My Backpack Was Already Full

Throughout my years as an educator, I have learned that behavior often tells a story before a child has the words to tell it themselves. The child who puts their head down, refuses an assignment, becomes angry, cannot sit still, or asks to go home may be communicating something much bigger than what we can see in that moment.

That is why the questions we ask matter.

Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with this child?” we can begin asking, “What might this child be carrying?”

Instead of immediately asking, “How do I stop this behavior?” we can wonder, “What is this child trying to tell me?”

And sometimes the most powerful question is simply, “What do you need right now?”

My Backpack Was Already Full is an invitation to see the whole child; not only their behavior, challenges, or circumstances, but also their strengths, families, culture, joy, resilience, and possibilities.

Children do not arrive at our doors as blank pages. They arrive with stories already being written.

May we be the adults who honor those stories, preserve the dignity of the families within them, and make what children carry just a little lighter.