I had a Teacher Win on Friday and I just, it filled my heart and I wanted to share.
I have a student who has gotten into trouble. Like, the second day of school he got into a fight. He sometimes gets into trouble in our class and Friday started off not on a great foot. A few minutes into class, I called him into the hallway and asked how his day was going and if there was anything I could help him with or what I could do to support him. I reminded him that he can make better decisions than what he is doing and I’m here to help.
He came back to class and was doing better. Then, right as I was in the middle of writing him a thank-you note to thank him for his improved behavior choices, another teacher walked in and told me that the night before, this student had made fun of one of her students. Now her student was sad and upset and my student had to write a letter of apology. Bummer. I talked to him about it and gained some insight as to why he behaves like this. He admitted he likes the attention. Not uncommon – a lot of kids learn that to get attention, you have to act up because negative attention is still attention. He wrote the apology note and things were okay.
Then, another student came up to me crying that this student had been teasing her. Ugh. Rough day for this kid. I spoke to him and was like, “Dude we literally just talked about this,” and let him know I would have to contact home. This shut him down. He got angry, walked away from me when we were talking, put his head down on his desk, and started angry crying. I let him be for a few minutes before I went to talk to him. I kneeled down by his desk and told him that I was going to tell his mom some good things about him. He was still worked up but I told him a few things I wanted to tell her. Since he wasn’t completely responding to that, I told him I’d leave him alone but maybe he could take 5 minutes to decompress and show me he was feeling better by reading his book. Then I said that when he was up to it, he could come help me make the list of good things to say to his mom. So, 5 minutes pass and I see him sitting up and reading his book. Yay! Progress! A few minutes later he gets up and goes to work with a partner on the assignment. I go to check on them and this student and his friend tell me that the girl who was crying earlier is mean to them too. Ok, Teacher Check – we have bigger problems in this room than my Student of the Day’s mean comment to her today. Noted. I thanked them for telling me and realized it would do nothing but harm to punish Student of the Day for his earlier comment. A little while later, I was at my desk and SotD comes over and asks what I have on the list, what good things will I tell his mom? I write down a few things as I talk them over with SotD and ask for his permission to say some of the things. He agrees. Then it’s time for lunch and the students go on their way.
After lunch, SotD keeps checking in with me to see if I’ve called his mom yet. “Not yet,” I tell him, “After school I will.” He checks in like this a few more times. Then he throws out the “Maestra, don’t call her,” a few times, but I can tell he’s hoping I will. Then, (and this is my Teacher Win moment), the students are lining up for dismissal. I stand at the door and wish them a good rest of their day as they pass by. As I’m standing there, SotD comes up and gives me a BIG hug and says “Thank you Maestra! Have a good weekend!” That meant the absolute WORLD to me.
After dismissal, I call his mom. She answers in a tone where I can tell she is dreading this conversation. She knows it’s the school and she knows it’s his teacher. I immediately start by saying, “I wanted to call and tell you a few good things I’ve seen your son do in class.” She’s hesitant, but I proceed. I list the positive things, about how he’s helpful to others and how he really enjoys math (and she chimes in and says “Oh yeah, he really likes math.”). At this point, SotD is there and says “¡Hola Maestra!” I’m glad he knows I followed through and called his mom to say positive things. I end the phone call and that’s it for now.
To change the culture, to teach these kids their worth, it starts with this. Small, but impactful. I’m proud. This kid, these kids, deserve it and I’m happy to help them grow. To offer them the love and care that they deserve.
Sarah's Story 