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.

Happy New Year.

Today I was reminded that 2011 would be no more.

"Happy New Year," my boyfriend said. "It's 2012."

"I'm excited," I told him in honest thrill. "My kids will have more practice writing the number two!"

"Wow, you're a teacher through and through," he said with a chuckle. "When the first thing you think of is your students, you know you couldn’t quit being a teacher even if you wanted to."

I suppose he's right. If you're not convinced that I'm a teacher based on my excitement over the new year because of a number change, I have a few other ways that might persuade you:

• I can't walk through a store without finding some product that would be perfect for an art or science project.
  
  
• I have to take the longest route possible through stores with an art isle just so I won't spend all my money on art supplies.
  
  
• I can't walk through a bookstore without ending up in the children's section.
  
  
• I don’t throw away anything before considering how I might be able to use it for something as simple as counting or sorting.
  
  
• I always have to stop and look at (and nearly always buy) a new sheet or two of stickers every time I get the chance.
  
  
• I raid other people's houses for box-tops, recycled cans, or pop can tabs.
  
  
• I have to literally force myself to deviate from stores like the Dollar Tree. I can spend way too much money there.
  
  
• Walking past the dollar spot at Target I almost always purchase at least six things.
  
  

It's apparent that putting my students first both during and after school will always be a part of me. I'm not sure how I would function any other way.

Happy New Year!

11.11.11

Veterans Day, like all other holidays means no school. While most of the time I enjoy these holidays for a chance to recharge both physically and mentally, today I felt differently.

As part of our routine each morning, my Kindergartners write a new journal entry upon arrival. During this time, I remind them to write the date at the top of their page while they watch me write the date. On November 1st, the whole class was in complete awe as I wrote "11/1/11" on the board. "It's a pattern!" a few shouted. "It's all one's," shouted another. Seeing their observations, relation to something we've been learning in class, combined with the overall excitement in writing something as simple as a date, brought a joyous smile to my face.

Today's date 11/11/11 brought back memories of that day, and just thinking about what their reactions would have been--probably just as thrilling as it was on the first--truly made me wish I was with them today. I will be eager to share with them this once in a lifetime date on Monday.

Self-concept.

The year has finally come to a close. Last Friday, my Kindergartners and I joyfully looked back on all that we’ve accomplished. As they finalized their last journal entry, we put together a notebook which contained every entry since the beginning of school. This was an exciting moment for them. Observing the beginning of their journals, which typically consisted of random letters and included no structure, many of them were confused by what they had written. “What’s this say, Miss Molly?” they questioned.

At this point, I was eager to point out their progress. It turned out to be an automatic confidence booster as they turned each page and saw the improvement they had made over the course of the year. Here I realized that portfolios are my biggest tool to supporting their self-esteem. At this age, they will not always recognize achievements on their own, and as they progress academically and even socially throughout a school year, it becomes my role as the educator to recognize individual accomplishments.

My feedback, evaluations, encouragement, communication, and overall environment that I establish will attribute to how students feel about their abilities. Before self-esteem can be built, students must be able to recognize their individual accomplishments and believe that personal success was because of their own actions. I recognize that having a positive self-concept is critical during the early years, knowing that how we view ourselves affects future ideas, feelings, decisions, actions, expectations, and general performance in life.

Keeping a portfolio of their previous work proved to be a great way for me to show students exactly how far they’ve come and how much they’ve accomplished. Besides overwhelming positive reinforcement and constant encouragement, the portfolios I keep will help students gain confidence in their work. If keeping a portfolio is but one more thing I can do to boost their self-esteem, then I will accept the importance of my role in attributing to self-concept and do all I can to support it.

The Money Machine.

Today we learned about money. To approach the topic of money, we did an overview of the names, values, and purpose of money. Doing the typical Kindergarten thing we sang a lot of cool songs about money. We even clarified a lot of key questions like "Is there a jail on the back of a penny. " I wanted to remind them that money doesn't just grow on trees, so we talked about where it comes from. I mentioned the special machines that make the money. That's where the first question arose.

"What's a machine?"

To be simple I said, "A machine is something that is made to do a specific job for you, like a computer or washing machine." I didn't get too specific with the electrical portion of it.

I went on to describe how it's not something we can own and only specific people (the government) can use this machine. That's where the final question arose.

"What's the government?"

