"Walk Upside Down"

I love that my kids are inventive and have great creative ideas. I'm often surprised by just how interesting and expansive their thinking can be.

We were playing a moving game in the classroom a while back. I set up two tape lines to move between. (This group needs some suggested boundaries!)

We used a large inflatable cube with pockets. (Do you have one of these? They are great for all kinds of games. You can get one here. This link is just for information; I get nothing if you buy one.)

Anyway...I digressed there for a minute. We wrote different ways to move back and forth between the lines. The kids tossed the cube and then moved from one line to the other in the way they rolled.

I put "regular" types of movements--giant steps, tiny steps, crab walk, marching, and so forth.

After a while, I said, "Would you like to change what's in the cube?" Of course, they did. I asked them to suggest things to put in the cube. Their suggestions were much more inventive than I ever thought: Walk upside down, walk like a fish, bounce like a ball, slow motion.

Did we use those? You bet. Did they roll those odd things? You bet. Did they move in the suggested ways. They certainly tried.

Sometimes I'm quick to be in charge and direct things. Or I ask for suggestions and then dismiss them as impractical or whatever. But listening to the children can be great for creativity and for fun.

And when a child rolls something like "bounce like a ball," his interpretation may be completely different than yours. But certainly interesting to watch!

Carrying Chalk

Last week I taught in a classroom of four year olds. Well, most of these kids had turned four in the past year. They are very different from the kindergartners (that have turned six this year) that I teach regularly at church.

These kids move. A lot. They move from one thing to another thing and back to the first thing again quickly. Every time I encounter these younger kids, I'm reminded to have lots of things going on and lots of ways to keep them engaged.

We went out to play with bubbles and chalk and tossing rings. They moved between these items several times. I grabbed a piece of sidewalk chalk and sat down to one side of the play space. One girl wanted me to write "numbers" for her. She would jump on whatever letters, numbers, and shapes that I drew. Other kids came over and jumped on letters and numbers. Some brought chalk with them and drew lines or shapes.

One girl walked over to the chalk container (a few feet away) and gathered up a handful. She brought the chalk over to me and dropped it in my lap. A few other kids kept gathering up handfuls or armfuls of chalk and carrying it over to my location. They would drop the chalk beside me or near me.

This happened several times. Repeatedly. Up until our outdoor play time was over.

When it was time for us to go back inside, we had to cart all that chalk back to the container. As I helped direct kids to take the chalk back, I was thinking, "Why did they carry it across the space? Why not just draw with it by the container?"

I wondered if it was because I was sitting a distance away. I've written before about the power of presence - an adult sitting in a place draws kids to that spot, intentionally or not. That was probably part of the appeal.

But then I thought about David Elkind and his comment that kids choose an activity to do that they need to do. These kids were mastering moving groups of materials from one place to another.

Sometimes you like to draw with chalk.

And sometimes you just need to carry chalk from one place to another.

That's what learning is all about.

They Need More Than Just Literacy and Numeracy

This summer I'm reading and commenting on the book What If Everybody Understood Child Development? by Rae Pica.

Chapter 14: The Body Matters, Too

Chapter 15: Reading, Writing, 'Rithmetic...and Recess

Chapter 16: Why Kids Need "Gym"

In previous chapters, Rae Pica has noted that many educators or reformers treat the body and the brain as separate. At least they behave in ways that support this dichotomy. Teachers focus on literacy and numeracy but not physicality. 

But the body is important, too. Young kids are developing serious health problems, mainly because they do not have the opportunities to run, play, and move as in the past. As teachers, we must think about the physical skills and health needs of kids as well as their reading/math skills and cognitive needs.

How can teachers do this? Look for ways to incorporate movement in each day. Include brain breaks and other opportunities for movement as part of instruction. Teach some basic movement skills and add unplanned, self-selected movement activities as part of the schedule.

Unplanned, self-selected activities = recess. Many schools are eliminating or at least paring down time for recess. Exclusion from recess is an oft-used tool for behavior management. (And usually effects the kids that need recess the most!) Rae Pica notes several benefits for including recess as a part of the school day--breaks in learning actually benefit learners; on-task attention increases when recess is a part of the schedule; physical activity feeds the brain with more oxygen, water, and glucose; recess is a great stress-reducer; unstructured play helps build social skills.

