Episode 3
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Episode 3 - Playground problems? Here’s how to fix them now!
Playground problems? Here’s how to fix them now!
SHOW NOTES- EPISODE 3
Title: 3. Playground Problems? Here’s How To Fix Them Now!
Subtitle: Your Guide To Making The Most Out of Recess
Summary: We’re giving you our best tips for making the most out of RECESS.
In this episode you’re going to get easy ways to improve recess for you and your students!
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And here are the CAPES:
When you spot a kid breaking a rule Script
“Child’s Name, Go have a seat please, I’ll be right over to talk to you.” (SMILE)
If they don’t go sit right away, give them a reminder,
“The quicker you sit down the quicker you will go back and play!”
Once they sit down, you say “Thanks for coming right over. Do you know why I asked you to come sit?”
If they tell you, repeat what they say and ****EXPLAIN the reasoning for the rule...
“I was climbing the fence.”
“Yes, you were climbing the fence, do you know why our rule says stay off the fence?”
“No.”
“Well, it’s because the fence can be dangerous and sometimes kids get their fingers pinched. That hurts really bad. Now do you see why it’s a rule?”
“Yes.”
“Ok, so tell me, what you’re going to do differently when you go back to play?”
****(SUPER IMPORTANT PART)>>>”I’m going to stay off the fence!”
“Awesome, fist bump!” (or high five them...something to rebuild the bond!)
EPISODE 3- We’re giving you our best tips for making the most out of RECESS.
In this episode you’re going to get easy ways to improve recess for you and your students!
Caylee and I love surprising you guys… One way we’re going to do that is by occasionally releasing episodes early… so when you’re expecting them every Friday, BAM, we might do an early release on Thursday night and send you a little podcast hug with a new episode popping up early… ! Or maybe we have plans to record more than one episode a week, the only way you’ll know what we have up our sleeve is by subscribing!! Once you’re subscribed, our latest episodes will end up right in your cue!
YAY!! Go ahead, hit pause, and subscribe real quick so you don’t forget! Haha, We’ll be right here waiting for ya…
Ok, Layne, so we’re jumping right into here, taking on recess in our 3rd episode, this was a bold move on our part, but I don’t think you will be disappointed, we put a lot of thought into our tips and strategies for this episode...
Listen, I hated recess at the beginning of my teaching career and by the sounds of it, some of you do too!
Oh ya, we use our instagram accounts to ask YOU (and other pre-k teachers) what you think about different topics as part of researching and preparing for each episode, so make sure you find us on instagram and TALK TO US!! We love hearing from you and we need to know what you guys think so we can make the episodes the best they can be for you!
Ya, we’re talking about recess today...We heard from you all, that recess is when a lot of misbehavior spikes, recess is too short or there’s not enough coverage for supervision. We feel ya!
We were teachers in Colorado and usually it was cold….
I would hope for snow days so I didn’t have to go stand outside and freeze. Also, recess can be CHAOTIC! Kids have been cooped up all day and are ready to burst … they are freeeeeee. I felt like I was putting out fires the entire recess time. This should tell us something. Kids need to be moving all through the day (another episode) and it should tell us that ALL KIDS need recess. As tempting as it might be, it’s almost never a good idea to take away recess as a punishment. When done right … recess can be a solution to many of your problems.
YES, LAYNE, that is so true… in this episode, we are going to talk about some solutions for the naughty behaviors that can pop up on the playground and some easy ways you can get kids moving and playing together to make recess a great part of the day!
So let’s start here, Layne… Why is recess important?
First of all, social skills - recess provides a semi- unstructured allotted time for kids to “ work it out” - this is where kids will start to learn how to share, take turns, negotiate, role play, show empathy and think about others…
Yes! taking care of our friends!! Recess is one of the best times to facilitate that friendship aspect… playing nicely, cheering for each other, building each other up…
Behavioral advantages - just like adults, kids need breaks. Sunlight promotes serotonin to be released. We can’t expect 4 year old to have great behavior and work hard all day long. That’s just setting everyone up to fail…
YES, we need that break (or ideally BREAKS) in the day for the kids to go bananas… because once we allow them that release, they are so much more focused and ready to learn… they have to get those wiggles out
They absolutely need time to reset, time to get energy out, time to interact with friends, time to explore, time to experiment. Kids need to be outside!
Ok, sure, it all sounds great… but we know from experience, you get them out there… and they turn into ninjas, tackling, pulling, pushing, hitting, fighting… how do we get them TO PLAY NICELY?
