I was brought to the reality today that just when you think kids have all gone a wee bit crazy and forgotten what manners and/or rules are, they can truly surprise you.
I had a group of children out on the playground this afternoon and one of the rules is that if they get out a piece of equipment they must put it back before moving on to something else. Two of the students were playing with the bug collecting kit and both decided to change up and play croquet instead. When they ran over to play the new activity, I politely reminded them that they needed to put the bug collecting equipment away first. These boys, who are first and second graders, worked together to get the job done and then turned to each other to do "rock, paper, scissors" to decide who had to walk the box down to the equipment cart.
It was so impressive to see them not only work together but to use a fair way to make a decision. For the first time in a long time I watched in awe as the two children solved a problem without a negative word being uttered.
In that instance I made sure to praise them for their good choices, which makes me wonder, do you ever take time to tell a child or even an adult when they do something right instead of always pointing out the wrong doings? Something to think about.
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