My students have just been blowing me out of the water these
past few weeks with their thoughtfulness and sense of community. I have a few
stories to share.
Joel’s Volcano
Surprise: One of my students lives in a pueblo across the lake, and
rides the boat every morning to get to school. Sometimes he will arrive 40
minutes early, and other days he will be 30 minutes late….he has no control
when the boats decide to leave but he is ready every morning at 7:30 to ride
across. There have a been a few days he has arrived at school feeling a bit
nauseous. “The water was really bumpy this morning” he explains as he holds his
stomach with one hand and hands me his homework with the other. Well we’ve been
studying volcanos these past few weeks and one Joel exclaimed, “I’m going to
make a volcano cake and bring it to school!!” Wow, what a fun idea! That would be so kind of you! I said, but in
my head it was just another great fun idea that my kids had, they have a lot of
them but often are forgotten by the next recess. Well sure enough the following
Monday he shows up to school with an incredibly Volcano cake, complete with M
& M ash fall and red frosting
lava flow. “It made it allllllll the
way across the lake!” He explained to our class. Lucky ducks, got to spend
science class that day explaining the parts of the volcano as they took bite
after bite. Wow, the thoughtfulness was just so incredible. His older sister
told me, he really did spend the weekend planning the candy parts of the
volcano and how he would successfully package it to make it across the 40
minute, bumpy boat ride. Joel Rocks!
Joel and the Cake!!
Anonymous Glue
Stick Delivery: As simple as it sounds, glue sticks are hard to come by
in Pana….as is construction paper, post-its and notecards. The last time I was
in the states I stocked up on kids glue sticks and presented them to the class
as something I wanted to share with them. I
know how much we love doing projects with glue sticks, so I bought our class a
set of glue sticks. It is so important that you all help me take care of our
glue stick collection. Because once they are gone, I can’t get any more. They nodded in understanding, buying
into the preciousness of our Elmer’s gluesticks. Well a few days later we were
working outside and it became apparent during clean up time that one of the
caps of our precious glue sticks was missing. It was adorable how 3 students
made it their mission to find the lid and searched under all the tables,
corners and cubbies….but no success! I knew it was an honest mistake but we
talked again in class about the importance of taking care of our things,
especially when someone else is sharing them. This classroom is our community
and our space so it is our responsibility to take care of it.
The next morning I arrived at school to a new glue stick
with a very special anonymous note.
The note read something like this: Miss
Allison a gift for you. I now you are sad becuse we lost a glu stck. You shared
with us and I share with you. It is not a gud glu stck but it was myne and now
it is yurs. Thank you for shar with us alwas. From – it dos not matter
I was almost tearing up reading the note. Not only was this
student thinking of my feelings and sharing with the class her glue stick from
home…she was doing it with zero desire for any sort of credit or recognition!
She didn’t even sign her name! Now I know who it was because their penmanship
styles are so unique but I was so so humbled by her actions and learned a
lesson of pure generosity for myself.
I presented the note and glue stick to the class and how special it was that
this student was not looking for any credit or recognition at all. They were
all in awe!!!!! I approached the student after class because I wanted her to
know that I knew it was her and I was also sure to tell the story to her mom. I
am learning more and more every day from these precious children!
Competitive Giving
The last story of pure student humility and generosity I
have to share, happened a few weeks ago. We were reviewing for a multiplication
quiz by playing Bingo with multiplication facts. The students know that the
winners of review games are given the opportunity to pick a prize from my prize
basket (erasers, fun pens and pencils.) When prizes are in the mix, stakes are
high….everyone wants that tacky, sparkly pencil from Miss Allison. Well I
sensed the competition and was starting to second guess the offering of prizes
all together, afraid that their focus was too heavy on the prizes rather than
the learning and test review. Well I had 3 winners who excitedly pushed their
way to the front of the room to collect their winnings. Well the first student
picked out a cool crazy blue eraser and walked right back to his seat and gave
it to his friend sitting next to him. Seeing his example, the next two winners
also picked their prizes and gifted them to someone seated at their table……My
jaw dropped….these are 7 and 8 year olds!!!! It was some competitive giving and
I couldn’t have been more pleased with the sense of community that I felt that
moment in Miss Allison’s 2nd and 3rd grade classroom!
These are just a few glimpses into some of the most memorable teaching moments yet…don't get me wrong, everyday presents new challenges and surprises but these moments are what help define and reaffirm my purpose and the joy I get from going to work everyday.
Our Volcano Projects!
Showing off our favorite books from the month of February!
We love to read….and make silly faces!