When I was teaching second grade, we did go out for recess. Many days but not every day. I noticed the students. Kids would run and jump, climb and swing. They would create chasing and tagging games. I noticed the teachers. Many would sit along the sidelines and chat. They would call to kids to "stop that" or "change this." This time was seen as just a time to let the kids go and make sure they didn't get hurt.

But I think that this can be an important time of instruction, too. Not with planned and specific things for kids to do. But for encouragement. For suggestions of things to try. For interaction and conversation in ways that don't happen in the classroom. And sometimes running and jumping, too.

As teachers, we are responsible for the whole child. Brain and body. Look for ways to nurture both.

Some links from the book---

• Solving the Growing Physical Inactivity Crisis
• Why Recess Matters, How to Defend It
• Withdrawing Recess As Punishment. Does It Work?
• Why Play Time Is Not Break Time

And a few others---

• Joy in School
• Leading Group Games at Recess
• Recess Makes Kids Smarter
• Big Kids on the Playground

Kids' Preferred Mode of Learning

This summer I'm reading and commenting on the book What If Everybody Understood Child Development? by Rae Pica.

Chapter 12: In Defense of Active Learning

For a while, I worked in a publishing company with a lot of other folks. Periodically our company would upgrade software or systems. A lot of people would need to know about the new system and how to use it. So the company would schedule training sessions.

Often these sessions consisted of a large group of people sitting in a room watching someone talk about the features and how to do it while clicking things on screen. While this may be a way to disseminate information to a lot of people in an efficient way, it was not an effective way for me to learn what to do with the new system. The best way for me to know what to do and how to do it was to play with the system on my computer. Working my way through examples and trying new things.

Rae Pica talks about these two types of learning in this chapter. Explicit learning (hearing something) and implicit learning (doing something) are both used in classrooms today. However, there is a lot less doing, active learning, than in the past. But discovery and exploration yield more lasting and mor meaningful learning than hearing or reading information. Rae reminds us that movement is the young child's preferred mode of learning and we should use that preference as a way to teach. That is most effective.

One example she gives: a preschool teacher conducted a mock lesson on kiwi fruit with parents. Half of the parents were told about kiwis and given an coloring sheet with brown and green crayons. The other half took a field trip to the hallway and explored a tree with kiwi; they could explore the fruit with their senses. The latter group left with greater understanding of kiwis. Experience and exploration gave much more meaning than listening.

I had a similar experience when I moved to Tennessee. My first fall season, I saw trees begin to change to vibrant reds and yellows and oranges. I had learned about fall when I was a kid. I had seen pictures of colorful trees. I had seen people in movies walk along colorful avenues in autumn. But my home in Texas did not have this type of fall. So I "knew" about fall as a season but that was it. In Tennessee I experienced it. That first year, my wife and I drove around the town, looking for different colored trees. We compared how they looked. We gathered a few leaves and pressed them in books to save. I really knew about fall leaves when I experienced and explored it.

How can we give learning opportunities to kids? How can we actively involve them in whatever we are teaching? How can we use their preferred mode of learning--movement--to make those learning connections?

Rae has challenged me to look for ways to make all kinds of learning experiential and active. And maybe to start dreaming again.

Some links from the book---

• Identifying and Nurturing the Intelligence of Movement
• Making Stories Come Alive
• Bringing the Body to Digital Learning

And a few more---

• Problem Solving in Action
• Authentic Experiences Encourage Learning
• Some Teaching Advice from My Five-Year-Old

If the Bum Is Numb

This summer I'm reading and commenting on the book What If Everybody Understood Child Development? by Rae Pica.

Chapter 10: The Myth of the Brain/Body Dichotomy
Chapter 11: Why Does Sitting Still Equal Learning?

How do you feel when you sit all day? Maybe you're in a meeting or a conference or just at home. Sitting all day can make you really tired. And yet, as Rae Pica says, we expect kids to do it all day while they are learning.

We've bought into the assumption that the body and the brain are separate entities. We want to teach the brain and ignore the body. We limit recess or PE or other times when the body is fully engaged. We equal sitting and listening to learning. Or at least to effective teaching.

Rae quotes teacher Dee Kalman: "When the bum is numb, the mind is dumb."

