This week I read
the Chapters 3 & 4 in the book And with a Light Touch. The
focus of the chapters is Environment and Tone. These are the perfect chapters for teachers
to read and reread this time of year, as we are getting ready to set up our
classroom and prepare of our new students.
Chapter 3 was title
Classroom Climate. Carol writes about the importance of
involving the children in the decision making process in the classroom from the
very beginning. She writes about the
importance of creating routines in the
classroom. She writes about the
importance of the teacher’s tone. What kind of teacher are you? The type that rules the kingdom and the
subjects just do what they are told. Are
you the type of teacher who creates a million activities to keep the children
busy? Or are you the type of teacher who
listens and observes the students and believes that you learning along with the
children?
This is the point
that stuck with me:
We work together, we are a learning community.
I’ve heard this
before, but it is a good reminder as I get ready to begin the year. I love the word community. It
is a word that pops up in our Religion, Science and Social Studies books.
How do you teach
children what a community is and how to be part of one? At the first grade level Carol suggests
through literature and daily modeling.
She begins her year
with having the students create the class rules. She of course guides them in positive
phrasing however she lets them feel as though they are in charge of the rules. All classrooms have the same basic
rules: We
are kind to each other and we work hard together.
My plan for the
first day of school…………I am going to guide my students to help them
create classroom rules as well. We will
write the rules on chart paper so we can remember them. Then on the second day I will tell my
students that I took all their ideas and created a poster of First Grade Rules….
I plan on combining
two of my ideas from the past, faces and names.
The students will create their faces and we will put them around this poster I found at eighteen28 to show we are a community together.
Then we will decorate our names and put them around our new rules to show we will do our best to follow them.
Chapter 4 is all
about Planning and Preparing
Thinking about how
you set up your classroom and how you manage your lesson plans and
records.
Carol’s main point is keep your room kid friendly. Don’t spend a lot of time over decorating
your classroom; just set up the basics and let the kids take part in the
rest. She said she can set up her
classroom in one weekend! Wow, that is
something to aim for.
Next Week's Reading is all about Writing in the Classroom. Sounds Good!
