The Noticing Project: Week 2 - Just Say It

Last week, I encouraged you to try something simple…to notice your students differently.

Not just the disruptions.
Not just the missing work.
Not just the behaviors that pull us off track.

I wanted you to notice the small, quiet, easy to miss actions or expressions when something was working. Maybe it was...

• A student who walked in on time

• Someone who stayed in their seat a little longer

• A hand that went up instead of a voice calling out

• A student who made it through the day, even when the day was hard

This week, would like you to take the next step. Just say what you see! Saying it out loud changes everything for a student, their classmates and for you. When you say it, you are offering the student a new way to see themselves. And, you give their classmates another way to see them as well. When the students see themselves differently, they act differently because they hear something different.

“I did something right.”
“Someone saw me.”
“Maybe I can do this.”

That shift is not loud. But it is powerful.

Noticing sounds like...

“I noticed you got started right away today. That really helped me too!”

“You stayed in your seat even when it was hard. What did you tell yourself to do that?”

“You asked for help instead of shutting down today… that was awesome.”

“You made it through the whole class even though it was a hard start. How did you do that?”

No judgment.
No evaluation.
No pressure.

Why Noticing Works

When we notice, we are doing more than commenting. We are building identity. We are helping students begin to see themselves as capable, sometimes for the first time.

If they are only seen as problems, they often become better at being problems. If they are seen as capable, and we share that their success is baffling to us, they begin to grow into more capable students.

So, let’s do this.

This week...

Choose 2–3 students that you watched last week. If one or two get off track, walk up and share what you noticed them doing better last week. Let them see you amazed, questioning how they were able to be more competent recently.

Keep it brief and natural. You can say it as you walk by. At the door when they walk in. Or as they leave on the way out.

And, if they don’t respond. No worries. They may shrug, look away or act like it doesn’t matter. But it does. They heard you.

The ones who act like they don’t care are the ones who needed to hear it the most.

Watch them, after you tell them what you noticed. What’s slightly different about them?

It only takes one moment.

One student at a time.

Students don’t need fixing.

They need someone who sees what’s already there.

Let it be you.

Just say it.