News From Room 1
October 9, 2015
District Professional Development Monday 10-12-15: NO CAFETERIA SERVICE TOMORROW
Team Work
Chalk Table
Sand Table
In Review:
The Train
Getting ready for Circle Time
Sharing a meal
Sand Play
Magna Tile Towers
Breathing Icon Pillows
Circle Time
During our circle time we have implemented the Brain Smart Start, it has four components. 1. An activity to unite us as a group, we sing or dance to one of our favorite songs and conclude by sitting on the rug for Circle lotion.
2. An activity to Disengage Stress otherwise known as our breathing choices, we use the Rock and Roll cubes for this. Our cubes have icons for each of the 4 breathing techniques of Conscious Discipline, the S.T.A.R, the Drain, The Balloon, and the Pretzel.
3. An activity to Connect, we are using the I Love You Rituals for this, in September we learned Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and for October we are learning Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater.
4. An activity to Commit. This is where we discuss our class commitments. We are combining this with the Safe Keeper Ritual to maximize our time together. We begin with the teachers each announcing "I am a safe keeper, it is my job to keep you safe." Then the teachers say "It is your job to help keep it (the classroom) " and the children reply "safe!" Then we discuss our commitments to keep it safe. We will use Walking feet, We will use soft touches, and we will keep safe spaces. It is cute we have gestures for each commitment and the children have it down and can say them before I do.
We have been adding components to our circle time and the children seem to enjoy it. One of our favorite times in circle time is Wish Well. It is heartwarming to see the Wish Well Helper notice children who are missing and help wish them well, and welcome back friends who have been gone.
"A Bear"
It's a...
Exploring grasshoppers
Grasshopper
Lego building
Ms. Lori and her grandson share their friends
Graceland
Reading is Fun
What's This?
Conscious Discipline Corner
I want to start with the skill of composure. One of the tools we use to help us regulate in room 1 is the S.T.A.R, which stands for Smile, Take a deep breath, and, Relax. We read Sophie is a S.T.A.R. by Dr. Becky Bailey to help us remember. Composure determines our perception, and our perception dictates whether we punish and blame, or teach new skills. We teach children to read and do math problems and when they make an oops we coach them through it, the same holds true for self-regulation. Remember no one can make you angry without your permission. Try to see things through positive lenses.
Over the next week or two whenever you feel upset, because things didn't go your way or you feel threatened take a moment and be a S.T.A.R., If you find you slipped and made an oops, remember we learn from our oops' and try again next time.
Feel free to ask me questions
Baby Doll Play
Lego Towers
Going for a ride
When you can't find a car ramp...
Learning Responsibility
Ms. Kelley Visits
Free Play or Center Time
Another fun thing we are learning is to ask friends for things. Permission to put a toy spider on their arm, a chance to play with a toy, and even if we can touch them softly or give them a hug. To teach this we use Sophie wants a Turn by Dr. Becky Bailey. It teaches children to use 3 taps on their friends shoulder, to wait for them to look and then to ask. For instance in asking for a turn, we would tap 3 times and we even say "tap, tap, tap" it is sweet, we wait (usually) for our friend to look and the we say "My turn, please." As we learn skills we will be building onto them. Next we will need to learn how to handle when a friend says "No." Updates to follow!
Water Table
What is that?
The Cabin Swing
"Look what I found!"
Taking care if the yard
Berry Bug
Dates to Remember
Friday October 23rd is Professional Development at Grace and we will have Subs in our room from 8 am to 3 pm