Don't Be A Brick

I am a 2nd grade teacher assistant.  I often find myself wanting to correct students and get them to do their work like all the other students do and like I think they should. TJ's favorite band is Pink Floyd.  Their song "The Wall" is becoming something I think of whenever I want to make students do things normally.  They should do things correctly but it doesn't need to be a cookie cutter and all look alike.  I don't want to be "another brick in the wall" preventing students from being creative.  We tell children to be creative but then fuss at them when it doesn't look the way we think it should.  Did Picasso and DaVinci receive such criticisms?  What if they has listened to them and stopped being themselves?  I don't want to wall children off from their creative selves.  I don't want to contribute to a "mind controlled" generation.  So when I come across a different kind of picture or story instead of fussing I tell myself to not be a brick.  Let the children be their creative selves and maybe someday I'll have helped foster a brilliant artist or architect.