The Environment I Create

Someone asked me recently, "What makes the students in your classroom love school as much as they do?" 

Thinking that was an easy question I gave a quick response, "The environment I create."

"Yes, but what kind of environment specifically is that?" she asked.

My reply was mostly out of sorts, but it consisted of sharing how I treat them. I shared that I listened to their heart and ultimately paid attention to what they had to say.  

"Ah, so you treat them like people."

That conversation got my thinking and has been on my mind a lot while teaching. I've been observing my own teaching habits to determine what it is exactly that I do that makes my classroom environment a happy one.

The first, I've noticed, is I implement their ideas. Now that it is a new year, my students realized that we no longer have the "2013" date above the calendar. Truth be told, they noticed we don't have any year up there yet.

"Why don't we have a 2014 card yet?" they asked.

"Because I haven't had time to make a new one on my computer and print it."

"Why don't you write it on one of those sentence strips you use?" one clever sprout mentioned.

"That's a great idea," I said as I got up right then, walked over to my sentence strip box, wrote 2014 on a new one and stapled it up on the wall.

I realized I do this quite often. When my sprouts share with me an idea that comes to them regarding our class, I do my best to implement it right away. Even if it's off the lesson plan and changing what I had expected, I value the input they have to give. I believe that it is important to share that reciprocal respect. If I expect of them to listen to my ideas and implement them, I feel that it is only fair to listen to their ideas, no matter how small or insignificant they are.

It could be as simple as changing the color of the paper used for an art project or singing a song someone had an idea for. Whatever it is, they feel important when they are contributing members of the classroom.

I'll never forget the smile on his face when he saw I used his idea. With the biggest grin you'll ever see and the comment of "Teacher you liked my idea? That's because I have good ideas, huh!" I feel certain that contributes to his effort to feel good about school.

Flattered.

I feel incredibly blessed to be continually encouraged by my five year old Kindergarten students. I never knew I needed it, but the confidence they have in me puts a huge smile on my face.

Yesterday, while singing a song that I didn't know the hand motions to, I stopped in the middle of the song and pronounced, "I have an idea!" One dear friend seemingly shocked that I could come up with ideas on my own carefully questioned, "You have an idea!?"

Assuring them I did, but that they would have to sit in their seats to find out, they cheered in awe, "Yay! Ms. Lawson has an idea! This is going to be so good! Hide your eyes everybody!"

And just as I turned around to put in the hand motions spelling DVD, all ten friends were hiding their eyes with giggles and excitement. It turned out that my idea was so good they actually wanted to keep singing every spelling song on the DVD. I couldn't help but them them sing a few extra.

Then again today, while preparing their science lesson in front of them, Jennifer smiled, looked up at me and said, "You're a genius Ms. Lawson." Caught off guard, all I could do was beam with joy and say thank you. With compliments like this all day, it's sure hard to stay humbled.

While finally participating in the same activity which helped teach primary and secondary colors through hands-on discovery, Natalie said with so much love in her heart, "Ms. Lawson, this is a great center idea." Flattered again, I smiled and said, "I'm so glad you're having fun."


They pour into me as much as I do to them. Full of giving compliments to me all day long, I can only hope that this was led by my example. The positive environment we share together certainly makes learning fun and hearts happy. I am thankful everyday to be a part of it.

Brain Vacation.

Daily, after recess or P.E., which both generally come mid-class, it is time for a much needed R&R. I turn out the lights, have my bursting buds rest their heads on their desks, while listening to soft music playing, and sipping on a bit of water to rehydrate their little bodies. It's both the perfect and worst time to do so. They are all wound up from their most recent exercise, and the last thing they want to do is "rest." However, it is for this very reason why it becomes entirely important for them to settle down.

Our rest time isn't always considered a likable activity. They want to be viewed as "big" and in their minds big kids certainly don't nap. I try to find ways to make it enjoyable, or at least bearable, so they aren't reminded of their younger siblings during an afternoon nap. Reminding them that even Miss Molly takes naps sometimes helps, but sharing that daily gets old quick. When doing some reading I discovered some teachers who call this rest time a "Brain Vacation." Seeing this, I was immediately inspired and eager to try it out.

"OK everybody, it's time for Brain Vacation! You're brains get to rest, and don't have to do any amount of thinking if you don't want them to!" I said in excitement.

It was a lighter way of saying "put your heads down," so they all greeted the new phrase with pleasure. After one enjoyable minute of quiet, one busy thinker just had to break the silence with a pressing question.

"Miss Molly? Are our brains leaving our heads?" he asked inquisitively.

I may have said it before, but Kindergartners have this unique way of taking everything they hear literally. Their minds wrap around the precise details of each word you say, and lack the necessary skills to interpret it differently. Knowing this, I try to filter everything I say through the suspected literal translations I figure will occur. However, there are times like these in which particular phrases slip by that need further explaining. In these cases, including our brain vacation moment, I am happy to oblige and make every effort to explain as carefully as I can so the phrase may be continued to be used.

Now it's your turn to think about it -- Brain Vacation. Odd word combination, right? Naturally, when he heard this phrase, he imagined his brain literally jumping out of his head and running away to catch some vacation time. I wanted to ask him how his brain would leave his head in the first place, where would he go, or how would he even get there. Would he climb out the mouth? Would he go to the beach? Would he grow legs and hop on a bus to get there? I decided that after my initial explanation, further questions were better left alone, as it was interrupting valuable quiet time. Afterall, we all know that brains are exceedingly smart, but somehow I don't think even the most powerful of brains would be capable of completing such an extraordinary task.

Compliment Jar.

"Get your hands ready! One, two, three *CLAP*."

