SOLSC #24 Not the mantras I want repeated

I am posting every day during March as part of the annual "Slice of Life" Challenge for Two Writing Teachers.  Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.

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Our walk today was only two blocks long,
on a bright, sunny, though somewhat crispy, cold day.
(40 degrees, I think? Not much wind...
not too bad from my perspective...
I thought the fresh air would do us all some good).

But when we got to the furthest point away from school,
I had three preschoolers
who could not be soothed,
who began to repeat the most annoying mantras,
who didn't care how their words and actions affected the rest of us.
Over and over,
all the way back to school,
making the walk feel so, so, so long,
as they repeated,
and repeated
and repeated:

Child One [refusing to zip up his coat or put on his gloves from his pocket] - I am cold. I am cold. I am cold. I am cold. I am cold. I am cold. I am cold. I am cold. I am cold. I am cold.
Child Two [pulling the walking rope to stop the entire line of classmates] - I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to.
Child Three [walking backwards]-Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that?

To me, at the front of the line, I heard:

I am cold. I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. Why are you saying that? I am cold. Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that?  I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I am cold.  I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I am cold. Why are you saying that? I am cold. I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. Why are you saying that? I am cold. Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that?  I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I am cold.  I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I am cold. Why are you saying that? I am cold. I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. Why are you saying that? I am cold. Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that?  I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I am cold.  I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I am cold. Why are you saying that? I am cold. I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. Why are you saying that? I am cold. Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that?  Idon'twanttowalkthisfarandIamnotgoingtoIamcoldIamcoldWhyareyousayingthat
Idon'twanttowalkthisfarandIamnotgoingtoIamcoldIamcoldWhyareyousayingthat

Yes, it was dreadful.

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(A daily share by preschoolers in their own words)

A Story Collage by Zuren

     The Daddy is trying to get out of a cave. And the bear is blocking him. He jumps over him, but the bear is too tall for him to jump over and he keeps blocking him. Then the monster, he was so mean, he just got so tall and he got higher and higher until he touched the sky. The monster is in the cave. But there is a good guy in the cave. He was trying to get the monster out of the cave so Daddy can go and fix his car. The End

SOLSC #20 Let's make a light tunnel!

I am posting every day during March as part of the annual "Slice of Life" Challenge for Two Writing Teachers.  Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.

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Melissa had the inspiration for this fun new exploration in our class. She had visited the East Wing of the Smithsonian National Art Gallery, only to be mesmerized by the gorgeous light tunnel on the basement level.

Could we create one for the Big Cats? In our classroom? To help them extend their exploration of shadows and light? Wouldn't they love this?

The next thing we knew, Melissa, Claire, and I were hard at work, trying to construct part of the tunnel using tri-fold boards (we found a few extra in our supply room - necessity is the mother of invention!).  This was yesterday, during nap time. There were many non-sleepers who watched our every move, engaged in our construction work, trying to imagine what we were creating. Our beloved building supervisor, Paul, saw us at work and remembered he had another large, strong box...perfect for a second section of our tunnel.

We were filled with our own inquiry -
how to make the box tunnel strong enough for a class of preschoolers to use?
how does one stabilize a box that will be open on both ends?
what could we use to reinforce the corners, to keep them at 90 degree angles? (Blocks, to the rescue!)

(We teachers were thinking like engineers!)

Check out the non-napper who is watching our every move!

Today, during centers, the children painted the boxes black - stretching long and tall to paint inside and out of these large boxes. Wow, did they love this! We turned on the music and danced as we painted. It seemed as if everyone was holding a paint brush soaked with black paint...there were definitely moments when I felt a slight panicky feeling that we had maybe taken on too big and messy a task!

But, ahhh, the delight on everyone's faces! Why not spend a morning this way?

So much more still to come - including the answer to our wondering, will these boxes be strong enough for children to go inside, many times over?

(The best news for me - the preschoolers were just as excited to help wipe the floor of its black speckles, at the end of our painting fun!)

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(A daily share by preschoolers in their own words)

A Story Collage by Micaela

     Once upon a time, a lot of people lived in the city at Sherman Circle. Me, my Daddy, my brother, and my Mom. And it was night-time. But then, I suddenly woke up. I heard a scared and spooky sound. I went into my Mom’s room and I had to tell her what the spooky sound was. I looked out the window. For five whole nights. And what I saw was spooky witches and they were messing all around. My favorite Sherman circle. I couldn’t do anything but I was even stronger than them. I went out there as fast as I could and I threw them in the trash. And then, they came out of the trash as fast as they could, but they couldn’t do anything – they were childs! Then a mother penguin came along and they said, “Are you my witch mother?” and she said, “No, I’m a penguin mother and I live in South America.” And a mother rabbit came and he said, “Are you my Mommy?” and she said, “No. I live in North America.” But then walking along, he saw his Mom and he ran over and then they got meaner and meaner but I foughted them off and a cowboy came to save the day. The End.

