When the Lessons are for You

So today was one of "those" days.  You know, when it seems like you're down to the very last drop of your patience.  When every noise sets you on edge.  When each toy left on the floor seems like a personal vendetta that you and only you can avenge.  These kinds of days always seem to be both a nightmare and a blessing for me.  Just when I think I can't take it for another second, and the smoke from my temperamental Vesuvius starts to fume... my teacher karma sets in.

Case and point:  Due to a short field trip to our local library my class is running about fifteen minutes behind schedule.  Because of this, lunch time seems to be a whirlwind of chaos as we try to get everyone served and fed in as little time as possible.  The children are serving themselves at the normal glacial speed that four year olds only seem to adopt for things that you need done quickly.  In my haste I announce that I will be pouring their drinks and begin to fill their glasses.  Of course I'm thinking 'I'm on top of things now, I'm the in control adult'.  And thats about the time I notice that I have poured almost an entire pitcher of water onto the head of the student sitting beneath me.

Yes, I am the in control adult.

And right there, right in that moment when I think maybe I have really lost it for the day.... this little boy puts his hands on his hips, looks at his friends at the table and declares "Well I think I'm getting a shower!"  And we laugh.  I mean really laugh.

Teacher karma... I say so often is probably the best saving grace of this job.  I honestly believe teaching is one of the few jobs on this planet where you can be having the worst day and in a single act/word/ look from a child suddenly be thinking "this is the best job ever".  The moment where a child says "I love you" for no reason, or you hear them humming a song to themselves that you taught them, or they sense your grouchy mood and tell you 5 minutes worth of completely nonsensical knock knock jokes, or they walk up with that piece of artwork they've been slaving over for the last 20 minutes and announce that it was made for you.  What other job has these moments?  Teacher karma...sometimes the lessons are for you.  Take a deep breath.  It's not the end of the world.  Stop taking things so seriously.

Patience is supposed to be the teachers superpower, but everybody has a day of kryptonite.  I'm always curious how other teachers deal when their emotions get the better of them.   Parents and teachers alike, if you have any suggestions or stories I'd love to hear!!

Until then I'll just keep humming my old Follies backup "It's like I'm losing my mind" and remember that karma never sends us storms without a little sunshine after.

Teach on!

What I Like About You

So Monster week is over, but the lessons remain.  At the beginning of the week I read a book to the children called Most Loved Monster by Lynn Downey.  In it a Mamma monster puts all four of her baby monsters to bed by telling them what makes each of them uniquely special.  Of course it's funny because what makes you special in monster world is not exactly the same as human world.  Afterwards I gathered my students around and one by one had each stand with me in front.  I asked the remaining students to say what they liked best about the student standing with me (not necessarily what made them special, because at such a young age a child may be singled out for a disability rather than a quality).  I wrote down each child's answers on a chart to hang in the class.

I'm sure many of you have heard of this lesson in different formats.  Who can hold back the sap tears when reading of the teacher who did this with her elementary students, giving each child their own page of notebook paper, and finding out twenty years later that most of her students not only have kept their pages but carry them everyday?  It's an easily expandable and adaptable lesson that may carry a bigger impact than you ever imagine.  Personally I was surprised and delighted to hear my students complimenting each other for the rest of the day, a few of them are still doing it weeks later!

The Most Loved Monster book is a great jumping off point, but incase monsters aren't really your thing I've heard that the book You're All My Favorites by Sam McBratney has a very similar theme using forest animals.  Whatever book you choose to use I truly believe this is a lesson that should be used as soon and as often as possible.

Teach On!

Book Club: Monster Mash

And we're back!  Seeing as we're nearing the season of things that go bump in the night, I thought it might be fun to do a Monster theme week.  My excitement for it fueled by the chance to read one of my favorite books of all time. Although I do not yet have one for it, Leonardo the Terrible Monster is an amazing book for launching a lesson on making good choices and what it means to be a good friend.  Most people might remember Mo Willems for writing the Pigeon books (previously used for a lesson below).  He has many other hilarious and worthwhile series and characters, but none have quite touched my heart like Leonardo.  You see, Leonardo is a terrible monster... terrible at being a monster is really more like it.  He can't scare anyone, and when he finally is able to make a little boy cry, it isn't his fault at all but rather the outcome of a really crummy day.  After the little boy vents his frustrations to Leonardo, he decides that maybe being a wonderful friend is better than a terrible monster.  It gets me everytime!   Like all of Mo Willems books its funny in a way that both children and adults can appreciate, and really whats better than laughing right along with your students at storytime?  The illustrations are simple and cute, writing and grammar are great, and moral of the story is perfect.  


But wait!


