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When I moved from Grade 2 to Grade 1, I shocked, shocked! when the wee ones couldn’t line themselves up to exit the classroom at all! We practiced and practiced and practiced, but every time we had new line leaders (weekly) they
couldn’t find the starting points and line would be all wonky. Even if they got the right point they’d turn around, which would make the others think they had to be behind them, facing the opposite of walking out the classroom door. Then the “little teachers” of the bunch would bossily try to correct the line leaders. Tears would be shed; little voices would get terse. It’s at that point the whole situation goes off the rails and now you’re 5 minutes late to Gym.
I got this from a Kindergarten teacher at another school. Put footprints on the floor so that the line leaders know where and how to stand. So very, very simple.
This was "boys" and "girls" lineup guides; I have since gone to just the words "line leader" on each pair as to preserve gender neutrality.
Luckily, none of my custodians freaked out or even mentioned the taped-on prints. Your results may vary.
Helpful Hints: Laminate the construction paper of durability. I used plain ole’ masking tape loops to secure them. In June, they just peeled right up with no residue left over. I would imagine that painter’s tape might work well, too. I would avoid packing tape, I’ve never had any joy in using packing tape for any situation in the classroom.
May your lines always be nice, straight, and quiet, geeks!
Hello Geeks. It’s been a while. I know that last year I completely neglected this blog, my baby. There were many “surface” reasons for this: teaching a new grade, a writing project to be named soon, generic cialis no prescription
press.com” target=”_blank”>a newfound love of running insane distances. But when I look back upon last year, I now realize I didn’t write much because I just didn’t think I had anything to offer you.
I had a hard school year. I’m actually going to go ahead and crown it Hardest Year Ever. But before I drink any more whine, I’ll spare you the details about why it was hard, because I know that there are a ga-zillion other teachers out there that had it just a bad, probably worse, than I did. It was disappointing though, because I just want to do a great job and I was constantly feeling like my best wasn’t ever good enough.
But having a hard year and my ability to only “sort-of cope” with it left me drained. I would sit down at my computer to try and write a post and I’d just blank. I felt like a fraud. What could I possibly write about when I was seriously doubting my own teaching abilities? Luckily, I had an amazing, supportive team, principal, and colleagues. If they hadn’t been there, I might have just thrown in the towel on this career, I was feeling that low.
But since this blog is all about putting tools in your toolbox to help you, I just had to write and share something that helped take my attitude out of the gutter. It’s Responsive Classroom.
Have you heard of it? Does your school or district use it? I hadn’t heard of RC until I moved to Connecticut for my 4th year of teaching. I kinda-sorta read a book or two, and I kinda-sorta tried to implement some elements of it into my classroom. But I never was able to get the full training until this summer. Holy moly, YOU GUYS, IT WAS LIFE-CHANGING. Yes, I’m all-caps-yelling.
Responsive Classroom is not a separate curriculum to learn. It’s an approach to teaching that develops sustainable classroom management techniques and builds community. Directly from their site, here’s it’s awesomeness in a nutshell:
- Morning Meeting—gathering as a whole class each morning to greet one another, share news, and warm up for the day ahead
- Rule Creation—helping students create classroom rules to ensure an environment that allows all class members to meet their learning goals
- Interactive Modeling—teaching children to notice and internalize expected behaviors through a unique modeling technique
- Positive Teacher Language—using words and tone as a tool to promote children’s active learning, sense of community, and self-discipline
- Logical Consequences—responding to misbehavior in a way that allows children to fix and learn from their mistakes while preserving their dignity
- Guided Discovery—introducing classroom materials using a format that encourages independence, creativity, and responsibility
- Academic Choice—increasing student learning by allowing students teacher-structured choices in their work
- Classroom Organization—setting up the physical room in ways that encourage students’ independence, cooperation, and productivity
- Working with Families—creating avenues for hearing parents’ insights and helping them understand the school’s teaching approaches
- Collaborative Problem Solving—using conferencing, role playing, and other strategies to resolve problems with students
The 5-day, full-day training was scheduled for the first week after school was out, which for us was the last week of June. On that first day, I might as well have written “Bad-Attitude Betty” on my name tag, because was so burnt out from the prior week, month, year. “Why did I sign up for this??” ran though my mind a few times. But by the end of the first day, I was hooked. By the end of the second day, I couldn’t wait to come back. By the end of the week, I was REJUVENATED!
It is hard to fully express how this training helped me. I was able sweep away the negativity from the prior year and I was looked forward to planning this year. Learning how to use Interactive Modeling was a lightbulb moment. Positive Teacher Language was HUGE. I was able to be more zen about misbehaviors, and not take them so personally (which was a big hurdle for me), and I was able to summon up more patience than I’ve ever had before (impatience has always been my achilles heel). I am now getting ready to start my second week of school. I know we’re still in the honeymoon phase, but I just feel so differently than I did a year ago.
(Oh, and regular exercise helps too. But that’s another story. Go for walk today – it’s amazing how it can clear your head.)
Even if you can’t get the full Repsonsive Classroom I training, I highly recommend their books, including The First Six Weeks of School:
The Morning Meeting Book:
and Rules In School:
I devoured these books like I devoured Judy Blume books when I was 12, reading passages multiple times and dog-earring important pages. I can’t recommend them enough.
So fire up that old Pointer Sisters record and sing it with me…I’ve got a new attituuuuuude!
Do you use RC in your class? What is your favorite part?
