Read Across America Day in my classroom, 2012

Some days in teaching it is easier to remember why we do it, why it is worth it.  Like today.  Seeing 14-year-olds sit, enraptured,  listening to picture books being read to them by parents, other teachers, librarians.  Their quiet goodness, their childlike desire to be told a good story.  It almost makes up for the days when I overhear words that would shame an adult coming from those young mouths, or days when it seems nothing in my curriculum can compete with Justin Bieber-inducing giggle fits.
One of those picture books was the story of a cat who goes in search of the meaning of her name, Wabi Sabi.  Along the way, we as readers experience wabi sabi in the illustrations - collages made of torn paper, dry leaves, pieces of photos, and matted fur - and in the haiku that are woven throughout the narrative.  Wabi sabi: a sense of beauty in nature, in imperfection, in simplicity and humility, in warmth, and comfort.
Today in my class, all those impulsive, awkward, hormonal 7th and 8th graders were wabi sabi to me.