I love teaching first grade! It truly brings me SUCH joy. There is something so rewarding and energizing about being in the presence of 25 wide-eyed six year olds. No doubt my feet hurt at the end of the day.. but my heart is completely filled to the brim. Reading, writing, math.. all the things, you name, I LOVE teaching it. When children learn to read and puts words on a paper for the first time… all the feels. I get a little teary typing right now.
There is however another subject I do love teaching that maybe isn’t considered “academic”……..it’s social skills. Yeah, I said it, social skills. I would actually say the majority of my days is spent teaching social skills. Social skills are the skills we use to communicate and interact with each other, both verbally and non-verbally, through gestures, body language and our personal appearance. Human beings are generally sociable creatures and we have developed many ways to communicate our messages, thoughts and feelings with others.
To break skills down for the kids, I often will find a read aloud, song, quote, or life example I can use to teach a social skill concept for the week. A few of my favorite teaching books include: “My Mouth is a Volcano” (the art of not interrupting), “I Just Don’t Like the Sound of No” (all about accepting no for answer), “Personal Space Camp” (hands to ourselves and staying in our own bubble). Again, those are just a few. Believe it our not, every time I teach these, I am reminded of these social skills myself. Yes, at age 27 I still interrupt, have a hard time accepting no for an answer, and don’t always do the best with personal space. There is a particular social skill in the year that is my favorite to teach. It typically takes longer than a week. I usually find myself leaving this one on the white board for like a month. This is when I teach the acronym THINK. Before we speak, we stop and THINK….
T - Is it TRUE?
H - Is it HELPFUL?
I - Is it INSIGHTFUL?
N - Is it NECESSARY?
K - Is it KIND?
You can see why this is a social skill we work on for longer than a week. This is HUGE. We go over what these words mean in depth. Believe it or not.. kids learn quickly. If two students are having a conflict, it most often is a result of something said that hurt someone’s feelings. We go back to what was said, I ask them each these five questions. It takes time, but eventually first graders can ask these questions before they say something. Y’all…..first graders can do this.
I wasn’t alive when Jesus was physically walking on the earth, but I imagine if I overheard one of His conversations, His speech would be gentle. I believe his speech was truthful, helpful, insightful, necessary, and kind. One example that comes to mind of Jesus’ gentle speech is when He was introduced to a woman caught in adultery that the Pharisees angrily brought to him (John 8). The Pharisees are verbally assaulting this woman. Jesus tells the Pharisees, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” I wonder what the Pharisee’s faces looked like? I imagine the scene in my mind of Jesus boldly, yet gently defending this woman. Meeting her where she is, speaking life to her, and empowering her to “go and sin no more” (John 8:11). As Jesus followers, we have an opportunity to follow Jesus’ example of speech and be love to others. Ephesians 5:1-2 tells us, “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” I’ll type it again for the people in the back: walk in the way of love.
Friends, think about what is happening right now in this world. So. many. things. Anxiety, fear, hate, shame, anger are all around us. We can choose to speak life and love to our dear brothers and sisters in a time where the hope and love is Jesus is needed. So before you speak… before you post.. before you tweet… before you text…….before you walk up to the person holding a sign you may not fully agree with… THINK TO YOURSELF. Is what I’m about to say thoughtful? Is what I about to say helpful? Is what I’m about to say insightful? Is what I’m about to say necessary? Is what I’m about to say kind? For some reason I just can’t see Jesus being a facebook warrior. I see him having true, helpful, insightful, necessary, and kind conversations with people. People that he loves DEEPLY. People just like you and me. Let’s learn from Jesus & first graders. We can do this.