Five Tips for Surviving the End of School!

"These kids are driving me crazy!"
"They've got spring fever!"
"They should know better than this by now!"
"Boy, my class has gotten squirrely lately!"
I CAN'T WAIT TILL SUMMER VACATION!!!!!

Do any of these phrases sound familiar?  It is not uncommon for behaviors to change toward the end of the school year leading to lots of frustration.  It can be such a bittersweet time of the year for students and teachers alike!

The end of the school year is the splattered with a large array of emotions. One of the key triggers is all the pending transitions from what is familiar into the unknown.  In just a few short weeks children will be leaving a familiar children, teachers and routines to prepare to do it all over again in the fall with a new children, teachers and brand new routines.  This can create a lot of anxiety which results in "mis"behavior and leaves you feeling like your backpedaling!

The good news is we have a CHOICE!!!  We can choose to punish these challenging behaviors and get all stressed out about how out of control it has become OR we can see the behavior as communication of some unmet needs.  If we choose the later, then we remain in our brilliance and have the ability to manage our own stress and help the children do the same! 

I have had many colleagues over the years who do end of school countdowns.  I have mixed opinions about such countdowns.  Although they give us a timeline for the end of the school year, they also tend to come with the message "I can't wait till its over."  This creates a survival mindset.  It increases anxiety, sadness, and frustration.  You have spent all year building safety, trust, and loving relationships with these beautiful children and now you can't wait till it ends?

Perhaps you could choose to see it differently this year...

Are you willing to take a new perspective?  Let's try this:  "How can I make the days count rather than counting the days?"  If so, you will create new possibilities for yourself and your students!

Here are a few tips you could try to help you manage stress AND make the last precious days with your students count!

1.  Maintain a routine as well as you can.  Although many of the academic requirements are winding down, do what you can to give your students the structure they need in order to be successful.  Continue the rhythm of your day that they are used to!  This video demonstrates the arrival routine in a first grade classroom.  Your routines are like the skeleton that "holds up" the rest of your day!  Make sure you include visuals and model your expectations or "remind" them of the routine even though it is the end of the year.   

 

 

 

2. Be very intentional about including stress management strategies throughout the day.  These might include music and movement, deep breathing exercises, stretching, brain breaks, and visualizations.  Here is a video of Dr. Becky Bailey demonstrating some breathing strategies with a group of young children.  Take time to breathe every day!

3. Provide more information about the upcoming grade level.  For example, have an "ambassador" from the next grade level come and tell your students what to expect in Kindergarten.  I often hear teachers use threats such as, "they won't let you get away with that in Kindergarten" in an attempt to make children behave.  That strategy relies on fear in an attempt to manipulate behavior.  It would be more helpful to see the transition as similar to a visit to a foreign country.  Provide children with a tour guide, road maps, and all the helpful information you can as they plan for their new adventure!  This will be very beneficial in managing much of the anxiety that is bubbling up inside your little ones!

When I taught preschool, we planned a "field trip" to kindergarten.  Each of my preschoolers were paired up with a "tour guide" who showed them around the kindergarten classroom and helped them become familiar with this new environment.  The kindergarten children created books for the preschoolers about what to expect in kindergarten!  It was such a fun activity!

4. Increase rituals and focus on relationship and  remembering.  Make time to connect daily with your children.  You can do this through songs, finger plays, partner games, and whole group activities.  Be sure to include opportunities for eye contact, touch, presence, and playfulness.  Here is an example of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" with kindergarten students as a connecting activity.  This activity is also great for increasing impulse control and cooperation because it helps children access their executive function.

 

 

Wishing Well!  All year long we practice wishing well when members of our School Family are missing.  We tell the children that we will hold them in our hearts while their upset, sick, or absent from our School Family.  A couple of years ago we added this end of the year  ritual to symbolize our connection as a School Family.  Each child's name is written on a puzzle piece.  At our end of the year celebration, each child adds their piece to the puzzle to represent the fact that they will always hold a very special place in our hearts.  We also use this special heart with the new preschoolers the following year to represent the special children that have come before them!