And that's where I stopped. You can only guess why. Hopefully I haven't created a terrible image of the government, but somehow I think they'll end up discovering that on their own.

If you give Miss Molly a break...

If you give Miss Molly a break from teaching, she will dearly miss the children. She will be eager to get back to school and will happily return at the end of her break.

Returning to school will remind her about how special the children are. So, she will discover as much as she can from them to help them better their growth.

Their blossoming personalities will remind her about how really entertaining they can be. And she will further embark on the journey of sharing their joyous laughs, giggles, smiles, while learning and taking on new experiences together.

She will invest so much time into teaching everything she can to these very energetic children, that she will become exhausted through all her triumphant efforts. She will mark her calendar for her next break and press on with patience, love, and perseverance.

Working hard will cause the time to pass and her break will finally come. Yet everyone knows, once you give Miss Molly a break, she will miss her Kindergartners dearly and will be excited to return recharged!

This is just a little something I wrote to describe my feelings about teaching and a break every now and then. It has the flow of one of my favorite Kindergarten stories, "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie." And to sum it all up, teaching is: Exhausting? Absolutely. Worth it? Totally.

Praise vs. Encouragement

When praise is given repeatedly, a child may learn to expect and rely on it. It also causes misinterpretation of your intent. Your child may begin to assume that your praise means approval, and likewise, the absence of praise means disapproval. It can lead to discouragement and fear to fail, whereas using encouragement can lead to acceptance of natural imperfections. To replace praise with encouragement, use phrases that put the emphasis on the child’s feelings and get rid of phrases that would indicate a personal opinion. Using a phrase such as, “You should be proud of yourself,” instead of “I am proud ofyou,” shows lack of judgment, yet is still found supportive and encouraging.

It is natural for a child to experience the “I can do it” feeling and is something that should be encouraged. A parent’s natural tendency when a child does something pleasing is to say, “Good job,” however this actually shows judgment. It ultimately limits the child’s ability to be proud of his or her own work. It shows an assessment of what the child does and an opinion that you were pleased. The more praise occurs, the more the child will look for ways to please you. They will then come to you for approval, and will fail to be satisfied with what they do for his or her own sake. Replacing praise words with encouraging phrases such as “You did it,” will promote a healthy sense of accomplishment.

Over-praising can lead to neglect in personal gain. Eventually, a child will not appreciate a task as much and leave an activity they could otherwise have benefited from. Their filter can quickly become doing it for someone else’s satisfaction rather than their own. Knowing this, we see that the greatest benefit comes from personal satisfaction and not the satisfaction of others. When assisting in tasks, try making observations such as, “You made a tall tree,” instead of saying “I like your picture.” A child will still feel loved and supported through their own learning without feeling the need to hear a good opinion.

I love my job.

As if the title didn't say it any more clear, it's true - I love teaching Kindergarten. You see, what I love best about my job is the power that I have. No, I didn't become a teacher because I get gratification from telling five-year-olds what to do all day. In fact, that can get a bit annoying. The power I have doesn't come from force, but from a sincere desire to influence an individual's life. As a teacher, I have the power to motivate. I have the power to inspire. I have the power to encourage. I have the power to comfort. But most of all, I have the power to make a difference. Everything I do and everything I say has to be intentional. Without intent, my power is useless.

The school year has begun and I have already found ways to use the power to create excitement in even the simplest of tasks, like counting to three. I experienced so much fulfillment while asking my new sprouts to count to three on the third day of school. Easy? Of course. But I can assure you, with as much expression and enthusiasm that I used, counting to three is proven to be quite the accomplishment. If you were in my class, even you would feel special for doing it. :) For added thrill, we even counted backwards - three, two, one. They walked away from our Daily Doodle Bug with bright shining smiles. Let's just say it was a BIG deal, and they felt proud.

I can't help but look at these five-year-olds and sometimes six-year-olds and see nothing but potential. When I look at them I don't see all in which they do not know (for at the beginning of the year that seems like an abundance) Instead, I look at them and see all that they can learn, all that their curious minds want to learn, and finally, all that I know they will learn. It seems like a big task to teach a child who can barely write their name how to write entire sentences in nine months, and even more so to teach a child who can barely identify alphabet letters how to read. I wait in anticipation. The accomplishment of this task is only a portion of the joy that I get out of teaching. The other portion of joy comes through the entire journey of the school year -- a journey that I am looking forward to sharing with a whole new crop of tender sprouts.