The brain is more active when the body is moving. Blood is flowing and chemicals for long-term memory and focus increase. Sitting for more than short periods of time (more than 10 minutes) causes us to begin to lose focus and awareness. 10 minutes!

Dance break!

I've seen it in the classroom. When I taught first graders, we had to have stand up breaks, movement breaks, and even dance breaks. We would move for a short while and then get back to other things. One of our favorite games was Move, Freeze, Add! In my second grade class, we would have "roving practice." Kids would move to a place in the room and spell a word (or solve math equation). Then they would move to a new place to write down their word or math solution. We did this for several minutes. In both classes, I would often tell them to find a partner and we would work together while standing up. Sometimes we would switch partners often.

The younger the kids or the more challenging the thinking, the more need there is to incorporate learning.

Think about easy ways to add movement. At the very least, incorporate brain breaks at regular intervals. Make sure they move across the midline (right hand moving to left side and vice versa). This wakes up the brain.

Keep on moving!

Some links from the book--

• Understanding the Child's Mind/Body Connection
• Can Exercise Close the Achievement Gap?
• Moving with the Brain in Mind
• Teaching Children Who Just Won't Sit Still

And a few more--

• Learning on the Move
• Let's Move
• Math and Movement

Inspiration from the Blogosphere - Windy Day Edition

Spring is finally coming here. I've been thinking about fun things to do in the spring weather. Here are some fun "windy day" things to do.

Kites

Use a paper plate to make a kite: Decorate with markers, stickers, or your favorite art materials. Punch a hole in one side. Attach ribbon or crepe paper streamers to the side opposite the hole. (Use a stapler.) Tie string through the hole; tie a craft stick to the other end for holding. Experiment in the wind to make the paper plate kite fly.

Check out this Jellyfish Kite (Sun Hats & Wellie Boots). 

Repurpose a plastic bag for a kite (I'm a teachers, get me outside here!).

More kite ideas (Kids Ministry 101)

Airplanes

Make an airplane from straws and paper strips.

Or fold lots of different paper ones using these ideas (10 Paper Airplanes).

Streamers

Staple or tape ribbons to dowel sticks to make streamers to hold in the wind. Or tie long ribbons to small plastic bracelets to play with in the wind.

Or use scarves to explore wind (B-Inspired Mama).

Make a homemade anemometer (Weather WizKids).

Flags, Pinwheels, Weather Vanes

Set up a small weather vane or stake a few flags or pinwheels in the ground. Watch them spin, turn, and flutter.

Make your own pinwheel - check out this how to (Red Ted Art).

Other Ideas

Blow bubbles and watch them float on the wind. Make your own bubbles (Science Kids).

Hang windchimes or mobiles and watch them move in the wind.

More wind ideas from I'm a Teacher, Get Me Outside Here!

Inspiration from the Blogosphere - Thought-Provoking Edition

One reason I enjoy following blogs and related Facebook pages is that I run across links that I may not have otherwise encountered. And, often, those links will give me something new or different to think about. Or they will challenge me to examine some of my own ideas in a different light.

This week, I encountered several links that caused me to think or dive a little deeper on various topics.

Should we teach kindergartners to read? (Catching Readers Before They Fall) - This post was a response to a news report about teaching reading. This made me think again and affirm that engaging kindergartners in play and exploration can be the most effective teaching. And that all literacy activities should engage kids at their current developmental level.  

Study Finds that Reading to All Ages Grooms Them to Read on Their Own (New York Times) - This article focuses on reading aloud - to kids of all ages. Reading aloud can help kids develop a habit for independent leisure reading. We often acknowledge the importance of reading aloud to younger kids; but reading to older kids is beneficial, too. This reminded me of our 2013 book study about reading aloud.

Science Says Your Classroom Needs More Dance Parties (Teacher Pop) - I knew that movement could be a valuable part of the classroom. But this post makes me think that I need to be including more movement breaks than I had before (in the elementary classroom). And that in a younger classroom, movement - especially purposeful movement - can meet all kinds of needs.

Five Ways to Let a Little More Risk into Your Child's Day (Washington Post) - I think it's important to give kids opportunities to try things that may seem a little "dangerous." This article encourages risk-taking and helps parents (and teachers) know how to interject a little more risk into each day.