Good question, we’ve been there!! So yay, we are about to share with you 4 things that turned our recess around!
Oh heck ya, let’s hear it!!
1.First AND FOREMOST, High expectations- A successful recess starts before you hit the blacktop. There needs to be expectations for getting to the playground, how to act once you get there and what it looks like when it’s time to leave the playground.
Layne, no one told us this part our first year right? So we had a front row seat to the show.. Of what happens when the routines and structures around recess are not set in STONE.
Caylee, didn't we practice the day before the kids even came?
AND THIS IS NOT EASY, because the few days before the kids come, IT IS SO TEMPTING to spend every minute organizing and printing and cutting and preparing… but THE IMPORTANT STUFF is the routines… It’s kind of crazy to think we made our paras practice with us --
We worked out all the kinks, we practiced what language we’d use, we thought about potential hiccups and worked them out.
When we practiced, we’d take turns being the kids… trying to anticipate things kids might do if the directions weren’t clear and how we could tweak what we’d say to make sure the kids KNEW EXACTLY what they were being asked to do…
It was long and boring and yes, our para’s probably hated us that day. Buttttttt ….. it freaking paid off. Not one adult or kid ever got confused on what he or she should be doing.
Then, the kids showed up and it was like the work was only half way done… Those first few days, it was time to show the kids the routines that we had perfected… hahaha, which were far from perfect once you threw all the kids in there, but the more you practice, the better they get!!
Yes! We practiced how kids would hold the and and how the line leader and caboose were responsible for opening and shutting the gate. It’s so important to get the procedures in place before students are asked to do it. When we say “Hey, can you please hold the door?” Kids need to know what that looks like.
Kids are capable of doing hard things if we show them how. Does it take a few minutes to let every child practice the correct procedure for holding the door? YES, more than a few minutes, it takes awhile… but when each child gets to practice the correct way to hold the door (we usually did arms tucked behind them (to protect their fingers) and they’d stand in the middle of the door (not at the far end which usually pushes them because of the weight of the door, when they are in the middle they have more leverage with their tiny bodies and they can hold the weight of the door)... and they plant their feet… and it’s only ONE child, not 3 like the way it will happen when you ask them to hold the door (if you haven’t practiced the procedure before (HAHA) 3 kids running to hold it, getting moved by the weight of the door, body’s flying… and then, the other part of the door holder procedure, was that after every child has walked through the doorway, the door holder stays at the end of the line… they become the caboose… THIS IS A HUGE CURVEBALL and if you don’t practice, you might have some tears… but once kids know… the door holder (usually starts at the front of the line) and always ends up at the end… they don’t fret, because you’ve talked about it with them… they know “I just did an important job, and now I have another important job..”
You have to tell them, the caboose is a very important job too! When I see the caboose, I know our whole class is here and that tells me I can keep going!
Yes, and maybe it took a significant amount of time to practice this and let every child have a turn...but you can use that time to give them more practice walking in lines and get that part of the routine down even better too!
Yes, Make it fun! And, once you’ve put in that time, to let them practice and make each of your students ready and prepare door holders… EVERY TIME YOU WALK THROUGH A DOORWAY IN THE COMING SCHOOL YEAR, you’re not going to waste a single minute… no kids are going to get hurt.. No doors shut on little kids because you’re trying to hold it open as 16 little munchkins squeeze through.. And your fingers are slipping, and there’s still more coming!!! Let your students help with these jobs! They can handle it if you prepare them!
Not to say, kids didn’t still act up every now and again .... they did… and they will always need you to be there, as the adult that’s going to address them when they try to push the limits… they are always testing, remember that… but you’re there, and ready to remind them, “We know how to walk in the hallway… we are great listeners, we have already practiced and we know what to do!”
YESS, Don’t threaten them, “DO YOU WANT TO PRACTICE AGAIN? WE WILL KEEP PRACTICING UNTIL YOU GET IT!” I say this because I’ve done the threatening thing.. And they don’t care… they will practice as long as you’ll threaten and follow through with… there will ALWAYS be a few kids who bite on that empty threat, and want to challenge you… and they will outlast you… their will is stronger, because you have 15 other kids to worry about..they are just thinking about themselves.. They don’t care… so don’t start those threats, instead make it fun… let kids take turns giving stickers to their peers who are doing great, stop and take high five breaks and let everyone feel great about the practice session, “look how good we’re doing! Wow, this is going to be so quick, we are all making great choices!”
And, for the most part, once the kids know their jobs, they will try hard to do their best, because they want to get out to the playground!!
