Fill someone's bucket today.

Fill someone's bucket today.

Many of you might have already caught this touching story on WOAI TV on Monday. I, on the other hand, am TERRIBLE as a news follower and rely on my awesome Mom. She often sends me information, links, and tips on stories and topics I "need to be on top of" :) I love her for that and am EXTREMELY thankful.

Yesterday, I came home to an email from her called, Alamo Heights elects student with Down syndrome as homecoming king. I had one of those "You had me at hello." moments. You know the ones.



I found this story so unbelievably touching...for many reasons. Here are a couple...

1. It really hit home. My first year in Northside I was teaching third grade. I was the luckyiest teacher in the word when I learned that I was selected to have Ryan in MY third grade class. Ryan was my Drew...special in so many ways, loved by the school community, loved by his peers, and with the most supportive parents.

2. It also made me think of my CIT Possibilitarian Handbook. After watching the video with tears streaming down my face, I thought to myself...THIS is why we teach. This beautiful example of a learning community, shown in this video by the Alamo Heights community, is why we do all of this. Right?

I love that Drew is the king of Alamo Heights High School. I love that all of those students filled his bucket and made him feel so special. From the video, you clearly see his enthusiasm and excitement. He shows it from ear to ear...and it is completely infectious!

In my CIT Possibilitarian Handbook, I have a list of simple ideas behind my Possibilities tab. One of those ideas is Fill someone's bucket today. Simple enough, right! We might not be able to crown a king or a queen each day, but we can fill someone's bucket by doing little things as CITs and leaders of instructional technology. It can happen in so many ways...

*Giving a shy student the confidence needed to be on the morning announcments.
*Allowing a group of students the opportunity to "earn the roll" of being Lab Managers once a week.
*Letting a student select an alternate application for a special project and allow them to shine.

I know you all do things like this each and every day. This post is more of a reminder to myself...of easy and unique ways I can fill someone's bucket :)

Very cool.