Sheryl Green: The power of the toolbox

I used to go out to the garage with my Grandpa and watch him work. He had a meticulously organized work station that intrigued my young curiosity. I would intently watch him piddle around, creating some masterpiece out of nothing or fixing some broken thing into something not.

To me, Grandpa was the epitome of everything good and decent.

He would hand me a tool and give me a task. Oftentimes he would continue on his project, but I know he watched me out of the corner of his eye, making himself ready to assist if I needed him (or call 911 if I cut my finger off).

To me, all I wanted to do was make him proud. To him, all he wanted to do was teach me independence and stick-with-it-ness. Funny thing, though, even the shoddiest hammering job I did was perfection in his eyes.

That was the power of Grandpa's garage. A place of discovery and invitation. A safe haven to try and experiment.

I think the classroom is much like my Grandpa's garage. And the role a teacher plays is not unlike the position my grandfather had in my life.

He was not just a model of how to hammer straight or create something out of nothing or fix what was broken; he was the model of what hard work and diligence and teaching looks like. Oftentimes the lesson was much deeper than the difference between a wrench and a pair of pliers.

Most times he was much more than an instructor. The lessons I learned in Grandpa's garage reached the very core of my being and helped developed me as a person. That was the influence of my Grandpa.

Much the same is the power of influence of a classroom teacher.

My grandpa enabled me to try, to fail, to try again. He gave me a tool and encouraged me to use it. Very sweetly he would guide me, redirect me, challenge me.

We as teachers aim innately to do the very same. We strive to create a classroom environment that encourages and challenges success, offers tools to reach it, and then supports and redirects failures. Julie Wood, a second grade teacher at Key Elementary School, describes the comparison quite well. "My students come to me at the beginning of second grade having a toolbox full of talents and skills," she says, "and it is my job to not only take those skills and expand on them, but also to give them new tools to add to their box."

I like how she explains that responsibility because comparing what I do as a teacher to what my Grandpa did for me makes my heart smile. She makes it seem like every child who is in the classrooms of teachers who grasp the vastness of their responsibility are the lucky ones.

Just like I was in my Grandpa's garage.

Mrs. Wood likes to tell her second graders that "it is OK to struggle and not be perfect in the beginning. Learning takes time, but through hard

work and guidance, they will be successful." She's like my Grandpa, looking out of the corner of his eye, allowing me to strip a screw or saw a crooked line, knowing full well that through practice, I'll certainly learn the right way.

What a remarkable way to instruct our future lawmakers and community leaders.

Teachers have the influential opportunity to create resilient "try-ers" and capable problem solvers. We have the potential to create and mold a generation, and as I type that, I can't help but think of the weightiness of that responsibility.

But then I think of my Grandpa's garage. All I have to do -- all we have to do as teachers -- is be a little bit like my Grandpa and Mrs. Wood.

Create a garage and a classroom of possibility and potential and watch out the corner of our eyes as our students use the toolbox we provide to create a masterpiece.

Sheryl Green is an independent contractor. Contact her at sherylgreen14@yahoo.com

This story was originally published December 22, 2015 at 10:22 PM with the headline "Sheryl Green: The power of the toolbox."