Frog Funeral

Hey Reader,

Have I ever told you about the time, as a classroom teacher, I held a funeral for a frog?

I probably haven't shared this. It doesn't come up in conversation much...

Way back in the time of the dinosaurs...the 1990s ...One of my fourth-grade students had a pet frog named Rojo.

Every day, "Kylie" would come in and share a little tidbit about Rojo.

The other students were deeply invested in the adventures of Rojo. It was a highlight of our morning. And let me tell you, frogs don't do much, but Kylie's report held her classmates captivated every.singe.day.

One morning, when Kylie came to class, she was clearly distraught and had been crying.

I asked her what had happened, and she told me, "Rojo died."

The whole class gasped. One of them suggested we hold a funeral for Rojo.

Now I'm not sure if you're familiar with 4th-grade content standards, but even in a Catholic school, hosting funerals isn't a content standard.

But by golly, Rojo was important to this set of students, and I was going to follow their lead because what was important to them, was important to me.

So we got busy planning. THAT DAY

We weren't really going to dig in the playground.

I explained that to them, but we would say a prayer and help Rojo's little frog soul arrive safely in the garden of heaven.

Or wherever it is little frog-souls go.

That's child-led learning.

I had lesson plans.

I had standards I needed to meet.

I had deadlines, but I stopped everything.

What was most important was the topic that was highest on the list of interest for my students.

That day, it was honoring the life of a Frog.

Rojo's funeral was long before I had children of my own. Long before I knew what child-led learning even was. Dinosaur times, remember.

But I'll never forget that group of students, how loyal and dedicated they were to one another, and how important it was to them to make sure Rojo had a proper send-off.

I promise those kids learned reading, math, science, and history, but what they remember from 4th grade was that they held a funeral for Rojo.

Christy's Corner Journal Prompts

What was the last random topic one of your kids asked about, talked about...?

(Be honest on this next one...but just observe facts. Don't heap on shame or guilt.)

Do you even remember? How did you react? Did you tell them, "That's nice, sweetheart," and keep doing what you were doing? Did you promise to help them later, but later turned into never? Did you stop, turn, look in their eyes, and listen? Make plans to go to the library to find more information?

It is EASY to get bogged down in everything we *have to do*. Are you open to making a different choice next time?

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