Sixth Grade Leader

Last Friday I used my planning period at the end of the day to help our students carve pumpkins in the cafeteria. My 3rd grade class ended early so I could get them to the cafeteria for their scheduled carving time. Since we were the last class of the day, it was okay to leave the student artwork and art materials on the tables in the art room, I'd just clean it up later. It was a real mess with everything spead all over the tables because we had to leave after just half a class. Unfortunately, I forgot that Mr. B. was going to use the art room that afternoon and I was reminded when someone came into the cafeteria to get my keys. As you all know plans change, and my art room wasn't needed that day after all.
After carving pumpkins I walked back to my art room and my sixth grade student Aria raced past me and said, "Mrs. Z, I put away all your artwork and cleaned-up your tables for you". I turned to thank her as she sped down the hallway. When I entered the art room I was pleasantly surprised. Not only were the tables clean, but all the artwork was collected and put in the proper class folder on the shelf, the pastels were put back in the boxes and put away in the cabinet, and there was nothing left for me to clean up. No one asked Aria to clean up the art room, even if she thought a meeting was going to take place she could have just put the art and materials on my desk and I would have put it away. But Aria chose to go above and beyond, putting forth the extra effort to help someone else. I realized later that she couldn't know how touched I was by her thoughtfulness. I will see her in art class today, and I will tell the entire class about Arias good deeds. Character is who we are when know one is watching. Aria showed us her character by her actions, without expectations of gratitude or reward, she is a true leader.

Leaders One Child at a Time

We have a student in kindergarten that needs extra attention to learn our rules and procedures and his name is Terrance. The other students in his class are constantly focusing on what he does wrong, and reports these behaviors to me as they enter the art room and throughout the class. "Please do not tell me what a student is doing wrong unless it directly involves you" I told them, "focus on your own behavior and make good choices". I looked at the student that they were focusing on, told him to be a good leader, take his seat and remember to keep your hands to yourself. The class went on as usual as I demonstrated how to use oil pastels. Terrance literally squealed in delight as he used oil pastels for the first time. The other kids laughed and told me to tell Terrance to stop screaming. "He's not screaming," I said, "he's squealing with delight because he's enjoying what he is doing." I told him he was doing a great job working with the pastels, but he had to remember to work quietly. It was almost time to clean-up and a girl cried "Terrance hurt Maria very badly". I immediately went to the table just steps away, and asked what happened. Maria didn't say, but two other girls said he pressed his hand on her cheek. "Maria are you hurt?" I asked, and she said no. Her face was not red and she was not upset, so I took Terrance by the hand as I reminded him to keep his hands to himself, and asked him if he'd help me by the sink. It was now the end of class and the students had to wash their hands. I asked Terrance if he would hand a paper towel to each student to dry their hands, and he agreed. Kindergarten students need to use the stool by the sink or they can't reach, so as they get down they place one hand on the sink while stepping down to get a paper towel from the tray. Terrance handed each of them a paper towel as they got down. Each student said thank you, as he gently handed them their towels. You could see the pride in his face as he carefully did his job. He even held his hand out to help students off the stool as they reached for their paper towel. One boy said "thank you for helping me Terrance". Then as if someone flicked on a light switch, you could feel the children's attitude change toward Terrance. They started thanking Terrance for his help and treated him with respect. The children lined up without further incidence, and I let Miss Schmidt know what a good leader Terrance was in art class.
We teach much more than our curriculum as teachers, and our younger students especially look to us to model decent behavior. I tried something different with a child today that needs our patience, attention and guidance and it worked. I hope I can succeed on some level with this boy every week, no matter how small the gain, I know I'll be moving in the right direction.

2nd Grade Art Student Leads the Way

It was very rewarding to see our kindergarden through second grade leaders address their parents and relatives last night at Open House. Its hard enough for us adults to talk to a large crowd, but to see our youngest students do it so well made the evening a huge success. As parents and students were leaving to say goodnight, a new second grade student came up to me and asked if she could show her parents the art room. As we walked down the hall, she chatted away about how much she loves art, and her parents told me that she couldn't wait to show them the art room. When we walked inside she immediately started to explain how the tables are divided by color, and she demonstrated to her parents in detail EXACTLY how to use the drying rack, pretending to put a wet painting inside the correct slot. Then she directed them to the sink where she showed them how to scrub quickly while singing the art clean-up song "One, two, three, A, B, C, drop the scrubbie!" Then she told her mom "You have to carefully hold the counter top with one hand, while stepping down to take only one paper towel to dry your hands". I was truly amazed at how I didn't have to say a word while my young art student continued with her tour of the art room. She asked if I could show her parents what she is currently working on, and of course I couldn't wait to show them her beautiful drawing. She beamed with pride as she explained the "Reflections" project and theme, telling her parents how she completed the "Together We Can..." statement. Her idea is "Together We Can Change the Planet" and she explained how she first had to think of pictures that go along with her idea, and use those pictures to create a composition. As I watched and listened to this amazing girl, I realized just how much we really do influence our students everyday. She reminded me of a gallery docent, repeating everything I have taught my students in class to perfection. Unfortunatley, we can never truly know the impact that we have on our students, but it was amazing for me to witness my second grade art student lead a thorough tour of the art room for her proud parents.