I have this kid named Jason in one of my younger and beginner classes. He is 7 and a handful. Up until a couple weeks ago, I had kind of given up on him because he had been making very little progress. I had already sent him to extra help and trying to deal with him one on one when I have 8 other students to attend to was just frustrating. Recently, I decided to summon all of my patients in an attempt to make a difference with him and what do you know... I have seen a change in this kid! I had an "aha" moment when he came up to me during class the other day as the kids were labeling a body parts worksheet. Jason had labeled a few body parts wrong and so I pointed to his knees and asked him what they were. He proceeded to motion and sing "Head, shoulders, knees and toes", I have played that song for them numerous times while learning about our body parts, and then he shouted "KNEES!" It was a pretty cute moment and it definitely made all the trouble he has given me worth while!
On a similar note, I have a group of 14 and 15 year olds that just have all the attitude in the world and up until a couple of weeks ago, I absolutely dreaded Tuesday and Thursday nights when I had to teach these kids. My dad's advice was to just give them some extra love, easier said than done. I didn't give them extra love, per say but I did change my attitude about them and as with Jason, I have noticed they are a little more at ease now. While they aren't my favorite class just yet, I don't dread Tuesday and Thursday nights anymore!
It's funny what can change if you just step back, take a look at what's going on and then decide to shift and make it different. One of my favorite quotes comes from the book Fierce Conversations, I don't know the exact quote but it goes something like this: "Find out who the pyromaniac is instead of continuing to put out all the fires and the pyromaniac is often you." Love it, such a great quote....
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