Skip to main content

A Round of Applause for Small Steps

   The start of spring brings a lot of things: warmer weather, longer days, greener trees, and beautiful flowers. In the world of education it also brings the dawn of testing season. In classrooms across the country, it brings lots of review, and of course lost of review games. On Friday, we were playing a review game that covered some of the reading terminology we have learned this year. Before we started the games, I split my kids up into teams, and explained that each round would have a winner. I reminded them about the importance of good sportsmanship, and being happy for each other, even if their team did not win.
    I thought that surely by the end of the first round, their competitive juices would be in full force and we would have to pause the game and have a repeat conversation. Instead, this group of third graders fed me a slice of humble pie. As the winning team of the first round was displayed on our Smart Board, the rest of the class burst into a huge round of applause and starting saying things like, "Good job!" "Way to go!" "Nice work!" I was just stunned. Three more rounds were played, and at the end of each, the same thing happened. At the end of the game, I told them that I was proud of them for knowing their reading terminology, but I was even MORE proud of the way that they chose to treat each other. 
    I've been feeling overwhelmed lately thinking about all of the dreams and goals I have for my life and future. I find myself constantly questioning whether or not I am doing enough to work towards those dreams and goals. This experience this week reminded me of two things. First of all, just like my students were cheering for their classmates just for winning one round of a review game, we have a Heavenly Father and a Savior who are cheering for us as we take a step towards reaching our full potential, no matter how small. Second, it often seems like we are SO far away from where we feel we should be. In reality though, if we are striving to improve just a little bit each day, and treating others around us with kindness, love, and respect, we are doing just fine. 
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Journey to Self-Confidence

This is a picture of me almost exactly three years ago: And this is a picture of me now: Now, you might be thinking this is one of those stories that you see in Weight Watchers ads on T.V. endorsing a diet. I promise it's not. This journey was about so much more than a number on a scale. It was about working towards being able to recognize my divine nature as a daughter of God. I'll start at the beginning. When I started my freshman year at BYU, my self-confidence was at an all time low. I would try on about five outfits every morning, look in the mirror, and then immediately change. My low self-esteem was reflected in the way I talked to people, the way I dressed, and just the overall way that I carried myself. I compared myself to everyone else around me and was constantly tearing myself down. My lack of self-esteem seemed so obvious, yet it seemed like no one truly understood how I felt. I knew I needed to make some changes, but I just didn't know how. Af...
4 comments
Read more

Shipps on a Ship Part 3: Thanksgiving on the Water

       After a gorgeous day at Castaway Cay, we got back on the ship to start sailing back towards America. We discovered when we got to dinner and were the only family not dressed in elaborate pirate costumes (I'm not exaggerating we really were the only ones), that Wednesday night on the ship was Pirate-themed. After dinner we popped into the movie theater to see Guardians of the Galaxy (a fantastic movie, highly recommend it if you're into the whole Marvel thing), and then headed up to Deck 11 for a pirate-themed show and fireworks. After the fireworks ended, a DJ started playing music and the Shipp cousins immediately became the life of the party! We laughed and danced and laughed at how ridiculous we looked dancing. It was one of those spontaneous moments where I wished I could slow down time and make it last a little longer! After the dance party, we headed over to the Cabanas where they were serving the strangest combination of food: tacos, crepes, cookies, an...
1 comment
Read more

20 Days Until Provo!

                   I apologize in advance for the nostalgia of this blog post. In 20 days, I'll be leaving Virginia. IT is going to be SO weird, because I've lived here since I was 3 years old. Two different houses, but they are within 4 miles of each other. I've been so blessed to have so much family close by. My mom's sister and her family have lived down the street from us since I was about 8 years old. My grandparents live about 20 minutes away, and my Aunt Becky lives close by in Arlington. Our family has become really close as a whole for that reason, and I love that so much! In addition, as cliche as it sounds, I think NOVA is SO pretty! Provo has a lot to live up to, I really hope those mountains pull through! My friends and I like to joke about how I'm going to forget what a tree looks like! I'll Google them every day just in case. You never know, I may get to busy to stop and th...
1 comment
Read more