Writing to Deal

This past week was very hard for me. My grandfather passed away, and this weekend was filled with wakes and a funeral. I am emotionally and physically exhausted while writing this, but like everyone else I have to hold myself together and go on with my life. Tomorrow, I will go to work until 2:00pm and then go to class from 4:30pm-9:50pm at night and possibly go to the gym after that. As I get older, I realize that the world doesn't stop for your pain. You just have to keep going and hope that eventually everything will be okay.

But I'm an adult, a young adult maybe, but an adult. I have the maturity level to handle all of this, right? But that makes me wonder, what about when something similar happens to my future students? Am I supposed to expect them to just pick up the pieces and continue with their school work and not miss a beat? How am I supposed to deal with my students who are just simply trying to deal?

As a future educator, I will be with my students more often then their parents. At home, it may be easier for a child to hide in their room and be alone to think about a loved one that had just passed or any other tragic experience that may have recently happened in their life. At school however, there is no where for these students to hide, to simply mourn, or to have a moment to themselves. 

I personally feel that because of these situations, it would be a great idea to have my students to keep a journal. Allowing them to be alone with their thoughts and being able to write them down can be very therapeutic. Whenever I'm going through a rough time I always find that if I write about it I always feel better. Not only would students be able to work on their writing skills, they would also have the opportunity to say things that they may be afraid to admit out loud.