Walking in Little Shoes

Last week, our school challenged twenty-one teachers to become "Students for the Day", and I participated in the experiment. I dressed like a student, and for an entire day, I was a fourth grader in Mrs. Cain's class. I completed assignments, played Homeworkopoly, and even climbed the monkeybars at recess.

To be honest, I was pretty nervous about being a kid again. I worried about looking stupid, feeling hungry, and even going to the bathroom. Although I've taught at Strong Rock for two and a half years, I'd never seen it from this perspective. At lunch, one of the kids said to me, "You should let us be teachers for a day!" We really should. If only they could see how tough it is to make learning fun, they might appreciate us a little more. Then another kids piped in, "We should be principal for a day." And I agreed. We could all learn from walking in someone else's shoes.

That night, when Clay got home from work, I tried to imagine what his day had been like. I thought about his crazy schedule, and what it must be like to have people waiting to meet with him all day. I actually WANTED to cook dinner for him because I took a few minutes to ask myself, "What would it be like to be him?"

Then yesterday, I saw an amazing video of a coach who asked the same question. I should warn you, though. Every person who has seen this video has cried their eyes out.

(If you cannot see the video below, click on this link to watch the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNn7SXAyuhQ)