you matter

I’ve already blogged about this…but here I go again.  Short and sweet!

Thanks you to Angela Maiers for starting this movement, this revolution, this simple statement that is changing how some people think, do and act.

Oprah Winfrey ended her show after 25 years with this same message.  We all just want to know each day, and we all just want to feel like we matter and be validated (if possible) on a daily basis.

We began our school year with her TED Talk and then I added this idea to my classroom with my 6th-8th graders.  It is simple.  They take an “exit slip” on their way into my classroom (small scratch sheet of paper).  During class they write anything they want about themselves or someone else.  They write something that they noticed about themselves or someone else. They write anything that they noticed that day during class or throughout the day.  They drop the slip into a box on their way out and then we read the slips to begin our class each day.  It take about 2-3 minutes to read and is a great way to start each class period.

As most people know, 6th-8th graders are wonderful little human beings, but with hormones raging and their bodies changing…they can be a bit awkward and don’t really “like” anything ever in my classroom.  They forget their homework, they forget how to speak Spanish, they sometimes forget how to be the sweet, kind wonderful respectful human beings that I know them to be.  BUT the one thing they NEVER forget to do this year, I NEVER REMIND THEM, is to write their exit slip with some bit of information to make some one else feel like they mattered that day.  Its amazing.  They forget many other things, but they never forget to write some kind, thoughtful words on a scratch sheet of paper.