My 13th Blessing
Beyond My Expectations
We started back to in-person learning about a month ago. Some of my students came back while others chose to remain in distance learning. This brings me to my thirteenth blessing: a young girl who has flourished into an exceptional scholar in the past month. She emerged from the shadows of distance learning to the bright path that leads to her excellence.
Distance learning is not for every child. We know that some children prosper more in the school environment. They thrive when they have the human contact and the proximity to their learning and teacher. This child is one of those children.
She really struggled in our online environment. There were social emotional aspects and health issues that played a major role in her ability to perform well academically. She was a student who I was not always connected to online which limited my ability to see her full potential as a learner.
My heart just soars as I think about her now. It is like I am seeing a new student. She comes in everyday with a smile on her face and a warm greeting. She always asks me how my day is going and really stops to listen to my response. When she gets in her seat, she immediately goes to work.
The first week back, the children set goals for their learning for the rest of the year. Her goal is to improve her reading comprehension because according to her, she saw a need to do better in that area. Her ability to be so cognizant with what she needed to work on and where she needed to go is a true reflection of the changed student that I am seeing now.
From the day she set that goal, she has been doing everything to practice and reach that expectation for herself. She is reading, volunteering her thoughts, sharing her voice and focusing on her goal. I am amazed by the change that I am witnessing. I love to see her excitement for learning and her desire to work hard to reach her goals.
After a year of school closure, I did not know what to expect when we returned, but this child has blown those expectations out of the water. She is one of the blessings that I love to return to each day. Her kind nature and work ethic keep me moving, especially on those difficult days when I am feeling the weight of this year on my shoulders.