Our
room is full of fall colors now, as we explore leaves, farms, and all that is
happening around us in our world. We love setting the room up for play and
interaction, following themes and interests of the children, and as the year
has progressed I have been noticing something that I wanted to share with you.
As you know, there are "classroom jobs" in the room, and everyday your child has a responsibility to carry out. The jobs are all very popular, and a frequent question first thing is "What's my job?!" The classroom jobs help your child to feel a part of the running of the classroom and give ownership as well as great interest in the happenings around them. The classroom jobs are: (they change every day)
·
lunch helpers
and snack helpers, that help Agi with the set-up of the table.
·
morning meeting
helpers, including the "greeting person" who sends around the
GOOD MORNING for the day. We've had such greetings as "toe touch" and
"ola!", and today we had a batman greeting-"na na na na na na na na na na batman!" (high five) all original to each child. Other morning meeting helpers are the breathing person (how many breaths we are going to take) the weather person (what's the weather today?), and
the message person. The message person composes a message with the
help of the teacher, and signs it and illustrates it. We hear about how much
everyone is loved, families, and visits, as well as special toys and
happenings. Finally, there is a "quiet eyes" who gets to call
the names of other children who are ready to go wash their hands. We, as
teachers, note each day how willing the children are to listen to eachother,
quiet down for the reading of the message, and generally learn from each
other.
·
bell
ringer, an especially
wonderful job for a child who sometimes has difficulty with transitions, gets
to ring the bells and set everyone in motion for cleaning up the room. And we
ALL help.
·
line
leader, self-explanatory, as
well as the "lights" person, in charge of saving energy.
·
comforter is the job that has surprised us the
most this year. Every day there is one comforter, and the comforter is responsible
for checking in with their friends who are having troubles. If there's a need
for an ice pack, a listening ear, or advice, the comforters step in and help. Teachers
are of course right there, but we like to listen and watch as the action
unfolds. The immediate response throughout the classroom to an incident is a
call for "comforter!" by a number of children. The comforter approaches the needy child and ask "what do you need?" (we have modeled
this, as adults) and the child responds. Some of the conversations I've heard
include, "I am missing my mommy." response "It's okay, when
I'm missing my mommy I look at my family picture." (i.e. you can take care
of your feelings, you're okay) and "I bumped my knee on the
blocks!" response "do you need an ice pack?" In each case, the very wise and wonderful child comforter has put themselves in
the others position and offered some sort of help, showing true
empathy. As we know, empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
The children gain respect among their peers as they carry out their responsibilities. They also feel stability in the schedule and routine. Some children have learned that the jobs "rotate" so that when you have one particular job on one day, the next day you can "predict" what job you will have.
We made shakers with popcorn and streamers, and then used them to sing a Native American chant.
Until Next Time,
Michele
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