There is one thing you can say about the Hoggatteers: we are constantly on the move. We have spent many minutes, during the first week of school, explicitly learning and practicing the expected procedures for getting from one place to another in our classroom. Where are we going?
- Sitting in chairs at our six tables
- Sitting in chairs in rows in front of the SMART Board
- Sitting in the floor in front of the SMART Board
- Sitting in a circle in chairs in the open space in the middle of our room
- Sitting in a circle in the floor in the open space
- Standing
- What walking looks like
- What is an acceptable noise level for transitions
- Which route does each class member take in order to avoid collisions?
- How to safely carry a chair
- When to retrieve a clipboard and paper
- When and how to sharpen pencils
Not surprisingly, these skills always seem to revert back to the manners we continue to reinforce in Room 404. We have discussed our responsibilities for treating other people with respect, kindness, and patience, as well as society's general need for a polite generation. Whether this instruction takes the form of physical practice, practical discussion, storytelling, or viewing a poignant video, this first week has been very full and very productive. I hope what we do in the classroom is bleeding into students' lives outside of our school, as well.
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All of this movement is organized in such a manner to keep students safe, while at the same time transitioning quickly and quietly between activities, topics, and parts of lessons. An added benefit to frequent movement is that it keeps people awake and keeps the blood flowing to the brain.
