I’m reading a book right now called Your Brain on Art, by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Rose and it, along with my day job of teaching children is reminding me of the ever-present reality that we can experience mental health issues as well as physical health issues. It’s just that time of year when everyone seems to be sick. Several people from each of my grade level classes–students and teachers alike!–are falling ill daily from flu, fever, allergies, and stomach issues. But something that might not be as readily noticed are the mental worries that they might be battling.
It’s apparent among teachers that we have a difficult job. Not only are we dealing with the stressors of our daily lives of family, job, and scheduling, but we are also finding calm ways to answer the pleas of friend woes, scraped knees, and hyperactivity within the classroom. There are several within my group of friends who have determined that we are going to try to view things positively. Yes, we can air our grievances, but we also check back with each other and attempt to help with solutions. I think this is a healthy way to try to process through emotions, yet not get bogged down by the daily pressures of the job. This goes for any job, especially those in the helping fields like teachers, counselors, doctors, and social workers.
There are students facing their own troubles. You might think that some second and third grade students are only dealing with making friends and sharing toys, but they are hammered by loss of a pet or a family member, misunderstandings between teachers, friends who are angry with them, and trying to figure out how to use their words when they are frustrated. The older kids try to show that they are tough, or that they are good students, or that they are cool enough to have certain friends. I help with dismissal at my school as well, which gives me the opportunity to chat with them about things other than school, and sometimes when I ask, “What are your weekend plans?” they actually open up to me and share their favorite video game or a store idea that they are developing with a friend. I get to find out about weekend hobbies and which students are friends outside of school.
Then there are those students who rarely open up beyond an “it was good” answer when I ask how their day or week has been. They might share that they had a hard test or that they have a weekend at their mom’s house, but everything else is reserved for their closest friends or even siblings. These are kids that I wonder if they are really as cool on the inside as they appear or if they are really struggling. Do they think,
- “How am I going to get through the weekend with all that fighting going on?”
- “I wish I could move back to that other school with my friends”
- “How many more days until the break and I can just get away from this guy?”
- “Why do I have to keep playing this sport if it just emphasizes how clumsy I am?”
- “I don’t know how I’m going to lose that weight”
- “I wonder if I’m the only one who feels like my stomach is going to drop out when I am called on in class”
- “Can this day get any worse?”
- “Will I ever look like that person?”
If they are human, at one point or another, they do. Then I am glad that I have the job that I have. I’m also even more consistent this year to make time for reading, writing, and creating, which helps keep me from overthinking work issues. My website hannahmarieartwork.blog is geared toward creating stories through art, whether for little ones or adults. Taking the time to be artistic settles me. It focuses me on the fact that while my day job is important in the lives of these kids, it is not all-consuming. I must make sure that I have a healthy mindset before I step onto campus each day. It’s not always smooth sailing, but it definitely helps eighty percent of the time! According to the book by Magsamen and Ivy (they also have an episode at The Art2Life podcast, here) music plays a crucial role in calming down the nervous system, as does art. That is why I am grateful to have the job that I have. I spent an extra two hours on Friday night completing lesson plans for the next couple of weeks and I often think, Is this job more than just getting through week by week without yelling at kids? Sometimes it does seem like I have more kids that scream and cry, tear up their folder, or push a chair over. Maybe it happens in other classes, too. I mentioned this once when visiting my mom, who wisely stated that maybe they are coming a little unraveled in my class, in a good way. Maybe they feel like they can express their emotions a little bit more in my class than they can in other classes because my class is “just art” or “just music”. I also have Spanish class, but they are hitting the reality that learning a language might be even harder than biology and essays combined! That is a learning process far beyond a single year, so I can’t wait to see what they bring to my class next year.
I won’t give up on these kids! Every student who walks through my door I would like to impact. I can’t even expect that that will happen, but I’m going to do my best to sprinkle at least some imagination and creative dreaming upon them during these 180 days. Even when I get upset, have to repeat myself 50 times, get yelled at, or hug a kid in tears, I am impacting them in some small way. I also hope that the music, art, and languages that I am sharing with them (yes, I’ve also gotten to use my American Sign Language this year!) are helping shape them into the person they will become in the next ten and twenty years. The joy and hardship of being a teacher is never quite knowing what an impact I’ve made. There will always be one more kid who has a panic attack. There will always be another who cries because of mean words said by someone who used to be their friend. And there will be a lonely, anxious kid standing in the corner. But maybe I will have the privilege of witnessing one of these students of mine step out in courage and reach out to that kid. Then take another step. And another. Way beyond even this year!