While rummaging through my local bargain book bin I found this little beauty.  I picked it up simply for the beautiful cover, but oh my am I glad I did.  Are there really few things more exciting than stumbling across a new and amazing book?  Something you should know about me...I'm a book snob.  I mean grade A, fine toothed comb, must be flawless book snob.  This rule applies not only to the adult sized novels I read, but probably even more so to the books I decide to share with children.  I guess I take it a little seriously that I might be garnering a love of reading every time I sit down to storytime.  I can still remember the way I felt about certain books as a child, as if they were magic.  I know without doubt that illustrations have helped carve the way I see the world.  I know Dr. Seuss helped me grow a love of words and ways to use them, I know Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs helped mold the stretches of my imagination, and I know that Theodore Mouse Goes to Sea sparked a light of adventure in my soul.  Like I said, I take books very seriously.  In my dream classroom I don't own a single book that I don't believe will nurture some expanse of my students minds.  When I choose books now it's with an empathetic mind, always asking myself if I were a kid, would this book stick with me?  Does it have the magic?  The Monster Princess by D.J. MacHale, brings me back to that place.  The writing, complete with beautiful rhyming, has an old school fairy tale feel to it.  It weaves a story with an actual plot (something difficult to find these days), and ends with a moral that almost chokes me up (but then again I'm a sap).  The best part about it?  It's a story about mean girls, a theme that I feel is cropping up sadly early in children's lives now a days.  How many pre-school teachers can already identify queen bee's in their classrooms?  Sad but true, these small diva's sometimes boggle me with their aptitude towards adolescent cruelty.  
Which brings me back to the book, where a small monster (Lala) attempts to live her dream of being a princess among the three sisters who live in the castle.  At first they seem kind as they dress and make her up for the ball that night.  But when she is humiliated during her grand entrance she realizes that she was really only the butt of their cruel joke.  She flees back to her underground home only to venture out one last time to return the dress they lent her.  As she is traveling back to the castle she stumbles across a monster even larger and more fearsome than herself who is about to eat the three princesses.  Thinking quickly Lala distracts him so that the princesses might escape.  Afterwards they are so grateful they tell Lala that she indeed is a princess and may live in the castle with them.  But Lala says thanks but no thanks, she's realized she's happy being just who she is and would rather return home.  
This book is as beautifully illustrated as it is written and provides a lesson I think we are never to young to begin learning.  Even though I don't have a lesson for it yet, I did ask several questions while reading.  Was it nice for the princesses to trick Lala?  How did it make Lala feel?  I have to say I was almost surprised to see the sad faces on my students as Lala was humiliated at the ball.  They felt for her, and their answers showed their disappointment in the three princesses.  I would love to one day find a full blown lesson to go along with this story, but for now it will simply have to be happy with a permanent spot on my classroom shelf.  


Be kind to each other


and Teach on!

Bear Feels Scared

Hello again!  

This week the theme in our class was Teddy Bears.  I had already decided that I wanted to fit an emotional development lesson in so was intent to find the perfect jumping stone story during my weekly library visit.  Enter Karma Wilson and her Bear books.  Besides being beautifully illustrated (by Jane Chapman) each story offers a situation that most children find themselves in at some time or another.  Oh, and they rhyme, without sacrificing vocabulary or flow...which is a big deal to me.  For my lesson I chose Bear Feels Scared.   This time of year especially, being scared seems to be a regular occurrence in my classroom.  I think its important to discuss fears with children.  So often I think to instinct is to calm them and move on.  Even with the best intentions the message is normally that children shouldn't feel what they feel.  How often have you said the phrase to a scared child "oh honey it's ok, there's nothing to be afraid of."?  Of course we mean well, but maybe instead of just telling children they shouldn't be afraid, we could teach them coping skills to deal with their emotion.  I believe a HUGE part of teaching emotional development is teaching metacognition, or teaching children to think about their thoughts.  And finally we arrive at the lesson!  This lesson is mostly about getting children to think about not only what frightens them but also what makes them feel safe again.  Because of the age level (3-4) I decided to have pre-made answers they could choose from, but definitely  you could have older children come up with their own answers and maybe illustrate them.  Really there's all kinds of places you could go with this lesson, knowing me and my class I went with the most basic form.


