For the last six months I have been in multiple classrooms, different grade levels and special areas, all mainly in one elementary school. Some days have been long and tiring, others have been full of joy. There have been children I've been really sad to see leave and others I urged out the door. I have observed, and realized, a lot.
There is always at least one (although sometimes 4 or 5!) trouble makers in the class. This is the child that never stops talking, doesn't follow directions, rarely is doing what they are suppose to be doing, and whose name you vow to never give to your future children. It is frustrating to see how much time and energy is spent on this small portion of the class or how they can ruin it for everyone else. Doesn't that happen in adulthood too? If you are in a group of people there is always that one or a small group that control how things go for everyone else. Or maybe you see in the way that so much of our media/news coverage is focused on the small portion of the population that does something wrong or bad instead of all the good.
There are few fights worth staying mad over. There are the "best friends" that get in a fight during recess and then are back to hugging before getting on the bus at the end of the day (boys and girls!). These kids either ignore the reason for their previous disagreement because they realize it doesn't matter or have, more likely, forgotten. As adults we often hold a grudge for something that we should have forgotten about. We cling to the negative and the wrongdoing of others but forget about the good stuff, the kind words.
Most students would say their favorite subject was recess or P.E. Now, even though P.E. is indeed a subject... recess, sadly, does not qualify. But what is it that they are really saying? They like to run around, to play, to let off steam! How many adults work all day with no "breaks," no time to let loose for 30 minutes or so. Maybe we need a little more time to ran around.
Kids like to have fun! Children are, usually, happy people! They smile and laugh... a lot. The teachers I have seen enjoy their days the most are those that have fun with their students, that don't mind making a fool of themselves if it puts a smile on their students' faces. See the correlation there... fun=happiness. When we are unhappy and feeling down it is normally related to the lack of fun we are having. Stop caring about what people think of you, stop taking yourself so seriously, and enjoy life!
Children want to help. The other day I asked if 3 or 4 students wanted to stay in from recess (their favorite subject, remember?) to help me clean the room for the end of the year, and I had over half the class volunteer to do so! There are always children willing to hold a door, answer a classmate's question, take notes to the office, rushing over to help clean up when they hear a spill. Do we look for opportunities to help? Do we jump at a chance to make someone else's day a little easier? Or do we hope someone else with volunteer or look the other way?
Students are nice to those who are "different" than them. If I matched up partners for something not one ever said "ugh, I have to work with them". Wait.. I take that back... I did have one girl roll her eyes because she had to work with a boy... but that's a whole different topic! I saw students constantly aware of those in their class with disabilities and made sure that they were included, looked out for, made a part of the group. Dang... adults so often want to EXCLUDE instead of INCLUDE. When did we start getting the wrong?
Instead of adults teaching kids all the time... maybe we should take a few lessons from them. Because as they say... All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.
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