So Much More

Today, I experienced a first. One of my students stole a piece of candy from me. My candy jar sits on top of file cabinet behind my desk. It's open for all to see. I hand them out at certain times. My teaching partner walked in and saw the student getting something out of there. He hid it from him when questioned. I am furious. Those of you that know me, know it takes a lot for me to get upset to the point of yelling. I didn't yell. I actually told my teaching partner this while discussing it with him, "I'm so mad right now, I'm going to write a poem." So, this was the poem that I wrote while I was cooling off. I was so mad that I didn't even talk to the student the rest of the day and am saving the discussion for tomorrow so I can talk to him about it. Anyway, here's my poem that I wrote.

So Much More

It feels like a piece of me was taken.
It was only a small piece, but it feels like so much more.

Just a piece of chocolate,
a measly 5 cent piece of chocolate, you say?
Oh no.
It was so much more.
You see, we had built up trust.
Our trust was based on the fact that I had no reason not to trust you.
You had my trust when you walked in the door the first day.
But now, I feel like I can’t trust you at all.
Not only have you broken the trust of me, but the entire class as well.
Anytime something comes up missing,
even simple things like a pencil, or an eraser,  
who is everyone going to think is the person who took it?
Maybe the piece that you took was waiting to be given to someone who earned it?

It feels like a piece of me was taken.
It was only a small piece, but it feels like so much more.

I’m not mad at you.
I’m disappointed in the decision that you made.
Mistakes happen.
It’s how you respond to the mistake that tells about the character of a person.
The response makes all the difference.
You’ll have to earn my trust back.
I won’t give it to you easily or quickly.
You’ll have to work at it.

It feels like a piece of me was taken.
It was only a small piece, but it feels like so much more.