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The Lightbulb Moments

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One of the most rewarding things about being a teacher is getting to witness those “lightbulb moments.” The moment when something clicks and your student finally understands a concept.
It’s usually paired with a, “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I get it.” 
 
If you’re a parent or a teacher or work with children in any capacity, you know what I’m talking about.
You can almost hear the “ding” of the lightbulb as the student buries themselves into their work, scribbling away with a better understanding of the material. It’s those moments that make the late nights, the early mornings, the paper cuts, the fights with technology all worth it.
 
Last week, I had 4 IEP meetings. 2 on Wednesday. 2 on Friday. While this can be a Special Education teacher’s nightmare, it is one of my favorite parts of the job. It is an opportunity to come together as a team, share the student’s strengths and growth over the past year, and brainstorm ways to support them in the future.
On Wednesday, we sat down to talk about one of my favorite students. Let’s call him Nick. Nick is a student who works harder than any other kid in his class. A student who is invested in his academic growth. But a student who is behind grade level in the area of reading. Nick’s parents looked lost and didn’t know what else they could do to support him. They said, “We go to the library. We have him read to us at home. He always does his homework. We enrolled him in the after school program. But he is still not getting it.” 

That’s when I whipped out my notebook.

I wrote down the word “sapling.” I asked the parent to read the word. They obliged and read it out loud. I said, “I asked Nick to read that word – among other words in a text – and he kept saying ‘slapping.’ His brain processes language differently. He looks at a page of words and everything jumbles together. He struggles with sounding out words, isolating sounds, and matching sounds to letters. All of that together makes reading really difficult for him.”

I then carried on and explained to them what exactly a learning disability was. I explained that it cannot be cured or fixed. And I explained to them that it will likely be a lifelong challenge for Nick. But that my job, as his Special Education teacher, is to provide him with strategies to work around it. And their job, as parents, is to help reinforce the strategies at home but also understand that Nick is working as hard as he possibly can. I wanted them to know that it is now, in these moments, that we need to nurture him, support him, and encourage him. We need to teach him that reading will continue to be a struggle, but if he keeps at it, he can achieve success in school and beyond.

I ended with, “Too many kids slip through the cracks because we push them too hard in an area where they are already trying their hardest. Nick cannot slip through the cracks. He will get better at reading. We just need to continue with his interventions, but also support him and encourage him along the way.”
After I stopped talking, there was a silence.
Nick’s mom had tears in her eyes. Nick’s dad just stared at me, eyes wide open. In that very moment, I could hear the faint sound of a “ding.”
Because I knew that, suddenly, everything made sense to them. They had experienced their own “lightbulb moment.”

Comments

  2. I am also a SpEd Educator and adore those lightbulb moments that I am blssed with each and every day. Thanks for being a wonderful person in their lives. I also understand from a parental standpoint as a mother with 2 children on the Autism Spectrum. Xoxk

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  4. This is wonderful! And many time as parents or teachers those aha moments happen less suddenly than others. You didn’t realize the progress you had made, because it had been so gradual, but that’s why we keep running tabs of reading times and vocabulary grades.

    My steps son struggled dramatically with reading (being a reading teacher vet) I dedicated my summer to homeschooling all three kids (6 and under). We did a unit on the BFG, everything revolving around giants. There was reading, math, critical thinking, and of course lots and lots of crafting.

    In the end I didn’t feel we had made much progress with my step son who was a year behind in reading at the beginning of the summer. I sent him back to his mom in another state, happy for the fun we all shared though. Then it happened, on his first week of school he was reading two grade levels above standard, his mom for the first time, thanked me. It was so rewarding, I remembered what I loved about teaching!! 🙂

    I understand your bliss, and your savoring of each and every lightbulb moment!!! 🙂 He did that all on his own, but he couldn’t have known his capabilities without you by his side!!! You showed him a glimmer of his worth, and get to spend the rest of the year continually revealing more an more. Beautiful!!
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  5. Oh my goodness!! Can I just tell you that as a mother I absolutely appreciate you! I appreciate that you care. Far too often I hear stories of teachers not caring, and just not taking the time to understand. Every year I let my kids teachers know that they have just become part of my “village” because as you know, that’s what it takes to raise children. What you do as a teacher is so needed and important to me as a mother. You are needed, appreciated, and become part of someone’s family, you are the one these parents entrust their treasured possessions to. Thank you for working with your kids and the parents, thank you for caring!

