Week 2.0 The Thrill of Victory ….

March 19 ….and the Agony of Defeat

Monday was a great morning. My fifth grade student and I really clicked during Math. Now granted, he was asleep when I came into the room. But I walked over, rubbed his back and quietly said, “Wake Up. I don’t know what we are doing and I need your help.” He woke up. We worked on Least Common Multiples. I got it. He got it. We were three problems ahead of the rest of the class. He even went to the board to write the problem for the class. We clicked. My Mentor and I gave each other a “high five” on the way to our next class. The thrill of victory!
It was going to be a great week.

I could not wait to see this student tomorrow. But wait I must, for I found out later in the day that my prize student had been suspended! Now how does that happen! I know you can’t tolerate a student that mouths off to the teacher and then tries it again on the principal, but how did my good student lose ground so fast? I’m still trying to figure it out. He came back later in the week and the rest of the week was just ok….the agony of defeat.

I know I can talk, but it’s becoming apparent in Daily Oral Language that I don’t understand anything I’m saying. If I ever knew what a digraph is, or a blend, or a vowel team, or glued sounds or welded words, I don’t remember. It sounds like English, but it feels like a foreign language. I’ve got a lot to learn about language and reading! (Lesson plans are due in two weeks!!)

Tuesday was St Patrick’s Day and I was smart enough to remember to wear my green! Everyone was celebrating from green hair, green t-shirts, to green tattoos (washable of course). Kids just love holidays! But the greatest celebration was in Kindergarten. They actually began celebrating the week before with Leprechaun words, art projects, rainbows and lima beans painted gold. They evened sorted cupfuls of Lucky Charms cereal in the name of math! My kind of class!

But I am a giant in the Kindergarten room. I constantly have to evade signage and art that hangs from the ceiling. Though I guess it has to be low enough for Kinders to read and see it, it still smacks me in the face. And to assist a Kinder, I have to get down on my knees, which exposes my number 12 feet to Kindergarten traffic lanes. One poor girl tripped and fell over my feet. I didn’t see her coming and she didn’t see me. Boy did I feel bad, and there was nothing “I” could do to comfort her. I try to look both ways before I kneel down, but I’m wondering if they make those flashing sole tennis shoes in size 12?

Applications:
What about the children that do not attend Sunday School or church every Sunday? My fifth grader missed a day of school this week. He’s missed seven days this year because of suspension. Many children do not attend Sunday School or church every Sunday, and most of the time it’s not their fault. Do we just accept it, or are we working to learn their story? Is there something we can do to improve their attendance?

When we talk to children, or tell a Bible story, do we speak in the language of a child? Do we listen to what they have to say? Do we answer their questions in words they can understand? Do we get down on their level, both physically and spiritually?

Children naturally trust their teachers. Now we know that Leprechaun’s don’t really exist. But they existed this week to those Kindergarteners, especially when the Leprechaun tossed the room during lunch! This speaks to their ability to trust, and trust hard. This was the kind of trust Jesus was talking about in the Gospels: "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

March 13 - Fun Friday!

On Friday’s, my Mentor Teacher does a motivational thing called Fun Friday. Now most of our students have BIP’s (Behavior Intervention Plans) that measure their behavior on a daily basis. When the goal points have been earned, Fun Friday kicks in. Fun Friday is small block of time when a kid gets to do what he does best, play. And they love Fun Friday. Sometimes it’s music, sometimes board games, and always Legos.

What these young ones don’t realize is that Fun Friday is my Mentor’s sly way of teaching social skills. While they play, they still have to work on taking turns, sharing, asking nicely, and generally being polite and conversational with each other.

I spent my first Fun Friday playing Connect Four with one of my boys. It’s a simple game, but the concept of dropping four checkers in a row was a hard concept to grasp. Fortunately for him, I knew how to play the game, and how to manipulate it so he won more games than I did. The smile on his face was priceless. He beat the teacher!!

Now the big kids are too cool for Fun Friday. Instead they come to Friendship Groups. A Friendship Group is a small enclave of students who participate in a club like group. They do creative Power Point projects, read cool books, make puppets and write puppets scripts. And like their younger counterparts, they work on taking turns, sharing, asking nicely, and generally being polite and conversational to each other. My Mentor Teacher is so-o-o smart.

Now this Fun Friday thing was a blessing to me, because Friday is a really hard day. You see, for as long as I can remember, Friday has been my day off. And getting up to go to school on Friday was really hard. (Yeah, I know, you are not sympathetic at all) My challenge now is to get to school on time each Friday and earn enough behavior points so I can challenge another student to a game of Connect Four.

Application: When do we schedule time for our church kids to just play? Children are at their best when they are playing. The church word for Play could be Fellowship, a time when we get together to eat and enjoy each other’s company. We get to know each other better, which equips us to care for each other later. It’s not much different for children. Our children live in different neighborhoods and communities. They attend at least seven different elementary schools. The only time many of them get to see their church friends is at church! When do they get to play with their most important friends? Is there value in planning some events for children, just for fun? I think so…