I had a heart-wrenchingly memorable moment on Thursday. It was an indoor recess day. One student did not finish her work during class time so she spent a large portion of recess finishing her assignment. When she finished, the toys she wanted to play with already had 4 people at that table, so I told her she needed to choose a different center. Unfortunately her close friends were at that table and she didn’t have another center that she wanted to play with. She was very put out by the situation. I asked her if she wanted to draw a picture. She said no. I asked if she wanted to make a fortune teller. She said no.
“Have you ever made one before?”
“No,” she replied.
“Do you know what a fortune teller is?” I asked.
“No.”
I pulled out a paper and proceeded to amaze her first grade mind with my quick folding and creation of a fortune teller. We finished writing in the fortunes just as recess ended so she put it in her cubby and we continued with class.
As I was tidying up the classroom after school, this young girl came into the classroom, crying. She said, “I need you to make me a new fortune teller.”
“What happened to the other one?”
“Mrs. Thompson ripped it in half.” (Mrs. Thompson is her aftercare teacher at the school)
I asked her, “Were you playing with it when you shouldn’t have been?”
“Yes.”
Accusingly, I challenged her, “How do I know that if I make you another one the same thing won’t happen?”
She insightfully replied, “But when you made it for me it made me feel important.”
My heart melted.
I walked her to the back of the classroom and together we made a new fortune teller. She left the classroom with a smile and a hug, and hopefully she again felt important. I certainly did.
