Tuesday, February 4, 2014

you CAN do it


“I can’t do it!” she said, as she vigorously erased the sheet of paper that sat in front of her on top of her desk. Frustration began to invade her face as she tried to draw a Bengal Tiger for her science biome poster. She dropped her pencil in attempt to give up and looked up at me with her brown, irritated eyes. Then I noticed her face instantly shift to a helpless face. “Could you please draw it for me? She pleaded as she placed the pencil into my hand. She was so polite, and so hopeless I almost considered sitting down and drawing it for her because I was beginning to feel bad for her. She was upset, which was upsetting to me, and naturally I just wanted to make her happy again. Instead, I kneeled down by her side and simply told her that she could do it. We sat for a few minutes talking about strategies that might work to help her draw this tiger. “Draw it as you see it”, I told her. She decided to give this tiger one more shot. She began to carefully draw the tiger just as she had seen it in the book. She was still unsure about it, but I could tell that she was becoming more confident in her work. The second she finished the outline of her drawing she turned around and looked at me with a smile. I knew exactly what she was smiling about and this made my heart smile. Her tiger was beautiful and she was very proud of it. She couldn’t stop showing it to her classmates around her table. Today this girl learned the lesson on the joys of not giving up. It was quite a wonderful thing to experience.

9 comments:

  1. You captured the moment well. This brings back memories of frustration as a teacher and a parent!

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  2. great job Kadie, I loved your detail. I felt like I was there with you, or I was with my daughter.

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  3. Wow! I absolutely love this, it is always a great feeling when your students accomplish task that they have been struggling with.

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  4. Very nice slice! I know that feeling all too well!

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  5. Too often kids are rescued by those who want to help, but it is so much better when they continue to try. Look for a video (you tube) called Austen's Butterfly, perfect example of how some feedback helps.

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  6. Wow! this post gave me goose bumps, you made it seem like I was there with you! That is a wonderful experience, and what I love about teaching!

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  7. I absolutely love this post Katie! I am a fan of your writing now!

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  8. This was amazing. I literally laughed out loud, I could imagine being there!

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  9. This is a big life lesson to learn. These kinds of things are what I love about working with kids.

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