Mrs. S knew her 4th grade class had a problem. Someone in the class had a bad case of "finders keepers, losers weepers". This keeping of found items was causing quite a bit of contention in the class. Mrs. S knew that she had to address the problem and, so, she called a class meeting.
She started the meeting by asking the class members what should be done when someone finds an item that doesn't belong to them. Most class members agreed that the item should be turned in to the teacher. The culprit, on the other hand, stated that if the item was of any worth certainly the person who lost it would have taken better care of it. Mrs. S. could understand that thinking. For she once was a little girl who had had the same thoughts.
So to illustrate that she understood how difficult it can be to make the right choice and return the lost item, she shared a story from her childhood. When she was in 1st grade, she couldn't think of anything that she wanted more than an Avon Gingerbread Perfume pin. She asked for one of those pins every Christmas, birthday, and anytime the Avon Lady came to her mother's door. Her mother always said no. One day, in her 1st grade classroom, a little girl lost her Avon Gingerbread pin. Mrs S (age 7) found that pin. Oh what a happy feeling welled up inside her once she was in possession of that pin. Now, she knew exactly who that pin belonged to, but she figured that the little girl must not want it anymore or she would have taken better care of the precious pin. So Mrs. S decided to keep it. She did keep it for most of the day, until she realized how sad the little girl was about her lost pin. So, she made the right choice and returned the pin even though she knew that that was probably the last time she would own an Avon Gingerbread Perfume Pin.
After sharing the story, Mrs. S's fourth-graders talked a little bit more about how it feels to lose something and also how it feels to have that something found and returned. Mrs. S. finished the class meeting and didn't think too much more about it.
A couple of weeks later, one of the girls in Mrs. S's class asks for another class meeting about "finders keepers, losers weepers." Mrs. S questions the girl about the necessity of the meeting. The student replies that she has something for Mrs. S.
The meeting is called and the little girl presents Mrs. S with an Avon Gingerbread Perfume pin from 1972. The very pin that is pictured at the start of this post. Apparently, after the first class meeting that little girl went home and told her mom Mrs. S's story. The mom immediately got on e-bay to see what she could find. Once the cherished pin was found, the mom ordered it and the little girl was able to present it to Mrs. S just in time for Christmas.
This is a true story and happened just this week at one of the schools I work at. This is a true example of caring and the Spirit of Christmas.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
C is Caring, Christmas, and [C]arma
Mrs. S knew her 4th grade class had a problem. Someone in the class had a bad case of "finders keepers, losers weepers". This keeping of found items was causing quite a bit of contention in the class. Mrs. S knew that she had to address the problem and, so, she called a class meeting.
She started the meeting by asking the class members what should be done when someone finds an item that doesn't belong to them. Most class members agreed that the item should be turned in to the teacher. The culprit, on the other hand, stated that if the item was of any worth certainly the person who lost it would have taken better care of it. Mrs. S. could understand that thinking. For she once was a little girl who had had the same thoughts.
So to illustrate that she understood how difficult it can be to make the right choice and return the lost item, she shared a story from her childhood. When she was in 1st grade, she couldn't think of anything that she wanted more than an Avon Gingerbread Perfume pin. She asked for one of those pins every Christmas, birthday, and anytime the Avon Lady came to her mother's door. Her mother always said no. One day, in her 1st grade classroom, a little girl lost her Avon Gingerbread pin. Mrs S (age 7) found that pin. Oh what a happy feeling welled up inside her once she was in possession of that pin. Now, she knew exactly who that pin belonged to, but she figured that the little girl must not want it anymore or she would have taken better care of the precious pin. So Mrs. S decided to keep it. She did keep it for most of the day, until she realized how sad the little girl was about her lost pin. So, she made the right choice and returned the pin even though she knew that that was probably the last time she would own an Avon Gingerbread Perfume Pin.
After sharing the story, Mrs. S's fourth-graders talked a little bit more about how it feels to lose something and also how it feels to have that something found and returned. Mrs. S. finished the class meeting and didn't think too much more about it.
A couple of weeks later, one of the girls in Mrs. S's class asks for another class meeting about "finders keepers, losers weepers." Mrs. S questions the girl about the necessity of the meeting. The student replies that she has something for Mrs. S.
The meeting is called and the little girl presents Mrs. S with an Avon Gingerbread Perfume pin from 1972. The very pin that is pictured at the start of this post. Apparently, after the first class meeting that little girl went home and told her mom Mrs. S's story. The mom immediately got on e-bay to see what she could find. Once the cherished pin was found, the mom ordered it and the little girl was able to present it to Mrs. S just in time for Christmas.
This is a true story and happened just this week at one of the schools I work at. This is a true example of caring and the Spirit of Christmas.
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3 comments:
And Charming. Bless the teacher for trying to teach beyond the cirriculum and the bless the mom of that sweet student who is already showing that she understands compassion.
I do hope the "keeper" felt the need to return the "found" items, but from the comment, I think parental patterning might make that unlikely, sorry to say.
Thanks for sharing this story. Made me smile.
The keeper did return the item. This student has great parents, but faces some challenges--think Michael. I'm sure the parents had used the phrase, "You don't keep things you care about on the floor," when they were trying to encourage the child to pick up his/her belongings. Hence, the statement during the class meeting about the "loser" must not care about the item if it was found on the floor.
Thanks for the story! It's nice to hear about people who really do care for others' feelings. It cheered me up!
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