Millie the bear came to school
Millie the bear saw the school
Millie the bear thought school was cool
Millie the bear is now leaving our school
Millie the bear, our hearts you rule!
I went into the adventure without much thought or plans for how this was going to turn out. Being a Coetail participant, it was a no brainer, and especially, knowing that it was Pana’s project, it was a double no brainer. What I did not foresee was the effect her arrival had on my little kids, and how it shaped my own perspective on how I viewed my class after this experience. Any early childhood teachers teaching the younger ones, ages 4-5 know what the first few weeks of school can be like, and the value of establishing routines, order and having a management system in place. I am really proud of my little angles, yes, we have names ourselves the Amazing Angels, who are making an effort to be their best self and do their best work, which is the motto of our lower school. With support, and reminders and encouragement, the first few weeks especially. Millie’s arrival in our classroom, right as we were starting to add the finishing touches to our understanding of what this meant for us in terms of how we were making daily choices, etc, added a whole new dimension to how to processed these concepts. There she was, this cute little bear, who had arrived magically in our lives, who just wanted to hang out with us, being completely accepting of us with our struggles and all, her arms ever ready to cuddle any one of us who needed one, whenever we needed one, who really was just trying to understand our system and how we functioned so that she could carry this experience with her to her next destination, was more profound than if she was one of the pop in pop out mentors who came to see how we were doing and were putting us in some category or the other.
The little angels couldn’t wait to impress her with what they knew about life, and to include her. Their kindness to her, and their sense of responsibility towards her, really touched me. We talked to her like she was a real person, and so did Mimi, our pet guinea pig! The children came in and checked in on both of them every morning and said goodbye to both of them each day as they left, she was a part of our family. I was really impressed to see how they problem solved as they worked out ways to share Millie, as each of them wanted a turn to hold her, beside the star helper who got to take care of her for the first part of the day. Millie, unfortunately, was not going to be with us for all of them to have a turn. I was pleasantly surprised to see a child who mostly played with games like lego and cars and trains want to spend time with Millie, and cuddle her and make her jewelry. It was an eye opener, and I must say, Millie was pleased too! Our first value that we focus on is responsibility, and we try to promote the importance of this in various way. Millie’s presence and the children’s response to her was more than enough for me to gauge that values are meaningful when they mean something to us at a personal level, and given an opportunity, we all rise to the occasion. And sometimes, actions speak louder than words.
I made a slideshow to honor the value that Millie’s presence brought to our lives at school, basing it the format of one of my super favorite storytellers, Laura Numeroff
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Amazing slideshow Ms. Fernandes’ class! Our grade 2 class in Thailand really enjoyed watching the adventures Millie had in Taipei!
Thanks! We enjoyed having those adventures!