Take Apart Center for Home or School

When I started teaching {back in the dark ages} I had a take apart center in my first and second grade classrooms.  People would send in broken gadgets and gizmos, and the students would use screwdrivers, pliers, and rubber mallets to disassemble everything from an iron to a computer keyboard.  They learned so much through this process of exploration!

WARNING:  Make sure the devices you take apart do not have any toxic components--televisions and computer monitors are especially bad.  Also, cut off all cords before leaving something for students in the classroom!

Fast forward about 18 years, and you will find that I live with a very curious almost six year old.  He has taken apart a mixer, hair dryer, toy robot, CD player, and quite a few other things.  He has learned so much {for example, speakers have magnets that you can attach a LOT of screws onto!}  He has even taken apart a TV under the supervision of Dad.  {I don't recommend this unless you do research, as some parts still hold an electric charge.}  I do recommend the free exploration of the world around us.  My son is waiting for me to say yes to taking apart a DVD player that I think is dead.

This is such an inexpensive way to encourage discovering and exploration.  I think it would even be great for inside recess days.  If you put the word out, it's easy to get a box full of items, and there is a good bet that a local hardware would donate a few tools.

How do you integrate exploration and discovery into your classroom and your own world?

Senior Adults in the Classroom

I am having an amazing experience this year with two senior adults in my classroom!  One is an aid for an individual student {and I can only hope to have as much patience when I am her age as she does.}  The other is a volunteer who comes in to read with students for an hour each week.

First, you should know that my life was heavily influenced by older adults.  {Even though I couldn't see it as a kid, I definitely know it now as an adult.}  I grew up living next door to my grandparents.  They did not have material wealth to use to spoil us, but they did invest their time, wisdom, and knowledge in us.  I learned so much from them.  I gained a love of reading from my grandfather.  I learned how to run a very small business in 8th grade growing flowers with my grandma.  I used the money for flute lessons, but I also know that I have the skills to get what I really want in life because of that experience.

I think we are living in a time when most kids don't get to spend much time with grandparents or other older adults.  They don't have people who are giving them the gift of time or unconditional acceptance.

Enter senior adults in the school.  I am completely blown away by the impact of these two women on the lives of my students.  {The first thing one student told me after winter break was that he had seen our volunteer in Target over break.  He beamed with pride. }

She enters our classroom every week with such love and affection for those kids.  They know she is just there for them.

She is exceptional.  I know.  I wish every classroom had volunteers like her.  I wish school administrators would seek these people out and bring them in.  It is a game changer for kids to just know they are loved and someone wants to give them time.  Aren't your students starved for that sort of attention?  Mine are.

One idea for getting senior adults into school is having a Grandparents/Special Person event.  It could be to invite them in first thing one morning or at the end of your day to listen to their child read or it could be a fancy program or somewhere in between.

Then invite them to sign up to return.

I have done similar things earlier in my teaching career, but now I feel like children NEED this more than every before.

Have you been able to utilize seniors in your classroom?  How did you do it?

What's Up In Room 14?

So it's hard to believe that the first half of the year is over.  Where did it go?

Tons of amazing and life changing stuff has happened, and I want to share it here, but in small doses.  Here are some of the topics that I have become more familiar and experienced with in the first half of this year:

• Team Teaching
• Differentiation
• 2nd grade
• Whole Brain Teaching
• Social/ Emotional Education
• Class Meetings
• Waldorf Education and Parenting (My Sam is in a Waldorf school for Kindergarten, and it has changed my life!)
• Soul Care for Teachers and Students
• Showing Up to Love our students
• Rafe Esquith's latest book
• Mentoring Teachers
• Mentoring PreService Teachers

It's crazy that with over 15 years of experience, I am still learning so much!  It's an every single day sort of thing for me!  It's overwhelming and exhausting, and I want to share it with you here.  So call out your peeps and invite them over because I'm bringing this bad boy back!

We ended December with our off, off, off, off Broadway production of The Gingerbread Kid Caper.  It is a school tradition, but it was my maiden voyage.  I worked with my team teacher.  She had the brilliant idea of turning the door area of her room (our performance hall) into a gingerbread house with gumdrops with everyone's name.

The students voted to make gifts for everyone who came to our performance.  (It was totally packed.)  So the week before we made yummy cinnamon ornaments.  Our recipe was 1 cup cinnamon (I know it's a ton.  I bought it at Aldi's for a buck a cup!), 3/4 c. applesauce, and 2 - 3 tablespoons of white glue.  I mixed by hand and rolled it out in a gallon ziploc bag.  I only gave the kids 2 cutters--trees and gingerbread.  It was just right. We used toothpicks to make the holes.  A couple parent volunteers ran sweet little strings through--that red and white bakers string.  Our class smelled great!

Looking forward to sharing so much more.

Happy 2015 to us all!
Where are you learning and growing professionally?