Week 2 of the NEW Semester!

I am so proud of my progress as a teacher. Just as my students have progressed, so have I. I'll give you a few examples of my pre-kinder classroom management. Each day I begin by having the students “sit nice.” Normally that is enough, before I pass out books and have them pull out their pencil cases. I teach standing up, so when I sit down it is a body language signal. I “sit nice” as an example and thank each student who copies me. They set down their pencils, look at me, and fold their hands. “Thank you, Lyla,” “Thank you, Sally.”
Generally students are attentive immediately because they want to be praised. I thank each student as they sit nice. If, however, the students are not paying attention, I have taught them hand signals. My hands folded just means “sit nice”, and I will wait about 1 or two minutes looking at any student who needs to copy me. But if my hands move into a steeple-triangle pose, I taught them that my hands are showing them that I am angry. They take this seriously. Jenny will say to another student, “Jeffrey, be quiet. Look at Teacher.” The little five year olds get to be peer leaders in good behavior. I don't make steeple hands unless I really am angry, and afterwards, we talk about it. “Do you know why teacher is angry?” We talk about it for 30 seconds, then I stand up and continue teaching. It takes 2.5 minutes of my time and I never yell at them.
My other main management method is to use the “apple trees.” Students get an apple if they do something good and get it taken away if they do something bad. When their trees are full they get presents (e.g., pencils, pencil cases, crayons, cross stitch projects, sticker packets). Each class, if the class does well overall, I give one apple per student. I also pick one “star student” who gets a second apple. This coveted apple is also a motivator for hard work. I also occasionally give prizes for students who have the best handwriting, so that they will s-l-o-w------d-o-w-n when they are working.

Fall weather is starting. Well, the leaves are the same, but it's getting cooler and the rainy season seems to be over. I can leave my windows open without freezing or sweating at night. It seems to me to be the ideal weather.

I finished Eat, Pray, Love. This was a wonderful book. So well written. And it fit perfectly with my mental state at this point in time. I am now picking up where I left off with J.M. Robert's History of the World. I love this book. It's at the perfect reading level for me and I find it fascinating. I honestly never thought I'd read 200 pages of a history book before, but I feel so excited when I read it. I haven't even reached the Common Era yet. I'm still reading up on the ancient Greeks. I won't bore you with a few quotes (even though I am tempted). I'll just say, that if you are interested in world history, this is a great read.