When they get it!

Just a short post today because my heart is kind of singing, and I wanted to share it! After so many years of being a classroom teacher, I was ready to be a specialist, but wondered what my impact would be. Without that carefully cultivated teacher/student relationship, and seeing students every day, would I really be able to enrich a child's life? Today I received the answer to my question.

This afternoon, I walked into a third grade classroom and a child greeted me with, "Are we building something today?" Without any thought, I gave a big smile and said, "Of course we're building. That's what STEM's about."

As I inwardly groaned at my response, (Really? THAT's what STEM's about?!?), a second student came to the rescue. She piped up and added, "And learning from our mistakes. Figuring out what we're doing wrong and trying to fix it." Before I could feel too bad about myself, I started to feel pretty good.

But wait, there's more.

A third student raised his hand, and said, "And teamwork. We have to listen to each other and work together to solve the problem." I am not making this up! Where is the observer when THESE conversations are spontaneously happening? Actually, I couldn't care less who was there to hear it. What I care about is that they get it! The kids are seeing beyond the cardboard tubes, masking tape, and popsicle sticks. They get it!

Image by RobinHiggins on Pixabay

I still remember the names of all of my elementary teachers. And I know that my own name might be forgotten. But if my students remember to learn from their mistakes, to figure out what they're doing wrong and try to fix it, to listen to each other and work together, then that will be enough. That will be more than enough.