Over a week ago, the teachers in my school district and I got our 2nd dose of the vaccine. Our appointments started at noon, so we had a half day of instruction. With shortened classes, I needed an activity that could be started and completed in 29 minutes. I had just heard Pink’s song “Cover Me in Sunshine” and an idea for a social emotional learning (SEL) activity leapt to mind. For the first time in years, we are encouraged to weave SEL activities into our instructional time. Thank you COVID and Trauma Informed Practices! So on our half-day, I played the song, the students relaxed, and everyone colored a funky sun. In addition, each child wrote a a few sentences on their sunshine sheet about what he/she is most looking forward to when the threat of COVID19 is in our rearview mirror.
The students colored beautiful suns and wrote the sweetest sentiments about seeing smiles and visiting grandparents. I was already feeling hopeful, knowing my second dose of the vaccine was scheduled later that day, but the students’ willingness to embrace this activity reminded me again why I love the work of teaching. It’s the hopefulness, student’s strong belief in everything being okay. This lyric in Pink’s song hung in the air long after the music stopped.
Cover me in sunshine
Shower me with good times
Tell me that the world’s been spinning since the beginning
And everything’ll be alright
Cover me in sunshine
That’s it. “And everything’ll be alright.” That is what I so desperately needed to hear as a child. I wanted to be told that it was all going to work out, but my mom is a blunt realist and that wasn’t her style. For instance, we lived close enough to the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant that we had nuclear disaster drills at school. As an overly sensitive child, I came home from school and began “radiation-proofing” my bedroom by closing the curtains and placing a rolled up towel at the base of my door. My mom noticed my endeavor and stopped me in my tracks by explaining that none of my proactive safety measures would make a difference as radition can travel through the curtains and a towel. She went on to say in her honest, no-nonsense way that we should hope for a quick death in the event of a nuclear disaster as radiation poisoning is excruciating. I have asked my mom since why she would tell me all of this, and she insists that honesty is the best approach. And it is…most of the time.
As a teacher, I have not been entirely honest with my students. Perhaps I’ve downplayed dangers and overstated assurances. When we have to practice Active Shooter Drills, I reassure them that the police will be on their way and there to help within minutes. We only need to stay safe long enough for the authorities to get there. When we have our tornado drills each spring and are huddled in the windowless restroom across the hall, I share how I’ve taught at VMS for over twenty years, and we haven’t had a tornado hit anywhere near the building. When the student, who has had a strange pain in her chest, tells me she has to go in for testing, I say with authority, “I’m sure it’s nothing, but it’s good to get it checked out.” I have spent a career, telling them that everything is going to be okay. And, as a result, I’ve been also saying it to myself for all these years. Reassuring self-talk tucked into my teaching of students. I guess you could say the students and I have been covered in the sunshine of hopefulness and positivity.
Yep, teaching is absolutely the job I needed. A job that would heal me.
If you’d like to use the lesson idea, I’ve attached the link to the Sun Design coloring page. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ny7qRvmlMqUzTXcyf5ZKJVagZlo_Lb5e1fj8d7cCDYE/edit
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