   

Safekeeper Ritual!  The Safekeeper Ritual is a representation that we use in our Conscious Discipline classroom all year long.  It symbolizes the teacher's commitment to "keep the children safe" and their commitment to "help keep it safe."  This commitment becomes especially important as the end of the school year looms near.

5. Focus on the Favorites and HAVE FUN!  One thing I did at the end of every school year was to allow the children to vote on their favorite activities.  This was a great opportunity to "remember" the many fun and meaningful activities we had done in just a few short months.  During the last couple of weeks of school we revisited those activities and did some literacy activities associated with them as we wrapped up the year.

Of course, one of our all time favorites was Pete the Cat.  Pete was such a great example of keeping your cool by taking a deep breath and being a S.T.A.R. (smile, take a deep breath, and relax) when the world wasn't going your way.  So it only seemed appropriate to use these favorite children's books as a part of our end of the year activities!

Pete the Cat Bulletin Board for upcoming students

Pete the Cat book with group photo gift for each student





 

I hope this helps you have a new perspective on the "end of the year crazies".  Yes, it is frustrating when you have so many things that need to be done and the children's behavior is more squirrely than usual.  You hope that they would behave differently and demonstrate the skills you know they have.  Using just a few simple strategies can really help you AND your students have a more positive experience and leave you feeling full of joy and happiness as you stroll into summer with a smile on your face!  Because it's "all good!"

As always, I'm wishing you well!
Jenny Spencer, Conscious Discipline Certified Instructor
Ignite Learning LLC
www.ignitelearningllc.blogspot.com

 

 

Stickers, Stamps, and Stoplights...Oh MY!

Let's see a show of hands...

How many of you have ever tried some sort of behavior management system such as a stoplight, alerts, or writing names on the board in a last ditch effort to make kids behave?

I have to admit, for many years I used systems that included a stoplight, stickers, stamps, time out and a treasure box. 

Honestly, I thought I was doing the right thing.  I really didn't know any differently! 

That is, until one day when I was at our state early childhood conference with a coworker.  She wanted to attend a workshop titled:  "How to Handle all the Fussing, Fighting, Fits, and Tantrums."  Honestly, I didn't want to go.  I figured it was going to be "just another behavior workshop" telling me what I already knew.  At the time I truly believed I had this behavior thing all under control!

Since I didn't want to walk around the conference all by myself, I attended the workshop with my friend, and to my pleasant surprise what I discovered that day would change my life over the next few years!  That workshop was about Conscious Discipline and once I got a little nibble, I wanted the WHOLE BITE!

I came to discover over the next few years that the systems of stickers, stamps, and stoplights I was using were actually interfering with my relationship with my students as well as their optimal development.  In my attempt to control their behavior and I wasn't teaching them a great amount of self-control.

Conscious Discipline has given me tons of new tools that help me connect with students rather than attempting to control them.  I want to share one of the first rituals I started using in my classroom that made a tremendous difference in the sense of unity that we felt.  My hope is that you have time to prepare some rituals this summer so you can begin the next school year building connections with your students rather than planning how you'll control them!  It sure is easier on the pocketbook too! 

You can get started with your Wish Well Ritual with one easy visit to the Dollar Store.  All you need is a pizza pan, clear contact paper or packing tape, a red heart, magnetic tape, and photos of your students (or some other icon to represent all your students and classroom staff). 

It looks something like this...

 

 

Put all the pictures around the edge of the pizza pan with the heart in the middle.  We call this our "circle of friends."

 

This isn't your typical attendance routine!  It will transform your classroom!  Each day, at the beginning of the day, have one of the children count to see if everyone is present. 

 

If anyone is missing from your "circle of friends" they move that picture to the center of the heart and lead the class in singing this song.  "We wish you well, we wish you well.  All through the day today, we wish you well."  We send them heart felt warm wishes as well as prayers for safety and healing while they are away from our school family.

