A poem about being an education assistant

This is a place with hallways and desks, classrooms, chalkboards and pens. This is a place with "sit at your desk" and reading and writing and math. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, integers and graphs. Division.

His is a world with the number one, two, and one more. Anything larger than two and one more is an outstretched hand with fingers, or arms open wide for the most, the very biggest, the whole world.

This is a place where recess and lunch are annouced by bells that interrupt a train of thought: the puzzle, the game, the inside joke as we giggle. This is a world with "five minute warning", time to start, time to stop. Timers and schedules. "Don't run in the halls".

This is a place with 300+ students. They sit at their desks and run on the grounds. They line up, they gather, they play.

This is a place with unstructured play where the rules of the game can change unannounced. One child, two children, one more. The whole world. Each has their own plan with the blocks. Up the tower goes. There is joy in being together. And down the tower crashes. The joy can crash down too. This is a place where it's "hands to yourself", "five finger breathing", "let's check your visual schedule" and "listen for the timer!"

This is a place where we read books and do puzzles, color and cut. We swing and we slide and we dance. This is a place where we sing with our hands, gestures and signs, a voice without words. This is a place with big smiles and joy.

This is a place with friends. Friends to share a secret mission, running, holding hands and laughing all the way across the field to search and dig and play.

This is a place where friends want to understand. The best friends ask questions: tap this hand for chocolate, this hand for vanilla. The answer is always chocolate. This is a place where they ask anyways. This is a place where friends understand "one more" and affirm, "yes, one more minute."

This is a place with balance beams, pocket swings, fine motor tasks and "let's ride the bike." This is a place where we rally together. This is a place where we laugh all day long. And this is a place we belong.