I stood there, shoved a pencil into the sharpener, pulled it out, examined the tip, and if I deemed it was satisfactorily sharp, placed it on the counter and then grabbed another. Along with the quick syncopated chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh-chuch sound of the pencil sharpener, I could hear the kachunk, kachunk, kachunk of the Risograph printer, the unhappy screaming of a preschooler in the hallway, and staff members engaged in casual conversation in the next room. After Ms. Pat asked me if I was sharpening pencils for the whole school, I glanced up at the wall in front of me and saw a hand-written sign on an 8x11 sheet of plain paper which said in large letters, “Forgotten Masters” and “Please Check.” Next to it in much smaller letters with an arrow, was written “Great Band Name” and nearby a “L.O.L.” was scrawled. I chuckled to myself because if you’ve worked in the Lincoln copy room at all you’ll know that the sign was referring to the Risograph printer happily kachunking away next to me and the “forgotten masters” were the papers people had copied from, which they had inadvertently left on the scanning screen.
Mundane, no-brains-required, tasks like this often allows my brain to wander and think on all kinds of related and unrelated things which float around in my head with no real purpose or direction. On this day however, my brain made a connection. Shortly before the pencil-sharpening task, I had been helping in my child’s classroom by going over math flashcards with students in the main circular courtyard-like area (I’ve heard it called a pod). All of a sudden I heard a loud crash in another room, which did not sound normal. I continued on with flashcards. Shortly, a red-faced student came from the class and sat down at a table in the center of the pod. The student was clearly upset. It wasn’t clear to me why although I guessed it might be related to the crash I heard. I continued on with flashcards. Shortly thereafter, a teacher came from the class. What happened next is the basis on which my brain made a connection and I was reminded of a Lincoln Elementary value I appreciate.
After first squatting down to be on the same level as the student, the teacher spoke in a calm and caring, yet assertive tone. I could not hear the words being used, except for a few having to do with big mistakes and little mistakes and deciphering which was which. It was clear that a mistake had happened and the student was upset by it. After the conversation, the student was visibly calmer, and no longer red in the face. The teacher returned to the class while the student remained at the table a bit longer. Shortly after, the student got up and returned to class.
I had just watched a teacher do what I would consider the most important practice of that Teacher’s day; guide a student through a difficult situation, teaching priceless life skills, all while utilizing the Love and Logic techniques embraced by Lincoln Elementary. Instead of focusing on the negative, and telling the student to calm down, the teacher used positive techniques by first showing the student empathy and then masterfully guiding the student through the difficulty, thus empowering the student to know how to deal with future difficulties. This is what it means to prepare our children for becoming caring, responsible, and productive members of society. It’s more than math. It’s more than reading. The simple step of showing empathy first, as taught in Love and Logic, and then empowering our children, all allow them to learn from mistakes (theirs or others’) and then puff out their little chests in pride, knowing they got through something difficult and now they know how to do it all by themselves in the future.
I had momentarily forgotten this important aspect of teaching in the middle of the chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh of the pencil sharpener and the kachunk, kachunk, kachunk of the Risograph. The work that happens at this school is important. The work we parents and guardians do to support it is also important. And, there can be fun to be had while doing it.
Let’s not forget the masters on the copy machine.
Let's not forget that parents, teachers, and Lincoln staff work together as a team.
And we could also have a little fun too and call ourselves the "Forgotten Masters." ;-)
Read about how Lincoln uses Love and Logic on the Lincoln Elementary website.