School Year 2007-8

Hurrah for Summer (and time to catch up--I feel it's probably about time for another post!) -- ; )This year was a very different year, and a very different class--although I could make that comment for each class, each year. . . ) Our only class rule this year was "I will do only things that don't make a problem for anybody else." You can see that this one rule is very inclusive. And although that was the rule stressed, it was hard to keep. But with this as my general theme, I want to tell you about two memorable experiences that I had with my past class.
The first one was around Thanksgiving. Several of my boys were caught trading Yu-gi-oh cards after school on the playground, and the cards were brought to me by the afterschool duty teacher. I put them with the rather large stack of cards that I had already confiscated during class time. Knowing that they were rather valuable, especially in peer value, to the students, I decided to use them as rewards the following day for correct answers during Math test review time. That must have been inspiration because the kids loved that concept when I announced it, and they really paid attention so they could earn as many cards as possible. But the clinker came when the boy (Ethan) who had lost the most cards became upset, and started to cry. I had to sympathize with him, and then I had to firmly remind him that this was a consequence to his wrong decision and actions as he had been warned, but continued to bring the cards illegally to school. He saw that I was being reasonable and fair, and tried to be brave and dry his tears. The next student to answer correctly and win a card after that scene with Ethan was James. He came up to the front, picked a "good" card, and then walked back and handed it to Ethan. I witnessed this act and complimented him highly. His kind and thoughtful action changed the whole atmosphere of the Math review session. From then on each student continued to try their hardest to answer correctly and earn a card, but they all donated their reward cards back to Ethan. After we were finished, I told my class how much they all impressed me with their charity, and how they had each been a part of making our school day a very special event.
I was impressed with the eagerness these kids had, trying to do the right thing by serving another classmate. Most of them come from homes where they are not taught great values, but they do have the desire to do what's best when they know what to do.
The other especially noteable event happened near the end of school. All year the students had been earning good behavior tickets each day for obeying "the rule" and doing good class-work. A few had lost all their tickets, some students had a few, and some had a lot of tickets that they had faithfully saved. And all year I had saved belongings that I had to confiscate in a special box, plus I added some prizes that I purchased. The grand prize was a football with my cousin Dan Bower's name written on it. I told my students that we would have an auction for the prizes before Jon had to leave to go to his aunt's wedding in Chicago, because he had tried so hard to behave and earn enough tickets to win the football. I started the auction with the football to draw out the most tickets early. Someone started at 50, then as enthusiasm built, the number of tickets went higher and higher. At 118, Jon had to bow out of the competition, and he was very disappointed. McKenna won the football in the end, paying out over 280 tickets. Then very quietly, I saw her slip over to Jon and give him the football for free. She is a very sweet, gentle, and shy girl, one of my nicest and most obedient students. I praised her at once for her thoughtfulness and charity. Then again, the situation suddenly changed. Like before in November, the students all started trying to work together--bidding together, sharing tickets, giving and exchanging prizes--all of them trying to help each other get the things that their other classmates wanted. It was so exciting to watch them thinking of ways to help each other.
These are just two--but two very special experiences that I hold dear from last year. I know that I will never forget them, and I hope that the students will also remember these special times from 3rd grade that they helped create. These are the times that make me glad to be a teacher of children.