Yesterday, I wrote about a little girl in P3, whom I was very proud of, because she said her memory verse. Well, her name is Isha. And I am now, EXTREMELY proud of her.
Today, we gave our P3 class a longer memory verse, and I was nervous, because I wasn't sure if she would be able to say it. But once again, God showed me how incapable I am, and how mighty and powerful HE is.
Kelsey was trying to teach the verse to her, but Isha simply couldn't say it. Kelsey said to me "Isha seems to respond to you more, will you help her?" So, I go up to the board, and start asking her to fill in the blanks. At first, she didn't say much. She kept a straight face, and I could hardly even get her to repeat me. But then, I said "Isha, you know this. What is the 1st word. I know you can do this." She began to speak, and sure enough, the word "the" came out of her mouth (very clearly, if I might add).
I smiled big from ear to ear and started to cheer her on, and encourage her to say the next word (which was a little bigger). And to my amazement, the word "Spirit" popped right out. I kept urging her to go further, and with some help, she did. We made it through "The Spirit of the Lord is on me", and I was so incredibly proud of her. Now, don't misunderstand, she did have some trouble with it. I had to help her, because she doesn't read English very well. But she CAN do it.
I really had to help her with some of the bigger words, like "because" and "anointed", and even some of the smaller words like "Lord" and "Good". She knows the words, but its hard for her to read them, and then pronounce them.
Every time she was able to say 4 or 5 of the words without needing me to say them first, I was as excited as a little child on Christmas morning! Wait... nope. I was MORE excited than that!!! And after going over the verse a few times with her, she was able to say it (slowly, and with a few mispronounced words) all by herself! I was - I am, so extremely, and incredibly proud of her!
Isha is smart. You just have to go slower with her, and it helps a lot, if you can get her to focus on you (and only you), and really think about what you're asking her to do. But more than anything, Isha responds, to Positive Reinforcement. The more I cheer her on, and clap when she gets a word right, and hug her when she can say it without me... the more willing she is to come out of her shell and participate. And believe it or not, positive reinforcement is something that is obviously not practiced here. For the most part, the teachers are stern, and they don't cheer the kids on very much. I guess it's the way they do things, and I'm not saying the way they do it is wrong. But for most kids, Isha included, you have to go another direction. You have to clap when they say the word, especially if they pronounce it right. And you have to cheer them on, and encourage them to keep going. You have to motivate them, and show them that it's good to participate. And above all, you have to be patient. You can't yell, or blow your top if they take a little longer. You can't expect them to do it perfectly the first time around. You can't expect that they will always focus on you and what you're saying, because its hard for them to understand you sometimes. And honestly, "You" could be replaced with "I", every single time. I have to be patient. I can't yell, or blow my top if they take a little longer. I can't expect them to do it perfectly the first time around. And I can't expect that they will always focus on me and what I'm saying, because yeah, it's hard for them to understand my crazy Kentucky talk sometimes.
Patience isn't something I come about easily, but i'm learning. It's not always easy, but the look on that little girls face when I hug her, and cheer her on, and tell her how proud of her I am, makes it all so much more than worth it.
Patience, and Positive Reinforcement, is what it's gonna take to have a breakthrough with Isha.
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