So this past week in the exciting adventures of Mr. Mouton, Mr. Mouton survived the first full, normal week back since Christmas break. The first three weeks have been filled with two 3-day weeks and an early release day on the other week. Naturally, I was ready for the normal weekly routine to kick back in. Well, let’s just say that it was an interesting week. This week was packed full of things. Some good & some bad. To say the least, it was a bit stressful, but we all made it through like we always do. No matter how stressful it may seem to get, we just have to take it one day at a time. Eventually, you get past the struggles and some good starts to peek through.
Now, I’m not just blogging to talk about a normal work week. The week ended on a such a positive note for me that I just felt I had to share.
So, a little background…
When I was in high school I took a class called Teen Leadership. This was class was designed to teach you how to be a better person and build a classroom community between the people in the class. By the end of the course, you really got close and developed relationships with everyone in class. I loved it. Coach Kilgo taught the class and that only made it better. My brother was also in the class which was hilarious and awesome. It was one of my favorite classes that I took in high school. One of my favorite things that we did was called “Good Things”. Each day we started out by telling the class one good thing that had happened to us the day before. It didn’t matter how big or small the something was, but the idea was to make you realize how lucky and blessed your life was, at least that’s what I took from it. No matter what circumstances a person may face, there’s always a positive. Even if that positive is that you woke up that morning to fight another day. It was awesome. I always enjoyed hearing what everyone else would say. Mine always consisted of I ate something amazing for dinner or did something awesome during football season, but we all got to share everyday and it was a great way to learn about our classmates.
I have done this a few times in class a few times with my kiddos. I wish I would have done it more. I usually do it with my homeroom kids on Mondays. I tell them to tell me one good thing that happened to them over the weekend. Their responses usually consist of I played with my friend, had a sleepover, or got some game or toy. But, I had only ever done this with my homeroom kids. Well, I have 5 different groups of kids that I see everyday. Each group has it’s own personalities and uniqueness.
This past week the topic taught in class was fractions. Fractions is one of the most difficult things we do in my opinion. Last year, I felt that fractions was the most difficult thing for me to teach. I just didn’t feel like did a good job communicating the skills, and I felt that I didn’t provide my kiddos with the best learning possible. I have made it a priority to be better this year, and I’ve changed things and come up with different strategies. This past week I felt went pretty well teaching wise. They had on Friday over the topics that had covered in class. Now, I have a kiddo that doesn’t always perform that well in math. Math is a struggle for him, and sometimes I feel like he doesn’t enjoy my class. I just haven’t been able to make that connection with him that I have with most of the kiddos. So, he took his quiz and turned it in. I always grade the quizzes in class that way the kids know what they scored before they leave. I went to grade his, and wouldn’t you know… He made a 100! I was pumped! I even got up to show another teacher on my team. I just had to call him up and let him know what an awesome job he did. He walked up, and I acted like I had bad news and covered his score. He got to my desk, and I looked up and revealed his score. The smile on his face was the reason I teach. I had never seen him smile like that in my class. He was overjoyed and proud of himself. He went “Yes!!” and pumped his fist. I told him I was so proud of him, and gave him a high five. It was awesome, and when he went back to sit down you could tell how excited he was.
There was about 10 minutes left before school got out, and all of the quizzes had been turned in and graded. I let all of the kiddos know what they got, and he again was pumped. I’m not sure why “Good Things” was on my mind, but I felt like it was something that we should do. I told the kids to pack up, and have nothing on their desk. I explained that we we’re going to try something we had never done before. I have a little minion that sits in my paper clip holder. I explained that whoever is holding the minion was the only person allowed to speak (besides me). We were going to pass the minion around and each share one good thing that had happened to them this week. I just felt that it was a long week for all of us, and I thought that it would kind of good to reflect on the week. So, the minion is going around. The responses are typical 10 year old responses, “I had cocoa puffs for breakfast”, “I signed up for M&M”, “I got to hang out with my friend after school”. You get the point. The minion finally got to the boy that scored the 100, and his good thing surprised me. He said, “My good thing is that you made fractions simple and easy for me to understand.” I was shocked. I never thought he would say something about math class as his good thing. It made my heart feel really good. I know that I had the biggest, cheesiest smile on my face. My week leading up to that point had been super stressful, and at that moment all the stress went away. That single moment of when he said that made my week awesome. It made me think, “Man, this was a good week”.
Isn’t it crazy how much of an impact something so small can have? Just by having the kiddos share one good thing that happened to them, my whole outlook on the week was changed for the better. He could have said anything, but he chose to say that. That’s why I love my job. His excitement and pride for his learning is why I do my job. No matter how stressful your week may be… There is always something positive you can take away.
What’s your good thing?
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