Well On Our Way

This week, like last, has been a week of affirmations. The high school office descended on us Wednesday....visiting classrooms, talking to students and making notes about our progress. After a 2 hour process I was greeted with the synopsis of each individuals' observations. As my boss read her findings, she emphatically stated that I was the "Learning Leader"....ah, music to my hears. It is my goal to Lead Learning for the Tiger Family; to find a way or make a way to help us achieve our mission....quality instruction for every child every day. Not all children learn the same....nothing new, not all adults learn the same. But we cannot stop trying to reach them because they are older and think they know more than us.

I talk to students A LOT!!!!! My principal taught me, as I try to share with other administrators, every conversation becomes an academic one. It really does not matter what we start out talking about, we end talking about academics and what their next steps need to be. Well, in one of my conversations last week, I asked a student (who was not with me on a friendly visit) how were her grades. What she said next sent me soaring. She said, "Ms. Wright, I made the best grades I have ever made. I made all B's and a C and I was trying to make all A's and B's." Now to know the student you could appreciate the statement. But even without knowing the child, the knowledge that she has made a goal to prioritize her grade performance was music to my ears.

Our kids want it. Like all children...they want to be acknowledged, they want recognition, they want someone to say "Good Job", they want to do well. It's our job to pull it out of them. It is our job to believe in them until they believe in themselves.

This week challenge yourself to show a student, by your actions, how much you believe in them. Make them know that you are not giving up on them. Let them know that you love them in spite of them loving themselves.

This is the real reason we do this work.