Today, I kind of remembered why I'm a teacher. My lessons weren't particularly stellar (Fridays never are--specials, test, review for test, silent reading...), but the day just went great. My troubling studnet had a complete personality change yesterday and had two FANTASTIC days in a row. After what we've been going through, this change is amazing and I frequently find myself holding my breath as though I'm watching a ticking time bomb, just waiting for it to go off unexpectedly. But thankfully, nothing set it off and he was a completely different kid. I'm not sure WHAT changed, but he was friendly, respectful, kind, and funny. And I remembered how much I really do like this kid when he's "on." And it's amazing how different my emotions were with him being in a good mood. Everything was fine. I was happy, I enjoyed teaching, I enjoyed my students. Even when other students were off task, I was more patient and better able to laugh things off. I was less stressed, and I just plain LIKED IT today. There have been enough days lately where I just DIDN"T LIKE IT that I'd been doubting whether or not I'll be able to make it for the long haul.
Some things that made me smile today:
-This kid getting 100% on his behavior points chart today and being so ecstatic. I was so ecstatic that I asked him if I could give him a hug and he said sure. :) Suddenly we're BFF.
-My hilarious guided reading group today during which we were discussing voting and they got onto so many side bars about elections and the president etc. that I was liracking up. I love when they are distracted, but talking about something KIND OF related!
-My kids being thrilled about the new books I got yesterday. I put new ones in some of the kids' book boxes with post-its on them saying, "I KNOW you will like this book. Let me know what you think!" They loved it. And I remembered how easy it is to show them that I care and make them smile. When some of these kids constantly feel like they don't matter or no one cares about them, I know that part of my job is to let them know that I do.
-Being observed by an ed student who's also a mom in the school and having her tell me she enjoyed being in my room and observing my teaching
-Getting things all set for my re-implementation of Daily 4 (I decided Read to Someone was a disaster waiting to happen...), including a new display of my anchor charts
Well, it's nice coming home on Fridays in a good mood. It reminds me that even though my lows are incredibly low, the highs are so worth it. I will not give up on this one child--maybe God knew that I needed this refresher and reminder of his wonderful personality to make it through the days when he just can't let that personality shine for all those reasons I am trying so hard to understand.
No comments:
Post a Comment