Painters from Malcolm X Academy when they were in 2nd grade

Today’s class at MXA was only the boys (the girls have running club one day a week) which gave me a good chance to talk with the boys about what it takes to work as a team. I explained to them that we only have one mural so we need one team; not a girl team and a boy team, but one team. I asked them for their ideas about how to make it work.

For the most part, they had great ideas. We talked about how to show each other respect, take turns and listen. We talked about how put downs are not helpful and agreed we would use ‘put ups’ instead. All in all, they came up with 10 really good rules (11 if you count “don’t fart in class.”) I am curious to see what the girls want to add.

I realize the mural project is not just for them, but a way for me to spend extra time with them before they move on to middle school and deeper into the new awareness that comes with that age. I’m lucky to have this concentrated time to say good-bye to my babies.