A Gift You Need To Give Your Students Today

What's going on everybody, I hope this finds you striving and thriving and doing absolutely amazing. As we approach winter break, there's one thing that you need to do. One thing that is important for your students experience, and something that is important for you to experience. My name is Brian Martin. I'm a second grade teacher and hosted the teaching champions podcast. Now the energy, it's at an all time high, there's excitement all around. And the countdown to winter break is odd. And in some ways, it feels as if most of us are just survival mode, and let's get to the break. But there's something that you should consider doing before you and your students had Unbreak. You see you and your students, you've been grinding away for a long time now. And there's been a lot of effort put forth, a lot of moments that have been created a lot of gains that have been made. But too often, we get so consumed with the road that still lays ahead of us, and how far we still need to go, that we truly forget how far we've come. We forget what it was like, on that first day of school. We forget some of the early struggles that were there. Because it's easy to only see the current struggles, it's easy for us to forget the progress that's been made. And you know, who else forgets about how far they've come? Our students, too often, they don't realize the gains and growth that they've made. So take a moment today, and watch and listen to the students in your classroom. Because if you pay attention, you will see it that growth. It's evident. It says the work that your students do, the vocabulary that they use, the things that they can do. And to be very honest, lately, I've been feeling a little tired, a little burned out. And being with the young ones, I took time this week, to really pay attention to the books that they were reading. I listened. And I heard them read more fluently. I heard them the code words, that in the beginning of the year, they wouldn't even come close to doing I paid intention and mat to the problems that they were doing. And I thought back to the beginning of the year. And what they could do then and what they can do now. And I didn't just keep this to myself. As a class. We talked about those gains. We talked about those gains and small groups. We talked about those gains, and one on one conversations. And when we talked and it clicked for those champions, and they realized how far they've come. You've just saw the smile spread across their face. And that in itself is such a beautiful reward. And when we returned from winter break, there is much more work that needs to be done. That hasn't changed. But give your students a gift. Give yourself a gift. Take a moment before break stars and help them realize how far they've come. We've been blessed with another sunrise Have an awesome day