SOLSC #19 The power of breathing

I am posting every day during March as part of the annual "Slice of Life" Challenge for Two Writing Teachers.  Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.

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Today and yesterday, with the Mindfulness Conference a fresh echo in my head, I have been trying to both teach and practice breathing skills with the Big Cats. There are several children for whom a loud squawk, shriek, or scream is the first sign I have that something is amiss. I always run right to their side to discern, as quickly as possible, what just happened? is someone bleeding? is someone physically injured? The reality - typically - is much, much less grievous than the squawk, shriek, or scream indicated. Usually, a toy is being shared in a way that doesn't seem fair or some play has not gone their way. I've decided these more loud, volatile aggravations are a ripe opportunity for breathing!

Here's what happened:
1) He explodes when he thinks his classmate has more plastic golf balls than he has - "Ms. Ingram! He took them! Look! Look! Look! He has more! And it's not fair! And I need them! And I was using them."
2) She wails when I take away her doll so that her hands are free to help clean up the classroom with the rest of us - "I want my Mommy! I don't know how to clean! I need my doll!"
3) She screams when her classmate says she is a bad guy and they are running from her - "Waaah! Noooo!"

Each time, I made a conscious effort not to fix the problem, not to tell the child what to say, not to bring arguing parties together immediately. Instead, I got on my knees, on the child's level, and said in a calm voice, "Breathe in, breathe out. Try again, take a deep breath. Let the air out." Sometimes the child kept crying. I continued to soothe, now putting my hand up with four fingers - "See these four candles? Try to blow them out." For each, this was strangely irresistible - they blew at my hand, and I pretended that the four finger candles fell over. I had them blow out these 'candles' two more times.

Then, "Wow, you are calm now. You are breathing so nicely. Now what?"

Each of them solved their own situation! It was a small miracle!
1) "I'm going to tell him he has more than me and I don't like that. We will build a big ramp together."
2) "I'm going to pick up books and put them back on the shelf."
3) "I'm going to tell her that I am not a bad guy! We will chase other bad guys together!"


I am truly amazed.

I see the power of simply being present - not assuming right, wrong, anything.

Wow.

I wonder,
How long will I stay calm in these situations?

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(A daily share by preschoolers in their own words)

A Story Collage by Lily

     Those are princess girls. The bear is blocking the way. And that is blocking. The princesses are lost. The tree is lost. They are in the jungle! And the bear is blocking their way. And it is called “Cinderellie”! Once upon a time there was Cinderellie and her mice. The End

SOLSC #18 What makes me smile

I am posting every day during March as part of the annual "Slice of Life" Challenge for Two Writing Teachers.  Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.

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Is this the first day that my mind has been absolutely blank, without an idea for a blogpost? May it not be my general feeling from now through the end of the month! Writing is a struggle when you have no ideas juggling around within.

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The preschoolers returned to school this morning and we are all delighted to be together! We had some very special moments.

How about a list of things that have made me smile so far today?

• Getting a delicious gift of homemade hamantaschen (sp?) from one of my families, accompanied by huge smiles and a hug from their daughter

• Everyone so happy and excited to be back at school, big smiles all around, getting and giving lots of hugs and special cuddles; 

• Hearing their snow stories - sledding, eating, building snowmen, making snow angels

• Sharing a mindfulness activity with them, one of many I learned this past weekend: first, deep cleansing breaths, then, saying "I love you" to oneself,  saying "I love you" to one another, and shouting "I love you!" to the world. A very special shout out!

• The stories they tell when playing with simple counting bears -  caves falling in on the bear,  Goldilocks and the three bears,  bears on a boat,  bears in a house,  monsters chasing the bears,  bear shadows.

• The sheer delight of the whole class when Frozen's "Let it Go" showed up on my new mix CD - and how many of the children know every single word!

• Dancing with scarves with the preschoolers.

A great start to our week together!

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(A daily share by preschoolers in their own words)

A Story Collage by Lavinia

     Once upon a time there was a bear and he was playing in the snow. He was building a snow castle. He saw a boy,  but he did not eat him because he was nice. Then, the bear’s mommy said “Bedtime, bear, the moon is out!” and Duck’s mother said, “Bedtime, Ducky! The moon is out!” Another bear knocked the boy down. And the boy cried and cried and cried and cried. The boy said “No!” and he needed a bandaid. And he had blood. They closed their eyes and it was wake-up time and it was time to play so they zipped their jackets and put their hoods on their heads. It’s wet outside and they jumped in some puddles, but they were jumping in the puddles so they heard the WAOH WAOH WAOH (ROAR ROAR ROAR) noise and it was a lion and he said “Hey! That’s my puddle you’re jumping in!” The end.