I’m sitting here at my computer writing what has to be the 4^th draft of what is supposed to be my blog entry for Flourish…..I’m stumped.  I keep hitting a wall.  The moment I think I have something to write about, POOF!  My idea simply vanishes into thin air.  With my frustration growing quickly, I sat back, closed my eyes,  and began to listen to the sounds around my room.  I heard the air gently blowing through the vents; the projector’s subtle shaking from people walking upstairs above my classroom; and the muffled voices coming from the Lego’s class in the adjacent room.  Then it hit me.

Do my students really listen to me?  It’s so funny to think back on the day.  More often than not we wonder if our students really hear what we are saying. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a teacher say, “They just aren’t listening today!”

I know they hear us but do they really absorb it?  Recently I had a parent from a previous year approach me and quote something her child had said to their family at the dinner table the night before.  When she asked where her daughter heard that phrase she promptly replied “Miss Erin!”  I died laughing! Now of course it was nothing inappropriate, just a silly word I use sometimes.  It really made me think.  Just when you feel like you may have lost them to the daydreams of snack and recess, something happens that makes you know they do hear what you’re saying and do take it in.  Just this week a student quoted me from the previous day, word for word!  Once again proving, they are listening.

Whether they admit it or not, our student truly look up to us.  Model the behavior you desire and I think you’ll be pleased with the results.  I know I have been!

Learner, Thinker, Writer: Erin Lindsey serves Trinity School as a Pre-K teacher and Technology Integration Specialist.  You can follow her on Twitter @MissErinsPreK.