I’m a Teacher, Not a Babysitter
I make sandwiches for 25 kids but I’m not a cook by trade.
I wipe down tables and sweep the floor but I don’t call myself a maid.
I’m not a little girl’s tailor but I can make a snowsuit fit her
I’m a teacher, I’m a teacher, I’m a teacher, not a babysitter.
Questions are always welcome, Curiosity has a place.
I watch the AH HA moments, shine in a young child’s face
When we all make Starry Starry Night with paper and some glitter.
I’m a teacher, I’m a teacher, I’m a teacher, not a babysitter.
First words second words third words finger plays and songs
The way you first learn language will last your whole life long.
Brain connections firing, fast as an atom splitter.
I’m a teacher, I’m a teacher, I’m a teacher, not a babysitter.
I demonstrate how to be a friend I model how to share
I celebrate when a shoe gets tied and when somebody cares
I talk to Rosalita if Jenny tries to hit her
I’m a teacher, I’m a teacher, I’m a teacher, not a babysitter.
I’d like to see some PhD who lectures on the family
Try to get through doing what I do with kids who are barely three
When he ran for the doorway, would you call him a quitter?
I’m a teacher, I’m a teacher, I’m a teacher not a babysitter.
The hardest things to learn are how to talk and share and give
But nothing’s more important for as long as you will live
I’d just like a little respect, I don’t mean to sound bitter
But I’m a teacher, I’m a teacher I’m a teacher not a babysitter.
© Stuart Stotts 2008
Powerless Children Need Powerful Friends.
I made the call and it made me cry
Two year old Paul with one black eye
It’s not the first I can’t let it pass
It’s not the first but I pray that it’s the last.
I’ll stand up and speak again.
Powerless children need powerful friends
To protect, to defend
Powerless children need powerful friends.
Isabelle is acting strange
We can tell that something’s changed
The way she’ll touch and the things we’ve heard
These are not a 3 year old’s words. (Chorus)
Carla’s mom pays full fee.
There’s a waiting list for a subsidy.
She does her best to do her part
When I take her checks it breaks my heart. (Chorus)
When we vote, when we choose.
Remember who has the most to lose.
Not alone, but in a crowd
We will rise, and speak out loud. (Chorus)
© Stuart Stotts 2008
Crazy ‘bout Me
I need someone to feed me and hold me when I cry
I need someone to keep me warm and keep me dry.
That’s just the basics. If you want to know the key.
I need someone, crazy about me.
I need someone crazy about me.
Not because I’m perfect, or cause I’m acting good.
Not because you’re paid, or because you think you should.
Excited and delighted for who ever I might be
I need someone crazy about me
I need someone crazy about me.
I don’t need 100 to walk up and adore me
I just need one who’s completely there for me.
Look into my eyes and see who you can see.
I need someone crazy about me.
I need someone crazy about me.
Dramatically emphatic, ecstatic, and wild
Need somebody for every child
Gaga and googoo and flipping your lid
Not just for me but for every kid.
You might know my family you might know my name
You need to see the spark in me and coax it to a flame.
I’ll begin to flower, like an apple tree
I need someone crazy about me.
I need someone crazy about me.
Look around this planet. Look around the room.
Everybody wants to shine, and wants to bloom.
It’s not a secret, and I know it’s true.
You need someone crazy about you.
You need someone crazy about you.
© Stuart Stotts 2008
Don’t Give Kids Everything They Want
After years of watching kids and parents interact
We have seen the up and down
Our advice is very sound
Listen and you’ll come around
To this parental fact
Don’t give kids everything they want
Don’t give them everything they ask for
You can say no without ruining their lives
We guarantee that they’ll survive
Don’t give them everything they want
Don’t give them everything they ask for.
It seems so obvious we shouldn’t have to say
We watch these battles loom so large
Who’s the general, who’s the Sarge?
We wonder just who is in charge
At the end of every day.
3 year old children with ipods of their own
tv sets beside their beds
dolls piled up above their heads
4 tricycles in the shed
like a disaster zone
Every new technology comes with a cost
There’s nothing that can replace
When you’re playing face to face
Imagination needs some space
Or something else gets lost
time spent snuggling or just throwing a ball
walking talking really slow
doesn’t matter where you go
the most important thing to know
is kids want time most of all
It’s About the Money
It’s like playground robbery It’s gotta’ bother me
I work full time but I’m below the line of poverty
It’s strange it’s ironic but it’s not funny
What’s the problem here? It’s about the money.
I like my job, I wouldn’t switch
I never thought that I would get rich
If my paycheck were a meal it would be low calorie
What’s the problem here? It’s about the salary.`
We’re always told the minds that we mold
Make our work more precious than gold
We lay the foundation for all of the ages.
What’s the problem here? it’s about the wages.
Call up the Congress, raise up a fuss.
There’s billions for banks and nothing for us
Put your money where your mouth is or you’re talking trash
What’s the problem here? It’s about the cash.
You may ask what do we stay for
It’s clear you get more than you pay for.
We don’t mean to keep the reason hid.
