Notes from public school - day 26

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

This quote from Atticus Finch from the words of Harper Lee in her novel To Kill A Mockingbird is one of my favorites in all of literature.

I’ve tried to put it into practice in my life.

Try to see things through other peoples eyes.

Try to feel things through other peoples hearts.

Try to walk around in other peoples shoes.

Today I put on the Chuck Taylor tennis shoes of my nine and ten year old students and stepped onto the asphalt and into our Wednesday dodge ball game.

Usually, I’m a thrower.

This time I was a dodger.

I wish you could have seen me run back and forth along the court, dodging the throws of the students and teachers.

“Everybody aim for Mr. Barton!” they screamed.

I was too fast and agile for them!

Until 3 minutes before recess was over.

Shelsea grabbed the ball just as I turned to run the other way and slung it at me.

Pow!

I was out.

There was thunderous applause.

“We got Mr. Barton!” everyone giggled.

One by one they came to me to give me a high five, a fist bump and a pat on the shoulder.

“You did good, Mr. B! Thanks for dodging with us. You’re terrific!”

As a teacher and a writer, I try to walk around in my student’s shoes.

“What would it be like,” I think, “If I got evicted from my house and had to sleep on the couch of a neighbor?” when I learn this happened to one of my students. “What would it be like to walk through the door of the classroom on the first morning after that happened?”

“What would it be like,” I think, “If I traveled thousands of miles through Mexico with my Mom and Dad to escape violence in Honduras and saw the sights people see and live the life people live (and die) on the migratory road toward the U.S. border?” when I learn this happened to so many of my students I teach each year. “What would it be like to sit at one of the tables in the classroom and learn the comparison model in 4th grade math after seeing and experiencing that?”

“What would it be like,” I think, “To be one of my students?”

Chekhov once said, “It’s not the novelist’s job to answer questions. It’s their job to ask them.”

I ask much and know little.

I know one thing, though.

Climbing into my students shoes and walking around in them puts me on the path to understanding.

And understanding puts me on the path to kindness.

Even when I get hit with the dodge ball.