Thousands of Tiny Miracles

Mike Greenberg once said, "Life is a series of thousands of tiny miracles."
Today, at the Layou Government School, I came across one of those tiny miracles. I have been working with a group of fourth grade students who barely know their alphabet. I decided to use a specific teaching method with them during the final two terms of the school year. The approach is extremely remedial and actually designed for the overachieving parents of the world that want their 4 year old to learn how to read. The good news is that whether a child is 4 or 10, the program works. This morning, the fourth grade teacher came to me and said that the children had been excited and involved in class all morning. "Even Cathilda!" she exclaimed, Cathilda being one of the students who barely speaks and is not responsive to lessons. To my surprise, I walked into my classroom during lunch and saw Zita, another of my fourth grade students, reviewing the lesson from yesterday with one of the younger students. Miracle! was all that I could think! Maybe it is teaching or maybe it is Peace Corps but whatever it is, I am learning that the most important thing you can do for a child is to believe in them. Once they know someone is there to cheer them on, they will be able to move mountains (and read!).