Today a truly magical thing happened – completely by happenstance – and I had to rush home to share it with you!
I’ve done a bit of wallowing in the chaos and barely keeping my head above water this school year. I’ve heard so many say they are have a wonderful year of restoration and have hope for the future of education. But honestly, that has not been my year. I have trudged along and tried everything I can think of, including throwing my hands in the air, walking out on a class, and slamming the door behind me. Definitely not my best moment.
But today. TODAY, something very sweet and beautiful happened in one class. I was doing the only variation of storyasking that I’m capable of right now: plop the skeleton of a story in a slide deck with questions for students to answer, students then write everything in their notebooks, creating as many variations of the story as there are students. Then IT happened. On slide 3. A student with a particularly low tolerance for frustration threw her hands in the air, pushed her notebook away, tossed her pencil down, and shoved her chair back. I ignored her, not wanting to draw attention to this behavior, because the rest of the class was too busy writing to notice.
On a whim, I grabbed a post it note and wrote:
Take a breath.
In the grand scheme of things,
this is not that big of a deal.
Señora
I walked over to the student and gently placed the post it on her notebook. Then I walked away so she would know that she wasn’t in any kind of trouble and that there would be no repercussions. When I got to the other side of the room, I glanced back at her and to my surprise, she had scooted back up to her desk and had her pencil in hand. She was writing along with the class. I was floored!
So I tried it with another student.
This one had informed me she was having a bad day early in class and refused to answer any questions. Her note said:
I’m sorry you’re having a bad day.
Señora
I followed the same procedure as before and walked away. Her eyes followed me around the room until I made eye contact with her. She didn’t smile, but she didn’t glare, either.
If you know me at all, you know what happened next. I walked around the room (while reading the slides and asking the questions aloud for students) and wrote little love post it notes to every single student. I definitely had everyone’s attention – but they were still writing! Some nodded when they read their note. Some beamed me a huge smile. Others gave me an audible thanks.
The mood of the room shifted and unlike other classes, not a single student complained about the activity. As we all know, a student’s #1 job is to complain. And my students are PRO’s at their job!!! But not this day. They were eagerly waiting to see what their post it said. I thanked them for always being prepared, for being kind to others, for participating, for looking like they were having a good day, for helping someone in class, and more.
Before class ended, I revisited my first two students. The first one received another note that thanked her for trying. She nodded when she read it. The second student’s note said, “I hope your day gets better”. Again, I placed the notes on their notebooks and walked away. When I got to my desk on the other side of the room, I watched as this student carefully folded her notes into tiny squares and placed them in her phone case. THAT was all the thanks I needed.
The best part of this entire process was the change in ME. My heart softened and I remembered that these fragile humans need affirmation.
I will be sharing post it note love on a regular basis from now on!
Looking for End of Year activities?
Check out these resources!
- It’s not too late to start a series. We are really loving Tierra Incógnita from Disney+. My growing bundle of Season 1 resources will be complete by May 20th!
- This La Misma Luna movie study is designed for Level 1.
- This super fun song can come in handy when you have one class period to eat up between units! Me Gusta la Vida
- Have you watched Nailed It! México with your students yet? This bundle of activities will definitely help you end the year on a good note!
Here’s to surviving the next few weeks!
