Let Them See Who You Are

Life has thrown at us these perceived ideas of how we should act, be, think, feel, and look. We are barraged with these thoughts, ideas, and images from the moment we can begin to understand content in language and in imagery. Furthermore, those images and ideas are given more room in our head if they were reinforced by our parents or caregivers at home. Whomever served in our lives to be our “parental” models helped shape what we hold onto and how we define ourselves.

As the adult now in children’s lives, I am more aware of this than ever before. I am, we are, all affecting our student’s perceptions of themselves with the model we provide and the feedback that we give to them on a daily basis. That is why I believe that WE MUST let them see who we are. Let them see us fail. Let them see us win. Let them see us try again after a failure. Let them see us cry. Let them see us smile. Let them see us celebrating that today was a good day and tomorrow can be a great day.

I chose this picture specifically to accompany this blog because it shows a different side of me that my students had never seen before. This day was magical for them and for me. Up until this point, I had kept a certain mask on (no, not a mask of whipped cream!). I let the “adult-in-charge” part of me take over my whole essence. I forgot how to laugh, I forgot how to play, and I had forgotten how to be anything other than “the Principal”. Participating in this event helped me to rediscover that kid-side of me that I had, all but, forgotten.

It is fundamentally important for us to model for our kids being an adult, but I also think that it is equally important for our kids to see us being big kids.