Off-Road Reading (Education Rethink) - John Spencer advocates allowing more choice in students' reading. Maybe offering more choice and less rigid reading experiences could help kids develop more enjoyment in reading (especially in informational text). 

Hmm - I seem to be thinking a lot about reading at the moment. Maybe my university class in literacy is influencing my reactions.

ICYMI - I posted on the Pre-K and K Sharing collaborative blog this week, too. Hopefully that post will provoke some thoughts for someone.

Reboot

You have probably seen this article about why kids fidget. It's all over my social media.

This article and my current life circumstances have me reflecting a lot. My current circumstances? I'm looking for a new teaching position; I'm not returning to last year's school. Since I have a transitional license at the moment, they have the option of rehire each year. They chose not. And that's okay.

Anyway, I've been reflecting a lot. And the article about moving reminded me of my reasons for wanting to move into the elementary classroom - and reminded me of some of my fundamental core beliefs about education and kids.

I believe kids need to move and to play - they need to explore to learn.

I've incorporated some movement and play in my classroom this past year. But not enough. I've tried to include regular routines that make learning more like a game. But not enough.

I know I am a teacher. That's what I've been made to do. Maybe in a classroom. Maybe on the written page. Maybe in other new ways. But I am a teacher.

And I'm a teacher of young kids. My year in first grade and year in second grade were valuable for learning and growing (me and the students). But I'm a kindergarten and early childhood teacher at heart.

So, I'm rebooting at this point. I will find a way to be a teacher, a kindergarten and ECE teacher. I don't know where or what or how. But I do know that play and movement and exploration will be key at this point. Either as a writer or a classroom teacher or a way yet to be determined.

To quote Mr. Rogers: Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.

I think I'm back. At least I feel more like myself at the moment.

Know someone who wants to hire a rebooted teacher? :)

Learning on the Move

My class likes to move and likes to talk. I sometimes feel like everything is chaos and learning is minimal at best. The other day I commented, "If we learned math this afternoon, it was by accident." Things were just crazy.

When things seem out of control or seem not working right, I ask myself, "What is my class telling me? What needs am I not meeting? How does the environment need to adjust?"

(When I said this to a colleague recently, she remarked, "Well, that's a different approach." And I don't think she meant it as a compliment. I'm still looking at it that way though.)

I tried an experiment last week. We were working with a certain word group...exploring words that followed a common spelling pattern. We had read some words and spelled some words as a group. The class seemed less than engaged in what we were doing.

I gave them some paper, to work on spelling words on their own. We stood and stretched and moved a little, to wake up the brain. I amped up my enthusiasm a little, and made some humorous sentences with words as we spelled them. But the engagement was still low.

So, I told them to grab their papers and pencils. I told them to find a desk or table somewhere in the room. I called out the word and they wrote it down. Then I told them to move again and spell a different word. We did this for 5 words or so. Then they moved back to their desks and we moved on to the next thing.

I repeated the move and write activity in the afternoon with math, this time with adding and subtracting two digit numbers.

Yes, things did get a little loud and a little rowdy. But not like usual. After a few minutes, we moved on to other activities.

My class likes to move and talk. If they sit too long, I lose them (at least mentally and sometimes otherwise). I'm working on keeping them moving...and learning at the same time.

Let's Move!

My first grade adventure has been full of learning experiences. I have been learning "on the job." I've also been learning as I take university classes. (It's part of my transition to a full teaching license.)

This week, both of my learning opportunities collided - as they often do. (What I'm hearing in the university classroom intersects with what is happening in my elementary classroom.)

We were talking about the importance of movement...and its connection to the brain and learning; the need for kids to move; the lack of opportunities for movement in many classrooms and schools today; and so forth. With my first graders, I've been experimenting with moving as an overall part of our day - we start with some moving and stretching; we play moving games; we change places to sit when interest flags; and so forth.

A couple of times this week we've just jumped. We jump three times. I say something like, "Mr. Wiley is an old man and he can jump higher than you!" They say, "No!" And we jump three more times. Or five times. Or two plus three times. (You get the idea.) The kids have loved it. They especially loved it when the case for my glasses flew out of my shirt pocket. (Well, now I need to remember to take it out before jumping five times.)