What’s the answer here? It’s about the kids.
© Stuart Stotts 2008
Use Your Words
Johnny knocked down Haylee’s blocks
Pachia bit Renee
Carlos took off both his socks
Vang won’t let Sam play
Holly ripped the dress up clothes
That Kayla tried to wear
And Nick scratched Emma on the nose
I think there’s no blood there
I roll up my sleeves and wade back in
Time to say my favorite phrase again.
Use your words I say it every day
Use your words in a thousand different ways
Use your words that’s my constant theme
If I have to say it one more time I’ll scream
Ryan’s lying on the floor Jose starts to spit
Galen’s kicking at the door Tasha tries to hit
Most days it’s not like this but sometimes it’s quite bad
I’d be so happy if they could just say to me “I’m mad.”
I’ll keep trying until it all comes real
And they can say exactly how they feel.
Don’t hit
Be gentle
Stop That
I’m done
I come home from work at night and I read the daily news
Stories of international fights just give me the blues.
If only we teachers were the ones who ran the earth.
We’d all know exactly what world peace is worth.
I’d tell the world leaders one and all
What they should have learned when they were small
© Stuart Stotts 2008 (with thanks to Carole Peterson)
Infant room
Damon’s the last one
To take a nap
Watch Kim rock him
On her lap
Kenda whimpers but smiles at last
Is it a good dream or just gas?
When it’s quiet in the infant room
When it’s quiet in the infant room
The air is soft as baby’s fleece
Now that’s peace.
We move so slow
As we rock
No one’s looking at the clock.
Shutters down and music low
Sometimes it’s fine
If time is slow
When it’s quiet in the infant room
When it’s quiet in the infant room
The air is soft as baby’s fleece
Now that’s peace.
© Stuart Stotts 2008
Kids Teach Me
Mashed potatoes are ideal
for playing with your food.
Making faces out of fruit
lifts anybody’s mood.
You’ll feel like a princess
when you sit sipping tea.
Everyday there’s something new
kids teach me.
When we bruise, when we bump
when we break or bleed.
A Batman band aid and a hug
are usually what we need.
For most of feeling better
the medicine is free.
Everyday there’s something new
that kids teach me.
Until you’ve found the answer
don’t let a question drop
If you start out learning
maybe you’ll never stop
to be bright and brilliant
you don’t need a PhD.
Everyday there’s something new
kids teach me.
We are here to sing and dance
to play and to laugh and run
Every day, take the chance
to have a little fun.
To be wild and happy
loving is the key
Everyday there’s something new
kids teach me.
© Stuart Stotts 2009
You’ve got to Tolerate Chaos
You’ve got to tolerate chaos.
You’ve got to tolerate days that don’t turn out at all like you planned.
Keep it in mind when things get out of hand.
You’ve got to tolerate chaos.
Free time, breakfast, circle, centers, cleaning up for snack
Put on coats and boots and gloves and play out in the back.
Take them off again and get out the dress up clothes
And the blocks and books and paints and trucks and jars of playdough.
Jump and dance and climb and slide and sing the rainbow tune
That’s just what we do before noon.
You’d think that after a year and a half
A mom could get it right.
Learn to put a diaper on secure and tight.
Yesterday toddlers were all playing outside
I said “what’s that on their hair, on their hands and on the slide.?”
Grab a towel, grab some soap, grab a box of tissues.
Tell the director we’ve got a b m issue.
Some days after breakfast my kids are ready to run.
Speeding in a circle just for fun.
Laughing like banshees, all around the room
Dancing like monkeys, underneath the moon.
Look from the outside and it seems uncontrolled.
But I’m just letting my day unfold.
I’ve played for kids for 21 years you’d think I’ve seen it all.
But I started to sing for the two year olds and Luisa began to ball.
Laquisha joined in, with Sam and Grace and soon it was a riot
I just wished that they would all be quiet.
But we pulled out some shakers, and things got a little better.
Pretty soon we were all playing together.
© Stuart Stotts 2008
Somebody Noticed
1. Looks like it’s been a hard day,you’re ready to go home.
Please stop by my office, just before you go.
It’s not another meeting, we’re meetinged out, God knows.
There are just a few things, I’d like you to know.
Somebody noticed what you did today.
Somebody noticed little things along the way
How you watched, how you listened for what children do and say.
Somebody noticed what you did today.
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2.That sullen girl, she smiled when your eyes met ‘cross the room,
And that boy who doesn’t talk at all sure sang out on that tune.
You must have solved 8 squabbles and that was before noon.
It was fun to watch you read to them that book about the moon. CHO
3. It may not raise the test scores or earn you merit pay.
It may not meet some benchmark they’ve passed down from the state.
But I’ll bet you know already, so you don’t need me to say,
A lot of kids got what they needed in your room today. CHO
4. Don’t you think it’s strange how some days fly and others creep?
How some days make you want to cheer and others make you weep?
I’ll see you in the morning; we’ve got promises to keep.
So go on home, get out of here, and get yourself some sleep
© 2002 Tom Hunter www.TomHunter.com