A Reason, A Season or a Lifetime

I was first introduced to this poem during a Horticultural Therapy training session I attended a few years ago. This poem has stayed with me over the years. I have recently thought about it in the context of one of my previous students now suffering from ALS. While she only attended school for one year, she was quite a bright woman. She took her time learning a skill or a topic, but once she understood it, she remembered it for a long time. In a recent visit to her in her home we were talking about what a great memory she has. She beamed as this trait was recognized by me and her family members. I am quite sad that she will no longer be able to attend school; however, I am grateful that she did experience the successes and growth that she did while in my class. I have not decided where she fits in the classifications of this poem, but she has definitely changed me and my life.

A Reason, a Season or a Lifetime


People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you figure out which one it is,
you will know what to do for each person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON,
it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty;
to provide you with guidance and support;
to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time,
this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON,
because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it. It is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;
things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person,
and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

— Unknown

Mum Show

As summer air turns cool, mums start showing their colours in our gardens. Many houses in the neighbourhood around school have these little bursts of colour that last long into the fall months. Recognizing these flowers and seasonal importance of them can be a lot of fun.  Going for colour-hunt walks or taking a trip to the local Mum Show are two ways to celebrate the beauty of the changing seasons.

For the past few years my students and I have taken a local bus to visit the Mum Show at a greenhouse downtown. The Mum Show displays a variety of colours and species of mums - much more than the usual garden varieties we see around town. There is also a year-round tropical greenhouse. Students always bring their cameras and take many beautiful pictures of themselves, their friends and the flowers.

The tropical greenhouse houses many plants from countries my students are from. There are birds, geckos, fish and a turtle. The humidity in the room, the fresh air, and sound of the flowing water make for a relaxing and peaceful environment. This provides an opportunity to reconnect with the nature that is familiar.

My students use the time at the greenhouse to explore and experience it alone or with their peers. In my mind, it is such a great opportunity to experience a part of our city - a part that they may have never heard of or seen before. The actual structured language aspect comes afterwards in class. This year, I also wandered alone through the greenhouses snapping shots such as the ones below to use as the language focus the following day in class.

With these photos we reviewed the names of the colours (red, yellow, pink, etc.) and put them in sentences such as, "I see red flowers", and so on. From there, we sequenced the photos in a wall pocket chart, wrote sentences, matched the sentences and copied them onto small sentence strips. Students then created books for this story. 

Outcomes: name colours, sequence pictures from top to bottom and left to right, read words, copy words from a distance, listen to and follow instructions.