Ok, so things have been rather heavy around here lately. I've been taking life quite too seriously. On a VERY happy note I finished my last dishcloth for the swap while stuck in morning traffic (yes, I am THAT lady who is knitting in her car while in a traffic jam).
I've been struggling at work. Not with the kids, but still with other people. On Monday I won the "Anderson Pride" award with the best behaved class at an assembly. While this is not shocking, the fact that I won with teh usual WORST class in the school is. I'm learning every minute of every day with these kids. When I came in I thought that they were out of control, and I had to be in control of them and there was lots of negativity on my part and almost losing my voice to hollering and general nastiness. How did the kids react? MUTINY on the Bounty to the full extent! LOL.
In past month or so I've been taking a different approach and it's working beautifully. I am a "mean momma" as they put it. I no longer raise my voice unless there is imminent threat to someone's safety. I talk to them in a nice stern voice, but always with respect, never control. I make a point to be the bright spot of their day. It's working..... I hope I'm not jinxing it. However, when they are rowdy I no longer scream at them to be quiet, or blow my whistle. Instead I sit in my chair in the middle of the room, pull out my knitting and I wait for them to chill out. Sometimes I wait for less than one row, other times I've completed 1/2 of a dishcloth! LOL. Through my knitting they are quieted down, they are intrigued.
I have realized that this new technique with them is not about me just being nice to them, but it's about the students feeling validated as a human being each day. If nothing else they feel as though they matter in this world. While I was working on Emalee's sweater and talking to them one day during some down time, a 3rd grader said, "Mrs. H, your daughter is the luckiest person in the world to have a mom that will knit her something. I wish I had someone who loved me that much." It broke my heart. Knowing her story which is a very sad one and has her living in a foster home situationmade me start thinking.
I know there are TONS of knitting for charity situations out there. I myself have made some things for the Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for preemie projects. However, I'm working on something here. I'm not sure if it will be able to me implemented this year, but I think that having something handmade by someone else and knowing that they are being thought of in a positive light is essential for these children. Our school dynamic is that 100% of these children in our school are FAR below the poverty line. There is no reduced lunch, it is all free for everyone, including free breakfast, food bags to go home and other various services. While their physical needs are met, most of their emotional needs are not.
Like I said I'm thinking. If you have some suggestions let me know. I've tapped into looking at other services to help, but what I'm wanting to do is have one knitted object for every child in my school which right now is 398 children ages 4-12. Am I crazy?
Updated to say, if you are interested in contributing to something like this please post and let me know. You are not committing just giving me some feedback.
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6 comments:
I don't think that's crazy at all. It's a great idea. I'd gladly knit something for the kids, and I'll bet a lot of the internet community would too.
I agree. I think it's a great idea. I would also be happy to contribute something. But I bet there is some way to bring this to local knitters, too. An older lady in my church, for instance, is a fast and fantastic mitten knitter. If I went to her with an idea like this for a school in our town, she would be all over it. Is there a chance of connecting with a local church community?
I wanted to link to a story on Questing Parson's blog about his little church collecting backpacks and school supplies for the kids in town, but his blog is down today. I'll try to get it to you later.
I am very pleased to think I was procrastiknitting!!!! Well done with the award. I NEVER raised my voice in my classroom, the louder you are, the louder they are. Have you tried reading an excellent book, like Paul Jennings maybe?? I used to start reading if I wanted them to hurry and pack up and they did because they really wanted to hear the story. Or The Hand is Up - where if you put your hand up - their mouths are shut and their eyes are looking at you - they put their hand/s up too and so stop what they are doing!! How about letting the children make things - finger knitting or french knitting if you're worried about pointy needles!!! I am loving the CPH!!!
What a great idea!
I like the suggestion of teaching the kids to knit or crochet --- the handmade gifts will will mean so much more!
I'm sure you could get knitters to send some yarn from their stash to get the kids knitting.
Oh, by the way, I'm that crazy lady knitting in traffic too!!!
I was glad to read your post and then look to find that you had already joined the Red Scarf Project. I would absolutely LOVE to be a part of this imaginary project, and if you need any help getting something like that together, let me know.
I think that's a fantastic idea, and would love to do it! An idea to personalize it for the kids, if this ends up happening, and if we are knitting for specific children, maybe we could use the child's favorite color, or put a tag in the item with their name on it... or someone local (like me) could sew tags into the items as they come in. Grumperina has a tutorial on her blog on making custom labels for knitted garments.
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