Wednesday, May 26, 2010

what's your sticky note say?

When I walked into my first grade classroom today I immediately noticed something strange-Every child had a note paper clipped to their shirt with one or two descriptive words.

"Good artist"

"Hard worker"

"Nice"

"Funny"

I wondered what they were up to. We teach writing in the afternoon, so it couldn't have been a lesson on using descriptive words.

I finally asked and quickly learned that it was a part of my awesome co-teacher's morning meeting. She had the children pair up and share something they liked about their partner. Noticing how nice the comments were, she decided to write them down for them, thinking they could tape them to their desks. But, she explained, having them wear them seemed so much better.

It was.

I sat down to begin the reading focus lesson and looked out at their happy labels. Sure one kid was playing with his shoe, but the minute my mind went to being annoyed, I saw the label "funny". I smiled, remembering the comic book the boy wrote a few weeks ago. Yeah, he is funny. No longer seeing him as annoying-shoe-boy, but instead as a funny, bright first grader, I returned to looking at the whole group- a sea of positive sticky notes.

I love this idea for a morning meeting activity, and love that my friends spent the rest of the day with their happy notes pinned to their chests even more. Their own character trait became a badge of honor to wear proudly.

At the end of the day one came to visit me at my desk before he left.

"Mrs. Lipstick," he began earnestly, "I'm a Hard Worker." He tapped his note as though to prove it. And with that, he left to catch his bus, walking with a little more pride in his step.

5 comments:

Jenny said...

I was wondering about this all day! Thanks for explaining.

I am going to have to steal this idea. I need the reminder of all the fabulous things about my students right now. I seem unable to remember it on my own.

TeachEnEspanol said...

Wow, I LOVE that. In fact, I might steal it and use it myself. It is such a great idea to have the students reminded of the good in each other, and to be able to see that for ourselves even when the rest of their behavior is less-than-perfect. :)

Drew's Mom said...

I think that is such a great idea. I'm sure the kids were proud to wear their little notes bragging about their wonderfulness =)

Anne-Marie said...

Oh wow, what a sweet and inspirational reminder that how we label people (especially children) matters. I am reminded of the study that showed from a very young age, children had a propensity to become what adults labeled (or pegged) them to be. The actual paper labels are a fantastic way to focus on the positive =)

Alissa said...

That is such a lovely idea.
And fantastic that the kids could come up with warm fuzzies for each other, what a lovely team building exerceise.
From Alissa@ Excuse Me Mrs.C!