Be Like Blue & Do

This week I saw a few different examples of heartwarming comments and actions both inside and outside of the classroom. I could seriously make this week’s post a short novel, but I will refrain. Instead, I will pick out one special student out of the many people and experiences I noticed this week that warmed my heart.

One little guy in my field experience class has the biggest, bluest, most expressive eyes I think I have ever seen. For this article’s sake, we will call him Blue. I knew from the moment I first talked to Blue that he had a very big heart and was just a very genuine, sweet kid. He sometimes struggles in school in regards to paying attention or staying focused. With this in mind I was amazed to see such a thoughtful act of kindness stem from him on Tuesday. The teacher of the classroom decided to rearrange the room because the desk set up just wasn’t working. As she moved desks from big clumps of five to seven desks to small groups of four, one of Blue’s classmates was very confused as to where she should be. There were desks moving everywhere, she lost the desk with her supplies on it, the teacher had just given her and a few other students directions and classmates were zooming past her as they found their new seats or were moving from their old ones. Blue had just gotten his desk situated when he saw the look of confusion on his classmate’s face. This was a look that he understood all too well, so he decided to do something about it. He walked over to the girl and helped guide her into the right direction. He gently took her desk from her and pushed it where it needed to go as he said, “Here, your desk should go here to finish our square. Here’s your stuff, too. We’re in the same table group!” The girl looked at Blue and smiled as the look of confusion disappeared from her face as quickly as it had set in. A small action from Blue proved to me that he empathized with this student, realized that he could help and he DID. I think a lot of times as adults, we think of ways we can help others or how kind something COULD be, but we don’t find the time or prioritize enough to actually DO it.

Blue's blog post continues into Thursday, as I taught a lesson in Blue’s class that had to be filmed for a class I am in. This class is having us complete a practice EdTPA (Education Teacher Performance Assessment) which is a very in depth and slightly overwhelming project assessment that we must complete to graduate college, but also is used to allow or deny candidates a teaching license in 41 states. So there’s kind of a super lot riding on this, right? Anyway, I planned this lesson and of course it didn’t go as I expected because I’ve learned that is teaching - but also just life. Before I began my lesson, I told the students that I was videoing them so that important people in the state of Ohio could judge whether or not I could be a good teacher and that they should ignore the cameras as we work. The lesson took so much longer than I had expected and I felt like the students did not understand the objective of the lesson. I felt like a terrible teacher and I was dreading going back and watching this video for my assignment. I figured my teacher was upset I took up more time than I told her I would, and all around I was just b e a t i n g myself up. As I stood staring off into the distance rethinking my whole future, Blue walks over to me with his bright and expressive eyes. I quickly tried to get the sad, confused and desperate look off of my face and I asked Blue, “What’s up,Bud?” He looks up at me almost embarrassed, and said “Um... I just wanted to thank you for teaching us today. I really liked it and I hope that you can become a teacher. You will be great, but good luck anyway.” OKAY REALLY?! 😍 I have never fought my tear ducts more in my life so as not to SOB in this third grade classroom. I don’t know how Blue knew that was exactly what I needed to brush off that lesson and keep going, but he most definitely made my entire day. As I am reliving this memory, all I can do is smile. Children really amaze me.

I hope that all who read about my sweet friend Blue keep him in mind this week, and when you notice something you can do to help someone or promote positivity don’t just notice it, actually DO it. #bekind, friends - be like Blue & do.