 

To make this more concrete for the younger children I use this little doll with a photo of the absent child in the plastic sleeve on the front.  We pass the doll around and give it a hug while we sing the song!

 

 

 

When the absent child returns to school the following day, we have another special ritual we do for them.  We call it our Absent Child Ritual.  To welcome them back to our "circle of friends" we recite this little chant and give them a butterfly kiss like this...

 

 



With the younger children we use a shiny little heart-shaped box filled with kisses to welcome the absent child back to class.  While the child is gone we pass the box around and "fill it with kisses" for our friend.  Upon their return, we "shower them with kisses" by shaking all the love out of the box  onto their head.  :)

 

This was only the beginning of our journey from a climate of control and competition to a climate of caring, connection, and love!  Connection leads to impulse control, willingness, and cooperation.

 

Suddenly, parents started telling me that instead of coming home and reporting who had to move their clip, sit in timeout, or miss recess, their children were sharing about who was missing from class that day.  They would include them in their bedtime prayers and really began caring for their classmates in a new way. 

 

I used stickers, stamps, and stoplights because I didn't know any other way.  That's what I was taught to do in college and it was what everyone around me was doing.  I didn't realize that these fear-based methods actually created more stress and inhibited learning and connection.  Now that I know better, I choose to do better.  Will you join me? 

 

Perhaps you could watch some of Dr. Bailey's videos on Youtube this summer, read one of her books, or check out Shubert's Classroom for more ideas about how to get started with Conscious Discipline or continue growing in your journey!  As always, I wish you well!

 

Jenny Spencer

Conscious Discipline Certified Instructor

Ignite Learning with Conscious Discipline LLC

www.ignitelearningllc.blogspot.com

Putting Humpty Dumpty Together Again

What is YOUR favorite Nursery Rhyme? 

One of my all time favorites, hands down, is Humpty Dumpty! 

I remember when I was about five or six and I bought a stuffed Humpty Dumpty doll at a small store in Kentucky.  I played with that doll for YEARS!!!  He climbed many walls and somehow managed to come out still in one piece!  My love for that "cracked up egg" has never changed! In fact, it continues to impact me to this day!     

So, let's get "cracking" with some multisensory ideas for you to use as you build knowledge and make memories with your little ones using our beloved friend, Humpty Dumpty!

There are many ways that Nursery Rhymes can boost social/emotional, cognitive, language, and physical development and include lots of fun science, cooking, and fine art activities that are sure to keep children interested and learning!

Did you know?  

“Experts in literacy and child development have discovered that if children know eight nursery rhymes by heart by the time they’re four years old, they’re usually among the best readers by the time they’re eight.” ~Mem Fox

Of course we always start with great children's books!  One of my favorites is Mother Goose Neighborhood!  The author puts a fun twist on over 40 rhymes with unique photos taken all around Brooklyn!  Learn more by following the link below! (*Amazon Affiliate Link)





Dave Horowitz has this fun and unique version of Humpty Dumpty that was a staple on my bookshelf.  In Humpty Dumpty Climbs Again this daring little Humpty just loves to climb...will he learn his lesson?





March is the perfect time to play with Humpty Dumpty since Spring is just around the corner and good ole' Humpty lends himself well to "spring things" such as birds, chicks, and eggs!

I usually get things rolling (pun intended) with some REAL eggs! 

This activity is best when introduced to the large group, but then broken up into smaller groups to decrease waiting time.  Bring in a WHOLE dozen eggs (or more) so everyone gets a turn!  The kids decide how tall they want the wall and whether they want Humpty Dumpty to fall on a hard surface or a soft surface!  Just look at all those language and math concepts would you!!!

Depending on the group of kids I have, either I use a permanent marker to make a face on the egg or I let the kids do it!  We make sure to discuss what Humpty Dumpty's face would look like when he sits on the wall.  Would he feel scared?  What do YOUR eyes and mouth look like when you feel scared?

The kids love doing this over and over as each child gets a turn to put their egg on the wall and recite the traditional rhyme with the group as we see what happens when he falls!

