The Social Teacher

This week was all about Roleplaying. What is role playing? Role playing is students acting out situations.  These roleplay scenarios are to learn about how to react to conflicts around them. The student got into groups and acted out:  Classroom:  you don't have a pencil someone budged you in line someone is bumping you during carpet time  someone is humming or whistling in class no more tissues Lunch Time:  you need you milk open you have to go to the bathroom you spilled someone pushed you  you don't like your food Recess:  someone hits/kicks you you can't find anyone to play with you someone won't leave you alone you are hurt someone pushed you off the slide All of them had the same reaction: Stop, Think, Do I had them pick their friends for these scenarios because they feel comfortable acting in front of people with their friends next to them.  

Size of the problem is a reoccurring theme for all first graders! It's so hard to keep their little bodies under control when we have so much learning to do! They always keep tabs on each other.  Sometimes it can be a good thing, sometime not. Today we read the story: Ravi's Roar by Tom Percival . This is a book about a boy's reaction to certain problems.  He turns mouse size problems into elephant.  We review mouse, dog, and elephant size problems.  We discuss how Ravi's reactions were to elephant size problems, but they weren't. We then discuss his behavior might be a little embarrassing because he is overreacting. 

 The picture below is a great lesson.  Have the discussion of what you can control and what you can't control with your students. I should have done this lesson in September but I'm glad I did now than later.   This is a great discussion about what we can control and what we can't control. This is a lesson you discuss now but will use (I hope) the whole school year.  I am hoping to use it when there are conflicts at recess and during work n play.  

 I'm not going to lie, as I was writing last weeks blog I was going to just tell you about the cookie self-control experiment and then move on to my next lesson.  But the more I thought about it, how will be student learn if I don't explain it to them.   In first grade terms we talked about the cookie experiment and how some of us got two, some of us didn't...and we talked about our feelings. (mad, angry, frustrated, upset) Our bodies get that way sometimes where we can't control them and we want the cookie so bad! And so I ask them... WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN WE NOTICE WE CAN'T CONTROL OUR BODIES?? We wrote a list:  We can... *take 3 deep breathes  *count to 10 *ask for a wiggle break (walk to the office and back) * GoNoodles I kept it small for a reason.  If you give them too many ideas, they will forget all of them. We kept it to four.  

What is one lesson you think of right away when teaching self-control: The Cookie Test  Do you know it? I think it is done using marshmallows.  But I'm using cookies! Yum! This test has been used for years! Mostly for younger (3/4 year olds) I gave the students one cookie at their desk.  I tell them that I have to go to the bathroom. I tell them that they can eat it now or wait when I get back and I will give them another one.  Before I even left the room, two students ate the cookie.  I didn't show any emotion. I simply walked and "went to the bathroom".  I came back after a couple of minutes.   Those two students were in tears. Five other students ate the cookie when I was gone.  A third of my class didn't have the self-control to wait for another cookie.   Those two students were in tears because when I left the students that waited told them they weren't getting another cookie. They were sad because they weren't getting another one.   The student 2/3 o

 Decided to have lunch with my boys again who have been blurting. I feel like one discussion isn't going to make it go away so we had lunch again.   Yes, some of my students are jealous because I am having lunch with them again. But I just tell the students that they will get to have lunch with me to someday but not yet.  I do lunch groups towards the end of the school year and a fun thing.  So, they next story we read while we at was Interrupting Chicken by: David Ezra Stein . This is a cute book about a little chicken interrupting his dad reading him a bedtime story.   As we were reading it, the students were blurting.  I said hmm...aren't you kind of acting like this chicken.  The students was not happy that I compared him to that. But I think it was an eye opener for that student.  Haha! Hey you gotta do what you gotta do!  We finished the story.  The writing seemed to help the students for now.  My hopes is that they don't want to write it down any more which will get

 I have tried it all. Cubes in their desk to take away, punch cards, I've even yelled blurt everytime they blurted, and so much more.  How do you stop students from blurting...please comment below and help me! :) October's theme in my classroom for social/emotional activities has been self/body control.  Size of the problem is a great way to start it out by discuss reactions to problem in hopes they have control when it is a small/medium problem.   Blurting is an issue this school year.  Yikes! I have couple that just won't stop.  I had lunch with them today and we discuss how much blurting is going on in the classroom and we need to figure out how to stop it.  It is distracting to our learning (and annoying, but I didn't say that haha!).  While we were eating lunch, we read the book: My Mouth is a Volcano by Julia Cook.  This is about a little boy that constantly interrupts. When he has something to say in "erupts" in his mouth and he has to say it. As the st

Part 3! I will keep referring to this throughout the school year. But one more lesson to practice this:  This was a fun lesson that I'm glad I decided to do.  We went to the gym for the students to also get their wiggles and sillies out.  In three different parts of the gym, I set up the three posters: mouse, dog, and elephant.  I give the students a scenario (it may be a reaction or a problem). The students will skip, run, jump, etc. to the correct poster.  I ran them till they were tired. Ask your gym teacher when the gym is available.  Ours is all day Friday.  Don't forget to email other teachers when you will be in the gym so you don't get double books.   Trust me, your student will love extra gym time and not ever realize they are actually learning! 

 Keeping with the weeks theme: Size of the Problem, we first review the three animals, there size difference, and the sort we did yesterday. I it crucial you review so the students understand that this is what we will use throughout the school year when conflicts and problems arise. This is in hopes that they figure out a lot of their problems on their own.  Today, we will sort our reactions to problems. We will tape them next to the picture of the animals. I use a different color for students to refer to in the future.  

This week's big theme is: Size of the Problem We all have the tattler's. We all have the over dramatic students. We also have the students that just let the student hit them and they don't care.   Teach size of the problem and your prayers will be answered (hopefully). Well, at least it will give you something to refer to when students still overreact to certain situations.  We have mouse size problems (small), dog size problems (medium), elephant size problems (big).  When you introduce this lesson I suggest that you first discuss the size of the three animals.  And how there is a huge different between them all.  We look at picture of the animals and take the time to dicuss the size difference.  Then I explain to them that we have a lot of problems occur throughout our day, but we react to all of those problems differently. Sometimes we just ignore, sometimes we need to tell a teacher, sometimes we cry and there is an emergency (hopefully you don't have an emergency e

 I don't want to start an argument in here so please don't...but kids need to play! That doesn't mean that need to play all day. I'd suggest first grade play the last half hour of the day.  This will give them a brain break from the day.  These kiddos work hard, they need a time to play.   But I'm sneaky remember?  This Work N Play time is also them learning how to play with friends.  The students learn to be gentle with toys, share, and communicate with each other. Are you thinking, don't they already know that? No, they don't.  My group of students this year and very hard with my toys and they argue a lot during this time.  What is Work N Play?  I have buckets of toys all over the classroom for them to play with: cars, blocks, big kennex, Legos, little kennex, and dinosaurs for right now. I change them throughout the school year.  Four students can play at one bucket.  I will set the timer for 10-15 minutes. After that time, they clean up and switch to a d