Thanksgiving

I was tutoring a third-grader the other day. We have some new individual sized dry erase boards, and they are magical. Kids that normally grit their teeth over writing a single sentence on notebook paper are suddenly very eager to write. I think having the marker and board is like being given control, a special privilige normally reserved for the teacher. I remember being allowed to write on the blackboard with chalk was such a big deal to me when I was a kid. Anyways, I asked her to write 5 things she loves about Thanksgiving, and 5 blessings, or things, she is grateful for. Then we turned her list into sentences. It was a nice little prewriting activity, and I was very happy with how eager she was to write (for once!). I had my own board, and was happily writing in my own answers (I have found that kids are a lot more willing to do work when they feel like I am working too) when I glanced over at hers to monitor how she was doing, to see if she needed any prompting. Nope, she was done. This is what she wrote under what she likes about Thanksgiving: getting to see her Dad who has been in prison, spending time with her family, having food to eat.... Under blessings, she wrote: having a house, having a family, having food, being healthy, and being able to go to a good school. Oh. My. Goodness. I had expected her to write stuff about getting out of school, that she was grateful for her Nintendo DS and her family pet... I really was floored by her answers.
Also, I was ASHAMED of myself. Do you want to know what I wrote about Thanksgiving? Pecan pie, the parade, vacation days, Black Friday sales, and oh, yeah, family (sort of as an afterthought... the pecan pie came to mind first and foremost *WHY am I so fat?*). I was humbled by this little girl's awareness of what really matters, and her gratefulness for what is truly necessary. When she read her list out to me, I was fighting tears. She could not name a single Thanksgiving food when I asked her, but she could name every last thing that really matters.
I had stomped into work that day with a bad attitude because my week was dragging on because I wanted to leave on my cruise already, and twenty other trivial things which had me feeling all pissy. Boy, did this little moment give me a much needed attitude adjustment!
She wanted me to read my list, and I did, but then I told her, you know what? I think your list is better than mine. So I changed it to better match hers.
I hope this dear child learned something from me during our session, something about consonant blends and reading comprehension and fluency. But I know what I learned from her had more substance. A lesson in thanksgiving to be remembered and treasured.