Sheila Sims Iding
At our parent meeting at school last night I started my sessions with the following words which echo the essence of my teaching:
(Welcoming message)
“I already love you and I will never be mad at you.” It seems an odd way to start a parent meeting but I wanted to let you know those are the first words I told your child on the first day of school at our very first team meeting. You see when you are 6 or 7 years old, you wonder about math and reading and science. You wondered who will play with you at recess and you wondered what lunch will be like. But you also wonder if your teacher will like you or if she will ever yell at you.
So…I wanted to let them know from the very, very beginning that I had written their names a ba-zillion times on a ba-zillion things so I had already tucked their names in my heart and I already loved them. I also told them I would never yell at them (even my own boys don’t get that promise). I might be disappointed in the choices they make and they might be disappointed in the choices I make...but…I would never be mad or yell at them...and I already loved them. So right away you create an environment where they feel safe to learn and feel safe to take a risk. That environment is Care Corner. Welcome to Care Corner.
(Introduction)
This is my 22nd year in first grade at St. Gerard School but only my 6th year of teaching. I was a teacher aide for 16 years. I wanted to be a teacher. But as much as I thought I needed to be a home in a classroom, I was blessed with 3 sons with very special needs who needed me to be at home with them. So I was a teacher aide and thought I would be at home to teach my sons how to live with adversity. Turns out it was my sons who taught me some powerful life lessons that I bring to this classroom every day. It was my sons who were teaching me how to teach.
My oldest son, Joey, is 30 years old and when he was in kindergarten he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. His life expectancy at that time was only 15 years. We were told he would never go to high school. Well, Joey’s life lesson to me was about determination to beat the odds. He not only went to high school, he went to college on a soccer scholarship. He played soccer for the University of Michigan, was a Big Ten Scholar Athlete and a 3-year captain. He played a year of professional soccer and went on to New York City and got a Masters degree from NYU. Joey continues to be determined to beat the odds. He is a very healthy CF person who ran a marathon and is training for a ½ marathon this month. He continues to beat the odds.
My middle son, Timothy, is 29 years old and also has cystic fibrosis but Tim’s life lesson to me was about the courage to carry two crosses. Besides CF Tim has a high functioning Autism called Asperger’s syndrome. They told us that it wouldn’t be feasible for Tim to go away to college but he not only went away to college, he went away to college, college and college. He has several degrees in religion including two Masters in Theology. Tim has always wanted to be a priest but they won’t let him with CF and Autism so he has moved to China to be with Fr. Brian Barrons and Maryknoll Missionaries. He will live in China and teach in a seminary there. He will teach other young men how to be the priest he had hoped to be. His life lesson of the courage to carry two crosses continues to inspire me every day.
My youngest son, Adam, is 27 years old and he does not have CF and he does not have Autism. Adam had a double learning disability in reading and in language. Sometimes that was harder to watch than a kid with CF or Autism because it impacted every second of his day and classrooms were a threatening place. Adam’s life lesson to me was the lesson of perseverance. Adam is a hockey player and he knows the importance of never, ever giving up. Adam was even tougher in the classroom than on the ice. He never quit. Going to college with a double learning disability is tough but he not only went to college, he made the Dean’s List and the President’s List. He works full time for the State and is finishing his Masters degree. His life lesson of perseverance has helped him overcome his learning disability and helped me realize the power working harder and refusing to quit.
I don’t tell their stories because I am a proud mom (even though I am). I tell their stories because they have taught me to have high expectations for kids. They have taught me that all kids have some sort of special need, special way of learning, special accommodations needed for some facet of their education. Mostly, they have taught me that all kids can do amazing things if we have the determination, courage and perseverance to have such high expectations for each and every child that I have the honor to teach…as my boys have taught me.