when a child draws a smile

I love watching kids play games together. Games are an awesome tool to teach kids many skills. It not only teaches them the "skill" in the certain game they are playing, but it teaches them to take turns and that if and when they don't win, how to "not win" with a great attitude. I played a board game with the Kindergarten class this past week called "hop to 100". The object was , you guessed it, to hop to 100 completing certain tasks. Yes, there was going to be a winner and there was going to be a second place and a third place and so on. As we were playing the game the mood in the classroom started to change as they were getting closer to the end and were realizing who was getting behind and who was obviously going to be to the end first. I realized in the moment that I could change the mood in the classroom by creating a change in their thinking. So I started getting SO excited for EVERYONE at EVERY turn that they took. And with each task that was accomplished that led them closer to the end I started getting more and more excited. The mood became contagious. The students started getting excited for each other and soon enough they forgot about who was behind or ahead, they were just cheering everyone on. I know that this is not the only place this can happen. I know that my mood is contagious wherever I am. I can choose to cheer others on or focus on my "place" in life and start to get frustrated. When I choose to cheer others on in their life, my focus will become more on others and, before I know it, others will be cheering for me, too!