As I sit in the stillness of my house I cannot help but reflect on the students I have and all the little things I have noticed in the past few weeks. So while I should have been planning my reading lesson, I instead took some time to write each of them a post-it that all started with, “I have noticed…”
On Monday, as they grab their morning work, I hope they will each get a little glimmer of how proud I am of them, how much I do notice how hard they are trying, and how thankful I am to be their teacher.
Sometimes the smallest moments have the biggest impact.
PS: If you wonder how the students reacted to the post-its, this may answer your question: As I walked into my classroom late this morning after a hospital appointment, this note was stuck to my computer…
I am a passionate (female) 5th grade teacher in Wisconsin, USA, proud techy geek, and mass consumer of incredible books. Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project, Co-founder of EdCamp MadWI, and believer in all children. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day. First book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” will be released this fall from PLPress. Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.
Pernille Ripp 
…ridiculously awesome.
If all teachers did this…what a powerful lesson it would be when they get to a kid and they just don’t know what to say…that would be one kid you know you have to spend more time with.
What a wonderful idea! The smallest things to say that you know and notice them make the biggest impression!
Great Idea! Thanks for strategy!!
Awesome! Although this takes time, what a an impact it will have. One that you may not realize immediately , but eventually it will pay dividends , although that is not the reason. Thank you for the inspiration.
This is an effective wording replacement for subjective comments such as “I like….” or “It is awesome when you…”. You are simply stating that you have noticed, and that is validating enough without giving praise that is not specific or helpful. Thank you!
I LOVE this! Thank you for sharing and for all you do for our profession!
I was inspired by your notes so I wrote my own today. I will greet the kids with them tomorrow morning. Thank you for all that you do, you are reaching so many children through your hard work. I am participating in the GRA and I am so excited to be a part of this. Thank you.
This is why I follow so many teacher blogs! There are such wonderful, simple, meaningful activities we can do every day that I haven’t even thought of! i am going to work on these this week! Thanks for the idea!
I wrote “I notice” notes to my students yesterday morning. We all had a better than usual day. Thank you for the inspiration, Pernille!
Pernille,
I have been a reader of your blog for a short while, but I’m not a teacher. I have worked in the finance world for a while and am married to a teacher. I stumbled across how vocal teachers across social media and how the things that you do to motivate children can be transferred into the corporate world.
Thank you for what you did through your notes. There are some children in your class who will remember this for a long time, about how you validated them in a difficult time of the life.
Keep doing you cheesehead 🙂 (sent from an proud Illinois resident)
Dave