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  6. I’m not going to lie; This made me a little choked up. What a beautiful gift you are to your students, but also to their parents. I think sometimes we forget how much they care and want the best for their kids… and of course, sometimes they push because they don’t know any other way. I’m glad you were able to enlighten but also HELP them in their quest to give Nick the best kind of education he could possibly get. Like you said: he’ll get there. Sometimes it takes thinking outside the lines 🙂

    XOXO
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  7. First of all as a parent of young children I just want to say thank you. Thank you for being an educator, but more importantly thank you for being an educator who cares as deeply as I can see that you do. What you do is hard, intense, and takes an immense amount of patience. But the way you broke it down for those parents to be able to understand their child’s struggles was amazing. I admire you so much. Great job on just being you girl!
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  8. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I get it – Well said. Being a mother of two school going children i can easily correlate this post. Nice post. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. A big part of the reason I left public education was because “they” meaning the policy makers/publishing companies don’t allow the children to blossom at their own pace even though we as teachers know this is what’s best. There’s too much pressure on teachers and kiddos. Kudos to you for helping the parents have their own lightbulb moment. I taught special ed for 6 years. It’s a difficult but rewarding job. Keep the good work you are doing with your kiddos.
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  14. I loe this and you are a wonderful teacher! I honestly read that as slapping too. I grew up this way but have learned to work with this disability 🙂 Thank you so much for posting this wonderful article. <3

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  15. It’s so refreshing to hear the other side. Working to get my daughter the help she needs is often a struggle. She’s borderline, which to some means she’s fine. But fine and thriving/excelling/doing her best just aren’t the same. But I am so happy this year to have a team of people who “get” her and are willing to dig in to help her grow.
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  16. This is a beautiful post and thank you for sharing! My sister was an EA and worked specifically with “difficult children”. More often than not, it was NOT the child, it was that they had a learning disability. EVen though I myself do not have children, I thank you for being such a caring light in this child’s life. Hugs!!!

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  17. This is so awesome and we need more teachers like you. I am sure this was a moment that Nick’s parents will never forget.

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  19. Oh my goodness love this. Seeing anyone have a lightbulb moment is so special. Plus I sure love when I get them!

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  24. Divya this post is one of my favorite ones.
    Thanks for sharing it with us.
    We need clones like you in this world.
    God Bless You.

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  25. Divya you rock! Your story actually got me a little chocked up. I’m not a teacher and know nothing about reading instruction so this question may be stupid, but do audiobooks help for the reading challenged? Almost all my “reading” is now audio and not just fun stuff either. I’m sure not many school texts are on audio and the point is to actually learn the skill, but if “Nick” just wants to enjoy a good book for an English class do audiobooks help or hurt his reading skills?
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  26. I think light bulb moment is the great feeling for you, you’re such a good and best teacher. Just keep it up to make more light bulb moments. (wink)

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  28. this is the best post ive ever read so far this day. you are such an amazing human being,. this really touches my heart

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  29. Bless your good heart! You are an inspiration to your students. I wish your tribe would increase. Our kids need more people like you in their lives to give them those light bulb moments.

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  32. As I read this post I cried! Marcus Buckingham ( author) always tells us we spend way to much time focusing on weaknesses, rather than strengths. What a beautiful example of a what a true teacher should do! Yes, his reading will come in time, but there is nothing more frustrating than having your weakness pointed out to you every day. It doesn’t mean you don’t work at it, but use your strengths to achieve the goal. Thank You for investing in children’s lives!
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  33. I wish my teachers had helped me to have lightbulb moments! when you get that moment and you have that realization, it’s such a great feeling! Helping children to use their different abilities and strengths to push them forward is a wonderful thing!

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  40. I get to experience some of these lightbulb moments at my job and then also when I get home with my toddler who is learning something new everyday and it is such a reward and blessing to watch!

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  41. Beautiful post Divya! You’re a wonderful & caring teacher. Hope you experience many more light bulb moments. It’s nice to see you’re touching the lives of so many children including their parents..

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  42. How wonderful that you were able to give the parents a light bulb moment. I imagine that can be harder sometimes than getting one for the kids. 😉

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  45. Isnt teaching juts the best and most rewarding profession? I love teaching, Its my calling. I Avoided it like heck, and now I cant believe I simply cant wait to teach every day 🙂 Via my blog, Vlogs, Podcasts, Videos, etc! Its such a rush when You get an aha moment and then go right ahead and share!

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  46. I taught privately for years and not publicly and loved it. I admire that you teach in a formal setting and know the amount of work that goes into it. Those lightbulb moments make it all worth it.

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  47. I admire you for what you do! It’s awesome that you are able to work with parents to help their child get better. Sometimes, we just need a lightbulb moment to understand what our kids are going through.

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