It's A Summer Book Study!!!

I am so excited to be participating in the summer book study that Kindergarten Smorgasboard and Kindergarten Chaos are hosting. They have chosen the book 'Mindset' by Carok S. Dweck. At first glance, you might wonder, is this worth the read? It seems to be more about ways of thinking than strategies I could actually use in the classroom. I challenge you to read the first chapter and you will quickly see IF WE AS TEACHERS DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT MINDSET IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT STRATEGIES WE ARE USING. I had two major A Ha moments after reading this chapter. The first, I am on the right path with my students and having a growth mindset, but could definitely improve. The second, I do not have a growth mindset like I should for myself, I am taking care of others but I am not taking care of myself! 

The first quote I found myself underlining was on page 4, "they didn't even think they were failing. They thought they were learning." Four pages into the book and what a great challenge for us to teach our students and ourselves as teachers. One reason I love teaching pre-K is I am the first teacher many of the students come in contact with. If I can have students from the beginning of their school career, they're learning journey, seeing school as a place of learning and trying until we learn, not a place where you have to worry about making mistakes and failing, how much more of an advantage will they be at?!?!?! 

I really found myself underlining sentences on pages six and seven. The first one I underlined, "The view you adapt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life." So many of us are teachers because we had someone who helped us have a positive view of ourselves and what we can do for others. Sadly we see some students come in our rooms who are from ways of life that have not taught them this. They come to us with the fixed mindset, "believing that your qualities are carved in stone." This brings to mind a pet peeve I have, where adults will say that a child is bad. Why are you being bad? You are so bad! Parents/adults that find them something this may not be trying to have a negative impact, but they are. I have found it is so much better for a child's self-esteem to point out they've made a bad choice. I will tell them, you made a bad choice, you're not bad, your choice was bad and next time you can make a better choice. I then offer them other choices they can make the next time or have them come up with choices they can make the next time, depending where they are. Many times I have seen a child's face look at me, as if they are thinking, she doesn't think I'm bad? She believes in me? 

I cannot tell you how badly my toes hurt after this next sentence stepped all over them, "only the highest IQ students could be trusted to carry the flag, clap the racers, or take a note to the principal." I definitely have been guilty of this. I will say I did make some headway this past year. I had a student who I could tell could easily go down the wrong path, especially if he had a teacher that saw him as a problem and did not believe in him. I found giving him responsibility did wonders for his self-esteem. Often if I could sense his emotions were about to get the best of him, I would give him a job to do and he would calm down, probably do the job, and then go back to what he was supposed to be doing in the classroom. I look forward to the opportunity to do this for more students, to do it more intentionally for other students! 

Page 8 is where I realized my mindset for myself was not a growth mindset. Dweck gives a scenario where several unfortunate events happen. After hearing the scenario, people with a fixed mindset said they would feel like a failure or an idiot, worthless, dumb, a reject. "Excuse me, was their death and destruction , or just a grade, a ticket, and a bad phone call? " I can't tell you how many times I looked at my paraprofessional and complained that the more I try to get ahead and be organized something happens. The copier doesn't work, a meeting comes up out of nowhere, we find out we have paperwork that is due that day to the office. I let things like this get to me instead of realizing it is not the end of the world. While it is OK, and normal as a human being to get discouraged, I am already being encouraged by this book to look for ways to turn negatives around. 

As the chapter wraps up we are given the chance as readers to take a test to see what our mindset is. The results for me were that I was somewhat in the middle, but closer to the fixed mindset than I would like to be. Definitely room for improvement! "The fixed mindset makes you concerned with how you'll be judged, the growth mindset makes you concerned with improving. " While I strongly believe it is important to have a positive image, I definitely see that I need to strive for this without being worried about being judged. If I am doing my best as a teacher, and even going above and beyond what is expected, then I am doing amazing! I love how the chapter ends with great news, "the message is: you can change your mindset. "

No matter what grade or subject you teach I really hope you will consider joining in with this book study. I know I will use it in my classroom, as well as a mentor to some of the older students at my school, who so desperately need to see that a teacher believes in them and they can change their mindset!

Safe Spot

The safe spot has become a total lifesaver in my classroom. 

What is the Safe Spot? 

First, let me tell you what it is not. 

IT IS NOT TIMEOUT. 

The safe spot is a positive place to be. If students have a negative association with it, such as timeout, it's purpose will not work. 

The Safe Spot is a place children can go when they need to get away from it all. Some examples:

1. They miss their mom,dad,etc.

2. They just want to be left alone.

3. A friend hurt their feelings.

4. They wanted a certain toy and someone else got it first.

Children can go to the Safe Spot on their own initiative, or a teacher can suggest they go there. When I suggest a child go there (usually when they are about to have a major meltdown or temper tantrum) I stress THEY ARE NOT IN TROUBLE, that I am not upset with them, they just need to calm down.     Students may leave the safe spot when they are feeling better.

Here are some rules I have for my Safe Spot:

1. Only 1 child at a time, it is not a play center.

2. They cannot go there and continue to have their meltdown. They must find something at the Safe Spot (examples below) to help them calm down. 

3. Safe Spot items stay at the Safe Spot.

My room is tiny, so unfortunately my Safe Spot is small. If you have room, you can add soft seating to make the spot inviting. Try to locate the Spot away from traffic as much as possible. I have mine by our cubbies and the door, away from all the centers.

At the beginning of the year we go over these charts; feelings, appropriate choices. I then post them in the Safe Spot as reminders. 

consciousdiscipline.com

The above cards can be found by following the Conscious Discipline link. These are actions children can do to relieve stress. I introduce these actions at the beginning of the year by reading "Mean Soup" and "When Sophie Gets Really Angry" . The children love these stories and the actions. I repeat the lesson several times the first few weeks of school and occasionally throughout the year.

Below are examples of items you can put in the Safe Spot to help students calm down.

This is our "Oh No" jar. If the class is being to loud, not cleaning up fast enough, too rowdy in line, etc., a button is put in the Oh No! jar. They get a special reward on Friday's if they work as a team and have no buttons at the end of the day for 4/5 days. A button can be taken out of the "Oh No!" jar if they work as a team and make better choices.

I still need to add the times, but here is the beginning of my class schedule.

Woot woot, another completed pin! Thanks again to my sharpie paint pins for jazzing up the plastic flower pot (from Garden Ridge).

These bins are from Big Lots. Oh dear, I am just realizing there is a label for puzzles here. Clearly, these are not puzzles. Ignore that and focus on the lovely sharpie paint marker polka dots.

I have been wanting an apron, but have been too cheap to splurge on one. I found this at A.C. Moore for $6.00. I bought an iron on owl transfer, added ribbon, and of course sharpie paint pins to complete the apron!

Reading buddies bin. I am now realizing this bin has not been polka dotted. Better break out the sharpie paint pins one more time.

The green polka dot basket will house the first aid kit, emergency handbook, and other items needed when we leave the classroom. The owl in the middle is "Gumdrop", our class mascot.

I have drooled over this bin for months now in Target. I was so excited when I came up with a valid reason to buy it for my room!

 

This is an ORIGINAL idea!!! I used my handy dandy sharpie paint pens to create a behavior management bin. It houses stickers, "smellies" (lip gloss), and bracelets. We are not allowed to have behavior charts posted in the PreK room, so I use a bracelet system. Each child gets three bracelets. If they make poor choices they have to hand over a bracelet.

SO EXCITED about this idea I came up with. I used sharpies to draw a tree on a pocket chart from the Target dollar spot. This will be where the students "sign in" every morning. I am waiting on their lunch cards. Stay tuned next week for picture of the comleted project.

We are not allowed to put centers under the TV for safety reasons, therefore in order to save space I put my desk there. Who cares if the TV falls on me, right?

I used owl ribbon from Michael's and glued them on baskets from A.C. Moore. This will be where my paraprofessional will put notes and homework she takes out of the OWL binders each morning. Lunch money will also be put in the green basket. I have former students who visit me, so I did not think it wise to label a basket with "money"!

The green polka dot basket will house the first aid kit, emergency handbook, and other items needed when we leave the classroom. The owl in the middle is "Gumdrop", our class mascot.

I have drooled over this bin for months now in Target. I was so excited when I came up with a valid reason to buy it for my room!

This is my parent/visitor info board.

The teacher next door put border around her idea. I loved it so much I had to do it in my room. What a great way to liven up a boring door!

Another view!

The students OWL binders will go in here. The tub came from Garden Ridge. I used Sharpie paint markers to add the polka dots.

Here is the morning routine for my PreK children upon entering the classroom.

 

Polka dots are on the floor to hopefully encourage the children to line up in an orderly fashion! I bought the cardstock at Michael's!

Another view of the dots on the floor.

One final view of the dots!

Recognize this Pinterest idea? Love my post it note holder.

To do list- bought the wipe off board from Michael's.

Another pinned idea. It is supposed to say "testing". I used a "dots on chocolate" R sticker and put it over the T. This will be hung on our door at naptime.

PINTERESTING...

I made my first Pinterest project for the upcoming school year! These are made from ribbon (currently) sold at Michael's and notecards I scored at Target over a year ago on clearance. The cards just happen to go perfectly with my color scheme! These will be hung on the wall. Each child's name will be put on a clothespin and then hung on the ribbon attached to the mode of transportation to their home. Thanks to tattlingtotheteacher.blogspot.com for the great idea.