Fear in the Classroom

Sobs. I started the day with a classroom full of 9-year-olds sobbing. After trying to calm the fears of my students since the primaries started, I woke up to one of their greatest fears coming to fruition. They didn’t want to leave their moms as they dropped them off at school. They came in, sat at their desks, and cried. The fear on their little faces is something I will never forget. I can’t help but compare this day, to the day after the election four years ago. Four years ago, I was teaching reading in Milwaukee. I picked up my first student of the day. He was five. He held my hand as we walk to my classroom. Halfway down the hallway he stopped and whispered, “ Ms. T, my president is black.” Pride was beaming from his little face. This year, all I’ve seen is fear.