This is just a purely adorable story that I'm sharing because it reminded me of why I love teaching so much. In my second week back, the 1st graders are still learning to be good listeners. The afternoons have been pretty rough as far as following directions and accomplishing any sort of work. Ugh! So today I decided we needed to keep moving during math with the hope of keeping their attention and meeting some sort of learning target. We played a game called Inside/Outside (as named by the new math program adopted by the district). The kids had 10 linker cubes and a coffee filter (I didn't have the paper plates the lesson plan called for - I improvised). The directions were to toss up the linker cubes above the the coffee filter with some cubes landing "inside" the coffee filter and some landing "outside" of the coffee filter. We reviewed all the important saftey information for gently tossing linking cubes and spread out across the room to work individually on the floor. I also prepped the students to only toss the cubes when I said, "Go!" I also taught them the ASL sign for "go" in an attempt to limit the use/sound of my voice and thus the noise in our classroom. I gave the sign and the kids successfully tossed their cubes. They were delighted when cubes landed in the coffee filter. I had them show me how many cubes were "inside" the coffee filter with their fingers. Children across the room were holding up 2, 5, even 9 fingers to indicate the number of cubes in their filter. Then we did the same for the number of cubes that landed "outside" of the filter. Finally, I had them tell me how many cubes they had "in all." The first round was great! The kids were smiling and engaged and meeting a learning target. Way to go, Deb! After the second toss, I asked the students to show me with their fingers how many cubes were "inside" the coffee filter. Peyton (a wonderfully smart yet shy little girl that a few times has shown a bit of spark - wait for it, she's about to fully ignite!) jumped up and waved her 3 fingers in the air and as I walked around the room I noticed she was swaying her hips a bit as she waved her 3 fingers high. I asked, "Are you putting a little hip-shake to that 3, Peyton?" She was so pleased with her little "dance" that she added the disco arm (reaching across the body diagonally with a pointed finger or 3 fingers in Peyton's case - think Saturday Night Fever) and a huge smile. Before I knew it half of the class stood up to "dance" their numbers for me! I laughed so hard! I pictured Peyton's proud smile as I drove home this evening and I was still grinning from ear to ear. Disco Math was born! First grade is so much fun!
This is just a purely adorable story that I'm sharing because it reminded me of why I love teaching so much. In my second week back, the 1st graders are still learning to be good listeners. The afternoons have been pretty rough as far as following directions and accomplishing any sort of work. Ugh! So today I decided we needed to keep moving during math with the hope of keeping their attention and meeting some sort of learning target. We played a game called Inside/Outside (as named by the new math program adopted by the district). The kids had 10 linker cubes and a coffee filter (I didn't have the paper plates the lesson plan called for - I improvised). The directions were to toss up the linker cubes above the the coffee filter with some cubes landing "inside" the coffee filter and some landing "outside" of the coffee filter. We reviewed all the important saftey information for gently tossing linking cubes and spread out across the room to work individually on the floor. I also prepped the students to only toss the cubes when I said, "Go!" I also taught them the ASL sign for "go" in an attempt to limit the use/sound of my voice and thus the noise in our classroom. I gave the sign and the kids successfully tossed their cubes. They were delighted when cubes landed in the coffee filter. I had them show me how many cubes were "inside" the coffee filter with their fingers. Children across the room were holding up 2, 5, even 9 fingers to indicate the number of cubes in their filter. Then we did the same for the number of cubes that landed "outside" of the filter. Finally, I had them tell me how many cubes they had "in all." The first round was great! The kids were smiling and engaged and meeting a learning target. Way to go, Deb! After the second toss, I asked the students to show me with their fingers how many cubes were "inside" the coffee filter. Peyton (a wonderfully smart yet shy little girl that a few times has shown a bit of spark - wait for it, she's about to fully ignite!) jumped up and waved her 3 fingers in the air and as I walked around the room I noticed she was swaying her hips a bit as she waved her 3 fingers high. I asked, "Are you putting a little hip-shake to that 3, Peyton?" She was so pleased with her little "dance" that she added the disco arm (reaching across the body diagonally with a pointed finger or 3 fingers in Peyton's case - think Saturday Night Fever) and a huge smile. Before I knew it half of the class stood up to "dance" their numbers for me! I laughed so hard! I pictured Peyton's proud smile as I drove home this evening and I was still grinning from ear to ear. Disco Math was born! First grade is so much fun!
Ha! Way to make a lesson fun! The best teachers are always the ones who are willing to laugh in between. Yay Peyton!
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