A few weeks ago, at parent teacher conference, I was meeting with my 6th grader's teacher. After the teacher went all through the usual stuff with me and my daughter like grades, test scores, general notes, she told me about the “Rockstar Box.”
Whenever a student sees another student doing something awesome (no matter how small) they write that student's name and what they saw them doing on a little slip of paper and put it in the Rockstar Box.
Every few days, the teacher pulls one name from the Rockstar Box, reads it aloud to the class, and that kid gets a prize.
She told me, "The Rockstar Box is almost always like 90% Goldie. Kids have written about
- seeing her pick up stuff without being asked,
- notice kids who need help when she's done with her work early,
- tidy up areas of the classroom that are messy,
- and even notice when others are being left out and need a friend."
I swear to you she just went on and on. My jaw was on the floor.
Obviously this would be a mega proud moment for any parent but for a kid with ADHD… my heart was exploding.
Knowing that every little bit of noticing practice at home was paying off, out in the world, in such noticeable ways like THIS!?
Best. Feeling. Ever.
I recently saw a snippet of an interview with Brene Brown talking about the most important skills kids need to be future leaders.
Two of the top skills she listed were:
- situational awareness
- anticipatory thinking
THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT “NOTICE AND DO” TEACHES KIDS WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY LIGHTENING YOUR LOAD AT HOME!
When you teach your kids how to Notice and Do stuff gets done around the house without you having to rage clean or point every single thing out AND they'll start having an awareness of and anticipate needs outside the home, too.
They'll be better friends, better students, better thinkers, and better leaders.
