Today's Highlights

Years ago I student taught First Grade in the school I now teach at, and we always ended the day with a question.

"What was the highlight of your day?"

It was always fun for me to hear the student's responses. In the first grade, pretty much anything was a highlight. It was often "reading" or "math" or "science".

I would venture to say if I asked my fifth graders today, their answers would be "social" or "recess" or "music and PE." A lot changes in those four years.

I look back on my first year of teaching to today, and the same is true for me. What is a highlight for me today is probably different than it was then. I find it interesting how maturity lends itself to a change in thinking, or perspective.

Now, there are some things that don't change. I mean, KU won the championship last night in college basketball, and I'm just as excited about it now as I was 20 years ago when I was in the eighth grade and they won it then. The following day my Dad came and got me out of school and we went to the welcome home rally for the team. At the time I thought that was cool, but today I look back on it, and think how wonderful that was for me. I experienced something really cool with my Dad on that day. And, it's a day I'll never forget. While I don't remember a lot of the actual rally, I just remember how cool it was to be there with Dad. Maturity has changed my view of that day in a really cool way, I think.

Tonight I sit here and think about how different I am today as I teacher than I was that first year. I viewed my days differently then than I do today. That's a good thing. I imagine that if we're not trying to learn something new, or see something from a different perspective, than we're just stuck in our same daily rut.

I remember that first year of teaching what a sucker I was as a teacher. My classroom management skills were lacking, and my ability to read kids, parents, and teachers was different. Not bad, just immature.

And while I know I am FAR from having it all figured out, I have thought a lot today about how my view of the world has changed. The "highlights" of my day have shifted, as well as my view of what it really takes to raise a child well.

For example, one of my highlights today was talking to Mr. H. after school. We had both received information on Lostboy from his "counselor". When I read the notes, my stomach flipped. And it wasn't because we were doing anything wrong, it was because this counselor doesn't know squat about Lostboy. The recommendations made by this counselor were ridiculous, and my initial thought after reading it was "this person doesn't work in a school and has no idea what this child is like." Then I dismissed it. I thought, "I'm reading too much into it." Then Mr. H. came by to share a completely different story, and I told him my thoughts on the notes from the counselor. As it turned out, his thoughts were very similar. That was a highlight. Years ago, before I had been a teacher, I would've just taken the counselor's thoughts and done it. With a few years of teaching experience, I now see things differently...more realistically. I like that. And while it doesn't necessarily change Lostboy's situation, it helps me grow as an educator in how to help him. That's a good thing.

Another highlight of my day was Lostboy. He earned another day of free time with me. He earned free time with me, but couldn't have it because I had a meeting, but he did a good job today. I am proud of him. This is day #3. :-) Awesome.

Another highlight was talking to Scienceguy tonight. He took time out of his rather hectic schedule to give me some advice on a computer issue I was having. I am blessed to have him as my brother. And yes, that was a highlight for me.

My final highlight to share tonight is neat to me. I took an extra recess duty today to give the teachers a break after our Standardized Testing. It was raining today, and so we had indoor recess. I like indoor recess, as it gives me a chance to play board games with the students. Several of the kids sat around me, waiting their turn to play with me. One of them was Statsboy. Statsboy has turned out to be one of my favorite kids in the fifth grade. This kid is autistic, and can quote any statistic about sports. He's never wanted to play Connect Four with me until today. He came over and just sat there. And the next thing I know he's telling me stats from last night's game that I didn't know. The kid knew more than I think I ever needed to know about the actual game. But, that's also what was cool about it. As it turned out, I beat him three times, but that wasn't the best part...it was just cool to be in his world for a few minutes.

Isn't it funny how the littlest stuff can be a highlight of a day?

Go figure.

Later!