Mustard Seeds

"Faith is a mustard seed," Jesus told us (I think it was Jesus... Anyway... a representative of God said that once). That is so true.  It's also true of almost every other emotion, feeling or action.  Give someone a small opportunity for leadership, and with proper TLC, that leadership can take root in that person, so that a leadership tree sprouts from their ears.  Give someone a little bit of love, and that love will grow within that person--both for themselves and for others.  Humans are remarkable creatures, and this idea that we can take just a little hint of some emotion, feeling or action from others and grow and create our own shows me how incredibly interconnected we are. 

Working with kids, you get to see this ten hundred times a day.  "Johannes, can you collect the papers, please?" "Hey Teresa, great job on your art project!" "Douglas, thank you so much for your focus in class today!" "Thank you so much for giving me your attention right away Simon!" "Jason, your smile is infectious! Thanks for bringing it to class." "Juliette, you are such a good friend." Watch the seeds grow.  A hug for a fourteen year old can save her life.  It's inspiring and terrifying to see just how much of an effect these small phrases can have on young people. 

Because unfortunately, fear and animosity are also like mustard seeds.  Just a little bit of these demonstrated or created by teachers will also grow inside a learner, if it's allowed to.  And this can lead to these learners fearing creativity, non-self, change and authority. It can create these vicious cycles, where once adulthood is reached, these feelings are taken out on the kids--a "this happened to me, and I hated it, so now I'm going to do it to you" mentality, instead of a "how can I make things better for you, this time around?" one.  Now you've got an environment which isn't safe or conducive to learning, because it's full of fear and anger. 

It's the job of the teacher not to let their emotions run them.  It's our job to ensure a positive and safe learning environment for the learners, no matter how you feel about a co-worker or even the kids themselves.  It's a teacher's job to love our learners no matter what.  I'm not saying it's our job to coddle them; consequences for actions are extremely necessary for learning and correction of behaviour.  Planting the seeds of self-love, positivity and growth is our job.

Grade 11s studying seeders

Grade 8s watching transplanting