So OK, make sure to have firm routines for all parts of getting to and from the playground… think about exactly where the kids should stand, how do they know where they are supposed to be...one easy way to check if you are being clear enough with the expectations is to ask a kid to tell you them… ask different kids to tell you and model for you, and they should all know exactly where and how and what it looks like… that’s when you know you’ve practiced enough, and then maybe do it another time or two just to be sure…. and we will go into more about expectations with materials in a minute…
Ok, time for #2…
Yay! What’s number 2!!
The second thing that turned our recess time around was -- Adults being active! Although it might be easy to use recess for a time to take a seat , cut laminated papers or scroll your phone …. It’s actually a great time to get to know your kids and Play with them… yes , play! Remember last episode when we talked about making little connections throughout the day? Well, here’s the perfect time!
Some kids might struggle in the classroom but get them on the playground and they are superstars.
Let them show off some of their soccer skills, their climbing abilities , or just how fast they can run. This will give them the chance to shine. Who doesn’t want a time to shine!
I love this one… and like you said, it can be tempting to reach for your phone on the playground… we finally initiated a no phone policy, because it got awkward reminding people to get off their phones… recess time walks a fine line between amazing enjoyment for everyone and out of control danger zone… the difference maker there, is supervision… all adults have to be on deck, paying attention and circling the playground… call me crazy, but I don’t think adults should be talking to each other at recess..
SAY WHAT? Yup. Two adults start talking, and their sense of awareness goes out the window… It just happens… recess it not the place for you to catch up with your colleagues or the para in the other classroom… you gotta find another time to do that… I’m not saying you can’t engage with each other, a little small “hello how you doing?” is fine.. But you shouldn’t be sitting on a bench talking to the other teacher about what happened over the weekend! I LOVE YOU AND IM SORRY BUT THAT’S HOW I FEEL. Ok, layne take us back to something happy… what’s number 3?
Haha, ok, #3 is the importance of BOTH Structured play AND unstructured play -
Oh yay, let’s go into some specifics here about fun ideas for both kinds of play!
One big point we want to emphasize for recess stuff is that NEW AND DIFFERENT is better than FANCY and EXPENSIVE… Constantly try to think, what can I do with this to make it NEW AND DIFFERENT? How can you repurpose an item to be a totally different activity by just switching something up?
Some kids crave and need unstructured play during recess. They love to run and run and run and do great…. While others benefit more from a little bit of structure. We learned when we provided some organized games and other more “free play” activities outside... it went a lot smoother. What kind of activities/games/art did we use out-side?
Instruments-One of my favorite things to do on the playground is set out a basket of instruments and encourage the kids to pick one up and follow me as we walk in circles pretending to be in a parade… kids want to make noise, kids wants to bang on things and yell… that’s what this activity is all about… let them do it! LEAD THEM in the activity and keep it interesting by finding new paths, balancing on things, marching… stomping
Water painting- Another great one is paint brushes and water… You can start this one by simply putting plain water and paint brushes out… this is a great one because it’s ok for the kids to paint almost anything! We would always make sure to tell them to stay off the equipment because kids are climbing and we don’t want it to get slippery.
-Chalk! Chalk is easy and can be cheap if you find it on sale! You can also ask families to donate chalk throughout the year… tell them to keep an eye out for sales too! You can encourage the kids to lay down and trace the outline of their bodies… once you do this a few times, they will start to trace each other! They can color on cement, you can color on sticks, on playground equipment, brick walls...you can hang chalk boards on fences… etc …. Normal chalk is tons of fun, but after a few weeks, when that gets boring… it’s time to think about, how can we make this new and different? One way to do that is to add water to it-- (if you’ve never tried it, it makes a cool thicker substance)...CAUTION ABOUT A FEW THINGS HERE- once you show the kids how to dip the chalk into the water, and paint with it ... you just have to accept the fact that they are going to want to mix chalk and water in the future… so if you set out the water and paint brushes.. And kids start mixing the water and chalk again, you can’t freak out… you taught them to do that… they learned something new… if it’s happening and you really need it to stop, schedule one of those playground meetings and let them all know, we are not dipping the chalk in the water anymore… for now we are going to use dry chalk BUT, we will let you when we start doing that again… (and a few weeks later, NEW AND DIFFERENT can be mixing the chalk with water again)
Do you think I’m crazy for imagining a full meeting teaching moment, on the playground? You think I’m crazy, I THINK YOU’RE CRAZY. HAHAH I’m kidding, but there are some messages that all the kids need to hear… you have to find time to set up a learning (listening and focusing) moment out there before you let them go nuts…
I created a huge 12 foot tall visual support for my students…. It had huge pictures of different parts of the playground and it had all the rules (we will talk more about rules later) and I would sit the entire class down on the first dayS-yes MORE THAN ONE DAY.. of recess..for about 5 minutes… we’d first read over the poster, and point to the areas on the playground and go over the rules...THEN, I’d have the whole group follow me around to the place in each photo and tell me the rules again! It takes 10 minutes or so the first few days of recess and then THE KIDS KNOW THE RULES...you know how I know that they know them? Because THEY CAN TELL ME THE RULES..I point to a rule..they should all be able to tell me what that one is..
