She closed her eyes and I rocked her to sleep. It is weird, but as soon as she said she was feeling sick my heart hurt and I did not care how crappy I felt. I just wanted her to feel better.
I know that I might love these kids too much. This might be a sign that I should get married and have kids of my own. This might mean a lot of things.. but to me it means that I am able to love these kids as much as they love me. I am hopefully going to be a teacher they love and remember for years to come. I will hopefully be the best teacher I can be for them this year. To me this means I will continue to wake up every morning loving my job.