There is lots of new vocabulary involved in this lesson such as: yolk, shell, egg white (albumen), hard, soft, high, low, king's  horses and men, bricks, mortar...This would be the perfect time to have older children go back to the table and draw or write about what happened to Humpty Dumpty!

We also talk about all the other things that Humpty Dumpty could sit on that might rhyme with fall.  Some examples might be ball, mall, doll, or a stall.  Bring in or make some of these items and experiment to see what happens!  Rewrite the rhyme to include the new words and illustrations!  

As an extension, we always use the I Love You Ritual by Dr. Becky Bailey.  It goes like this:

"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the kings horses,
And all the queen's men.
Could put Humpty together again."

This connecting activity has motions that go with it that help you make connections with and among children.  They include eye contact, touch, presence, and playfulness.  The underlying message of this I Love You Ritual is Safety.  You are reminding children that no matter what happens YOU will keep them safe!

Here is a short video clip of me enjoying the ritual with one of my students with special needs.  It was especially fun for him since he really enjoyed intense sensory experiences!  There are so many fun ways to modify this ritual to fit your needs!

We also made a class book with the ritual by taking photos of children doing the activity with a partner.  We added the words and then each child had a turn to take the book home to share this loving ritual with their family!  Once everyone had a turn, we added it to our classroom library and children enjoyed it over and over again!  

They also had the opportunity to illustrate their own individual books!

AND they practiced their visual motor skills by cutting apart a Humpty Dumpty puzzle and then gluing him back together again on a printed wall that included the rhyme for them to take home. 

You can also do this with a brown paper sack and let them use rectangular sponges dipped in red paint to sponge paint bricks on the bag and put their Humpty Dumpty puzzle inside the bag so they could "fix" him over and over again!

I have had these little Humpty Dumpty finger puppets for years!  I think they came from Mailbox Magazine.  Super simple!   



The kids loved having the opportunity to practice using the Skill of Empathy with Humpty Dumpty when he fell down!

Using items from the Wish Well bag they helped Humpty Dumpty regulate his sadness after his fall by offering comfort and well wishes.  Some helped him breathe by using a pinwheel.

Some gave him Band aids and kissed his boo boos.

Others rubbed Boo Boo Cream on him as they sang:
"Bye, bye boo boos!  Bye, bye boo boos!  Bye, bye boo boos!  It's time for you to heal."
(From I Love You Rituals, By:  Dr. Becky Bailey)

They even comforted Humpty Dumpty with this cozy warm heart while wishing him well!

We used these healing rituals based on the idea that "what you offer to others, you strengthen in yourself."  When the children offer Empathy to Humpty Dumpty, they are strengthening their ability to do the same for themselves.

Since I have many children in my classroom with special needs, I  try to include lots of sensory experiences along with our lessons.  This is always a real favorite!

We get out lots of shaving cream and several different sizes of wooden blocks.  The kids use the shaving cream as the "mortar" to help them build walls for Humpty Dumpty.  We give them a plastic egg and let them explore their senses as they continue to enjoy the Nursery Rhyme.



Children learn in so many different ways.  Whenever you are teaching the Nursery Rhymes it is about so much more than just the words on the page.  They need many different opportunities to interact with the materials and experience them using all of their senses!

Some other extension activities we enjoy with Humpty Dumpty include cracking and eating hard boiled eggs.  We decorate and dye eggs and we even bring in live chicks whenever we have the chance!!!

For more great ideas check out my Nursery Rhyme Pinterest Board or this great website!

I look back on my childhood and smile when I think of all the ways I experienced learning.  I'm sure that's why I chose to be a preschool teacher!  I want to give children the opportunity to have rich childhood experiences that not only make them lifelong learners, but also experiences that will perhaps impact them as a parent or caregiver someday!  What will children remember about the lessons YOU plan?  

I hope this gets your imagination "cracking" as you plan some fun Spring activities that are sure to include Nursery Rhymes! 

What are some of your favorite Humpty Dumpty activities?