Everything I Really Need to Know I Learned in Second Grade

Many years ago there was a popular poster and accompanying books and calendars titled, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, by Robert Fulgham. It was clever in that it reminded us to share and be nice to one another. I thought it was cute. However, since I am a second grade teacher, I have a version of my own. I call it "All I Need to Know I Learned in Second Grade" and it goes like this:

Have best friends. Lots of them.
Laugh loudly
Find the humor in the little things like the word, "toilet"
Run everywhere
If someone says something mean to you say "I don't want to be your friend anymore."
Be their friend again the next day anyway.
Love learning and love telling others about the stuff you learned.
If someone doesn't know the answer, whisper it to them.
Make everyone's Birthday a important as Christmas.
Believe in Santa and the Tooth Fairy.
And when you have some free time, go outside and play, even if it's raining.
Hold hands.
When someone gets hurt show genuine concern and compassion.

I have actually had this idea for a few years. When the testing craze took off and education went from a place of educational freedom and creativity to a microscope of state standards and MEAP test scores, crafts and creative writing were replaced with test prep and running records. My friend was walking down the hall after a morning of trimester math testing in her second grade classroom. She was behind two little girls and overheard them say "When we go out to recess. Let's play princesses." And they held hands as they walked to the lunchroom. My friend later said to me, "These kids don't care about test scores. They just want to play princesses." I wonder when we lose the pure joy in life that we feel when we are young children. Little things make them happy and pride comes from a purple star on a spelling test. They don't care if there's still 2 feet of snow in mid-March. That just means more time to make the world's best snow fort. They don't care if it rains while camping. Heck, I don't think they even notice until the grown-ups say that the fun is over. Yes, I learned a lot of important things in Kindergarten, but I might be a bit biased when I say the real learning happens in second grade.

Being Seasoned Doesn't have to be a Bad Thing

In education, teachers try to put a positive spin on just about everything so as not to bring on discouragement or low self-esteem.

There is a term that we use to describe older teachers. The term is "seasoned" or "seasoned veteran."

The term "seasoned" still has somewhat of a sting to me, now that I fit that classification. Most teachers have their master's degrees. In fact, I am one of probably three teachers in our district that doesn't. A couple of years ago I decided to put forth the effort and cost and join my colleagues with that esteemed distinction of having an MA behind my name. So I enrolled in a fully online program through Northern Michigan University.

When I was a college student in my younger years, I would glance around the class at what we referred to back then as nontraditional students. I thought that they had sort of an air of confidence about them while at the same time wondered if they felt out of place in a classroom of young 20-somethings.

In my online program, we have the luxury of not being able to see each other and therefore the playing field is somewhat leveled as far as who is seasoned and who is young (for lack of a better term). In every online class I have had to write a bio and include a picture and then read and comment on other classmates' bios.

For some reason, I was shocked to see pictures and read bios of first-time moms, recent graduates, and one or two other nontraditional students, including myself. As I would leave comments to others about their exciting futures as parents and educators, I would read comments on my bios that said things like, "I am looking forward to the expanse of knowledge and experience you will bring to the class as a seasoned veteran."

There it was.

I was the old lady of the class. In that first class I decided to tread lightly and not let my experience show, so to speak.

But as I proceeded through the coursework, I realized that I did have something to offer.

I quickly saw that my experience was met with appreciation. The younger teachers seemed to want to hear what I had to say. They weren't rolling their eyes and commenting about me under their breath, not that I could see anyway. I have come to embrace my role as an educator with experience that can bring a different perspective to those who have not been in education long.

With that, I think I'd like to update the term "seasoned" to something that describes how I feel inside.

I think I like "zesty" a little bit better.

Published February 25, 2012