What I Should Have Done

Someone posed the question to me, “I wonder why teachers don’t implement appropriate guidance techniques once they are in the classroom?” Teachers often have the knowledge and skills necessary to implement appropriate classroom guidance, but something gets in the way and inappropriate practices are used. I really want to use active listening with the children in my class and am trying to be intentional about it because I know it is what is right. However, there was an incident last week in which I should have used active listening, but didn’t.

Two boys ran into the classroom after P.E. pretending to be animals, chasing and roaring at one another. It was the end of the day, I was hot (and had been sweating since 8 a.m.), they were loud, and we needed to wrap up the day. I told the boys they were too loud and that we needed to pack up. Needless to say, this did not work. I should have said, “You must have had fun in P.E.,” or “It seems you want to pretend to be animals right now.” There are multiple ways I could have listened, but I didn’t.

Further, I needed a better transition from P.E. back to the classroom. At the time, we only had five minutes at the end of the day. We now have 10-15 to wrap up the day.

What I learned from this incident is that teacher emotions and tasks may get in the way of doing what is best for children. It is not okay for anything to get in the way of doing what is right; therefore, I am certainly using this as a learning opportunity to avoid making the same mistake.

Playdough

We made playdough a couple times last week. We had to problem solve because the playdough kept getting sticky. I figured out the reason the playdough was sticky was because it is so humid here. The solution was to keep adding more flour.

The curriculum states objectives for children. By making playdough, the children met the following objectives as stated in the Calvert Curriculum.

First Grade: 1. Identify skills and steps used to investigate; for example, observation, comparing, classifying, and communicating.

Second Grade: 1. Read and follow a set of directions, a recipe, and steps in a process.  2. Identify that matter is in different forms, including solid, liquid, and gas, and that these forms can change physically and chemically.

Meeting Needs

The children in my classroom transition a lot after lunch. From lunch, they play on the playground, go to Estudios (Honduran Social Studies), then go to Spanish, and end the day with Specials (music, art, p.e., computer). The transitioning and long day catches up with one of my children during this time. Today, he and I sat outside the classroom and chatted before he went to Spanish. I believe it was important for him to have some quiet time in order to make it through the rest of the day. At one point I asked him if he was ready for Spanish, and he was not. About five minutes later I asked him again; he was ready this time.  Yes, he may have missed some of the Spanish class, but I was respecting what he needed at the time.

Use of class website affirmed

A first grader’s dad shared with me that he is able to use the pictures posted on the class website to start conversations about school with his son. He shared that last year he would ask, “How was your day?” or “What did you learn?” The response his son always gave was, “fine” or “nothing.” The dad is now able to refer to the pictures when talking to his son about school.