Starting on the first day of school, students wait excitedly at the door for PE to begin. And as soon as they see me, they always pepper me with questions:
"What are we doing today?"
"Can we play Excuse Me, Tag?"
"Can we go full speed now?"
"When are we going to be able to use the stilts?"
They want to move, move, move!
I recently had the pleasure of spending two full days at Garfield Elementary School in Springfield, Virginia, a school that has been using the Responsive Classroom approach for close to ten years. After that visit, I am fully convinced that the best teachers teach love.
Teachers, principals, and other school staff nationwide are thinking about what to do and what to say tomorrow when they and their students return to school in the wake of the horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. Here are suggestions from Responsive Classroom consultants and authors Mike Anderson, Caltha Crowe, Sarah Fillion, Babs Freeman-Loftis, Lynn Majewski, Kerry O'Grady, Margaret Berry Wilson, and Chip Wood:
Bus rides are often the least supervised part of children's school days. They are also a part of the day without structured activities. That's a terrible combination. No wonder we hear about and see so many examples of children bullying and being bullied on the bus.
Reflection is a crucial part of learning. Taking time to think about how things are going helps people keep track of their progress, and, if needed, make adjustments and improvements. Teachers can help students develop the habit of reflection by building in opportunities for them to practice this skill throughout the day.
"... the first six weeks were rich with modeling, practicing and defining our class community and expectations. Children rose to the challenges and pulled together to be their best. We proudly celebrated our accomplishments and dug into the academic endeavors. But slowly, tension started to build. Friends are comfortable with each other and lose patience or know just how to get under someone else’s skin. Children feel unsure and that can manifest in silly or bold behavior.
I wrote last week about things you can do to ease classroom stress during testing and other high-anxiety times. Here are three more tips for keeping the atmosphere of your classroom calm and productive!
Step out of your teacher shoes for a moment and imagine yourself as the parent of a child you teach. You're at home, and the phone rings. You pick it up and a voice says, "Hello. This is Ms. Norris, Emily's teacher." If you're like many parents, two words spring immediately to mind: "Uh oh."
February 2002
I teach first grade. I find that by the end of Morning Meeting, my students tend to be fidgety and restless, so I’ve been taking them out for recess after meeting and before starting the rest of the day. That seems to help them. They come back in more settled and ready to get to work. My principal, however, has said that this isn’t a productive use of time. What do you think? Do you have any information on what time of day is best for recess?
What happens in your classroom during arrival time? Those first minutes are so crucial for setting the tone and the pace for the day! The routines you put in place for arrival time help children reconnect to the classroom and their place in it, as learners and as classmates.
When I was in elementary school more than fifty years ago, I struggled with geography. I found it very hard to keep all those place names and locations straight. The only thing I could do was start memorizing. I tried to picture the fifty states in relation to each other, but they insisted on getting mixed up (still do). “Is Tennessee on top of Arkansas?” I’m likely to ask.
