Teaching a multi-grade class is challenging. Teaching siblings is even more difficult. Teaching junior high age siblings who constantly squabble is well nigh impossible.
Two sisters in my classroom are exceptionally sweet, responsible, and constantly courteous, just not to each other. They interrupt the classroom constantly with their quarrels and the younger sister, a sixth grader, insistently reminds her older sister of what "Mom said... " or "Dad told you..." Her sister, the eighth grader, insults her on a daily basis and never seems to appreciate her. Moments of sisterly affection are rare. Imagine my surprise when the sixth grader fell backwards after asking me for help at my desk.
One moment she was there, the next, falling away from me. Her sister, sitting at the back table, shoved her chair back, jumped to her feet and rushed to the fallen sister's side. The sixth grader, crying, more from embarrassment than anything else, tried to shove her sister away. Refusing to leave her side, the eighth grader brushed the tears from her sister's eyes, whispered, "Are you okay? It's alright, you're okay, shhhh. Don't cry," and helped her to her feet.
It's good to know, deep down, when siblings love each other. It's even better to see it out on display. "Are you okay?"
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