Behavior & Social Interaction
Social-emotional learning happens every day in the classroom.
As students learn to interact with others, they work on life skills such as taking turns, sharing, following directions, cooperating and collaborating, listening actively, having patience, respecting boundaries, having a positive mindset, and having empathy.
For many students, TK or kindergarten will be their first experience being around a large number of other children. Play based activities provide ongoing opportunities to work on behaviors and social interactions. Because the students are so young and still learning social skills and self-control, they will sometimes argue and use unkind words. Young children who find it difficult to express themselves with words, will sometimes resort to throwing or hitting. Parents will be informed of significant behaviors, but PLEASE contact me if you have questions or concerns.
The average attention span of a child is that child's age. That's right! If your child is 5 years old, he can be expected to be able to concentrate on a challenging task for about 5 minutes. Of course, when children are interested or enjoy a task, their attention span increases. Because little minds wander fast, we provide lots of movement activities throughout the day. Movement provides a "brain break" and makes refocusing easier.
We work on having positive mindsets
Mistakes are opportunities to learn!
We don't want students to feel frustrated, inadequate, or give up.
Students who need a quiet space can choose to go to the Calm Corner. Someone who is feeling sick, sad, or mad might want some time and space away from people, noise, commotion.
When a child is in distress:
First we deal with any unsafe behaviors.
Next we recognize their feelings, such as:
I see that you are crying. Can you tell me how you feel? (Maybe they don’t know, so…) It think that you might be angry because you are making fists with your hands. Are you maybe mad?
As we try to comfort, reassure, and calm students down (giving them space as needed); we try to redirect them to something fun or enjoyable.
Adults (me included) often try to talk things out right away, but children need time to completely reset their emotions before they are ready to listen and speak.
School Wide Language
TK-8th grade students share a common language and have clear expectations.
Self-Control is something we practice regularly. When we come in from recess, where it is okay to be active, we use self-control to settle down. Self-control can also be used to calm ourselves when we are upset or angry.
A Bucket Filler (based on the book Have You Filled a Bucket Today?: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids by McCloud & Messing) is someone who acts kindly and helps others. When we fill someone else’s bucket (or make someone else feel good); we fill our own buckets too (which makes us feel good too). When we dip into someone's bucket we make someone feel bad. We can't fill our buckets by dipping into someone else's.
A Little Deal is something students can handle by themselves, such as when a classmate doesn’t want to play with them or says something hurtful. Students are taught strategies for dealing with little deals, such as finding someone else to play with, walking away, ignoring the little deal, or talking it out with the other person and letting them know how they feel. When a little deal is repeated a few times, it becomes a big deal, and an adult should be informed.
A Big Deal is something that needs reported to an adult. This includes when someone gets hurt or is scared, or when there is “body contact” such as hitting, or when a “little deal” gets repeated a few times.
Expected Behaviors are things we all expect. Examples include listening when the teacher or others are talking, staying in the supervised area, using materials properly, following playground safety rules, and so on. Students are frequently praised or rewarded for expected behaviors or bucket filling.
Unexpected Behaviors are not expected, and often cause a negative reaction. Examples include talking while the teacher is instructing, interrupting others, leaving the classroom or playground without permission, playing in the bathroom, running up the slide, taking a ball away from someone, kicking someone, etc. Unexpected behaviors are choices that sometimes result in negative consequences. For example, a friend might decide to play with someone else.
Zones (see below)
School Counselor
Our school counselor supports students and their families.
Ms. Perino does a wonderful job teaching monthly lessons to help students understand feelings and learn the school-wide language. She has lessons to teach Self-Control, Big & Little Deals, Expected & Unexpected Behaviors, Zones of Regulation, and more!
With parent permission, and based on teacher and family input, Ms. Perino also works with small groups to target specific behaviors. For example, if a group of students is having trouble sharing and taking turns, she might help them practice these skills while playing a carefully structured game.
Behavioral and social challenges impact learning. Negative feelings get in the way of concentrating.
Think of it like this: Someone steals you wallet. Banks are closed for a holiday weekend and you can't get the money you need right away. You are angry, frustrated, frazzled, worried. How well could you follow a challenging, multi-step manual for assembling a toy?
Zones of Regulation
Zones help students to recognize and regulate their bodies and emotions. Students are taught that different zones are appropriate for different situations. For example, it is helpful and appropriate to be in a high state of alertness and feel particularly energetic during sports play, but that same state and feeling might not be expected inside of a library. Students are taught to recognize which zone they are in as well as strategies for managing feelings and behaviors in order to stay in or change to a particular zone.