The Big Game

The biggest weight has been lifted off my shoulders! I finished up my Praxis III last Wednesday! For all of you non-education people out there who are reading this blog, the Praxis III is when a person from the state department comes in to interview me and observe me teach a lesson in order to get my "official" teaching liscense. While I always expect my students to act appropriately, I wanted them to understand that for this 45 minutes while the assessor was in my classroom I needed them to be on their best behavior and give me absolutely everything they've got! I kept on trying to figure out how to explain to a bunch of 7 and 8 year olds just how important this whole thing really was. I figured I could threaten or bribe them, but neither of those options were really the approaches that I wanted to take. I honestly thought about it and thought about it all day long. Finally I figured out just what I needed to do...


Before the kids went home on Tuesday, we had a little team huddle on the carpet. I asked my kids to close their eyes and picture in their heads a really important event that they have been a part of...maybe a championship soccer game, a dance recital, the spelling bee, etc. I proceeded to ask them to name some things that they had to do in order to get ready for this event. Have I ever told you how brilliant my kiddos are? They absolutely hit the nail on the head. They started to list things such as practice, practice, practice; stay focused; listen to your coach; etc. Then, I told them that tomorrow was going to be my "big game". I continued to tell them that I have spent so much time preparing, practicing, and getting ready for this one event. I decided to get really specific and tell them that I went to college for 5 years, then went to a year of grad school, and then I have spent this whole year getting ready for this one day. Ok, so maybe I went a little overboard and exagerated just a tad! But, I told them that they were going to get to be the ones to make sure that I was successful and together we were going to win the big game. Well after this they were completely sold! The challenge was on and they were so excited! I left that afternoon feeling really good about things and slightly less stressed knowing that my 23 darlings were on board! Fast forward with me to the next morning. I woke up really early Wednesday morning so that after I got ready I would have plenty of time to look back over all of my stuff. I tried to leave my house earlier than normal so that I would have plenty of time to triple check and make sure everything was just PERFECT for game day! I live right across the street from one of the little boys in my class (let's just call him Larry) and here is what happened when I left my house Wednesday morning...

As I am backing out of my driveway, Larry came running over to my car and was waving his arms like crazy to try to get my attention. I rolled down my window and said good morning and told him that I would see him at school in just a little bit, but Larry just looked at me with the most excited face and said "Ms. Weaver...today is the big game...and we are so ready for it!" I'm telling you my friends, that right there is why I have the best job in the whole world. When I heard those words come out of Larry's mouth all nerves went away because I knew my kiddos had "gotten it"! They understood how important this was and they were ready to win the big game for me! Let me just tell you...the big game was won! Don't get me wrong...these kiddos aren't perfect angels and we definitely have our days where I just leave completely worn out and wonder if I'm really cut out for this whole gig, but they proved to me last Wednesday that when all is said and done...they really do care!