"Winners" in WIN time: What do WE need?

"Winners" in WIN time:  Reflections on Connections and Empowerment
#IMMOOC response, Week 3 for George Couros's book study "The Innovator's Mindset"

This blog post is a little strange.  I'll admit it.  The music teacher talking about 30 minutes of her day that is completely void of music?  There is no singing.  There is no dancing.  It is pretty quiet.  The stars of this scene are the six sweet energetic 8-year-old boys that come to my music room to spend time with me every day.

WARNING: I extend my apologies to any music educators reading this post looking for any fun  musically-exciting-tidbits....I'm sorry to disappoint.  But I'm letting you in on a little secret---> These 30 minutes I experience every day are the highlight of my day and it has nothing to do with my area of expertise, music...it is my "Intervention time" with 3rd grade, also known as "WIN time".  (In our district it stands for "What. I. Need."  All Specials teachers are assigned to different grade levels to help little groups of kids with what they might need: extra work on reading, math, handwriting, etc.)

At 10:55 every day, 6 boys are waiting for me outside of my classroom.  They stand, arms full, with Chromebooks, headphones, gigantic baggies filled with books and HUGE smiles. They walk in, turn off 1 set of lights because they want to have a "light side" and a "dark side" (which is followed by some clever SWars quote, of course).  They beg to be the one to work in "the cave" (I have a table covered with a big blanket on 3 sides).  They sit down and tell me about their football catch (with reenactments) or something funny their dog did last night.  But then, after a minute, it is pretty quiet.  One boy starts writing a story about WWII, because he is fascinated with the subject.  The caveman shares his Google Doc with me about his favorite Pokemon character. A baseball player signs into a typing-skills site.   A shy little guy has headphones on and is listening to an audio book on his Chromebook.  A sweetheart with the best smile is reading a chapter book.  

I cherish this time with them.  I could get lots of work done... but I don't.  I sit on the rug right next to them with my "Kids Deserve It" or "Innovator's Mindset" books and read too.  *When I first started doing this, they wanted to know what I was reading.  It was funny to see the looks on their faces when I said I was learning how to be a better teacher.  Truthfully, though, I only get a page or two read until they have to tell me something important about what they are accomplishing.

Over the next 30 minutes, the most wonderful things happen: Stories are written, books are finished, docs are shared with me and life-lessons are learned.  Once in awhile I will announce some big statement I read from my books.   At first, this used to startle them...now they look up, smile, and get back to work.

"Guys, you are important" 

"I care about you" 

"I won't give up on you"

"You're awesome"

Throughout the 30 minutes, they share Google Docs with me to read through, tell me when something great happens in their book, cheer quietly when the baseball player rocks his typing goal.

It makes me think about what I read this week in George Couros's book, "The Innovator's Mindset" about EMPOWERING students vs. ENGAGING them (pg. 97).  He writes ... When we are engaging students, this means we are "getting them excited about our content, our interests, our curricula.  When we are empowering students, this means we are "giving kids the knowledge and skills to pursue their passions, their interests, their future."  I think this is part of the secret that is making these 30 minutes so valuable.  Each special boy is deciding what he wants to become better at: I want to be a better reader, I want to be a better writer, I want to be a faster typist.  The other half of this secret recipe, is that they are building relationships and collaborating with each other (Couros, pg.67).  They help each other- "How do I add an image to this story", "Hey ___, I'm sharing this doc with you...want to write with me?"

The principal walked in the other day and said "WIN time, huh?!  What are you working on?"
My response..."That depends on who you talk to"  :)

At 11:30 I jokingly say "Okay little ducks...line up"  (insert a few quacks here).  I asked each one to tell us what he accomplished:  "I finished my story" "I read 3 chapters" "I beat my typing speed record".  Then my ducks and I walk down to the teacher workroom and I print off the stories they wrote and tell them that they were "Winners" today.  This week, I gave them homework...make 3 other people feel like winners too.

I know that this post is missing big bells and whistles...nothing monumental happened in these 30 minutes....but...what if it did?  What if these 8 yr old boys can show us "What WE ALL need."

We ALL need to stop the craziness of life for a moment and slow down.

We ALL need time to truly connect.

We ALL need to tell others that they are important and that we care about them.

We ALL need to celebrate others' accomplishments.

We ALL need to make our own goals and feel empowered in life.

We ALL need to make a daily effort to build relationships.

We ALL need to set a little time in our day to think about "What WE ALL need".

We ALL need a little W.I.N. time...even music teachers.  

I don't know how long these boys will be coming to my room.  My assignment could change, their goals might change.  What I know is that we've had special moments that have made us all feel like "Winners."