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Monday, April 8, 2013

Peacemaking Through . . . Comic Strips?


If you’ve spent any time around fourth and fifth-graders (or kids in general), you’ve probably noticed that they aren’t always kind and polite towards one another.  I know I wasn’t – especially in the fifth grade, when the prospect of middle school loomed on the horizon along with (I assumed) the end of my own social life.  While I know that less-than-encouraging behavior towards peers is sometimes a part of growing up in this stage, I had been concerned over the course of the year by the relationship between two of my students in particular.  The two girls are similar in many ways: they’re in the same grade at the same school.  They are both hard workers, which pays off when it comes to their schoolwork – at the same time, however, I’ve watched them both struggle with self-esteem.  But while I know they have the potential to be a big encouragement to one another, I very often catch them exhibiting the opposite behavior, as their relationship has proven to be more adversarial than friendly.
This past Thursday, however, brought something a little bit different.  Both girls had finished their homework early and gotten started on that day’s fun project: drawing their own comic strip.  I was surprised to hear collaborative whispering from their corner of the room, and even more astonished when they eagerly asked me if they could work on the project together.  I listened and watched as they not only laid out a storyline together, but also assessed each other’s artistic strengths to figure out who should draw which portions of each picture.  The finished project – the harrowing tale of a jewelry store robber who is eventually apprehended by the police – is a work of art, now hanging on the wall of our classroom.  More importantly however, it was a joy to watch these two students begin to relate to one another in a constructive, collaborative way.
I hope that positive, supportive relationships among my students can be an encouragement for them as they work to succeed, in school or otherwise.  As their teacher, I work to model that support daily – whether it’s celebrating a 100% on a spelling test, calling attention to a student’s creativity during craft time, or even just offering a high five for a job well done on homework.  Watching them start to grow in affirming one another – even in small steps – encourages me too, as I know that we can go further if we build one another up.