All Actions Have Meaning

Although I don’t remember everything about TAP, I remember one thing that has always and will always stick out to me. “All actions have meanings” I don’t know if that’s the exact words but it’s what I remember. These four words stuck out to me. I knew in my mind that everytime I went to work at my Hebrew school that I was looking at what each kid did to see how they acted. But these words truly brought out a slightly different perspective that changed how I would have reacted a couple times.

These words stuck out to me so much because in that moment, in that zoom call, it changed how I thought of some kids. These words made me rethink how my approach was, maybe that instead of telling the kid that he can’t do the thing he just did, I could sit down on the ground while s/he stands to show I’m not just your teacher I’m someone trying to make sure that you can do well and treat others well as I explain why they can’t do the thing they just did and what effect it has on others.

We had this one kid in my class this year. I’ll call him Josh. Josh barely went to Hebrew school. Which made sense because he had sports, but the times he went we knew we had to always have a tight leash on the kid because he would never listen – never. We could tell him he goes to one classroom. He goes to the other one with his friend. We tell him to stop switching chairs. He keeps doing it. He would always find a way that would distract other kids and teachers. The teachers and I always thought we should just have an eye on him all the time to make sure he wasn’t bothering anyone. In that month I thought it was a good idea to watch the problem so he doesn’t cause more problems.

Four words changed all of that. I know he wasn’t trying to say something but his body language was saying something, something he wasn’t able to say himself. He needed a distraction, a fidget, so I thought maybe I’ll give him a fidget to see what he does with that fidget. I handed this kid that would always get in trouble for distracting others a fidget and told him to keep it under the table. This one moment, this kid went from a trouble maker to a listener, a person who seemed like they actually wanted to learn Hebrew school for the first time in months.

Those four words changed how I respond to kids instead of immediately shutting down or correcting a behavior. I now try to understand the reason behind it, maybe they can’t say what is going on behind the scenes but I can make a guess, a guess to help. Thanks to TAP I can now see that “All actions have meanings.