say what you need to say

So, here is a little post for you, Suzy!
I volunteer at a Languages School to help them with their administrative work. Mainly it's just paperwork, but the part I love most is getting to go into different classes and just helping and talking with the kids there.
Today, I went into the grade 1-2 Mandarin room, and started talking to the kids there. I don't understand, nor do I speak that particular dialect of Chinese, so I just talked in English.
One of the kids there, a seven-year old girl, warmed up to me for the first time. She was fascinated by my necklace (a golden pendant attached to a piece of string) and proceeded to laugh at herself and her friend in the reflection. "Hey! I look heart-shaped!"
Usually she's off running with her friends, and as much as I love these kids and try so hard to encourage their creativity, I need to maintain a teacher-student relationship, not a friend-to-friend one. Therefore, the most interaction I usually get with her is: "Okay, come on. Stop running around, you're supposed to be doing your homework! Your parents enrolled you in this because they want you to learn!"
Today, for some reason, they were already settled down when I came in to help, so after she played with my necklace, I decided to sit down with her and talk to her. Rather than talking to a bunch of people at a time, my introvert personality likes getting to know each person I interact with, thoroughly; therefore, I like concentrating on one person and getting to know them better.
She and her friend were colouring in a bunch of Easter eggs on a little scrapbook. I asked them about their Easters, they bragged about their egg hunts and how many eggs they found.
I asked her whether I could help her and draw some decorative Easter eggs for her, and she nodded brightly.
I sat down to draw some Easter eggs and I found myself out of ideas. I had not decorated Easter eggs in years, and when I realized that I hadn't participated in one of my previously favourite activities, in a LONG TIME, I was startled. The seven-year old, who was now working on an art project for the class, noticed and began instructing me.
"Just do whatever you want. Imagine, think. How about a couple of stars, a couple of hearts? What about squiggles like mine here?" She flipped to a page in her scrapbook where a bunch of Easter eggs beamed brilliantly at me.
I nodded and began to draw mine. I could not believe how out of touch I was. How my imagination slipped away, how rather than keeping close with my childhood self, simple art projects such as these made me think hard.
The girl kept encouraging me. "Come on, you can do this! Wow, that's amazing; I like that heart there!" She was at ease with me, and treated me with respect. She was nothing like the defiant, loud girl she was before. She surprised me. Last class, I had thought the closest I could get to calming her down was marching her to her desk and sitting her down.

In retrospect, it was amazing how last class, she could be running around and trying to drag me around and kick the other boys in her class, yet this one, she was sitting down comfortably, pencil crayon in hand, occasionally commenting on my Easter egg drawing process, remarking about her weekend, calm.
I guess, like all stories, this one comes with a moral, or a lesson to teach myself. I have to learn to see past things. I have to learn to take time out for each individual and really get to KNOW them. I really have to sit down with each kid and get to know each personality rather than trying to control all of them at the same time. In this way, I establish a teacher-student relationship, where there is mutual respect, rather than them treating me like a naggy teacher. (Believe me, it feels like it, too.) In this way, I discover a new side to them. A talkative side to a quiet one maybe, or a quiet side to a defiant one. I know, of course, that every person is different. I cannot expect all the children to be like this one--disrespectful at first glance yet respectful once trust is established.
I'd like to learn about all the little personalities blooming out of these children. I'd like to learn about their lives and listen for every thought, whether about their Easter egg hunt, or about their numerous friends who share the same name as me. Because this is their childhood. They deserve for someone to listen to them, and whom they can share all the important stuff with.
Being a teacher is probably not on my career list, but I'd love to learn from our future leaders anyway. (: