Kindergarten, Behavior & Buckets

My very first Florida Kindergarten author/illustrator visit!!

I walked in the door knowing that I wanted to be a sponge and soak up as much as I could. I knew that I wanted to take oodles of pictures to share: of the kindergarten walls, the kindergarten artwork, the kindergarten classrooms, the kindergarten organizational systems, the kindergarten smiles. I also knew walking in the door, that I wanted to contribute to Krissy's linkie party about behavior & kindergarten.

The "bucket-filling" concept was in full bloom at St. John's and I LUV'd seeing the various ways that teachers were working with the students to reinforce positive behavior. I especially appreciated this anchor chart which so delightfully captures all manner of positive interactions. (It went on and on at length, but this picture conveys the essence.)

What a great method of capturing what we want! LUV the way that the individual names are high-lighted in green. Once upon a time a gazillion years ago, I remembering hearing someone say,

"The bridge to reading is through a child's name."

[While the person who shared the power-of-the-name concept escapes me all these years later, the concept itself resounded so strongly with me at the time, that it has stayed with me over the long haul.]

How truly wonderful to see your 'name-up-in-lights' with positive behavior. ~~~~BINGO!!!~~~~

Now let's all look over kindergarten teacher, Mrs. McClain's shoulder. This chart above was right behind her teacher-desk. Each child has a little individual bucket, labeled with their name and then affixed to a 'library pocket' where the amazing Mrs. McClain can then leave a little note on behavior that she's observed and wants to re-inforce. SUPER BINGO!!! [Editor's note: Each of the classes at St. John's have twenty or twenty one children, so I've cropped the bucket chart so you can see a large enough portion for her system to make sense.]

I took the liberty of peeking into the buckets of Yosef and Miles to see their messages. WOW!!

These were a few of my observations PRIOR to my Artist-in-the-Schools visit begining in earnest with the students. These peek-a-boo glimmers made me all the more eager to have my opportunity to work with my audience.

       BRING ON MY KINDERGARTNERS!!!!!

I sculpt each of my presentations from the 'optimal behavior' stand point, based on the variables for that specific visit. (Now granted I probably don't make a typical author visit, because truly I'm an Arts/Music/Movement person, but having said that,) I plan our time together to go back and forth between UPbeat, moving, dancing portion to more stationary, sedentary, thoughful segment and ying/yang between the two, for as much time as we have available. Think: CLASSIC A/B pattern! Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down.

I always get us underway offering the children  a chance to dance their heartbeat to a new level, filling their brains with oxygen in the process to my original children's song, "All Together Now." The song is designed to 'do-and-review' and includes everyone's favorite verse SHAKE IT DOWN. We then conclude with the directions: 'Everybody, sit back down' which are the lyrics of the last 8 beats of the song. Now that we're focused and alert, we're ready to take a look at my newest picture book, "Red, White and Blue."

This is what 60 kindergartners look like at minute #10. I've asked for volunteers to hold the original mini-quilts which became the illustrations within my book and we're captured in the picture above, working on our sign language for the lyric "I love you." So even though they are now seated, my expectation is that they are engaged. Including sign language for a hearing audience has so many benefits. The kinesthetic learners are delighted to have a job for their fingers. With this effort to be inclusive we also garner the benefits of fine motor development and all sorts of crossing the mid-line opportunities as the song unfolds.

Having been seated for several minutes, its time to get to "Jumpin' Jiminy" where we literally jump for 30 seconds and then freeze frozen, controlling all of our energy for 30 seconds. If you're freezing frozen you might as well make funny faces, right?

Freezing frozen is all about positive behavior and learning to control your own energy, your own body, your own enthusiasm, your own excitement. Now that we've had some time to jump + freeze, and jump + freeze, guess what comes next? You got it. Sit back down.

That's a pretty great picture of the quilts and their companion picture book windows for my first book, "You're Wonderful."

So back to Krissy Miner's question about Kindergartners and behavior. I do everything in my power to take advantage of the energy of five and six year olds and channel it in the direction that I want it to go. Having an invitation to a school where there is already a focus on positive behavior makes my brief time together all that much easier. This is more evidence from the classroom -- of the sort of perspective I observed yesterday. Last spring I wrote a post here about the 'rules' of kindergarten and if I do say so myself, it was a great post! (Click here to go there.)

These were all ideas observed in Kindergarten-land. If you've landed here thru Pinterest and want to see another AMAZING idea for building kindness -- I just saw another 'concrete' manner to encourage kindness in your classroom. Click right here to see the Kindness Wreath from a preschool setting.

If this is your first visit here to Rainbow-Land I'd be most grateful if you'd officially follow my blog and tell your friends. You're never certain what I'm going to share here, but I do work really hard to make it upbeat and encouraging, full of color & enthusiasm, polka-dots, daisies + the Arts, sharing from my amazing travels and invitations + the creative process that makes it possible.

