I LOVE A GOOD OLE SUCCESS STORY!!!!
PROUD TEACHER MOMENT....
So here we are, it's day 11 of school, 9:15 AM, we're about to read a story together, and one of my kiddos was just a little off....very lethargic with quite the attitude...he forgot to bring his reading book to the carpet and when I asked him to go grab one, he peeled himself off the carpet, shoulders hunched over and sluggishly walked to the shelf to retrieve his book. By watching his movements, I immediately thought he didn't get enough sleep or didn't make it in time this morning to get the school's FREE "healthy" breakfast...which is a story for another day! So, I asked him if he slept well last night or if he possibly didn't have breakfast this morning. He looked at me as if I had 19 heads and with his little 2nd grade attitude replied, "What the heck!?" Well, if you know me, that didn't go over very well and in my oh so nice but stern teacher voice reminded him of where he was at...needless to say that attitude will not be seen again ;) We then got a little side tracked into a great conversation of what they all ate for breakfast....my mind was blown once again....I don't know why I expected anything different, but hey, I'm here to educate and set a good example. As we whipped around and they all shared what they ate for breakfast, I was dying inside...here you go...are you ready to die inside too!!??
- Pop-Tarts
- French Toast (thank you school..UGH)
- Orange juice, apple juice, fruit punch, capri-sun
- Cereal
- Cheez-Its
- And yes, I even got Gummy Worms!!! I'm hoping that wasn't true!
I then asked them to raise their hand if they had a glass of water before coming to school. Not a single student raised his or her hand!! Still not surprised and still dying inside!!! I decided to give them a little water spiel. I read this great article , 8 Back-to-School Brain-Boosting Food and Health Tips for Kids, the day before and I was again reminded that
OUR KIDS DO NOT DRINK ENOUGH WATER!!!!
Did you know....
- research shows test scores and academic abilities depend on whether or not the student has been drinking enough WATER!?
- Dehydration makes kids listless, lethargic & irritable
- There have been links between insufficient water and ADD
- Neurological receptors malfunction when our cells are thirsty
- 2/3 of children show up for school every day slightly dehydrated
- the sugar loaded juices they DO drink leave them even more dehydrated
Did you know.....
- When these students were given a glass of water prior to school and then re-tested their academic performance improved immediately!!??
How CRAZY IS THIS!! So we wrapped up our little 5 minute chat with me challenging them to drink a glass of water before they came to school the next day. And they were all super excited about this challenge I had given them....
So, here we are, a little later in the day and I another one of my kiddos taking a few minute break because he was VERY off task throughout the morning, needed to be reminded several times to follow directions by not only myself, but the Specials Teacher as well and was spoken to again by the cafeteria staff. I told him to think about the choices he could make for the rest of the day that would help him end his day in a positive way and be a successful learner and to come talk to me when he decided how he was going to do this. He was deep in thought for several minutes and when he came over to share his plan with me, I WAS SHOCKED!!!
THEY REALLY DO LISTEN!!!
This was his game plan....
In his military voice, my little guy stated, "I'm going to follow directions the first time Ms. Macrina!" He then proceeded to tell me that he was going to go inside from recess and drink LOTS of water to get his brain ready for our math lesson! He was super excited about this little one-on-one conversation we were having and told me how excited he was to go home and tell his parents that he has to drink a large glass of water in the morning before school, "NOT JUICE, JUST WATER!" because his teacher said it helps him be a better learner and he'll be able to focus better!
GOSH...I JUST LOVE THOSE MOMENTS!!!! Just when you think you're not making any sense in the world and will never make a difference, the "littles" will surprise you! When I asked them again the next morning to raise their hands if they had a glass of water before school, 14 of my 21 students raised their hands!!!!
Just another reminder to me.....
- What I do and say DOES matter
- Lead by example
- BE THE CHANGE
INSPIRE, DREAM BIG, ENCOURAGE, LOVE, LAUGH, PLANT SEEDS
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