Don’t lose your marbles…

On my run this morning, the one place I really get to clear my head and get away from my stress, I remembered a little gift a student gave me that has stuck with me ever since.

I student taught in a rural middle school. I taught mostly seventh grade geography that semester. I had a pretty great time, dissecting mummies with my students, creating board games about exploring Antarctica, doing or own version of the Olympic games, and even brought my guitar in a few times. On my last day with my students, near the very end of the school year, I was a second semester student teacher, my seventh graders gave me cards they had made and some pictures and other goodies to wish me well. One student in particular asked me to hold out my hand. I obliged, and he deposited a couple marbles into my open hand. I said thanks in that way adults do when they aren’t sure what the gift means or why they are being given it. I used this intonation a lot when my son was a toddler. Without missing a beat the student replied, “this will help you when you get to be a teacher in your own class. It’s so you don’t ever lose your marbles.” I thanked him for them, put them in my coat pocket, and let him know I wouldn’t lose them.

I graduated that semester, moved across the country that summer, and started teaching at a large high school in the largest school district in the state that fall. I kept those marbles in that jacket pocket for years. Every time I wore it and put my hand in the pocket I would be reminded that even though the job was stressful, tough, and downright maddening at times, I hadn’t lost my marbles yet. They eventually made their way into a team building exercise I did with at the beginning of the semester. I would tell them the story and then ask them to transport my precious marble from one end of campus to another as a team using just some pool noodles and that they couldn’t touch the marble or let it hit the ground because it was very special to me.

So why did my mind wander to these marbles this morning? Well I know I am not alone in saying that this year has been tough. I am pretty sure I was pretty close to losing my literal marbles a couple times. As a teacher, as a union leader, and as a parent this year has challenged me more than any in my career. I still have those marbles. They are now in my desk drawer in my classroom. A reminder when ever I need to get a pen or a marker that I haven’t lost them yet and that despite all the trials and tribulations, I am still here doing what I love.

This is also my last year serving as union president and I am finishing my second masters, this one in administration. Change is on the horizon and maybe that’s why those marbles popped into my head. As I begin to look for a new role in my district possibly as a building leader this could be my last year in the classroom as a teacher. When I pack up my room for the last time, I’ll make sure those marbles are with me. I don’t want to lose them.