Basking In the Climate

Some of you have heard me mention the extraordinary climate that exists in my 6th grade primary placement class. There is a feeling of energy and industriousness throughout the room that is infused with incredible warmth. Following is a brief anecdote that illustrates this climate perfectly.

Recently, I visited my primary classroom during "Dyad season." Since the students were enjoying free time, I decided to grade an important math assessment they had taken earlier. As I graded, I noticed frequent glances from John (a pseudonym). Every time I looked up from my work, he was looking my way. Finally, he walked over and asked if I had graded his paper yet. I told him I had and that he had only missed one problem. I showed him the problem and told him it was a very difficult problem and that, so far, no one had gotten it correct. He asked if anyone else had topped his score and I said, no, that his was the best score so far. Down he sat, but kept popping up to check if his score was still the best. He is a great math student and I know he was keenly disappointed that he missed one, but he really seemed anxious about someone getting a better score! When I came to Peter's (also pseudonym) paper, I found a paper with all the problems done correctly--even the really hard problem. Peter, in fact, was the only one up to that point who had correctly answered that tough problem. I wondered what John would do when he found out he wasn't number one anymore, so I mentally prepared words of wisdom to help him put his disappointment into perspective. Before I could finish my thoughts, John appeared at my side. I delivered the "bad" news: someone had gotten a better score on the math test and had gotten the hard problem correct. When he asked who it was, I told him. His reaction was swift. "Peter got #14 correct??!??" He grabbed Peter's paper and turned to the problem and looked it over with a very serious demeanor. Then, he broke into a huge grin and rushed over to Peter. "Peter, Peter, you got problem 14 correct!!!" He was excited, he was celebrating, he was patting Peter on the back. I stood and watched in wonderment, touched by a moment I will never forget.