I remembered Matt Gomez and some of my other Kinderchat friends talking about Just Dance Kids. So...I searched and found some on YouTube. We did "Kung Fu Fighting." The kids love it and I was hooked as well. When things seem a little slow - or the kids seem a little slow (or too antsy) - I have put on one of the videos. On Friday, I heard someone say, "He's turning on the music!" as I walked to the computer to get things going.

It's interesting that...with only 5 weeks to go with these first graders...I may have unlocked the key to this group of kids. We need to move more. I feel a little "stupid" not discovering it sooner. And yet, it seems that the entire year has led to this particular moment. We'll spend some time moving and jumping. And I'll definitely incorporate more movement throughout next year. I guess that's all part of the adventure, the exciting and interesting discoveries along the way.

Here are a couple of Just Dance mixes from Matt:
Just Dance - the original mix
Just Dance - Disney

How do you get your kids to move?

Move! Freeze! Add!

I have a class that likes to move...and to talk. I've been trying to find some ways to channel these tendencies - rather than just squelch them.

And, along the way, I've discovered that my kids like to sing and like music. I decided to try and work that into what we've doing, too.

So we've been playing a moving math game.

I put on some upbeat music. Kids move around (in place or around the room). I stop the music (and usually shout Freeze!). Then I announce an addition problem: "Tell someone near you - what is 4 plus 6?" After a couple of seconds, I ask kids to tell me the total. Then we start the music again.

I know....this isn't a revolutionary idea. But it's working pretty well for me. Often I need to set up some reminders and parameters - no screaming - no moving with hands on a friend's shoulders - you must be able to hear the music as you move.

But kids are working problems in their heads - or on their fingers - and working together to get the solutions. I've been upping the numbers to get to 20. And I think next week we'll throw subtraction into the mix.

We play for a few minutes. Or a little longer. Or sometimes shorter if we get too rowdy too fast.

Not revolutionary. But definitely picking up on my kids.

Today I was searching the genres on Pandora - and I found a Club/Dance mix station. I think we may incorporate that in our next moving math session.

Sometimes I wonder what the other classes think of me. But the door is closed and the walls are thick. I don't think we're disturbing anyone else. And we ARE adding.

(P.S. After one moving math session, I brought out the spider counters. Things were really rowdy that day!!)

"That's a Girl Thing"

This week I put out some rhythm instruments and streamers with the CD player. My wife contributed the ribbon streamers from her choir cabinet. I thought we'd have some fun moving and playing music.

Two boys were playing some instruments, talking about what the different things on the table.

"That's a girl thing," one boy said, indicating the streamers.

I was surprised at the comment about the streamers. I didn't say anything about it; in fact, I'm not sure they even knew I overheard their comments.

A few minutes later, I moved closer to the table and we talked about what they were doing. They wanted to change in the music currently playing on the CD. (It wasn't fast enough for them.) After a few technical comments about the player, we turned back to the other items on the table.

I watched and comments on the instruments they were using. I indicated the streamers. "You know what these are?" I asked. "These are streamers that you can move to the music."

"What?" Both boys were immediately interested.

"You can hold the ring and wave them to the music," I said. "You can wave them fast or slow. You can match the music."

Someone elsewhere in the room called my name and I stepped back from the table with the music. One boy picked up the ribbons and tested them out. Then each boy had one in each hand, waving them frantically.

They waved the streamers for a little bit and then moved back to investigating the instruments.

I don't really know what prompted the girl comment. Now, I'll admit that the rings were sparkly and some of the ribbon was shiny. But I never said anything about something being "boy" or "girl" things. In fact, I usually don't hear anything like that about materials in our room. We had tools out in the room, too, and nobody said anything about those being "boy things." (Exception: pink paper or markers - those are always commented on as girl things. Sometimes I use a pink marker to disprove the whole girl-centric comments about pink.)

We're going to use those streamers a few more times. And I'm sure - boy or girl - each child is going to have fun waving them.

Full Body Stamping

Recently we were stamping on the art table. I watched C as he worked with his stamps.

He reached over across the table to the green stamp pad.

And then reached across to stamp on his paper.

I watched him to it over and over.

