It's the Little Things

There are some things that teachers have in common with parents and one of those things is finding the joy in the little things that our students do. We all want our students to do the big things, of course. Who wouldn't want to say that they teach the smartest kid in Ontario or who wrote a novel that got published or is the school's champion in synchronized hacky sack, but chances are these students are few and far between. 

Like a lot of things in life, students fall on a very wide spectrum that range from completely studious and attentive to.... not even sure they're breathing or cognitively aware at the moment. I had one student in my first year of teaching who would constantly fall asleep in English class. I wasn't usually upset about this because it was his mark and his choice and, truth be told, he was passing the class with a good mark so, whatever. But there was a day when I tried to talk to him and got no response. I raised my voice and still no response. I tapped him on the shoulder and... nothing. And for a long moment I thought he might be dead, but then he snored and I was like: "Dude, teach me your sleeping powers."

But I digress.

I had a teacher friend of mine tell me once that sometimes you "just have to find the little things" to feel good about. Maybe you have a super quiet student in your class and today they let out a small grunt when you asked them a question - HOORAY! Right now my current 'little thing' is when a particular student is able to keep his hands, feet, and other objects to himself for a whole 75 minutes. I actually flat out praise him at the end of a class if he hasn't been aggressive and he is so proud. And that's good, because I know that it's a stepping stone and eventually, maybe (hopefully), it'll grow to bigger and better "things" to praise. If not, well, we still have that stepping stone.

A whole class can be like this too. Some classes can be particularly difficult just because of the particular make-up of the classroom. This is especially true when you're dealing with kids who have known each other forever and are either sick and tired of each other or knows everyone's dirty little secrets. It's sometimes like watching a Real Housewives episode on SLICE except with less nose jobs and collagen. 

I had one of those moments today and it seems like the silliest thing, but I was (and am since I'm bragging to the internet right now) so proud of them. We spent half of a period going over Lockdown protocols. We practiced it and they did it IN COMPLETE SILENCE and only took them three tries the first time to take it seriously and I was impressed. Of course, I'll be springing this exercise on them again and again throughout the year, but it's a good procedure (because it can save lives), but also because it teaches valuable skills to the students.

And it's important to remember these little things for the days when your classes make you feel like everything sucks, you suck, and even an ice cream sundae can't solve the problem.