Despite the weather, we had a great day. Many students do not attend Fridays. In past years, we attended every second Monday. Our administration changed that this year without consulting parents or me. I struggled with it for several months and made a dramatic shift a couple of months ago. I decided to devote Fridays to art i.e. drawing, painting, and building. I am not an artist in that sense, but was able to get access to resources from a friend who is an artist and an excellent teacher. The students enjoy the change. We built kites today and I felt a positive and life-giving energy in the room. I thought of this poem by Lao Tzu.
Living humans are soft and limber.
Dead they are hard and rigid.
Living, the 10, 000 grasses and wood species are soft and crisp.
So “hard” and “rigid” accompany death.
“Soft” and “limber” accompany life.
So if armies are coercive, they do not triumph.
When wood is strong, the axe comes out.
Strength and dominance reside below.
The soft and limber belong higher.
ivonprefontaine
Teacher as Transformer 