SKATING LESSONS

Yesterday I took some time out of my day to go assist a young fourth grader in learning how to roller skate. This seems somewhat humorous, as I never quite got the hang of the whole thing, even though I so desperately wanted to do so. I had talked previously to the P.E. teacher about helping SKATINGSTUDENT and she had encouraged me to come in and just support him. She had told me not to put on skates. I said "sure."

After SKATINGSTUDENT got all of his protective gear on, he stood up and just stood there on the carpet. The P.E. teacher had told me that he was REALLY scared to skate. I moved so that I was in front of him and told him to just walk on the carpet. The other students were out skating on the gym floor while two students, SKATINGSTUDENT and another boy, practiced on the carpet. At first SKATINGSTUDENT grabbed hold of my fingers and squeezed very hard. I explained to him that it was okay, he could do it. He started moving with the skates, and held onto my fingers as he did it. He was pretty proud of that too. About three minutes into it, he told me he couldn't wait for the skating unit to be over. I told him that they skate in grades 5 through 8 in P.E., so I hoped he would be open to learning how to skate. I even shared with him how I love to skate, but my left foot has difficulty going out, so it's hard for me to actually skate the right way. He had a huge *grin* on his face when I shared that. He kept moving and eventually let go of me. I WAS SO PROUD OF HIM! I kept my hands out in front of him just in case he needed them, but for the most part he did it on his own. In fact, he had to turn around on the carpet and said he didn't want my help. I just smiled. That's the point in teaching, to get the kids to where they don't need me. *grin* I will admit that he did grab ahold of my hands a couple more times, but for the most part he did it! Ah, I was so proud of that kid. He only has one more skating day, and I look forward to joining him on that day too!

As I have pondered that today, I don't think any of us is very different from SKATINGSTUDENT. There are so many things in our lives that we would do if fear wasn't present. Perhaps I'm just speaking about my own life, but I doubt it. I have seen fear paralyze people. Yet, just as SKATINGSTUDENT took it one step at a time, we should too. *grin* I also noticed he could have faked being sick and missed school, and he didn't, he faced his fears. We can learn a lot from that little young man. *grin*

I'm so proud of SKATINGSTUDENT and can't wait to work with him again next week!
*grin*
LIFE.
IS.
GREAT!!!