WITHOUT MY HELP

I am sometimes a far too officious teacher, every so often pushing myself into classroom situations that are proceeding quite nicely without my help. I need to remember what I saw this morning – how the slow winter sunrise started the day with no assistance from me. Not only that, the birds brought their songs to my street, a wind began waving past my house, and two trees leaned toward me as I walked outside – all of this happening without my support or aid. The universe obviously didn’t need my particular advice or guidance to do what it needed to do this morning, and my students don’t need nearly as much of my help as I sometimes like to believe. They have minds of their own which, like the stars in the sky, shine in special and secret ways. Being a trained teacher, there’s no doubt I can create constructive learning activities for the students, but there’s also no doubt that I should stand back when the students are shining just fine without me.