This past Thursday, I sat in the audience of Trinity School’s Sixth Grade’s 2013 performance of the H.M.S. Pinafore. As Buttercup, played by one of my former Fourth Grade students, beautifully sashayed onto stage, tears formed in my eyes at the sight of the wonderful actress before me. Buttercup was poised, confident, and exuding joy, qualities I would not have used to describe her two short years ago. I couldn’t help but note the great leaps Buttercup had made since she was last in my classroom.
While the H.M.S. Pinafore sailed on, my mind continued to wander at the thoughts of the tremendous growth I was observing in the talented Buttercup. I began to realize that, really, Buttercup did grow in poise, confidence, and joy while in Fourth Grade, but only in baby steps. Could it be possible that Buttercup never actually leaped confidently on to stage last Thursday, but had taken several dozen baby steps over the course of two years, preparing her for her day in the spotlight?
This idea of “baby steps” started my mind in motion. So many times in our lives we expect ourselves to take great leaps in order to productively and successfully move forward. Great leaps can be dangerous. We fall too hard, we get too scared, we learn too little, or we take too much for granted. What if instead of trying to leap as far as we can, we decided to take just a baby step forward…A baby step towards exercising, a baby step towards being more understanding, a baby step towards learning how to use social media, a baby step towards learning a new skill?
I believe that the baby steps Buttercup made in her career at Trinity would be deemed by anyone who ever taught her as more than successful progress. In two years’ time, I hope that we, as a community, can also say, “We’ve made dozens of baby steps, and we moved ourselves forward successfully.”
Learner, Thinker, Writer, and a baby stepper: Kato Nims serves the Trinity School Community as a Fourth Grade Lead Teacher.
Kato,
I love the idea you present here about baby steps. Our expectations of ourselves and our students need to reflect baby steps toward a goal. We keep moving toward it, and in no time, the momentum takes over and the steps are less challenging, and the results of our action begin to emerge.
Kato, I love that you posted this. I had the same thoughts while watching Buttercup up on stage, and Josephine, too. Both were amazing performances by students who had made tremendous leaps since they were little second graders. The baby steps along the way made them into confident 6th graders, and I had the benefit of seeing the sum of all of these little steps together result in their wonderful performances. I smiled thinking that just maybe I had a little something to do with it. 😉
I couldn’t agree more. Last I remember, 4th grade Buttercup was by herself, drawing under a tree during recess. I think all of Trinity couldn’t be more proud of her growth. Thanks for pointing this out, Kato. We’ve got a lot to learn from Buttercup.
I love this! Venturing into photography, I find myself adopting this motto. – Baby steps. People have encouraged me to take bigger steps, but there is so much to learn, and I want to make sure I don’t miss anything. Taking a great leap into it or biting off more than I can chew puts me at risk for missing valuable lessons needed for me to grow the way I want. I, too, imagine this is true for the kids we teach! Thank you for sharing.