Still working on forgiving myself. My negative self-talk from Monday resurrected, but I am aware of my strengths, too. Now I'm trying to find solutions.
My kids get real loud, real quick in any situation. I have tried so hard to use auditory signals, brain breaks, breathing, 60 bpm songs, and a calmer disposition but in the end I fall victim to my defense mechanisms. It's hard to get back in control after fighting with them all day. By the afternoon I'm an absolute grouch and no fun to be with.
So, come to my rescue over-priced classroom technology!
Ultimately I will be modeling voice levels more and moving kiddos around, but I've heard of these before and want to give it a shot. I think they will love managing themselves with it rather than me constantly after them.
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3 comments:
Did you happen to see the noise level poster freebies on my blog? I felt like you the 1st few days of school, but I have been using the little signs and they have worked pretty good:) But, at the beginning of the year you have to totally "Harry Wong-it";) For EVERY new activity you have to talk about the sign that's posted (ex: red=no talking; orange is whisper, etc.) EVERY time a person uses the wrong voice I ask them what sign is posted and what that means...and I mean EVERY!!! They are beginning to learn what is expected of them and the noise level in my room is definitely improving:) Hop on over and check em out if you want:)
Little Warriors
I am finding noise level to be one of my top issues too! It is such a challenge! I also come home and think about how I wish I had handled things differently at school. I always want to talk loudly over them to get their attention-which I know is totally not a good solution. So....I have been praising quiet behavior over everything else. I have been making them practice doing things quietly like stations, lining up, etc.(and just ignoring other issues I see until they get the noise level under control) and I have been making them practice things over and over and over again until it is quiet (which has actually seemed to work best because they don't like to practice). For example, when they walk over to my rug like like a herd of noisy buffalo, I just ask them to all go back to where they were and practice coming to the rug quietly. And then we practice a few more times just to make sure we really remember how to do it. I have also been trying to talk quietly myself, and practice whisper voices with them in fun ways, like by playing name games where we whisper everyone's names. My kids also like to pretend they are little mice---I have told them mice are VERY quiet. I know it will get better eventually, but it is so hard to be patient with all the noise these first few weeks! I can't wait for the day I can stop patrolling my room like the noise police and start teaching some small groups instead! Good luck with your students!
~Meredith
Keen on Kindergarten
Meredith, I feel like the noise police, too! I can't wait till they can do it themselves... but I know practicing like you said will help in the end.
Katie, yes I have seen those! I will definitely be using something similar next week. I forget how important having visuals is.
Thanks again, ladies!
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