Chaos

I used to embrace chaos. I used it as camouflage to hide behind. Now I just don't have the energy for it. However, I do love the relative chaos of teaching grade four and five students about vegetables and color and texture through a lesson plan I've never taught before. One must take risks and take the plunge. Prayer flags drip bright blue splotches onto the floor. Only one child chooses yellow, one chooses umber and the rest all choose purple and blue. They want to grow mangoes and rice in the Pacific Northwest gardening zone and I love them for it. They love the little bits of responsibility you dole out to them--cleaning sponges and brushes, opening packages of clothespins, orienting a garden North, South, West, East. "I know how to do it," one student says, "Never Enter Stinky Washrooms." North, East, South, West. He's right.

Kids deserve creative chaos. Let's give it to them as much as we can.