"Glad I'm at School Today!"

Isn't it awesome how we are all so tethered together through our various cyber-connections? I LUV'd seeing this status update on Facebook from a member of my fan club. This is insight shared from a teacher in the trenches -- from the perspective of one of the four year olds in her class. Ready?

At the time I read her status update, I honest-to-goodness and literally 'laughed-out-loud'!!! The sincerity and truth encapsulated here from the mind + mouth of a four year old, just brought on a series of uncontrolled laughter in response initially. In the days and weeks that have followed since reading this "truth" -- I have actually given it quite a bit of thought.

We lure children into formal education with the enticement of an awesome playground.
Then we TEACH-at-them. 
If we're not careful we teach+teach+teach+teach+teach 'at' them.

**There are quite a few children that would prefer to spend the morning -- or the entire day -- on the playground! Let's take this insight to heart and think it through.

• How can we optimize our time outdoors on the playground?
• What do we provide outdoors to direct the learning?
• ______________________ (fill in the blank)

• Then how do we 'lure' them into the building?
• How do we make the transition into our classroom?
• How do we leap into the web of formal-traditional-indoor learning?

Tigers are number one on the list.... the only thing to out-strip playground-love beyond a feeling of being smart. 

This list above was made in honor of my arrival -- in reference to the title track on my "Debbie's Ditties 2 Much Fun." The rousing rock and roll chorus squeals, "I'm glad I'm at school today!" It's my feeling that we start with affirmations with young children -- we literally 'give' them the words we want them to sing: I'm glad I'm at school today.

Make a list with your students. Listen to their reasons for being glad to be at school. Listen to their sentiments shared. What makes them happiest to be at school?  
 Then we fill their days with tigers, feelings of competence/smartness, happy faces, learning, the adventure of the bus ride, computers, friends, books, numbers, creativity and of course we remember above all things, to include genuine and sincere time on the playground. It sounds like a pretty well-rounded curriculum to me!!

Here's a direct peek into a morning concert where we're singing my dittie "Glad I'm at School Today." That's us on Long Island. I'm in front of the 'community quilt' created by 330 kindergartners in the building.... each child making one quilt square in reference to my picture book.

Affirmations + playgrounds: "I'm glad I'm at school today!"

                                                          -- Debbie --