More and more it seems people tell teachers not to lay hands on their students, don't pat them on the back, don't shake their hands, don't gently reassure them with a hand on the shoulder...and definitely, no hugs. I sometimes wonder if those teachers were ever really in the classroom and if so, did they love their students at all? Because sometimes, a hug is the only viable option.
My 4th graders took a post-assessment for their personal narrative unit today. An on-demand writing prompt and a set block of time with no, not even spelling, help from me.
Midway through, a small-for-his-age, sandy colored hair little brainiac came to my desk to tell me he didn't think he could write anymore. I smiled and told him that writer's block was normal and good writers have to think through things sometimes.
He shook his head and said, "No, Mrs. D, I really can't write anymore..."
Then he bursts into a heart-wrenching sob and hands me his paper, which I immediately read.
The prompt was to write about someone special to you and he chose his dad. He wrote that his dad is honorable and brave and fighting in Afghanistan. He also wrote that he hasn't seen him or heard from him in two years and that he is afraid he is dead.
I didn't know what to say, so I stood and pulled him into a hug; silently cursing those people who tell you with a jaded smirk never to touch a kid.
What do they know, anyhow?
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