Closing the Day

The final leg of the day is just as important as the start of the day. The children will remember every step of the journey, I can assure you. If there are any parents waiting outside the room, this is the time that they will judge your professional skills for themselves. It is also a great time for the principal to come for a "cruise" past, just to see how your day went. (I would and I did!) Your one relief teaching day is really like a whole year in one day. You need to leave the room in a better shape than you found it as well as a well organized outline of the day's events. Work is best to be collected and corrected. Your day is not over when the children walk out the door. This is where your true professionalism will shine.

I will write about this in another blog. For now dismissing the class, no matter what year level I go by the recall, reflect and respond rule.


RECALL: A calm finish to the day is essential. You may like to call the roll again. You could play a game with each child's name on the roll....be creative! Allow enough time to distribute any school newsletters and give homework reminders. Thank the children for the happy day. Review the day’s events by recalling the major events one by one. I do this with the help of my remembering hand, one finger, and one event!

REFLECT: Encourage reflective thinking in the learner by questions such as….What did you enjoy the most about today? Which part are you going to tell Mum or Dad about first tonight? What would you like to do more of in the future? Did I give everything my best effort today? How could I do better tomorrow? What are my goals for tomorrow,at home, in the playground, in my learning?

RESPOND: Closing the day with prayer, interesting story, lateral thinking puzzle or even a song is a calming finish to the day for all the year levels.


The upper primary love being able to go home with a riddle or trick to stump their parents. Something as simple as What has a face and two hands but cannot talk? A clock! What do you call the tags things on the end of your shoelaces? Aglets. I love collecting them! While I am on roll.....What do you call someone who keeps talking loudly to a crowd even though no-one is listening to a word they are saying? A relief teacher! Don't let that be you! Ha,ha!

Blessings for the journey...
Live,laugh and learn!
Carmel

Classroom Management....Closing the Day

My Remembering Hand

This is a little technique that really works when you need to give information in sequential steps, reviewing a list of things to remember to take home or for the child to tell parents.

For many children, the development of their auditory sequential memory can be anywhere between two to seven instructions. This ability will be significantly challenged when the child is placed in a noisy classroom. Combining both instructions with a hand movement/sequence may assist in anchoring the instruction neurologically through movement and touch.

1. Try to give each instruction clearly and simply.
2. The class echoes your words and mirrors any hand movement. (Even if this as simple as touching the first finger with the first instruction, second finger second instruction. )
3. Continue through the sequence.
4. Review the instructions in reverse order using same words and actions.
5. Try the review out of order, still using same words and actions.
6. Suggest to the children that now they can use their remembering hand in the same method at home in order to remember the message. (It does work!)

This would be my favourite way of reviewing a day with a class. We all laugh when I tell them that when Mum & Dad ask what was the best thing you did doing the day, they are not allowed to say LUNCH! It is usually quite interesting to see how much you really did do in the school day and to review the activities in time sequence. This is a very valuable tool for the student to develop in later years....one of reflection and review. Once the students have refreshed their memory of the day I often ask them to give me "a high five" as they file out the door and tell me their personal best thing for the day. The responses make for excellent reflection and evaluation for me as the teacher. The children love it too, as everyone gets to have a say!

Blessings for the journey,

Live,laugh and learn,

Carmel

It is not what you say, it's how you say it!

Have I grabbed your attention with the ten dollar note?

Well children, no matter what age, love anything to do with money too!

You'll be amazed when I share this little secret with you....

The other day I was on first lunch duty with the middle and upper primary classes. As the other teacher approached at the end of the duty, he commented about the general lack of litter. I laughed and said "It is not what you say but how you say it that counts!" I did not think anymore about it until the same teacher sat with me in the staffroom one lunch-time and complimented me on how neatly I had left his classroom after a rather messy art lesson. He insisted I tell him my trick!

There are no tricks. Firstly, I ask myself what is my desired outcome. Then I think of the most interesting and creative way I can engage the student in gaining this desired outcome! Picking up litter, whether in the classroom or in the playground, is not exactly what children will want to happily engage in, so this takes some lateral thinking!

My solution is to.......

1. Gain the students' attention.
2. Tell them are welcome to leave the room, go to lunch, or play area, but there is one condition. You have to pay to leave. (First time you will have a stunned audience!)
3. No worries. It is only $50. (More stunned silence!) That is right, each piece of litter, no matter how large or small ,is worth $10. I love tips and I hold up the bin!
4. You would be surprised how quickly the children run around counting in tens and mostly I have lots of extra tips. It's fun. It's fast. It's not boring!

In the classroom, I don't always say the same thing. If we have just finished a Maths lesson with the focus on prime numbers, I might ask for any prime number of pieces of litter under ten. Or I may ask for 2/3 of 9, or perhaps a random number fact and if you make an error it costs some more to leave the room. It gives me a chance to stand at the door and speak to each child as they deposit their contribution. All designed to build relationships, consolidate learning and make the day fun!

Blessings for the journey....

Live,laugh and learn!

Carmel