March Madness!!!

Well it is March already! Are you all feeling as insane as I am? There is a reason they have the phrase March Madness. . . . it is when everyone starts going crazy! Thank goodness spring break is around the corner to give us and our little keiki a much needed break. I hope you all take the opportunity to relax and recuperate before we come back :).

Here is a great idea I heard for your classrooms. Why not rotate in a center in which YOU are the center. You can have a little timer and tell students that for "this day only" or "every Friday" or however you want to do it - they can have three minutes with the teacher! Set your timer for three minutes and just let your student talk to you and tell you all about his/her day, his/her life, or his/her concerns. Let them know ahead of time that only one student can see you at a time and it will only be for 3 minutes. When the timer goes off, it is the next student's turn. They don't have to line up, just keep an eye open for you :). This may help cut back on all the marvelous stories they give you at inconvenient times, especially if you say "save that for 'teacher' center." Let me know if you try it!!

PBS Pieces for February:

Since February is known as the month of love, think Valentine's Day, our PBS spotlight is on building relationships. The bottom of the pyramid!!

Here are some suggested ideas for making deposits! Feel free to comment and suggest strategies that work in your classroom.

* greet every child at the door by name/ take a day to have the child come up with a nick name for themselves and the entire week, use that nick name

* post children's work around the room

*have a "star" of the week who brings in something special from home and gets to share them during circle time (Shannon and Jocelyn do this in their room)

* call a child's parent in front of them to say what a great day he/she is having or send home positive notes

*call a child after a difficult day and say "I'm sorry we had a tough day today. I know tomorrow is going to be better!"

*give hugs, high fives, thumbs up, rounds of applauses, fire craker claps, brain kisses, etc. for accomplishing tasks

* when a child misses school, tell him/her how much he/she was missed

* write on a t-shirt all the special things about a given child and let him/her wear it

*find time to read to individual children or a few at a time

*Let kids who are doing an exceptional job pick out a "book of the day" from your library and read it to the class

*Give LOTS of compliments and teach kids to give compliments (Cilla was going to try the compliment circle in her class - how did it go?)

Anybody have any other great ideas you'd like to share? Make a comment! We'd love to hear them.

Welcome

Aloha Wai'anae!

I wanted to start a counseling newsletter for the Wai'anae Teachers and Teacher Assistants that was easy to access, but also one that displayed pictures and tidbits that everyone might be interested in. I will be posting pictures of classrooms that are actively implementing PBS strategies within the classroom. In addition, I will be putting up monthly topics that you could possibly introduce to your students during circle time.

This site is a work in process, so I will be changing things up a bit. I would also love to have a section where you can comment on the amazing things you are seeing from other teachers, teaching assistants, and staff. I want this site to be a two way street, so if you have suggestions or things you want to share with other teachers, please feel free to pass along that information!!

Thanks for visiting the site. Have a wonderful month!