********Speaking of SHARING......... We've just begun a collaborative blog earlier this month. It's filled with an amazing array of contributions from professional speakers, authors, performers, teachers, counselors, mental health and brain insight specialists. While you're blog hopping come on over and take a look at what's happening at PreK + K Sharing and be one of the first hundred followers there.

Edit: I woke up this morning and found a blog hop entitled "Thankful Thursday" and they've asked you to link to your favorite post of the last week!!! I am indeed thankful for everything I've learned about blogging in the last several months.

Another Linkie: I've  now added this post over at "I Can Teach My Child" for their weekly Show & Share hop.

Author Visit: Too Much Fun!

AUTHOR VISIT Day #TUESday!!!!
Every day that I work with children during my author visit, I attempt to remember to tell them, "this is my job." I even go on to say, "people pay me money to share my ideas with students." I think it's important to tell children the truth. They may somehow jump to the conclusion because I am having so much fun that I just like to 'pop' into schools and enjoy myself...... and while that is true, the other fact is that I am the poster child for doing-what-you-love. Yes, folks I get paid to have this much fun  

Tuesday we put the crazy socks away and got out our happy hats!

Here's the lucky ducky, favorite-fliers -- with their selections just before heading out the door for home. I wish that there was an audio file of that little character in the front row. His deep chocolate eyes looked into mine and I swear to you he said, "I wish you knew how much having you here means to me." I think he went on to say, "I want to be like you when I grow up," but it was just too hard for me to hear him through the tears in my eyes.

Folks. This is why you take the time to write grants and sell candy bars and jump through all the hoops necessary to arrange for 'people-of-the-Arts' to interact with your students. It gives them -- the students, another vision. A vision of what they might like to do when they grow up!!! A vision of who they might one day become. That's why I tell them that this is my job. This is why I tell them that people pay me money. This is why I make merry and bright. This is why I pinch myself in the morning.

Movement & Dance Part 5

Ladies and gentlemen!!!! I bring you the final installment in this particular portion of my interview with Connie Dow, author of Redleaf's "One, Two What Can I Do?" and national expert on movement and dance for young children. Connie is giving us her 7 benefits of including these art forms within your school day in response to a question posed by Vanessa Levin. The question stems from how to encourage teachers who may feel silly in front of other adults. Connie is taking the time to outline the significance of movement + dance in the hopes that if teachers realize the comprehensive benefits that are possible, they will be willing to engage in some 'sillyness' for the sake of optimizing their time with children.

Take it away Connie, we're ready for number five!!

5^th Benefit:  Emotional Growth

Also From NDEO:

Dance promotes psychological health and maturity. Children enjoy the opportunity to express their emotions and become aware of themselves and others through creative movement.  A pre-school child enters a dance class or classroom with a history of emotional experiences.  Movement within a class offers a structured outlet for physical release while gaining awareness and appreciation of oneself and others. Dance fosters social encounter, interaction, and cooperation.

6^th Benefit:  Creativity

 Could nurturing the creative side of our children be a key to the future success of the United States?  There is no question that education in the U.S. is in need of some serious revamping.  As stated in the 2007 report of a comprehensive study of the American workforce,  “Whereas for most of the 20^th century the U.S. could take pride in having the best-educated workforce in the world, that is no longer true.” In proposing solutions, the authors of the study point to the development of creative thinkers as one of the keys to success:  “Seeing new patterns and possibilities is the essence of creativity . . and creativity, innovation, and flexibility will not be the special province of an elite. 

It will be demanded of virtually everyone who is making a decent living, from graphic artists to assembly line workers, from insurance brokers to home builders.”

The creative arts, by definition, nurture this aspect of the developing child.  Movement specifically allows students to approach tasks “through the body, or kinesthetically,” and come up with new answers.

Connie, you know how I feel about creativity!!

7^th Benefit   The Whole Child

Dance, as an art form and physical activity, is part of the education of the whole child.  The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

 believes a comprehensive approach to learning recognizes that successful young people are knowledgeable, emotionally and physically healthy, motivated, civically inspired, engaged in the arts, prepared for work and economic self-sufficiency, and ready for the world beyond their own borders.

ASCD calls on parents, educators, policymakers, and communities to join forces to ensure our children become productive, engaged citizens. Our children deserve an education that emphasizes academic rigor as well as the essential 21st century skills of critical thinking and creativity.

Take us home, Connie!! Wrap it up for us!!! Go Connie, Go Connie!!

Developmentally appropriate practice dictates that we educate the whole child.  Furthermore, academics and physical activity are not mutually exclusive.  A number of researchers have found that regular physical activity contributes to improved school performance. As neurophysiologist Carla Hannaford states in her book Smart Moves:  Why Learning Is Not All In Your Head: “because movement activates the neural wiring throughout the body, the whole body, and not just the brain, is an instrument of learning.

