RonJun eShop Posting Page
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Along with the
myriad of problems teaching includes, learning who their students are and what
the students own seems to stand out. The lower the grade, the bigger the
problem; the bigger the problem the easier it is to attack. As with many things,
having the right tools is the answer. A classroom filled with kindergarten or
first grade students, all wearing or carrying protective clothing initially is
chaos. Once who is who and what is theirs is established, you can begin to
organize and order…
The problem strangely not only is solvable but is an excellent teaching
opportunity. But the first step is obtaining the right tool: coat lockers forkids. Everything that makes for confusion is the property and responsibility of
someone. Establishing the responsibility is a big hurdle, and is extremely
difficult without the help of some tool. The tool, of course is a school coat locker,
which adds authority to the mix. Identify lockers for each child, label it and
label each child with the same label. It is easier for a child to match some
kind of tag you gave them with a tag attached to the front of the coat lockers
for kids. The tags may be professionally made (by the teacher or school art
class) or by the student themselves. Crayon and imagination work well in such
cases.
The closeable lockers work much better than coat cubbies or much better
than simply a hook on a coat rack. Once the student’s possessions are inside a
closed and identified coat locker, ownership is definitely established.
Responsibility can be taught on a day by day basis by the teacher as needed.
Repetition until the necessary relationships between the student and his
ownership of the school coat lockers is quick and simple. The teacher need only
guide the student kindly and quietly without criticism or embarrassment to the
correct coat cubbies and away from any coat rack or the incorrect coat cubbies.
As each minor problem is solved, the larger problem becomes smaller and smaller
and less frightening. The smaller problems, much like the coat issue, will be
solved in due time. Taking small steps to solve each problem at hand will only
help the child(ren) learn what to do in future scenarios. Learning starts when
children are young, so build them up with the proper foundation so that they
can have the best possible future.
by: RonJun eShop
