And how are you today?

When we were living in Kazakhstan adopting Emerson, we were fortunate enough to meet a man named Manuel from France. He was riding his bike from France to India and our paths just so happen to cross. Besides his fascinating tales of adventure and travel, Manuel taught me something very valuable during our brief conversation over a cup of tea.
He said John and I were not like most Americans he knew. We asked how so? His response was that during his experience of living in New York City, he found most people ready to get to business and get the information they needed or wanted from the person they were conversing with. He said it was so refreshing to have someone ask about him as a person first rather than about the thing they needed.
I will be honest; this is something that I was not that good at before meeting Manuel. I happened to meet him when 22 hours of my day were up to me, so asking an in-depth question was easy when I was relaxed. What is more challenging is on the busy days remembering that those we speak to might have sick grandmothers, or a child who has been bullied by someone, or a boss who has a dissertation due soon, or a wife that is injured… Yes, it takes time to inquire how someone truly is. Yet, we must.
Upon returning to school after being off a few days to take care of Isaac my sixth grade students demonstrated this value well. There were so many of them who came up to me to ask about Isaac, to make sure his surgery went well, to ask about me, just to ask, listen and be supportive. One of the beauties of struggles is to see things from the other side, a different perspective. Their questions, well wishes, genuine concern, made me feel part of something more than just a job. Part of a community of well-wishers, believers, real people… Their words reminded me the power of both my questions and my willingness to really listen and follow through.
This week I have taught some very in depth lessons including town hall meetings to create natural disaster mitigation plans, I have had students use art and writing to derive definitions of rocks, fossils and minerals. Yet, what I will remember about this week will be the students who asked, “How did Isaac’s surgery go?”