What's Going On
One thing I have learned during my 5 years (can't believe it has been that long) as a school bus driver is that things are not always what they seem. There are some kids who seem to get in trouble a lot. So, if there is a problem, your first thought is that they are probably the cause of the trouble. Sometimes though, I have found out by inquiry that they were not the cause but were actually trying to fix the problem. I have learned that it is much safer to go into a problem on the bus without a preconceived notion about what is going on. What looks like a student causing trouble can turn out to be someone trying to escape from a bee that flew in the window. So when I can, I try to approach a problem with an open mind and try to get as clear of a picture as I can.
One of our lady bus drivers who has been driving for a long time and just loves being with the kids and being a positive influence told me an interesting story. One day a student got on her bus and started hitting all the seats on the way to the back of the bus. Because of her experience, she sensed this was more than a student with a little too much energy. She walked back to where the student had sat down and calmly asked what was going on. She soon found out that he had just been expelled from school and was very frustrated and upset. She responded by saying that she was very sorry that had happened to him. Once he had been able to verbalize his dilemma and found someone who cared all the wind went out of his sail and he readily consented to her request not to pound on the seats. I've had students that greatly frustrated me, but after understanding more about the problems they were having at home I had more grace for them. I think it is much wiser to see kids as people who have problems rather than kids who are problems. I have gotten better results dealing with students that are annoying each other by asking, "How can we fix this?" than by saying, "Sit down and be quiet!",
Now since most of you are not going to be school bus drivers there must be another reason for me telling these stories and indeed there is. I know a lot of people say that they could never be bus drivers because of kids not behaving. I have learned a lot by being a school bus driver that I try to incorporate into the rest of my life. Learning not to jump to conclusions is near the top. Someday I have in mind to write about what it means to be humble, but I think realizing that there is a lot I don't know is a great place to start. These days I am trying harder to work on what I should do, rather than trying to make people do what I think they should do. I also focus more on solving a problem than finding who is to blame. And trying to solve a problem can be quite difficult if you don't know the whole story. I remember listening to Paul Harvey on the radio and he would end by saying "Now, you know the rest of the story." Next time you're dealing with some issue, maybe you could ask yourself if you know the rest of the story. Just a thought.
Next week I have another gardening story and some musings to go with it. See you next week when our topic is "Water You Doing?"
One of our lady bus drivers who has been driving for a long time and just loves being with the kids and being a positive influence told me an interesting story. One day a student got on her bus and started hitting all the seats on the way to the back of the bus. Because of her experience, she sensed this was more than a student with a little too much energy. She walked back to where the student had sat down and calmly asked what was going on. She soon found out that he had just been expelled from school and was very frustrated and upset. She responded by saying that she was very sorry that had happened to him. Once he had been able to verbalize his dilemma and found someone who cared all the wind went out of his sail and he readily consented to her request not to pound on the seats. I've had students that greatly frustrated me, but after understanding more about the problems they were having at home I had more grace for them. I think it is much wiser to see kids as people who have problems rather than kids who are problems. I have gotten better results dealing with students that are annoying each other by asking, "How can we fix this?" than by saying, "Sit down and be quiet!",
Now since most of you are not going to be school bus drivers there must be another reason for me telling these stories and indeed there is. I know a lot of people say that they could never be bus drivers because of kids not behaving. I have learned a lot by being a school bus driver that I try to incorporate into the rest of my life. Learning not to jump to conclusions is near the top. Someday I have in mind to write about what it means to be humble, but I think realizing that there is a lot I don't know is a great place to start. These days I am trying harder to work on what I should do, rather than trying to make people do what I think they should do. I also focus more on solving a problem than finding who is to blame. And trying to solve a problem can be quite difficult if you don't know the whole story. I remember listening to Paul Harvey on the radio and he would end by saying "Now, you know the rest of the story." Next time you're dealing with some issue, maybe you could ask yourself if you know the rest of the story. Just a thought.
Next week I have another gardening story and some musings to go with it. See you next week when our topic is "Water You Doing?"
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