Can I get an Amen ?

What do good teachers do when we are having a really GREAT day after a few horrible , terrible , not so good days ?  We ditch the lesson plans and just hang out with the kids and build better connections !  Here are some wonderful things that happened in our classroom today.

A friend  had a hard time after his mommy left today. He wanted his letter he decorated  from the car.  We made a calm down center outside and I showed him where it was.  I said ” It is ok to be sad or angry.  This is where you can go to be by yourself until you are ready to play.”  About two minutes later he emerged ready to join our group.  As he started to play when he would think about it he would get sad.  One of his friends  walked up to him and asked him to do the red balloon with her.   DID YOU HEAR ME ?? It is working !!!  Not only are the kids using conscious discipline they are helping their friends.  The same little boy still struggles at nap time .  He heard me starting to round up a few kiddos to come inside to use the bathroom for rest time and I looked up and he was waking across the yard to the calm down center.  Ah…. Dont you love it when you know something is working ?

Another one of our little friends fell today when she was running on the side walk. She immediately started crying.  I said ” Oh no, what can we do when we are upset to calm ourselves?”  She placed her little arms above her head and started breathing and stopped crying.  Proud… Proud  teacher moment.

Another one of our friends struggles at rest time.  Youve seen the video of this one on  facebook.  Ms Dallas helped her do the drain and calm down.  She still was sad ( sad is ok ) but we avoided a meltdown.

One of our friends tends to swipe all the toys off shelves. Today I asked his friends to help him remember to only take down one toy at a time.  From across the room a child called me ” Ms Debbie, Ms Debbie, He is doing it . He is only taking one down at a time.  You DID IT !”  We use the term you did it a lot.  The children need to develop a sense of self satisfaction at making good choices instead of doing something to please an adult.  That way, when adults are not around, they still make good choices. Isn’t it great that not only did our friend make a good choice but also his friend acknowledged it !

Many other times throughout the day I heard children using the phrases they are learning.  ” You can not hit me, it hurts.” ” When you are finished playing with that , may I have a turn?”

Self regulation !