About a month into the school year, my 4th grade daughter forgot her lunch.
There are days when the cafeteria serves palatable food, but Fridays are not typically those days.
She called me from a strange phone number which I later discovered was her teacher's cell phone.
I extracted myself from the office and raced home to get the lunch and returned to her school to leave it for her. As I walked in the front door of the school, my next client appointment texted me that they would be an hour late, so I decided to take the lunch to her class myself and stick around for a little while to hang out with her and see what happens in a 4th grade class on a typical Friday.
As I approached the room, I could see that the lights were off and assumed that the students were elsewhere - Music - PE . . . but then I heard music,
I peered in the door, and there they were . . . 24 4th graders sprawled out on a big carpet with bean bag chairs and resting mats . . . Watching a MOVIE on this HUGE projection screen.
The teacher was VERY excited to see me and jumped up and met me at the door. She had (that day) discovered how to show movies through her computer on the screen and had scrapped the lesson plan for the morning for some "hang time" with her students.
Would I care to stay for a while?
How could I resist?
After the movie, the students jumped up and went right to work straightening up the room and preparing for lunch as Ms Hamlett issued her warning order:
"Y'all eat a GOOD lunch today because we have some catching up to do with our lessons this afternoon!"
My daughter was helping with the clean-up when Ms Hamlett stopped her and suggested that she show me around the room.
WOW!
What a cool place . . . Chock full of learning and love . . . As an educator myself, I remember thinking how I would love to get to the point where my classroom is such a rich learning environment . . . When I grow up :-)
I learned a lot that day from that 4th grade classroom experience. In just a month's time, Ms Hamlett had gelled a true family with her 24 students . . . She had learned each student's strengths and was fostering an environment of learning that is FUN and enriching and honors each child individually.
We can do this with our offices and our clients. There are times to be "serious" and there MUST be times for hanging out together. We must open space for honoring every person's unique gifts and talents.
As for the Movie . . .
I was in the public library a few days ago with the kids and wondered what movies they might have there . . .
VOILA!
They have LOTS of great movies, so I checked out "GlenGarry GlenRoss" - a VERY funny and impactful movie about a Real Estate firm in a tough market.
I didn't have to subscribe to a service to get this movie or buy it from Amazon or rent it from Blockbuster . . . and I found a great John Maxwell book to go with it -
HINT - Don't forget to go to your local public library for inexpensive and quality entertainment
"Ms Hamlett style" I returned to the office and sent out an email to our associates . . . Today, instead of "Masterminds" we're watchin' a MOVIE . . . with POPCORN :-)
If you're in Nashville Green Hills today, come on by - We hit "Play" @ 1:00 . . . The only thing missing is the bean-bag chairs.
Best,
b
twitter @barryowen
Barry Owen
Principal Real Estate Broker
Keller Williams Realty
30 Burton Hills Blvd
Nashville, TN - Green Hills
615-568-2123
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