Though I'm about to work on a week-in-review post with details about our week, this deserves a separate post. On Tuesday last week, we were treated to a special assembly called the NED Show. The message was simple: Never Give Up Encourage Others Do Your Best I knew students loved it. It was a one-man show, with a talented guy named Gary entertaining students with yo-yo tricks, jokes, magic tricks, and a funny monologue about his adventures with his cardboard sidekick, Ned. All of this was done while delivering a subtle, yet extremely effective and important message: Never Give Up, Encourage Others, and Do Your Best! We left the gym happy and enormously entertained. What truly convinced me of the power of the message of the NED Show were the conversations I overheard in the classroom all week. Children were telling each other not to give up and just do your best. I saw many of them taking the message of the show and putting it into action. The photo below highlights once such instance. A student was frustrated writing a new sight word. Immediately, another student said, "Hey--don't give up! I can help you." And she went right over and coached her friend along. Hooray! I, of course, made a big deal of how she was putting the statement, "Encourage Others" into action and how awesome that was. We had to put this message into action a lot this week, especially as students took the NWEA Common Core assessments on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. They were just for practice, and I told students that they didn't have to feel badly if they didn't know an answer, but the whole experience required a lot of effort and persistence. Even just maneuvering through an online assessment is a new experience for kindergarten students (as it should be!). Clicking and dragging, listening to questions read aloud, navigating multiple choice questions--it was a lot. Thankfully, we had the help of 5th grade buddies from Mrs. Hibbard's class. They were amazing, and they were extremely encouraging of the efforts of our kindergarten students. The message of the NED Show goes along nicely with the 16 Habits of Mind we try to instill in children in TCAPS. More information about this can be found here--check it out, as these are great habits for any age! |