He came into class with an idea on his mind...
L: "I want to make a Canada flag..."
Student Teacher: "I have a maple leaf here with these other leaves."
L: takes leaf over to his seat, brings over some red paint and paper, and paints over the leaf. He pulls up the leaf, leaving the imprint behind. "A flag!" he exclaims- incredibly proud of his work. He then rolled some paper together to make the flag staff.
But L knew it wasn't quite right. He couldn't figure out what it was, but he set it aside for the day. This morning, he came in, looked at what he had created, and figured out what the problem was- it needed white on the sides. So he "fixed" it.
Is it an exact replica? No. The colours are a little mixed up. But that's ok. He's figuring things out on his own, and there's a good chance he'll come into class tomorrow and want to redo it.
This is a student who can be very rigid in his thinking. Things either are or they are not. They are either right or they are wrong. And leaving something not quite right would have really bothered him at the beginning of the year. But, since the beginning of the year we have been working on problem solving. We have been learning to put things aside when we're stuck and not worry over them. We have learned that it's ok to not get it right the first time. It's hard work, this building self-regulation business, this building resilience. Hard work, yes, but it is oh, so worth it! And THIS! This is the work of a Kindergartener.
Yesterday I was a bit blue, and feeling a tad bit sorry for myself, because I felt a bit alone in my teaching world. But then today happened. And it reaffirms everything I believe about children. I am so grateful to live and work in a place that honours its children through play based learning in kindergarten.
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