SOL Day 5: Great Moment

So, today is Monday. Monday morning blahs in my 5th grade class today. We all seem tired and a bit off. Not to mention, I got some bad news over the weekend that I had to share with my class today. One of the students in my classroom is out today, as his 8-year-old brother, a  2nd grader here at my school, was diagnosed with cancer over the weekend. Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The good news is that the doctors are certain he will make a full recovery, yet he and the family are looking at a tough go of it for the next six months. He will mostly be inpatient, and need to be getting intense doses of chemotherapy. He will be tired and not feel well, and it will be a tough road. Yet, by next fall, he’ll be better. He will be back. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Meanwhile, my class is now not just blah. They are worried, they are scared, they are sad. The kids have questions, lots of questions, that I do my best to answer for them. We are all quiet after and I know that we are all thinking of Scott, and his younger brother.

After recess, my students are going to share their biography slide shows that they have worked on for a few weeks now. I pull a stick and one of my students, Kevin, gets up to come to the smart board. He is VERY excited to share his project. He chose to do his Biography on Jon Bon Jovi.  His presentation was well done and enjoyable. The last slide of his presentation before the bibliography, he had inserted a video. It is the video from back in the 80’s of the band performing, “Living on a Prayer.” I allowed him to play it. It was the best medicine for us all. Within seconds my entire class was singing along to Bon Jovi, as I was as well. I couldn’t believe that my ten and eleven year old students knew this song! Mostly all of them did, and we sang and laughed and it truly was a wonderful, much needed moment, in our class. Thank you Kevin.