Yesterday I wrote about
planning for the upcoming school year in general. Today, I want to start getting into the
details of how I hope to establish routines and procedures that will lead to
greater student choice and independence.
Lofty goals, but I’m going to try…
First up, I reread my Daily 5
book. I am not planning on implementing the whole structure or framework (that
would not be in line with my Montessori philosphy), but I do hope to establish
some of the same routines and use some of the same practices. I think this will help me to establish a
classroom where everyone is busy at work and completely independent (a goal of both Daily 5 and Montessori)! How will I do this? By explicitily teaching and practicing
behaviors until they become habits (as The Sisters explain in The Daily 5).
This will need to start on Day 1 and below are the beginning lesson plans for teaching these behaviors. They are based on info from The Daily 5
book, tweaked to fit my needs…
Teaching the quiet signal
This is our quiet signal (ring chimes). When you hear this sound, you need to stop
what you are doing and listen for directions about what to do next. The faster that everyone can get quiet, the
faster we can hear the directions and get on with our day. Let’s practice. Everyone talk to your neighbor about your
favorite movie. (Let students talk for 10-30 seconds.) Ring chimes, wait for silence, and whisper the next direction—Wow, that was nice and fast. Let’s practice again. Now, talk to a different neighbor about your
favorite restaurant. (While students
are talking, approach a small group and ask them to continue talking when the
chimes are rung). Ring chimes and wait
for silence. Let the assigned students
continue talking for 10 seconds. Then
ask the class what went wrong and why that would be a problem. Review the expected behavior for when the
quiet signal is used. Practice using the
quiet signal one more time to reinforce the positive behaviors. After this quiet signal, whisper directions
for the next activity.
Teaching how to transistion/sit in group
We will spend a lot of time this year moving from our
work spaces to our group spaces for meetings and lessons. We need to make these transition quick and
quiet, so that we do not waste time.
Usually someone will ring the chime and announce that it is time for
circle or time for a lesson. If it is
time for circle, everyone needs to stop what they are working on and come sit
in a big circle on the carpet. If it is
time for a lesson, everyone needs to stop what they are working on and come sit
on the carpet facing the board. You should not bring anything with you, unless
you are instructed to do so. And you
should make seat choices quickly, not worrying about where your friend is
sitting. The quicker we can make this
transistion, the less time we waste and the more time we have to do our work
and other fun stuff. Let’s practice. Everyone head to your seat. Once
everyone is seated, ring the chimes and whisper“Time for circle.” when everyone is quiet. Point out the positive behavior and explain
that we will practice this transition again.
Practice this transition several times throughout the first day. Each time, reinforcing the expected
behaviors. Can also have some students
demonstrate some unacceptable behaviors (sitting with back to group, etc.) and
discuss the problems with these behaviors (should be brief discussion, nothing
long and preachy).
Wow! This is taking longer than I thought! I will be back tomorrow with a few more first
day “lessons”.
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