Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Routines
One of the most effective routines I have observed is the way that my cooperating teacher gets the attention of her class. She uses the phrase 123 eyes on me, in which the students respond 12 eyes on you. It works really well to get the classes attention quickly without side chatter continuing on. The other technique that she uses is that when she's really drained that is when she chooses to sing. She says it keeps the kids happy and engaged and lightens her own mood at the time. We have a special song we sing on fridays, a song about being ready to move to the next task, and a song about waiting by the door (like flies on a garbage can!). The kids love these songs and it allows the kids to still be on task even though they are making noise during a transition.
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I've seen you use the 1-2-3 eyes on me strategy to good effect in your classroom, especially when you really do wait for the kids to have their eyes on you, rather than just saying 1-2 eyes on you but continuing with their activity. The next time I visit, I want to hear some singing (although would that mean you're really drained if I hear you start to sing?). But really, I think the addition of music and song to a classroom is appropriate at any grade level. I play music at the beginning of classes here at St. Kate's as students file in, and when I taught 5th grade, we sang all the time. Like your 1st graders, my older kids loved it! How's your tone?
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