At the beginning of first grade, Erick was a sweet, thoughtful boy who struggled with self-control. From the first days of school, his actions revealed his caring nature: He consoled a classmate after a stubbed toe, he helped others pick up, he used our letter-writing center to write charming notes to me and to his friends:
Dear Nelson,
I like the way you read your book today.
Love, Erick.
In my previous post, I talked about the importance of incorporating movement into classroom work and gave an example of one way to do that with an editing activity. In this post, I’d like to share a way to add movement when the class is reviewing material right before a test. It’s a strategy my co-teacher and I decided to use just recently, when our class came to the end of a challenging social studies unit.
I once taught a second grader who sometimes subtly refused to go along with what we were doing. For instance, if we had to leave the classroom and John didn't want to go, he'd get in line—but then walk as slowly as possible. The more his classmates and I urged him to walk faster, the slower he would go. At each deliberate step, I could feel my blood pressure rise. But in that moment, I could do little. I couldn't physically make John walk faster; nor was he ready to rationally discuss his feelings or options. Rarely did a student's behavior get to me, but John's resistance always did.
During Bullying Prevention Month in October, I imagine that many of you planned, presented, or took part in assemblies or whole school meetings about bullying prevention. You may have created posters with your students, put on small plays, read aloud anti-bullying picture books, or engaged in other activities to raise student and adult awareness about how to maintain an atmosphere of kindness and inclusion in your classroom and school.