Lesson: Bear Feels Scared
Age: Pre-k/Kindergarten
Subject: Emotional Development
Objective: Children will be able to identify their own fears and coping skills.
Procedure:  
1) Read the book Bear Feels Scared by Karma Wilson.  Ask children to make a scared face, make sure the children know the difference between being scared and being scary.  As you read, ask children why Bear is afraid, where is he, what is around him?  At the end ask why Bear feels safe again, again notice the environment in the pictures.
2) Ask children what makes them feel scared.  Allow each child to discuss their fears, try not to cut them off if they seem to talk for a long time. 
3) Tell the children you have brought some things with you that can make them feel better when they are scared.  Have pre-made pictures or representations ready.  May include: A hug, family, friends, teachers, a nightlight, a blanket, a toy....etc.
4)  Have the children take turns coming up to choose what they think would make them feel better when they are scared.  If they are able ask them why they chose that.  
5)  Discuss how some options might be different when they are at school or at home, at home they can use their family, at school they can use their teachers or friends.  
6)  If you haven't already established one, have children choose a special spot in the room where they can go to feel better when they are scared, sad, or angry.  
7) Wrap up by reminding children that it's ok to feel scared, that everyone does sometimes, but that they also know what makes them feel better and it's ok to ask for it if they need it.  

Materials:  
*Book Bear Feels Scared by Karma Wilson
*Pre-made cut outs of coping pictures


Variations:
*Older children can identify and draw their own fears and coping skills.  
*If children aren't able to come up with fears you may want to have similar "fear cards" available for them to choose from.  


I got a great response from this lesson.  Despite their age the children were able to come up with well articulated fears.  The children all seemed engaged enough that they didn't even repeat each others answers (which we all know can be the curse of any lesson).  For me the pre-made coping choices worked out best.  Each child was able to choose what they felt would make them feel better, and again none of them seemed to copy responses.  To test this at the end I asked them if they had any ideas of their own of things that might make them feel better when they are scared.  As I guessed they weren't able to come up with much on their own so I didn't feel bad about providing ready made answers for them.  I'm all for getting children to originate their own solutions to problems, but as teachers we need to make sure we're tailoring each lesson to the ability of our students.  


Next week is Monsters, and if you can guess which book I'll be discussing I'll give you a shiny gold star!  


Teach on!

Book Club

Often times I find that great lesson plans come from great books.  Weekly trips to the library have become a kind of standard now.  Most weeks I count on books to inspire at least half of my lessons, believing that you can never go wrong when you tie in literacy.  To be honest I'd love to create a curriculum that was based entirely around literacy (math, science, and all!) but that's another blog!  So what better way to get inspired to teach a great emotional development lesson than a great emotional development story!?!


I plan on having lessons to share later in the week, but I'm taking this opportunity to begin a new segment for lessons that are yet to be.  Book Club will be a place to introduce stories that can become jumping off points for lessons of the future.  This week we're starting off with a brand spanking new book called Cloudette, written by Tom Lichtenheld.  It's the story of a cloud so small that she doesn't feel like she can contribute anything helpful.  She searches and searches until one day, by accident, she finds herself above a small dried up pond.  Giving it her all she is able to produce enough rain to fill the pond and make it a happy home for a family of frogs.  For me the message behind this book is that no matter how small or insignificant you feel you can still make the world a better place.  It's well written (which is a BIG deal to me), funny, and beautifully illustrated.  It just came out this year so it should still be easy to find.


Books with emotional lessons aren't rare, but sometimes I think we just want to leave it at the carpet and not go any further with the message intended.  I encourage teachers not to let the book do the work for them, but instead be inspired by it.  Take advantage of the fact that most children are captivated by stories, allow them to live it out loud by extending it into their classrooms and lives.


If you read or have already read this book and have a great lesson idea, share with us!  Or equally awesome, if you have a book you'd like to recommend for book club send it along!  This might not be the last you see of this book from me, just waiting for the right time and brain storm (no pun intended).  As for now, believe me, it's worth the trip to the library!


Teach on!

Don't Let the Pigeon...!

Guess I better get this thing started then!  I have used this lesson a couple of times.  I would recommend it with Kindergarten and 1st grade, although I'm excited to try with pre-k to see what can be done.  It is based around the very popular and VERY funny Pigeon books by Mo Willems.  Really any one will do, but it's fun to start with the first which was Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.  I really enjoy basing lessons around books for the obvious reason that it can encourage a love of reading and draws literacy into everything.  When I did this lesson last Spring in a Kindergarten class it exploded into an entire theme.  We read every Pigeon book there was in preparation for the lesson.  Soon the walls were papered in pictures like the one to the right.  Children who had never shown any interest in the writing center began spending their entire playtime there creating new stories and begging for them to be shared with the class.  I'll be honest, it was beyond what I could have hoped for.  The end result of this lesson can be a single Big Book that is kept in class for the children to read whenever they want.  Because of the popularity it took on in my class I decided to copy, laminate, and bind a small book for each child to take home with them.  A lesson similar to this can also be found on Mo Willems own website, as are a few more that are worth a look!


Don't Let The Pigeon!

Learning Objective:  The class as a whole will write their own book.  Academically children will be able to use dialogue in the writing process.  For emotional development students will identify bodily emotions and the use of excuses.

