HEATHER
MIGDON
Diary #14
The
Power of a Post-It Note
It's understandable that Malik stands a full head above the other students. As a result of being retained twice during elementary school, he is fourteen—at least two years older than the majority of my sixth graders. What makes Malik's case a bit more complex is that someone is noticeably absent from his class. His identical twin is off across town enjoying junior high, and he is stuck with "little kids" in elementary school. I'd be angry, too.
And trust me, he is. His former teachers remark that he used to be a very sweet boy until he was retained in third grade. He was promoted the following year, only to be retained again for strictly behavior reasons (Yes, that does happen). After that, my colleagues say, he has been vengeful and angry, and it has only gotten worse since his twin matriculated into junior high. I tried not to take Malik's behavior personally, but it was hard not to. He refused to complete work, and often staged disruptions just to get noticed. He frequently refused to sit down, and occasionally, he would actually leave the classroom. So it should come as no surprise that I was saddened each day to even see him walk down the hall to my room. I dreaded his daily outbursts. I talked to his mother several times, but nothing seemed to change. One Friday, several weeks back, Malik came into class quietly and sat down to do his morning warm-up. Naturally, I noticed his adherence to our classroom rules and routines immediately. I proceeded the teaching day with tempered optimism. By 10:00, he was still obedient, and although he hadn't participated or done anything exceptional, I was elated to see him really trying harder to behave.I wanted
to run up to his desk and tell him how great he was doing. But even as
a novice teacher, I knew that kind of attention would upset him, and he
might even think I was being sarcastic. Instead, I wrote a quick note
on a yellow post-it and placed it on his desk without a word. It read:
Malik, I love the way you have behaved this morning. Thank you for working hard to exercise self-control. I'm proud of you!
Ms. Migdon
Yeah, I knew he would ball it up and add it to the litter around his desk, but I just wanted him to know he was doing well. So imagine my surprise when I looked back 30 minutes later and the note was still on his desk! I almost cried when I saw, after lunch, that he had never removed the note. In fact, that afternoon, he smiled and said "Bye, Ms. Migdon" before he walked out. Yes, I hear that from 20 kids everyday, but his goodbye let me know I had made progress with my worst student. I left school that day happier than I had ever left.
Malik has been so much better in class! He had only one day where I needed to correct him more than once, which is amazing. He also has been much better with keeping his desk clean, which is why I noticed a small, folded yellow piece of paper sitting in his desk last week. I removed the piece of paper to see what it was. It was the note I had written him over a month ago! I could not believe my short note had meant so much to him. I was moved.
We are all so busy when we teach, but think how much it means to a child when we make the time to give them personal kudos. I think it is something we should all strive to do more often.
