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When I was five, my friends wanted to be princesses, firefighters, and soldiers. As for me, I wanted to be a teacher. While they defended the world with action figures and dinosaurs, I spent hours arranging my dolls and stuffed animals in a semicircle, lecturing them as if they were eager students. That childhood passion never faded. Years later, it guided my decision to major in Home Economics Education, now known as Family and Consumer Sciences.
As part of a teacher preparation course, I was assigned to observe children at a nearby laboratory school. This wasn’t a typical public school. For the local families, it offered K–12 education; for aspiring teachers like me, it served as a resource for practical experience.
The observation instructions were straightforward: find an unobtrusive spot, avoid interacting with the children, and take notes on their natural behavior. It sounded simple enough—what could possibly go wrong?
Sandy Lish served as an educator for 38 years and received state and national recognition for her contributions to the classroom and school community. She lives in New Hampshire and writes about the moments that have shaped her life in and beyond the classroom.