This short little phrase inserted several times in the day makes a world of difference. It occurs right after I give a verbal compliment for something the whole class has worked hard to earn. Whether it's for good behavior or wonderful teamwork they all carry happy smiling faces as soon as I pull out that compliment (pom-pom).When the compliment drops in the jar, we clap once, and it's settled.

The second jar is to keep track of how far we have to go. As we watch one jar goes down, the other goes up. Meanwhile, excitement builds as we are that much closer to completing our jar full of compliments. The smile that each compliment puts on their sweet little faces could be enough of a reward, but to show further appreciation I have for them a special treat to work towards—Friendship Fruit Salad.

This salad is filled with different kinds of fruit, each symbolizing all the wonderful things we'd love to have in our classroom. Peaches, sharing, apples, listening, bananas, hard workers, marshmallows, kind words... etc. I brought it on the first day of school, and it has become one of those very special treats we look forward to having again. With about 20 more compliments left, we should be sharing this delightful treat within the next week or two. Yay!

Developing Mutual Respect.

Last week I walked into Barnes & Noble Bookstore to kill time before my next appoiment. I walked in convincing myself I would not buy anything. With my general love for teaching and education it is hard to come across the areas of the store that apply to this subject without adding to the list of books I feel the urge to buy. First stop: Children's Books. I spent some time in this section smiling at all the books I'd love to have. When I left, I managed to avoid any books in hand. Next stop: Teaching & Education. I flipped through the pages of many books and wrote down titles of interest for later reads. Then I came to one that sparked a particular interest, "Positive Discipline In the Classroom." The subcaption reads, Developing mutual respect, cooperation, and responsibility in your classroom. Just what my class needs. Determining this book as a "need" rather than a great want, I purchased the book, and dove into its inspiring contents right away.

This week I have started implementing many of the techniques shared in this book and am already experiencing more than positive results. The book shares "Class Meetings" as one of the ways for students to have a say about their feelings and together solve problems of concern, but before you can jump right into these meetings they must have practice in communication skills. As an introductory to these brief meetings which I will call "Team Time," we sat in a circle together and practiced the basics of listening.

Each student had the chance to tell the class a story that they wanted to share. I first had them walk out of the classroom to come up with their story, while the rest of us came up with a plan that would exhibit poor listening skills. While the storyteller came in excited to have their turn holding our new "talking monkey" friend, we listened most intently. After three seconds we then did our poor listening action. Things we came up with were: covering our ears, talking to our friends, hiding under the table, walking away, turning our backs, closing our eyes, clapping our hands etc. I was surprised to see that even though each child knew that we would probably do something rude or distracting, they were stilll thrown when we did and felt sad. We all had the opportunity to share our feelings of how this made us feel, and then execute proper listening skills the second time around.

I don't expect listening skills to be mastered right away, but we will continue to practice, practice, practice and get better in time. We are taking small steps to developing a mutual respect in our classroom, but in the end will make a big difference.

Busy Bees.

As humans, we are all seekers of personal independence. We want our voices to be heard and our opinions to be known. We desire to be self-governing beings who are not subjected to the control of others. We find it is a great thing to feel respected by others, and value feeling like important and useful members of society.

The need for gaining independence starts at a very young age. Children desperately seek to do everything themselves and have a need to be recognized for their successes. The phrase, "I did it!" does not run far from their lips. Although they still need guidance in the way they think and act, it becomes the responsibility of caretakers to nurture this need. This nurturing comes by teaching something that goes hand and hand with independence—responsibility.

To become independent one must first learn how to be responsible. Responsibility is not learned by having things done for you, but by having the opportunity to make the right choices. It is very important for eager doers to positively be thought of as capable. They are capable of making good choices and will often exceed expectations when their caretakers believe they can do it. If young people see themselves as the ones making choices, they're more likely to take responsibility for their choices. If they own up to the choice, they own up to responsibility.

I strive to allow my Kindergartners to develop this necessary tool through every area of planned curriculum and presented learning opportunities. I look to give them opportunities to develop responsibility and think for themselves. One of the ways I find success in this area is by giving them something to take ownership of. Each week my Kindergartners receive a classroom job from our “Busy Bees Job Board,” where they learn the importance of responsibility and self-worth. Taking pride in their job is what they love best because of the outcome given by the completion of their specific task. This simple poster brings so many special gifts to our classroom: responsibility, cooperation, and respect of eachother just to name a few, with added opportunity for growth in self-worth by feeling like important and valued members of our classroom.

What's In Your Pocket?

I’ve heard that you can tell a lot about a woman by the contents of her purse, but what I never thought about is the same can be true for a five-year-old. I am always intrigued by the objects that come out of these little people’s pockets.

There is one student in my class who is particularly known for little goodies coming out every day. On any given day you can guarantee that he will have something in his pockets. Yesterday was a harmonica, the day before that was a Nintendo DS screen cleaning cloth, and today was a toothbrush. I couldn’t even guess what tomorrow's pocket surprise will bring, as it’s always a completely random and surprising object that never has any relation to the previous days.

I'm sure you can imagine these objects becoming a distraction, yet I still allow them bring their own toys from home. However, they are warned that if they are not careful, it may get locked up in the “Distraction Box” (or for those who like to mispronounce it the “restraction box”) where their cherished belongings will be safely kept until the end of the day.

Keep in mind that this box is no bigger than a shoebox. In a moment that was completely unrelated to the subject of the distraction box, I told one of my munchkins today that their continuous sounds were becoming a distraction to their classmates. “You better stop, or you’ll get put in the distraction box!” a friend shouted. I had to laugh with the cleverness of the thought, which implied the knowledge that all distractions end up there. No, I have not ever tried to stuff one of those five-year-olds in a box, although I guess some days it seems like an excellent idea! :)