Oh My Allah... I need this book!!!

Honestly, being a first grade teacher is like being a parent. These children all have different personalities, and in truth, I am missing some skills I need to deal with them. How do I know this? Why else do I feel frustrated at times? Why else do I feel annoyed of myself, that I'm not doing something right?

So... yay! A solution!!!

Reem, a very dear friend of mine gave me a book for `id called Between Parent and Child by Dr. Haim G. Ginott. I better finish this book before I start teaching again on Monday!!! I've just read the beginning of this book, and already I feel ease, I feel like I have some tools to help me understand what these children want, and how to effectively deal with them. Yes! A book of tools to use, a book of keys to open up the locks we have with each other, a book that shows me where the go buttons are on the children!!! al-Hamdu liLlah, wa Allahu Akbar!!!

I strongly believe that parenting is a skill that really needs to be studied, that really needs preperation. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to teach this year, it has allowed me the very important experience of dealing with children on a daily basis. I feel that I spend more time with those children than their parents. Think about it, from 8 am until 3:20 pm, that's 7 hours not counting the time I spend afterschool with some students. I mean, how long are parents standing in front of the child's face talking to him or her? I would imagine about a few hours in a day. So what I say, and what I do, will have a huge impact on their personality.

Every single word that we say to a child has a consequence! Lqtm, this reminds me of Newton, "for every action there is a equal or opposite reaction." This is so true! Every single, single, single thing we do has a reaction... teaching is a HUGE trust! It's an amanah that must be taken very seriously because the consequences, especially at such a young age for these children where I believe all their feelings and intellectual abilities are hightened, .. the consequences can be either negative or positive, all because of my role in front of them. ya Allah, ar-RaHman, this is why at times I very deeply hate my job, because of this trust I have, it's a huge, incredibly huge amanah, it's very important that these children have a teacher that will ... that will... understand them. I am going to do everything I can to the best teacher imaginable, ya Rab, at least I have the intention, I know I have the drive, but now it's about working on my personality, becoming that person I want to be.

al-Hamdu liLlah, I'm getting there. I'm really excited about finishing this book, and I am going to be taken notes on it this weekend! Hmm.. maybe I'll post my notes. I think, I definitely should, in sha' Allah.