When you get to point that the kids can tell you the rules you’re at a point that opens up new possibilities… , (and you’d be surprised, you might think there are a lot of procedures you’ve done over and over, surely all the kids can tell you what’s expected… but that’s just not always the case, try it! Cold call on some kids about what you should do next you’re modeling a routine you think they all know pretty well.. If they can tell you, pat yourself on the back, if they can’t it’s ok, pat yourself on the back too, you’re becoming a better teacher by realizing, the teachers you see at the assemblies who’s kids sit so nicely… that teacher doesn’t just have all the good kids.. That teacher spent 5 times longer on the routines and practicing the expectations… don’t hate on her, appreciate her and then work towards helping your kids get a little better and everybody wins. Every body wins.. We are here to build each other up!! Cheer each other on! We all have things to improve on and we are all getting better everyday!
Now the next one on the list, I’m pretty sure started in Ohio, but i’m also pretty sure a lot of people say it started in other states..hahaha. What is it layne?
-Corn hole - no you don’t really need to haul your corn hole set from home. All you need is two buckets and a bean bag. We usually would set up 2 sets of this game because it was so popular with the kids.
-Races - Race’s are easy and don't require any additional supplies. Here are some fun ways I used to do races… I’d gather all the kids into one corner of the playground… and I’d have them all stand there while I went and jogged the path that they were going to be running… it would be a very simple clear pathway… usually along the fenceline in the grass… it’s good to have something they have to touch before they come back (like go all the way down and touch the fence and come back) so they actually go all the way down and back….and Then, I’d tell them to get in a line…. (sometimes there were like 30 kids, it’s ok, this still works) they get into a blob-like line, which is fine..and I’d stand at the front part… and I’d tap the first kid on the head, and say “GO”... then about 3 seconds later, I’d tap the next kid and say GO… and that continued… and THEN, as they came back, they’d give me a high five and I’d tell them how many points they got (I’d just yell out a random number, 50 POINTS! 100 POINTS! 200 POINTS! 30 POINTS!) and then they’d get back in line… so I’d be standing in the middle and the kids on my left would be the ones I’m sending off to run..and the kids that are returning would come to my right side for their high 5… it worked very well… oh, and the entire time they’re standing in line (which isn’t long, it moves quick)... they have a very important job.. They are cheering for the kids who are running… I teach them what cheering looks like… I show them they can clap, yell, here are some good things to yell “You can do it” Go LAYNE Go!... I encourage them to high five each other when they get back too… etc…
If you have younger kids, when I used to work with toddlers, I would have them do something similar--- I’d have them get in a group with me… and their playground would obviously be much smaller, and the little track they do would be much smaller, but I’d have them do a lap around the playset, and they’d go one at a time, (maybe two) but we’d all cheer for them… it was the same kind of game on a much smaller scale, in every way :) hahaha
-Radio/Bluetooth speaker outside for dance parties—I am always changing up what I Incentivize my kids with, for when they fill their sticker charts (in our next episode, I’ll be telling you all about the sticker chart/behavior management system that I use!).... but I went a few months motivating them for a dance party when they fill their sticker charts. And I’d get to take the 5-10 kids that picked that reward outside to dance and play and we would jam to music and they loved it.
—This is another good time to mention that recess on the playground is one thing but you can get kids outside to do a lot of other types of things…
—We had a garden at our school so some days we would take snack outside and eat in the garden, especially if it’s a really messy snack (Like muffins or something that would get crumbs everywhere in the classroom) we would just walk outside and eat it and then, when they’re done or if they don’t want to eat any snack, they can play for five or 10 minutes to get some more movement… rather than eating snack in the classroom where they wouldn’t have the chance to do movement after they’re done.
