· Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) (Little Golden Book) Aug 1, 2000 by Rick Bunsen and Arkadia
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Treat each child, boy or girl, as perfect spiritual being, and you see that the environment is the cause of any misbehavior. Fix the problem in the environment, and you don't have to fix the blame. So, let's analyze what is the problem, and fix that.
Children, boys or girls, misbehave as a reflection of some abandonment or negativity from the adult supervising. The main problem is usually "abandonment" - giving too much opportunity for foolish mental wandering that leads to violence in the end. fixing that problem, for example, give children work that interests them, when they can't find it on their own. In addition, make a rule (for yourself) that no child gets up out of his/her chair without a purpose to do something positive, good, and intelligent. No wandering around. If a child seems to be "bored" or "inattentive", interact with questions or directions.
Children under six benefit most from work to handle objects. Over six, you have to inspire them with some idea that interests them. A question such as "what do you think?" or "what are you doing?" is often a good place to begin. Or, "What can you do about that?' Only when the child comes up with a sound, rational idea to work on something intelligently, do you allow the latitude to move around and interact with others.
In this approach, there is no blame or condemnation or punishment of children. It's all about taking responsibility for the environment. There is a scientific technology for following this way of being with children. International Montessori Society - http://imsmontessori.org
First, there must be a commitment of all the students to the task at hand. In the beginning of the class, for example, explain that it is their choice to be there, and the class will decide on rules of behavior and participation. Spend some time talking about what THEY want to achieve, and how they wish to function as a community of free-choice participants in the learning situation. If you can get this level of commitment to the social order, then the students themselves can have a meeting to decide on rules and punishment, if any. And, you will be teaching the students self-control and self-governance which is a lot more than "fractions" or "parts of speech". "
.....and praising them for their help is paramount....even a cute postcard that goes home with them saying "Jimmy helped the teacher find the missing puzzle piece" (You get the idea!)
Over the years, I have found that names on the board (by the way....children love to see their names in print) just DOES NOT WORK for young children."
Monday, September 2, 2013
- The ratio of students to teachers is generally much greater in public schools.
- Teachers in public (and private) schools may have difficult or negative co-workers to contend with.
- Public school teachers in general have more students with emotional needs.
- Students with behavioral problems are a distraction.
Regardless of the setting, engaging students is key to helping them grasp basic concepts that will be used as building blocks for future learning. If they decide early on that learning can be interesting and fun, it will open up a whole new world for them. If you teach history, have the students act out an important event. If you teach math, have the students apply their math skills by solving real-life scenarios, like determining how many liters of drinks and how many ounces of chips it will take to treat the entire class to snacks on Friday. Use interactive games like Multiple Madness® to improve basic math skills like multiplication. Use journaling in science class and art in reading class.
Whatever you do, don't allow stress to affect your performance as an educator. Aside from taking time for yourself... and occasionally counting to ten before you react or respond... there are tons of online resources to make this a successful school year! Check out our link to free teacher resources, and feel free to add your favorite links in the comments section of our blog. Share your favorite teaching tips, concerns or hot topics on our Facebook page.
|"Out of this world" reading experience|
|Teachers playing Multiple Madness|
|Students playing Multiple Madness|
Monday, March 4, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
"In the last few years, Americans have collectively paid attention to the issue of bullying like never before; millions of school children have been given a voice, 49 states in the U.S. have passed anti-bullying legislation, and thousands of adults have been trained in important strategies to keep kids safe and dignified in schools and communities. These are significant achievements.