Lately I've been thinking a lot about the amazing things teachers do, often almost without thinking. While working on my latest project, a book about behavior challenges, I've been interviewing some experienced teachers about how they managed challenging situations over the years. I've been moved to tears by stories of courage and ingenuity that they told somewhat casually, as if what they did was no big deal.
Take a look at your classroom walls and displays. What do they say about you, your relationship with your class, and your view of teaching? Are your students guests in your room, or does the classroom feel like a space you share with them? Do the walls and displays show what you think and believe . . . or do they show what your students know, think, and wonder about?
What do you do when a student flat-out denies doing something you know (or are at least pretty sure) she did? Are consequences ever appropriate in this situation? Do you just give up and move on? Do you enlist parents’ help? It can be a hard call to make.
Children need to develop the ability to think imaginatively and creatively. Children with imagination do a better job visualizing what they are reading, solving problems, entertaining themselves without devices, and thinking creatively in a variety of situations.
Bullying is in the news. As I read accounts of bullying events in schools, I reflected on the bullying prevention work I did in my classroom teaching. I thought about my successes, my frustrations, and what I might have done differently.
Do you think that without looking, your students could name your classroom's rules? Most teachers establish classroom rules at the beginning of the year, and many devote time to modeling and practicing rules with students in the first weeks of school. After that, however, the amount of time spent thinking about what rules mean and how to live by them often drops off dramatically.
I have such great memories of my third grade students' enthusiasm during the gymnastics unit in physical education. After this special, they'd come back to our classroom full of excitement about what they'd practiced, asking me to come next time and see them using their new skills, and comparing what they were doing this year to what they'd done in second grade. They'd had a fun, relaxing workout, and they felt good about themselves.
Are you looking for a strategy to help your students navigate particularly tricky times of day, such as transitions, recess, lunch, or dismissal time? Try making a "looks like/sounds like" chart (often called a T-chart) or a "looks like/sounds like/feels like" chart (aka a Y-chart) with them. This activity and the discussion that surrounds helps students envision the positive benefits of changing their behavior, and it heightens their understanding of what has to be done.
At this time of year, people who work in schools often start feeling a bit frayed. Now that the school year is well underway, the "honeymoon period" of the first weeks is long gone. Students may be testing limits a little more, seeming less satisfied with tasks they are assigned, a bit quicker to get into quarrels with each other.
Have you noticed that you're not feeling quite as positive as you were a few weeks ago? If you are feeling this way, chances are good that your students have noticed.
"Young engineers, it looks as if you have mastered skyscrapers. Now you are ready for the challenge of building a bridge!" said the teacher to a small group of children in a first grade science classroom I recently visited.
Are there invisible children at your school? A recent series of comments on the Responsive Classroom Facebook page got me thinking again about how many children go through their school days feeling unnoticed and unseen, and about how important it is for all children to feel significant in school.
I was so nervous as I prepared for my first year of teaching! I worried that the kids wouldn't listen, their parents would think I was too young to teach, and the first day would be a disaster. But then, when the first day actually came, something happened that completely changed my outlook.
I never loved the first day of school. My teaching depended so much upon knowing my students, and until I got to know them, I never felt entirely comfortable.
Having said that, I do have many happy first day memories, including a funny story from my first day of teaching kindergarten.
