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Raise your hand if you’re glad it’s Friday!
Speaking of raising hands, how do you manage student participation in a group setting? Do you ask a child to raise her hand or thumb when she’d like to participate? If so, how do you encourage this positive behavior? And on the flipside, how do you discourage a student from flailing her arms for your attention or interrupting others during group discussions?
Please share!
Have a great weekend!
Diane
I use name mats for the kids to sit on a piece of paper with their name on it and they decorate them on the first day. I then laminate. I switch the names mats around. I can arrange them in the am so that behavior issues are not next to each other and are close to me.
I give kids a theme related sticker to put on their name mat at the end of circle. They love decorating their name mat and wow by the end of the year they are striking. Some Parents say they keep them to remember what we have done.
Sign language is the key that works for me; the letters a, c, and i in the sign alphabet stand for I have an answer, comment, question(inquire). We also have hand signals for other things such as “me too” and “bathroom emergency.” It allows me to encourage participation while avoiding the waving hands.
I love being a teacher for early childhood. I encourage my friends at school to wait there turn to talk during circle time. I use a couple different things. I have a spray bottle that is empty & have a label on it that is “quiet spray”. Before circle or even in the middle I get the magic spray and spray my friends. The children love this. Also I have a fairy wand that I can tap & twirl for anything. I use it for eating, sleeping, quiet, smart, ect. For circle time when we want our friends to participate I have a pretend kids microphone. When I am talking I hold the microphone & when I call on someone I pass them the microphone. You can only talk if you are holding the microphone.
Stacie
Durango, CO
Our children choose a spot on our shapes carpet, and get to sit by any classmate they want, as long as they’re both being good listeners. I start right off at the beginning of the year with my new, little 3s and 4s, showing them how to raise their hands and wait for me to choose the quietest ones. They catch on fast and quickly remember to wait to be called on. As they’re learning these new carpet time skills, I reinforce it by commenting, “Wow, I like the way…..remembered to raise her hand.” By the end of the year, when they move on to the 4-5s class, they already know how to listen when others are talking and speak up when their teacher calls on them.
I love being a teacher!!! Every year has challenges and sometimes I have to change the way I do things.
Children are encouraged to raise their hand and not shout out. (especially the ones that are going to Kindergarten next year) This year, is especially challenging, I have 3-5 yr olds and my I teach special education. I encourage the older ones to be the role models and show the younger ones how to do things. I like the idea about “Quiet Spray” I heard of it, but haven’t tried it, I think I will do it next week.