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So
as dusk fell at my aunt and uncle’s house near Boston, we went out every twenty
minutes searching for fireflies. We’d
make a circuit around the house, over the lawns, through the gardens of flowers
and along the path that we called “the secret passage” because it was so narrow
and the bushes hung overhead almost blotting out the sky. We found no fireflies, but we discovered frog
lawn ornaments, flowers we had never seen before, new smells, pretty rocks and
some great sticks that became magic spelling wands.
Two
nights later, we were in a state park in Portland, Maine at my cousin’s wedding
reception. As Clara tired of the adult
dinner conversation under the large lawn tent, I took her for walks on
the grounds, looking for fireflies in the gathering darkness. Once again, the fireflies were hidden away,
but we stalked woodchucks and tossed them apples that had fallen from the trees
so we could watch them eat. A flock of
wild turkeys, a mother and six juveniles, strutted out of the underbrush and
chased down grasshoppers on the lawn.
The stars emerged from overhead and the reception tent looked like a
fairy castle, lit up from across the way.
Tomorrow,
twenty-two students will enter my classroom to start another school year. We just completed two solid days of parent/student/teacher
conferences, talking about goals, plans for the year, subjects to be covered
and hopes and dreams for this year and beyond.
I know we have goals we may not reach, standards that may not be met, and
dreams that may not be completely realized.
We are starting a journey, in search of our own metaphorical fireflies.
If
I were to measure my summer search for fireflies with Clara against the
standard most public school teachers are held to, I was an “Unsatisfactory”
parent. We were searching for fireflies
and did not find single one. But was
that wasted time? We discovered and
learned so much! We explored, shared,
touched, observed, laughed, played and loved where we were and the moment. Fireflies were only the excuse for that
exploration. If we had found fireflies
that first night, the first time around the house, would we have gone out
again? Think of what we would have
missed. I’m all for having goals in my
teaching and my students’ learning, but I must remember to not be so myopically
focused on what I hope to find, that I miss what we discover.
