Sometimes kids have to know that everything is going to be "ok". Sometimes my kids get so worked up, and I just have to give that "It'll be ok, I promise", and they calm down. I took my iPad to school a few weeks ago, and one of my students touched it. The other kids got so worked up! I explained to them that it was "ok", and it was not a big deal at all. Just don't drop it! A student touched the document camera yesterday. He was actually trying to fix it, and another adult got super worked up. He started pleading his case, and I told him "It's ok", I understand that he was just fixing it. I want my students to understand that material things mean absolutely nothing to me. They are going to be super curious if they see something they don't see often. They are going to touch things. They are going to "fix" things. I remember being a kid, and I wanted to touch the copy machine so bad. I wanted to staple papers. I wanted to write under the over head projector on what I called "plastic paper". And when I did those things, my teachers let me know that it was "ok".
I was driving home after hanging out with a few of my coworkers, and I heard the adhan, the islamic call to prayer. I immediately went back to being a fifth grader. I went to a private islamic school for a year. My father always dreamed of sending me there, and he finally had the means to to do. This was during his final year with us. I hardly ever think about my fifth grade year, because that was a difficult time in my life. However, I thought about it today and tried to remember some of my teachers. I remembered two. One, who taught me to speak just a little bit of Arabic, and another who used to let me spend the night at her house on the weekends. I remembered nothing about my homeroom teacher, except her name. I didn't remember any of her instructional or management strategies. I didn't remember anything I learned. I quote things I learning in 3rd grade all of the time, but nothing from fifth grade. I talk about how I got a lot of my management ideas from my fourth grade teacher, but nothing from fifth grade. Although I was going through a difficult time, I can't say my fifth grade teacher impacted me in any way. I wonder what my kids are going to remember about me. Am I making an impact? We don't see the impact right away. It's when they're 31 and writing a blog that you find out how much of an impact you made, or lack thereof. Realizing that Sister C didn't make much of an impact in my life, I now understand why I'm not smarter than a 5th grader!
I won't see the kids tomorrow, because we have professional development. I sure hope they complete their homework!
Educationally Your.
T.W.T
