TEACHABLE MOMENTS!

The clock is ticking! Use every moment!

As teachers, we know that time is precious and we strive to use every moment of our instructional day. We are experts at finding every little niche in which to teach and/or reinforce skills. We want to get in one more thing.

In my classroom mealtime isn't just an eating experience, its a teaching moment. Every minute is spent teaching something, even meal times.
Recently, I was pondering my long list of things I needed to do before returning to school for the next day and wondering where all the planning time at school was going and why I had so much to do at home.

I was thinking of how much more "planning" or "down" time I could gain  if my paraprofessional ( by her own choice) and I didn't eat with our students, but then last week my precious kindergarten student reminded me of how important even the smallest teaching moments even at lunchtime.

This precious girl is Language Impaired and entered my class in March of last year using only nods of her head as communication. It wasn't that she couldn't speak, because she could, but just didn't. She would come up to me and put a lunch item in my face for me to open it. She almost never spoke to peers and if she did...only one word. If she wanted something she often would just take it.  The other day, I was amazed when lunch started and I overheard this little one ask another student "Mary, what do you have for lunch today?" As soon as Mary answers her, she turns to Laura and asks the same question and waits for her answer. That one lunch time turned into an awesome revelation of how those little moments  we had taken in our day to work with her on verbal requests and conversation or that one last moment in our day to pass along a little morsel really do  count!
 The next day, the same little kindergartener  initiated a complete sentence request of me by first raising her hand, waiting to be called on and requested, "Will you open this please?"  TRIUMPH!!! HALLELUJAH!!! SUCCESS!!
Now on a daily basis, she has become interested in her peers and regularly is asking them what they have for lunch, do they like it and if she can sit next to them.

WOW I LOVE this job!!!  

Everyone have a GREAT WEEK! Don't forget to get your Marvelous Monday Freebie First though!

NUMBERS

Numbers are something we are ALWAYS working on in my classroom. Understanding number concepts and one to one correspondence are such hard things for some of my kiddos to grasp. I am always looking for ways to integrate numbers and counting into everything we do. One thing I have done is to create some spinners we use for games. I am planning to use them also for things such as lining up, taking turns, as well as math activities.
Anytime I can slip in the counting skill, I will. The more practice the better!
So I thought I would pass it onto you as a FREEBIE on this MARVELOUS MONDAY! ENJOY
Don't forget to check out our friends at MANIC MONDAYS
Classroom Freebies Manic Monday


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