Grateful Friday

I'm grateful for the little hero in my class who I aspire to be like.  How lovely that I get 9 months to try to learn from him.

He is one of the kindest people I know.  

We've had a school wide kindness challenge.  My class earned a party (we are having it today) by filling a jar with marbles.  Every time someone was kind (they couldn't self report; someone else had to notice) I put a marble in the jar.

This boy is responsible for about 1/3 of the marbles.

He goes around helping everyone during clean up.  He is terrific at origami and he not only teaches anyone who wants to learn, but he makes amazing little origami creations for everyone.  I have a whole shelfful.  He stays behind to line up the reading books when people are putting them away after reading time.  He checks on kids when they're sad.  The other day I saw him across the playground at recess pick up a kid off the grass who had fallen in the soccer game.  He put his arm around the other kid and made sure he was OK, then they both ran back into the game.  He never leaves for the day without coming up to my desk and saying, "Good-bye Teacher.  I hope you have a good day."

He's just so kind.  He's also smart.  He is a whiz at math and a good reader, especially considering English is not his native language.  Like my other students who speak better English than their parents, he carefully listens to announcements that involve his parents or family and he asks earnest follow up questions.

I have a student who is not so very kind.  Through no fault of his own, he has had some pretty major adverse childhood experiences that have not helped him be successful in school or socially.  He has kicked the kind boy's soccer ball on the roof and also over the fence.  (We have Riley who is the hero in instances like that.) He has been suspended regularly for violent and inappropriate behavior.  It's been rough.  

He's been gone all week and yesterday, before school, my sweet little hero asked me, "Where's XXX?  I haven't seen him."

He had a look of genuine concern on his face. I felt a little humbled.  I knew where XXX was, but I have not missed him.  I could learn a lot from my sweet student.

Also yesterday, Katie, our wonderful community outreach person called my kind boy out of class. His family was flagged for our Giving Tree at school. She told me later that when she asked him what he wanted for Christmas, he told her what he wanted for his little brother and also for his mom.

She pushed him, "But what do you want?" 

He finally told her.  I love my association with people like him.  I hope he rubs off on me! (And I'm going to tell Katie that I want to be the one to get his gift!)