Humans are imperfect. The good news about imperfection is that there’s always room for growth. In Maria Gianferrari’s Be a Tree!, she highlights how trees support one another through the wood wide web and encourages humans to be as supportive and community-oriented as trees.
Earlier this month, our school transitioned from having classes separated from one another at recess to all of the classes in a specific grade level mixing together on the playground. That meant for the first time in eighteen months, students would have to navigate a social scene comprising eighty people instead of twenty. That’s a big deal especially for introverts.
Before the switch, our principal asked us to have a class meeting discussing ways we could support our classmates as we made this transition. To introduce the transition, I used Be a Tree! because it shows how we’re all interconnected with one another and that when we support one another, our communities are stronger.
After reading the book, we brainstormed all the ways we could support our classmates when all four classes merged together at recess. Here’s what we came up with:
Now if someone could publish a book that was a metaphor for the social circle within the Gaga-ball pit, we’d be all set.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
