Inspiration in the Bathroom

Knowing where the 'grown-up' bathroom is is essential for a successful day of substituting. Any teacher knows that their bladder must be properly trained. You can't escape to the bathroom during a fabulous finger-painting lesson! As a sub, your schedule changes everyday; essentially you train yourself NOT to go during the hours of 7 and 3. This is a tricky task and involves drinking only a small amount of coffee, but not enough to inspire a long visit to the commode.

Anyhow, I love elementary school teacher bathrooms. They are always plastered with inspirational photos or Far Side cartoons, at least. It's almost like getting a pep talk during half-time. "I touch the future, I teach." and "Let's put the fun back into dysfunctional!" And, "If your ship hasn't come in, swim out to it!" Since I go to different schools every day, I don't end up reading the same motivational sayings over and over again everyday. My bathroom trips, when I get them, are inspirational indeed! They are inspiring enough to go back to the classroom, so I can touch the future.

One such poster caught my eye, "To the world you may be only one person, but to one person, you may be the world." Usually, I would just have an inward sigh and move on with my day, but that phrase stuck with me the rest of the day. I was reading the memoir of Antwone Fisher, Finding Fish. The book details his life growing up as a foster child in inner-city Cleveland. Born into foster care, he lives with an abusive family and has little power to change his situation. So, he copes. He does what he has to do to survive, and it's not always a pretty picture. One of the highlights of the book, and consequently his life, is his fifth grade teacher. She takes time for him, cares for him, and helps him learn to read.

So, when I read that quote on the bathroom wall, I thought about all the kids that I 'may be the world' to. There are kids from my long-term jobs who I will remember for the rest of my career. In a Pre-K class, I had a student named Hubert. Hubert had the most energy of any child I had ever seen. When I first started the long-term job in the classroom, he couldn't even sit in his chair to eat a snack! The aide told me that the previous teacher wouldn't give this child the time of day. She had said that she couldn't teach him, it was the aide's job to teach him. And Hubert drove me crazy! He was always breaking his crayons and throwing them all over the floor. Then when he picked them up, he would get distracted and start doing somersaults! Rest time was a dreaded part of the day for him. If given the chance, Hubert would just run around the room with his Transformers blanket as a cape. This wasn't conducive for the napping of the rest of the students, however. Everyday, I would put on the lullaby music and get the other kids settled. Then I would go over to Hubert's special corner, far away from the other students. Usually he would be rolling around in his blanket or donkey-kicking the wall. I would sit down next to him and attempt to settle him down. Exhortations of "No Recess!" or "I'll give you Skittles if you sleep!" never worked on Hubert. What did work was sitting quietly next to him and putting my hand on his back. This was enough to calm him down. (Well, it was enough sometimes.) Sometimes I would whisper to him, "Time to Sleep." Sometimes I would sing. Sometimes, I would just sit there--the presence and attention of an adult was enough for him. And I didn't leave.

The one thing that I could do to help them was to be a constant, kind person in their life for however long I would know them. And, let's face it, the kids who need kindness the most, are usually the hardest to love. But you never know what situation a child is facing at home, and a sub knows even less about their home-life.

That bathroom inspiration coupled with Antwone Fisher's book, fortified me to return to the classroom a kinder person--at least until the 3 o'clock bell. Elementary students are so eager to please their teacher, (even the lowly sub!) they will hug you before you introduce yourself! So whenever I catch myself lapsing into a defensive posture with my mean substitute scowl pasted on, I do my best to smile and be a teacher who may be someone's whole world.