“I’m so nervous,” she shared.

“Good,” I replied. “It means you care.”

She wasn’t the only one who announced her anxiety yesterday. She wasn’t the only one to whom I replied, “good.” Of course, I also followed up with, “You are going to do great. It’s just us, and we are going to be with you–every step of the way. Promise.”

It’s just us. You know the “us” with whom you have engaged for seventy-nine days so far this year. The us who knows some of your story. The us who knows your smiles and frowns, your ups and downs. The us who sees you every day, who hears your name spoken, who listens, who knows. Us.

Of all the things kids do in the classroom, presenting may be one of the most difficult. Glossophobia (fear of public speaking) is real. Ask and people will tell you. Most of us hate speaking in public. It’s scary. But I believe we can make it less scary in our classrooms. I’m not certain we can make it easy, but we can make it less scary.

I have been trying to make it less scary since the start. My kids have been “presenting” since day one with Smiles and Frowns, sharing their stories with their peers. My kids have grown accustomed to having their names spoken each day, as we go around and I speak their names as a signal of their turn to share. My kids have become comfortable with looking into the eyes of their peers who look back, who smile and nod, laugh and cry with them. I have been constructing “us” since they crossed the threshold, and I will continue to build until they cross it for the last time.

Of course, some think such building a waste of instructional time. For, make no mistake, it takes time. I spend roughly 5-7 minutes per period each day with Smiles and Frowns. At minimum, I have spent invested 400 minutes. Invested. I have invested 400 minutes in kids and community this year. By year’s end, it will exceed 1,000. Waste of time? Really? In the end, we all “spend” our time. I choose to spend it on kids. I decided sometime ago, that the most important thing in the room is the humans in the room. So every day, we start with the humans in the room. We start with us.

Yesterday, my Nervous Nellie’s and Nervous Ned’s took the stage. And they shined. Once they got going, one might have never known they were nervous at all. Many beautiful moments yesterday as kids found their voices. Today’s “stars” won’t be any less nervous, I suppose, but as the year goes on and they continue to have such experiences, I hope they develop a deeper trust in us. No trust if there’s no us, so I work hard on the us. Every day.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…kids’ shining in their moments with their interviews and presentations.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Wednesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.