Disappointed.
Disappointed.
Apr 27One of the things I love about teaching is that anything can be a teachable moment… opportunities arise all the time and sometimes the unplanned ones are the more powerful.
Today, after Will read the Morning Message – he asked for a challenge. This has become a ritual for many kids. They ask us to challenge them, and we come up with someway to make them work just a little harder.
“Will, find a word in the message that rhymes with the word ‘fast’,” I offered.
Will took a moment and began reading the message from the beginning, scanning for the answer.
After a few seconds, Mikey shouted our, “LAST! It’s last!”
Will wilted.
Instead of addressing Mikey, I turned to Will and asked him, “How did that make you feel?”
Now Will is a smart kid. He didn’t say ‘sad’ which is the canned response for ‘bad’, but instead, reached into his vocabulary and replied with, “Disappointed.”
“Will, tell Mikey how you felt when he shouted the answer out,” I continued.
“Mikey, I felt disappointed when you shouted the answer out… I was looking and I just needed another minute to find it,” he stated like a pro.
“I’m sorry,” Mikey mumbled.
We talk about not shouting out all the time. One of our class rules is even ‘One person talks at a time,’ but kids never seem to understand it’s not just because we’re being mean, but rather there is a real reason we only want one person to talk at a time. Today, Mikey and Will showed just how disappointed a sprout can be when their thinking is interrupted. I was actually pleased it happened.
Awesome teachable moment! It sure beats repeating yourself for the 100th time “No shouting out!” And it is empathy development as well. Way to go!
Thanks Anthony. As a kindergarten teacher – social skills lessons are needed constantly. Sometimes they are planned lessons and other times, they just arise. I’m not sure which are most effective, but I’ll take any opportunity to help them realize we all need to learn to get along and work and play together.
Wow, thanks for that! As a new teacher I have been searching for a way to curtail calling out. I know it may not work in every situation, but at least I have that in my toolbox now. Can’t believe that obvious answer eluded me!
Heather, sometimes the ‘obvious’ isn’t so… until a child brings it front and center.
I learned the Two Hand Rule at an Appelbaum Seminar a few years ago.When a child has something to say or answer a question the child raises one hand and puts the other hand over their mouth.It really helps alot.
Beverly, I teach that too! It really helps at the beginning of the year and when I am asking a question of the entire class. Most of them do it – in this case, I was asking a specific child something and I think Mikey should shouted out without even thinking – for the record, he didn’t cover his mouth OR raise his hand.