My Heart Smiled Today

So, I had one of those moments today that just made the day. It just ran over all the bad things and gave me that warm fuzzy feeling.

Background story:
Today was rainy and gross. We had a field trip to the horse farm. The kids were wound up from the trip and from being kept indoors and seated all day. They were also restless and a little off. I could have just given them busy work for the rest of the day (that's what I wanted to do), but we were behind on math and needed to catch up. I decided we were going to push through and practice our place value (tens and ones). To give them credit though they were very well behaved given the circumstances of the day. Remember they're six.

I have a little boy who I have had trouble with all year (we'll call him Boy A). He is very active with a short attention span. Little work is done. He is often off task and seeking attention in negative ways.

Story:
I was working at my table with students checking to see if they understood what to do. I had one little guy working with me b/c he just didn't get it (we'll call him Boy B). I also had Boy A sitting with me to keep him on task. He was sitting next to Boy B. I gave the boys instructions did a few with them and let them try so I could help two girls on my other side. As I am helping the girls. I hear Boy A start to teach. He reads, "We need to find the picture of 8 tens and 5 ones." He points to the top and says to Boy B, "Which ones are the tens?" The boy answered wrong. Boy A says , "Well we are looking for ten ones stuck together to make a tens stick. Do you see them? Yes, good job your right. Let's count them." They count together. "Is that 8 tens?" he asked. No the other replies. "OK, lets check the next one. This continues until they've found the right one. He then directs him to the ones and has him count independently. He shows him how to draw a line and then they count them to get the number (ten, twenty, thirty...eighty one, eighty two...). He then helps him find the right number 85. He did this for all 6 problems. He asked questions, let him try independently, and provided immediate feedback when he got it wrong. He was also praising him along the way.

I was blown away by this six year old who sounded like a teacher of 20 years. This child with whom I've struggled, probably did better teaching it than I did. He was so patient with Boy B who was just not getting it, but not once did he give him the answer. I was so proud of him. It was a truly awesome moment. Hours later I am still smiling about it. So, with all the stress from observations, state audits, extra paper work, and the desire to just quit, I remembered something. I love my job! I love these kids. The hell with all the state crap and whatever. I don't teach for them. I teach for these kids and these moments. So, thank you Boy A. You made my day!