Friday, August 22, 2008

Starting off a Friday

I've been close to tears twice this morning already (and it isn't even 9 am). Once was in a good way. One of my students from last year's fifth grade class stopped in and said, "I just wanted to come and say thank you for this." as he held out his SOL (standardized tests) scores. He had a perfect score on math and passed reading, writing, and science easily. I hugged him, but told him not to thank me. He worked hard for those scores and he deserves the credit.

As I greeted my first graders at the door this morning one of them wouldn't shake my hand or look at me. When I pushed the issue, gently, with her she said she was upset because her dad yelled at her. She's usually really easygoing and upbeat so this was quite a switch. I don't think dad was out of control in any way. She felt like she got blamed and yelled at for something that was her brother's fault. It just illustrated for me how much things that seem small to adults can be so huge to children.

2 comments:

Tracey said...

Yes, family life can really make or break a kids day at school!

Maureen Fitzgerald said...

It's wonderful that she felt she could confide in you. Don't underestimate how much THAT means in their little lives as well.