-throwing paper balls into a bag/basket -- another good one is drawing a bullseye on a brick wall with chalk and then letting kids throw bean bags or paper snowballs… it’s smart to avoid regular balls or something that might hurt a kid if it hits them in the head… you could even draw a long rectangle box on the wall like 10-20 feet wide and then draw a line on the ground and teach kids to stand at the line and throw at the box… you could draw a diagonal line on the ground so some kids can be closer to the wall to throw and some can go to the far end of the line which would be farther away from the wall… does that make sense? I hope so… but throwing is an important skill for kids… there are lots of squishy balls you can get that wouldn’t be a problem for them to run and throw and chase and play freely with… of course you’ll have to make sure they know the key terms like, “Can I use that when you’re done”... and some other good sharing terms… but this can all be a positive sharing team building experience!
-Magical potions- just a jar with water and they add things from outside (leaves, woodchips, sand…..collect nature items to add to the potion on a short walk around the school…
-streamers-- you can get these on amazon, for like 15 bucks, a pack of like 20... Long, beautiful, mutlticolored streamers… I will put a link in the show notes for the packs I ordered and LOVED...these are essentially just long “kite” like dancing and frolicking accessories! You could totally DIY them by tying long strips of fabric to sticks/poles of some sort, however I found the ones I bought to be so pretty, well-made, and affordable it was an easy purchase choice!
**And, like all materials, I’d only bust them out on certain days...another simple strategy to keeping materials exciting, remember new and different is the best kind of recess toy!
-dramatic play clothes-- tons of dress up stuff, of all different kinds. You can ask families to donate old halloween stuff or any play clothes...any kinds of fun props that encourage imaginative play! We would have random Halloween accessories like a knight hat with horns, fluffy hats, stop signs and construction worker accessories, dresses, and hats, scarves, props, clothes to pretend to be different occupations... so many random things!!!! we had a bunch of animal costumes that were donated to us that we just added to our playground dress-up collection!
Capes- I DIY’ed about 20 capes for recess (we’re talking hot glue and velco) and they became one of the most requested play materials…. and it was one of those things that could have gone bad with the kids acting like superheroes and inclined to “fight” but we said uh-uh…”we can handle this… we can use capes the right way.” We decided to make it a teachable moment and emphasized good behavior with the capes and “superhero friends”... I will post some photos in the show notes of the SUPER SIMPLE capes that I made, but really, any kind of cool fabric that you can find will make the kids so into this...I actually think I got the idea when I saw Batman fabric at Walmart… then I just took it to a whole new level and made tons of them. Keep your eyes out for fabric sales you can get it really cheap if you find good sales.
--AND MY ALL TIME FAVORITE--BUBBLES--(not for the kids) I purchased my own big tub of bubbles with a special huge wand so I didn’t have to blow on them (god I used to get so light-headed hahaha) but this wand just allowed me to dip and wave my arm and the bubbles would fly everywhere! Some kids would chase bubbles the entire time we were outside, almost an hour… we’d count bubbles! We’d sing while chasing bubbles… bubbbles are my JAM.
Ok and sidenote, I was just searching for the amazon link for those bubbles so I could put it in the shownotes, and it took me about 20 minutes to finally find the right one… and I panicked because I love the wand so much, I ordered another bottle… haha I gave my other one to Jenny and Hanna! That was one bottle I had been refilling for like two years.. The bubbles that come in the bottle are scented, which is a really fancy surprise..but once they are gone, you just refill that magical bottle with the cheap bulk bubbles you can buy … it’s so awesome because the wand is part of the lid, so you just lift it up, wave it around and tons of beautiful bubbles will go flying! I have posted a link in the show notes for the RIGHT BUBBLes… I would hate if you were out there with some mediocre bubbble wand trying to wave them, thinking to yourself, “this sucks, caylee is full of BEEP…” HAHA jk, but seriously you gotta get the MAGICAL BUBBLE WAND… I ordered one and I don’t even teach anymore. I just didn’t want to possibly miss out on this amazingly crafted contraption.. Also, they do sell them at walmart, so take a look at the show notes, I will post a picture of what the bubbles look like on instagram too! You might get lucky and snag a bottle at walmart, (IF SO BUY AT LEAST 2, you’re gonna love them.)
What’s #4 layne?
#4 is… kick old school rules to the curb if they don’t serve you.
Here’s a thought on the recess rules… what’s the reason behind them? When you teach the rules to the kids, you have to tell THEM WHY you have that rule… and this is also huge becuase if you have a rule and there’s not a solid reason behind it… rethink that rule!