"You can move your paper closer the stamp pad," I said. "Or move the stamp pad closer to you."

"No, that's okay," he said.

I think he liked the movement as much as the stamping. Maybe because he's a boy and needs that movement element. Maybe he just needed to stretch his body. Whatever the reason, full body stamping seemed like great fun.

Sometimes you just need to use your whole body in learning.

More Ideas for the Game Mat

In the past I've posted about one of my favorite things: the Giant Game Floor Mat. While you can make a simple one of these yourself--use gallon ziplock bags, a vinyl tablecloth, and wide transparent tape--I would suggest investing in a purchased one. The mat is built to withstand whatever your kids can do to it. We've walking on it, pulled and tugged it, jumped and slid on it. And it holds up. Now, I know it's not indestructible, but it can withstand some kid-handling. (Plus the mat comes with a beanbag, a spinner, and a book with game ideas.)

Over at Kids Ministry 101 blog, they've been posting about this game mat.

• Basic information about the game mat
• Use the mat to display information for parents and to take attendance
• Use the mat to communicate about your study focus and to play a matching game
• Use the mat to make a graph and to get the wiggles out
• Use the mat to play "Complete the Picture"

As I've mentioned before we've used the mat in a few ways. 

We played a large board game. (Kids can be the game markers, too!)

We played a Twister-type game.

We played a toss-and-spell game.

It's a lot of fun to use! I'm thinking of new ways right now that it could be used in the classroom.

Looking Silly

Today I read Teacher Tom's archived post I'm an Idiot. As always, it triggered my thinking.

I thought about all the times I did something silly in a class of kids...and didn't even think about it. I may say silly rhymes or ponder what one of the kids would look like with my beard or make a mistake about how to do something. I may tell or laugh at incomprehensible knock-knock jokes. I may sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" until I'm breathless and red in the face.

And not even care about it. Until another adult is watching. (Well, not my fellow teachers. I know they understand.)

Then all of a sudden I get self-conscious. I think how it must look for a grown man to wiggle and giggle and freeze to music. I recently had this experience one week at church.

My group of kindergartners had to travel through the building. I had 15 5-year-olds trailing behind me (and in front of Mrs. Cindy) as we walked down the halls, rounded corners and maneuvered all the jags of an older building. Then we had to walk through the large empty gym (and keep some kind of order).

As we entered the gym, I said to the kids closest to me, "I wonder if we can walk and balance on this black line." I stepped on the line and stuck out my arms like a tightrope walker. I moved down the line, wobbling my arms back and forth to keep balance. Kids fell in behind me as we moved along the line.

Then it happened. A class of parents was meeting in a room off the gym. And the door was open. And the class was facing the door. I walked by a group of adults, wobbling and balancing on the line. "Oh, no," I first thought. "What will those adults think of me?" A few parents of my kids were in the classroom. Then I thought, "I hope they are glad their kids have a silly adult as a teacher." And then my thoughts were immediately back to the kids. (I usually know what the kids think of me!)

When I was younger, I would often try to censor that silliness when around other adults, tone it down to make it more palatable for adult consumption. Now, not so much. Oh, I don't break into "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" in line at the grocery store or tell odd knock-knock jokes to folks at the office. (Well, not often.) But I don't worry about looking silly. After all, I'm a preschool/kindergarten teacher. Silly is part of what I do.

Favorite Things: Bean Bags

I've used bean bags in various ways over the years. For the past few years we haven't had many bean bags or used them much. Then recently I purchased this set from Discount School Supply.

Photo from Discount School Supply

I bought them just for fun. First we used them for a game.


Put colored paper in the game mat.

Label bags with matching colors. In the bags put whatever you want the kids to choose. We were choosing letters to spell friend.

Toss the bean bag and draw from that bag.

Repeat - toss, draw, match.

After a while, the boys wanted to just toss. I made a "target area" with some cones.

We enjoyed this game for a day.

But the best things we've enjoyed is using the bean bags when we're together as a group. Sometimes we use the great oldies rock songs on the included CD. Sometimes we play other games as a group. Sometimes we just shake the bean bags to the beat - these bean bags make great shaker sounds when you shake them.

I have rediscovered the joys of bean bags...and these have become my newest favorite thing.

What's your favorite way to use bean bags?