Step Into My Sessions: Noticing When Kids Take Care of Each Other
Groups give students a chance to notice, respond, and care - on their own terms.
This wasn’t an activity I had planned.
It was one the group offered.
One student arrived clearly uncomfortable. 😣 He told us the traffic on the way in had made him feel sick, then quietly lay down on the carpet in the playroom. Not an auspicious start to group…
Before I could say much of anything, the other student paused, looked around the room, and then sprang into action. 💨🏃🏻♂️➡️ He grabbed my mug of tea, ran to the sink, dumped out the tea, and hurried back. He set the mug gently next to the student on the floor and said:
“You’ll have to aim carefully. I’m sorry—it’s all I can find.”
No prompt. No script. No lesson on empathy.
Just noticing. Problem-solving. And caring.
An amazing and ever-so-sweet example of communicating care through language and action. It brought a smile to the ill student. He knows his peer’s sense of humor and totally understood the humor of being sick in a small mug. 🤢
But, more importantly, he felt taken care of by someone he considers a friend. They got through it together without my doing anything. And that’s what groups often do so well.
Groups give students opportunities to:
experience life as a living, spontaneous essence 💫
notice how someone else is feeling 😊
think flexibly in real time 🧠
take another person’s perspective 🧐
act with care, without being told to 🫂
These moments don’t always look like progress on a data sheet. But they’re often the moments students remember—and carry with them.
So, if your group session feels messy, quiet, indirect, or unplanned, don’t underestimate what’s happening there.
The group may be doing more than you think. 🤔
A new feature in this new year: 👀 A Noticing Moment…
Each week, I’m ending with one small reflection—something to notice, not something to fix.
Where have your students supported each other in ways you didn’t plan for?
Hoping you are staying warm, cozy, and generally happy! 😊