I recently was volunteering in a preschool classroom…. I just happened to get recess duty. I watched many awesome practices they had in place but one thing I witnessed puzzled me. So much time and energy was going into getting kids not to climb up the slide. One para was designated to watch the slide and sit kids out that climbed up. It was such a waste of a good para and coverage. So many kids that needed to get energy out were being put in time out. When Caylee and I taught together we ran into this same problem …. We were enforcing this old school rule of not going up the slide and didn't give it a second thought until we noticed so many kids were getting in trouble for it. Hey what happens if we let the kids go up the slide? Maybe we can make a designated time / or slide for just climbing up? And that’s what we did. We were lucky enough to have two slides on our playground...one slide for climbing up and one for going down! I know not everyone is lucky enough to have 2 slides but you can designate special times for climbing up.
Take a look at your recess time….. What's not working for you? How can you change it? Do the existing rules suit your class? Can you change them while still keeping everyone safe? If kids can't run on the cement, where can they run? Is there one rule you find everyone repeating every day, over and over? (You got a touch on that one again!) We had kids that kept running in the same spot and we just kept reminding them of the same thing so we had to sit everybody down and show them, we run on the grass not on the pavement….why?? Because kids get hurt really bad then they fall on the cement part! Ok? So now let’s practice. And I’d have my kids follow me as I’d run on the grass and get to the pavement part and make that slamming on the breaks sound.. eeee! And then I’d walk. And we’d do laps of running on the grass part and they’d all make the screeching stop sound as they came up to the pavement and we’d all stroll and walk funny ways and get to the grass again and yell “RUNNN!!” Things like this can help save so much time reminding kids of the same things over and over.
Is taking away recess a good idea? NO.. the kids who are misbehaving are the ones who need to run the most! You should never take away recess from kids… and what should you do if kids are being super aggressive on the playground? (paras having trouble keeping control of kids… what do you do? (first put a good system in place on the playground-- we’ve used scripts for redirecting kids and had the adults practice, because it’s so important to be consistent out there..)
In the rare case a kid is very out of control… I had one kid come in and sit with me and i asked him to tell me what he had done, which he didn’t want to do, but he did because he wanted to go back outside, and we talked about what he should do instead -- draw a picture of what they are going to do differently
Inside days: getting super desperate? We were at the end of a hallway…RUNNNING UP AND DOWN THE HALLWAY on inside days
SPONSOR MESSAGE:
This podcast is sponsored by the Pre-K Teacher Family. It’s a support group we’ve created for YOU.. yes.. You..and we want you to join, ASAP, so we’re running a sale, just for our podcast listeners… if you visit our website, triedandtrueteacher.com and sign up for a monthly or yearly subscription, you’re going to get 30% off with the promocode PODCAST…so when you go to checkout on our website, enter the promo code which is the word “PODCAST”… and you’ll get the discount… 30% off DON’t WAIT PEOPLE, this is exciting news….
And we don’t expect you to take it from us, we want you to hear from the family...this week we are bringing you Ashley’s testimonial… she said, “What I want everyone to know about the Pre-K Teacher Family is how great it is. Everyone is kind and friendly, there is nothing negative and everyone helps you out with any questions you may have about your classroom. Caylee is fantastic, she actually talks to you and answers all your questions. All the resources have been amazing, easy to use and the kids have LOVED THEM!”
ASHLEY, thank you so much, I love talking to all the family members, hearing from you all seriously makes my day… my husband is always asking what’s going on with the fam, and I love showing him all the success stories… I especially love hearing that the kids are loving the resources... that’s the best...we love hearing that… thank you for helping us share our positive message of the Pre-K Teacher family… we hope this will encourage other teachers to give us a shot! You can click on the link in the show notes to learn more… and don’t hesitate to reach out to layne and I… we love answering questions and getting to know you guys…
END RECAP: Ok, so let’s recap…
Recess can be your saving grace and will help you make those connections to students who need it.
New and Different is better than expensive and fancy… find creative ways to repurpose materials in new ways to get the kids excited from week to week…
Don’t be afraid to kick old rules to the curb… if you find yourself repeating the same rule over and over day after day, think about the reasoning behind the rule, and if you can adjust the rule or teach it in a more creative way to get it to sink in
And make sure you tune in next week, when we give you an inside look at the behavior system we used in our classroom! If your systems aren’t serving you and maintaining the behaviors in your classroom… we’re going to let you try ours :)
And finally, one of the best ways to help us get our message to more teachers is to share and subscribe! If you’re listening on a smart phone right now, you can take a screenshot and tag us in your story! We love finding our people...