They Thought They Could...And They Did!

Perseverance is my most favoritest thing to work on with kiddos! (I know that is in no way grammatically correct, but it shows just how much I love me some perseverance!)

I'm a huge fan of Class Dojo, so when I saw they had a really cool project that linked perfectly with our them, I jumped at the chance!  The activity came with a list of "famous" people who had obstacles to overcome.  With perseverance, they became successful.  They also had accompanying text with information about each individual.  I gave my kids a couple of days to read through the texts and choose one that they'd like to do further research on.  Some chose to work in groups and some chose to work independently.  Their final task...for this part, was to write the person a letter explaining how their story of perseverance has inspired us to overcome whatever obstacles they may face.  They are getting ready to send their letters via Twitter to their chosen person tomorrow and I hope at least one of them takes a second to read it!

In this video, I have compiled some of their letters along with some illustrations of what my Rockstars think PERSEVERANCE looks like.  I interviewed a few of them and asked them to quickly share their obstacle.  *warning...grab the tissues...the last clip is a tear jerker!*

I have 2 students who have lost a parent.  Iziah lost his dad just last March.  At first, he was hesistant to volunteer for the video, but he came around and I'm glad he did.  Nichol lost her mom after a long battle with cancer.  Nichol was only 4 and it was right before Christmas.  She is a tough little cookie.  And I mean little...she is just so teeny tiny and I want to clone her and keep one for myself!  Her strength is something I admire.  She has already also had heart surgery at age 8.  For kids to experience the death of a parent at such young ages, I cant even imagine.  Kids are pretty darn resilient.

This month took on such a personal twist.  I have been seeing and hearing them encourage one another.  Constantly telling each other not to give up and offer help.  Whether it was trying out for the track team or tackling adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators! I also had a record number of 100 book club members this last month! All of a sudden they became these voracious readers and were smashing their goals left and right!

These themes are really sticking.  With such a quiet class like mine, it's sometimes hard to tell.  But when they think I'm not watching or listening...magic happens.  To the point where I have to just sit back and pat myself on the back.  We all know teaching can be a thankless job, but because of the amazing things that happen each month and each day...we are all still here.  Pushing through the mud and the muck. Digging out from piles of paperwork and lists made of multi-colored post its.  We persevere because they need us...and we need them.  To teach us the lessons that we already thought we knew.  Even in the strangest of ways.