I hope this blog entry has provided lots of food for thought, and reinforced your instincts to bring the delightful arts of creative movement and music to your learning environment!

Keep on dancin’,

 Connie

I have just added this article to the link-up being hosted by "PreK+K Sharing" on all things to encourage children to be ACTIVE!!!

Kinder-Kut Ups

Who has more fun than I get to have? I nominate my days for consideration in the-very-best-day-of school category. These early birds are being attentive to my requests and following my directions, responding to poetic instructions given in awesome action alliteration, creating choreography to storytelling simplicity.

Jumping & Freezing

Family fun in the fellowship hall at the 40th Anniversary celebration for an amazing program that celebrates all of the Arts in the lives of young children: Sing. Dance. Sign-language. Paint. Sculpt. Build. Paper Mache. You name it: the whole enchilada!! I think you can see in the enthusiasm photographed here that there was an amazing attendance of dads who joined our fun -- and grandpas too!!! Inter-generational fun is the very best kind.

These initial photos are of the group performing my sing-a-long of alliteration: "Jumpin' Jiminy Jamboree" which is one of the ditties from my fifth collection: "Debbie's Ditties 5: Jump, Jam, Jive!" This particular several minutes of fun includes 30 seconds of jumping (every child's favorite component) followed by 30 seconds of: freezing, frozen, fantastically..... which then is quickly elevated to every child's favorite part, as I ask them to make the funniest face possible and then freeze it.

If you have a chance to scroll back thru the photos above, you'll see that there is another game going on within all of the freezing frozen fun. You'll see that the kiddos [AND THE DADDIES!!!] are also working on their 'balancing skills' as the dittie continues to unfold. By splicing in the invitation 'to balance', I've sculpted a whole-brain-integration opportunity under the column of proprioceptive integration fame. Yet the children think the equivalent of a banana split's worth of fun!!

***A tip to fellow performers. I include this number in every concert. As I am introducing it to the audience, I invite every adult to get out there camera/cell phone with-a-camera in preparation for the fun about to unfurl. I've noticed that this is such a welcome interaction between the adults and the kids. I literally turn the children 'around' and have them face the parents. They really get to be the 'performers' at this point. I love watching the parents clicking away with zeal as their kids get goofier and goofier in their face-making. Frees everyone up. Mid-concert this gives the children a real reference point to be playful for their parents.

***In the classroom setting this song makes a perfect active number to interject in between some focused/sedentary time on the classroom rug and provides oodles of opportunity for active brain cells getting plenty of oxygen all while getting rid of the wiggles at the same time!!

And here's one of the several grand finales of the unfurling afternoon. Everyone gathered for the parents to share a rendition in sign language to my classic, "You're Wonderful" where there were indeed tissues for the mommies-in-wonderment over the concept that their little baby is about to leave the preschool nest and head to the big time!! Those are the dreams unfurling in sign language. Your finger starts at your head (where you store all of those dreams & ideas) and then they travel out into the bigger world. Click here to watch a 'Wonderful' 26 second version from my YouTube vault.

Jump, Freeze, Jump, Freeze

Pick me! Pick me! Pick me! Don't ya just love when everyone wants to come up on the stage, get involved and lead the show? I love to get my volunteers involved. It's such a wonderful treat to give children "permission" to act like children. "Come on, let's jump!" Who's attempting to reach the sky? "Now, let's freeze frozen fantastically -- make a funny face."

WonderFUN! WonderFUN!!

How terrific to drive across the country and find wee wonders who respond just the same as my wee wonders "back home." Blink your eyes, click your heels and wind-up the fun. Location. Location. Location.

I've come to the conclusion that location is one of the least significant of the variables. Children are the significant portion of the equation. Where they are seems to be inter-changeable. Smile & jump. Freeze and giggle. The specifics aren't as important -- as the joy.

Back to Bloggin': NYC

The last couple-a weeks have truly been a blurr, even by my standards. As I type, with laptop in the car (yes, I promise I AM the passenger) we are departing Ohio for the last time as residents..... officially beginning our status as FL residents -- for at least the snowbird season, whatever that means. We are at this minute treking south thru the Carolinas on route to a family Christmas celebration in Augusta, GA. A four generation Christmas.

Yet when I left off here, in blogland, I was just showing you around in a fully decked out Little Italy. So rewind the sands of time and let's get back there. The Big Apple. Beginning of Dec. Welcome to the 14th St. Y -- where I am being hosted by Columbus transplant Nili Talis of former Bexley JCC staff status. Nili has long been a supporter & encourager, saying repeatedly that it was time to get me into the big city...... so she talked up my unique skill set and here are a few of the faces from our morning together.

That first picture is the two of us, captured on Nili's phone and sent out to our mutual world of FB friends -- to announce my real-life visit was about to unfurl. I'm not sure who was the most excited? Nili or moi?? It is such a thrill to go half way across the country and encounter dear people from a former chapter of my life & see where they engaged in now. Pinching myself.