A late in the day #BlAugust post.
Yesterday Jennifer tweeted this at me, and I teared up a little.
Thanks to @gwaddellnvhs for the idea and inspiration https://t.co/Jv4KM6DkEb
— Jennifer Abel (@abel_jennifer) August 21, 2016
And the tweet it refers to is this one:
#MTBoSBlaugust post: How I Changed My Classroom Culture Through High-Fives https://t.co/YoCHLMzsF0 pic.twitter.com/QJkj4xVFPa
— Jennifer Abel (@abel_jennifer) August 20, 2016
You see, the High Fives post is one of the most popular posts I have ever written. It was a spur of the moment, almost didn’t do it speech (kind of like the TMC16 speech on overcoming your fears) that has resonated through so many people.
For a long time, I kept track of the people tweeting and blogging about High Fives. I know I missed some. I counted over 20 different individual who tried the High Fiving, and said it changed their classroom culture for the better.
Jennifer tweeted and wrote about it a full year! after I wrote about it. How often does that happen? To me at least, not very often.
To say I am embarrassed and honored by the mentions is an understatement.
To say I am overjoyed by the fact that learners in over 20 classrooms are experiencing something different because I spoke up is exciting and amazing. We need to spread the high five energy.
So, to help more teachers and to spread the power of the high five, I wanted to revisit the video:
My original post: https://blog.mrwaddell.net/archives/1431. The video is short, only 4 minutes. In fact the last 20 seconds can be ignored as it was an announcement for the conference.
You are doing something awesome. You are walking in my classroom. Be awesome. Connect with your learners. Give them energy, and receive the energy in return.
High five to you all!
Edits added:
After I posted this article Lisa Henry posts about All The Stuff I’ve Stolen From The MTBoS. High Fives are the first thing on her list, and she explains why in a different post.