Connection:  Children are learning the different components of writing a story including twists and exciting endings.  Children are encouraged to add environmental print to their illustrations and will be better equipped to develop multifaceted stories after adding dialogue.

Teach/Model:   1)  Week leading up to the lesson read “Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive the Bus!” by Mo Willems. (Or any other Pigeon book available)  Discuss the use of only dialogue to tell a story. Ask the class who likes to use the word “no”.  Talk about if there are right and wrong times to use the word.  Which are which?  Talk about why it is ok to say “no” to the Pigeon, what could happen if he drove the bus? 2)  Day of lesson: Remind students of the Pigeon books they have been reading this week.  Ask if anyone had a particular favorite.  Reiterate why is was important to say "no" to the pigeon when he asked for something.   3)  Ask children what sorts of things they ask for but are told “no” (i.e.. stay up late, eat candy for dinner, watch TV all day).  Make a list on chart-pad. 4)  Have students vote on one that most kids agree on, Write “Don't Let the Pigeon _______” on the chart-pad. 5)  Ask kids to think of different excuses they say to their parents to try to allow them to do the things they aren't allowed.  Write each excuse on a different newsprint. 6)  Announce that the children will be writing their very own Pigeon book together using the title they all voted on.  Each child will get one page of the book to write and color.  Show students the different options of Pigeon they might be assigned (Pre-made pictures of pigeon with empty dialogue bubbles).  Ask them to consider the emotion the Pigeon is expressing when thinking of an excuse (Ie...Pigeon looks sad, what is something sad you might say to try to get what you want?). 7)  Provide children with a "brainstorm" page.  Have them write down the excuses they want the pigeon to say on their book page (think of 2-3).  Once they have decided on the best one they may write it in their dialogue bubble and color in their pigeon.   8)  When the children have finished their pages put them all together and read the classes Pigeon book.  Bind this book to keep in class and make copies for the children to keep at home.

Active Engagement: 1)  Children will work together to develop excuses and Title ideas.

Link to Independent Work: 1)  Children will each develop excuses for their own page that they will write and illustrate.

Quality Questions: 1) What is an excuse?  What kinds of excuses do we use? 2) What kinds of things is it ok to say "no" to?  Why do we say "no"? 3) What are things we are told "no" to? 4) How does our emotion change our excuse?

Share:  Have children read their book at home to their parents.

Materials:   1) Chart-pad & markers 2) Pre-made empty pigeon dialogue pages 3) Don't Let The Pigeon Drive the Bus book, and any others available 4) Binding materials

Sorry for the wonky formatting.  I promise I'll get better at it!

This lesson can be readjusted for any number of requirements.  I think if and when I get the chance to do this with pre-k I would do a single big book and teach it completely as a carpet lesson rather than have the children brain storm and work individually.  This lesson has a lot of components, but if the children can come away with only an understanding of different emotional vocal responses then I believe it's a job well done!  Check back for new lesson plans and as always don't feel shy to share your own!

Teach on!

Welcome!

Throughout my journey to becoming a teacher I've found that I am most inspired by lessons that teach emotional education.  A teacher that can motivate a class to be excited for math, writing, or reading is amazing.  One that can motivate even a single child to survive in a world of obstacles and emotions is a treasure.  I think the idea of emotional education can be intimidating for most teachers.  They're afraid it isn't their place, or in their ability to reach into the depths of what makes up the little humans that walk into their classrooms everyday.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think it is our job to "mold" children any more than most parents would want us to.  But I do believe in the power of enabling a child to emotionally handle whatever they may come up against, at the very least, in our own classrooms.  Think of it in terms of the war on bullying that has made such a strong appearance in our schools today.  This recent push towards bullying awareness is great, but a few lessons a year won't really cut it on a daily basis of social interaction, pressures, and stressors.  So often teachers find themselves asking how they will deal with a situation that requires discipline, but what I find so often lacking is the mindset that these situations are opportunities for emotional lessons.  In a classroom with 25-30 children this seems like a luxury, but if the lessons are worked in from the start, then eventually they will require less and less attention.  Sitting and talking with a child for 5 minutes one day may save you hundreds of minutes of “discipline” in the future.  Even better, working these lessons into everyday curriculum allows the children to learn to interact with each other with compassion, in turn making the classroom all the more family environment that is strived for.  My goal for this blog is to not only share some idea's for everyday lessons in emotional intelligence, but for it to become a forum where teachers who have used lessons themselves may share them here for others to reference.  If you have a lesson that you have used with positive results please email the details to me so we may share it with others who are looking for a lesson to use in their own class!  Photo's, samples, video, and audio files are all accepted.  Let's start the emotication revolution!!


Teach on!