No Day is Complete Without a Little 10 year old Wisdom

In 5th grade at our school, we have a behavioral system that is as follows:

• I rule all. I am the ruler of the classroom.
• Everybody should follow my rules.

Just kidding. I wish. 

It's actually like this: I have a call and response system of classroom management. It is modeled after the Whole Brain Teaching model. Check it out here: 

Whole Brain Teaching

So, in Whole Brain Teaching fashion, I call "Class!" and they're to respond with "Yes!", or any variation of the word class and other words it can be related to. I even go as far as "Hey, yo, class!" and they come back with "Hey, yo, yes!". Immediately, they have to get quiet and listen for directions. 

Now, I know what you're thinking. There is no way on God's green Earth that that many 10 year old children get quiet immediately after their teacher says a string of words they might not even hear. And you know what? You're right.

They are so loud sometimes that I feel like my head is literally filled with pre-pubescent children that are screaming at the top of their lungs. It gets noisy. My life is noisy. 

When they're THAT loud, I get a "point" on a scoreboard. If they get quiet, they get a point. We race to 15 points, and when they get to 15, they get a reward: free time, school nurse approved popsicles (don't worry Michelle Obama), or open seating in their class. If I get to 15 first, you would think I stopped class, brought in a puppy, and kicked it in front of them. A DREADED PUNISHMENT HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT! Today's was a reflection.

Here is an example of one of the responses I got. 

What a wise child. In the frustration I had with this class, I found a small shining light in his response. In a world where children's parents hand them an iPad or iPhone to appease them, this child has had SOMEONE tell him that his education is golden, he should be slow to anger (Psalm 103:8) and that Donald Trump CANNOT be president. Guys, we aren't doomed. Our future doctors, lawyers, and leaders think like this! 

My day to day can get frustrating. I have had more conversations with 10 year olds in the past three years than I've probably ever had with an adult. Some days I don't speak to anybody over age 10 before 11 am. I get mocked, talked back to, and disrespected on a daily, hourly, and minute to minute basis. 

At the end of the day, I do not necessarily think that some of those things are to my detriment. Childlike faith is real, y'all. They see the world for all the good, and I love it. Their perspective on our surroundings are refreshing and I think we could all learn a bit from these little monsters.

Despite all the ugly, they know that life can be refreshing, or at least it should be.