Long, but amazing read. This is a truly wonderful teacher.
Alie arrived at our 1st-grade classroom wearing a sweatshirt with a hood. I asked her to take off her hood, and she refused. I thought she was just being difficult and ignored it. After breakfast we got in line for art, and I noticed that she still had not removed her hood. When we arrived at the art room, I said: “Allie, I’m not playing. It’s time for art. The rule is no hoods or hats in school.”
She looked up with tears in her eyes and I realized there was something wrong. Her classmates went into the art room and we moved to the art storage area so her classmates wouldn’t hear our conversation. I softened my tone and asked her if she’d like to tell me what was wrong.
“My ponytail,” she cried.
“Can I see?” I asked.
She nodded and pulled down her hood. Allie’s braids had come undone overnight and there hadn’t been time to redo them in the morning, so they had to be put back in a ponytail. It was high up on the back of her head like those of many girls in our class, but I could see that to Allie it just felt wrong. With Allie’s permission, I took the elastic out and re-braided her hair so it could hang down.
“How’s that?” I asked.
She smiled. “Good,” she said and skipped off to join her friends in art.
‘Why Do You Look Like a Boy?’
![lgbtlaughs:
[image from ‘Sometimes the Spoon Runs Away With Another Spoon’ colouring book by Jacinta Bunnell & Nat Kusinitz. A princess is leaning down about to kiss a frog with her eyes closed, she has a thought bubble that says: “I hope it’s another princess, I hope it’s another princess…”]
If you’re going to colour this image please do not remove the author & illustrator names from the top, and please buy this book - it’s well worth it for yourself or a child in your life.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lswayl5BaZ1qak0qdo1_1280.jpg)
