Hi, everyone...
This blog will be short and sweet. I have to brag on my students a bit, which is not a tough thing for me. I happened to be blessed with some of the most inspiring young adults one could ask for.
Anyway, I am starting to feel this love for giving and helping others start to pay off. I feel many of my students caught the "giving bug." It is the most heart warming thing to watch. Seeing teenagers, who so many people feel are self centered and disrespectful, want to be kind and do for others makes my heart melt.
Here is what I have seen...
Monday has become a favorite day in my fellow BT friend and my 3rd hour. They deliberate fiercely about what our act of kindness will be. There is always a large group eager and ecstatic to go and deliver whatever it is we have done. The kids have taken this on and have blossomed in it. I passed out a sheet with 72 lines on it. I told them it wasn't an assignment. It was merely a way for them to track the 72 acts of kindness I was challenging them to accomplish before the school year ended. As I was walking around the room yesterday, I saw a young girl pull out her sheet to jot down yet another act she had already done. She was at #25. The kids in that class are kinder, happier, and more respectful of other's feelings, and, if nothing else, I feel that is a win. Fellow BT and I are proud of them.
My journalism class is busy planning a video that we are going to make for our broadcasting unit in honor of Kid President, our leader in the mission to make this year awesome for someone else. They have planned activities to do to make this year awesome for the students and staff of LPHS. They are going to film and edit it into a nice video to represent the good that truly exists in our school. :) Another student in this class made a twitter account dedicated to Kid President. She uses it as a way to broadcast his message to fellow classmates who may not yet know about this movement.
So, what do I take away from all of this?
I am the luckiest girl alive. These young adults are the most amazing people on the planet. They inspire me to keep trying to make a difference. I have met this initiative with no resistance. They want to help. They want to be good people. Imagine if we all just did a little something... :)
Go do good things,
BT
I have to say that I am quite amazed at how catching optimism can be. It seems that our society expects us to be miserable. But I have found, in my admittedly brief and inexperienced life, that when I choose to be happy, I truly am. Imagine what could happen if rather than looking for things to be negative about, we automatically looked for the good around us.
ReplyDeleteI have had the privilege of watching you transform a group of young people by teaching them to find joy all around them. You are so much more than an English teacher. Two of the best moments of this school year occurred today when I witnessed two young men give their all to a subject that is difficult for them. Both have failed in the past and have gone through periods when they just wanted to give up. But today, both stepped up to a challenge, and their smiles of triumph brought tears to my eyes. I really think that both of them would have quit before they had even begun if it wasn’t for people like you coming along side of them, patting them on the shoulder, and telling them that they could do it. Moments like those are what I live for, they make up for everything else, because I know that we ARE making a difference.
You are incredible, BT#2! I say we petition to always be together. :) I am so glad I met you!
ReplyDelete