If I were to pick three books that are favorites for my two-year-old right now, it would be Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See, Goodnight Moon, and Bear Snores On. I read these three books so often I could read them in my sleep! What makes these texts so memorable for my daughter, why is she so drawn to them? The repetition. Repetition can be a powerful tool for younger students, whether it’s in book, song, dance, word, or any other form.
Hearing the sentence over and over “Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?” with only the noun and pronoun changing through every page gave my daughter the confidence to say this phrase herself at a young age. When she was younger and still learning phrases, one of her favorites to say was, “What do you see?” Obviously, it sounded a lot more like, “at you ee?” but we could translate!
Still, almost a year later, her favorite phrase is, “Mama, what do you see?” said a little clearer now, and with actual meaning. When I respond by following the pattern of the book, “I see a little girl looking at me!” she giggles in delight because she knows these words, they are near and dear to her heart.
The repetition in songs and books can also promote:
Recognizing letters
Phonological Awareness
Writing skills
Some of our other favorite repetitive books include:
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess
If You Give A Pig A Pancake Series by Laura Numeroff
Don’t Let Pigeon Drive The Bus! By Mo Willems
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly by Lucille Colandro
So next time your child or student requests Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell for the 50th time (yes, I have that one memorized as well) remember that they are learning and their little brains are growing, becoming more confident with words, speaking, and writing by hearing these over and over and over and over again. So let’s add in a little more repetition and give three cheers for repetitive text!
This is part of a series of using Myers Briggs personality types in the classroom. For more information, click here. For information on how to figure out your student’s MBTI type, click here.
Extroverted I(N)tuition Thinking Perceiving
Do you know those students you look at and think to yourself, “He will make a great debater in high school.” or, “She is going to end up in politics later in life.” There is a chance these students may be an ENTP personality type.
These students are clever and constantly questioning you, whether it be about the material presented in class or any other subject they can think of, they are always up for a good debate. A great way for them to learn is conceptually, and a logical flow of information is key to them. They are students that will connect their studies with other angles and thoughts, more than what is given to them explicitly.
Group work with ENTP students may seem ideal with their extroverted personalities, but they work well both in groups, and individually, because they know their capabilities as an individual and group work can hinder this. However, they still need interactions with their peers.
Mundane work can drive these students up the wall, they are motivated by solving problems and finding solutions. Deadlines can be stressful to them because task work is not how they function, they need time to be creative and come up with plenty of possible solutions to find the best one. Focus is a hard topic for ENTP students because when they become excited about multiple projects it is easy for them to jump from one to the next to accomplish each, but letting each lack by spreading themselves too thin.
Are you an ENTP? How do you learn best? What other ways can we facilitate meaningful learning for ENTP students?
Oh, the dreaded clip chart. You know the one I’m talking about. “So-and-so” is being great! Move your clip up! Oh, Jonny, that wasn’t appropriate! Move your clip down!” It’s no secret that teachers have become outraged by these classroom management resources. One quick google search will show you just how unpopular they are.
The first three articles to come up when googling “Clip Chart”
The first day I walked into the classroom of my long term sub job, I noticed one thing right away on the whiteboard- a clip chart. The public humiliation display. The does-more-harm-than-good tool. I did my best effort to keep the clip chart during my first week taking over the classroom, but I soon realized why it didn’t work.
It was used for negative reinforcement more often than positive reinforcement. It was easier to use it for students misbehaving than to remember to reward those that were behaving.
It didn’t change the behavior of the students who were constantly dropping into the negative. They quickly became numb to it, they didn’t care about moving their clip down, or up for that matter.
I felt like our whole day revolved around the chart. Because I realized how often it was used for the misbehaving kids, I put in extra effort to use it to praise students for good behavior. It took too much time and effort. The best way to manage a classroom is to have an effortless, mindless, mostly positive plan in place. I needed a classroom management plan that was easy and natural for our classroom.
So what did I do once I realized it wasn’t working? I stopped using it, slowly over time. I moved clips less and less, never making it a big deal or a spectacle that the clip chart was non-existent. I forgot about it and so did the kids. In fact, not a single student ever asked about it after we had fully stopped using it. Even the star students that were always at the top every day didn’t mind me phasing it out, no one wanted their behavior displayed to the entire classroom, including all of our visitors.
Here’s what we did instead. We started our money unit, so a coin system was easily put in place. Each student had a container for their money and was solely responsible for it. Not very often was I taking pennies from the students, it was used more for positive reinforcement, which made everyone happier. It was incredible the drive the students had to clean up the floor at the end of the day when I would announce, “I have one nickel for every student who brings me ten pieces of trash!” I think we could have won awards for how clean our classroom was each afternoon. The money earned was used to pay for extra bathroom trips, new pencils, and a teacher store at the end of the year.
We did a group point system on the board. I numbered each group, wrote the numbers on the board, and gave them points for being on time as a team, working together, and having their whole table quiet and ready to learn. It promoted teamwork and gave them an incentive to do better.
What did the point system on the board go towards? Here’s the magic of it- nothing. The points went towards nothing. Once the tallies made it to roughly 10 points per team, I would erase and start over. They were working hard simply for tallies on the board! I had one student ask quietly what the tallies were for. There were plenty of other side conversations happening at the time, so I chose to focus my attention elsewhere. I never heard any questions again after that one incident.
Since I was teaching first-grade students, passing around a tiny sticker to hard workers was a huge motivation for them. I also kept a box of Cheerios in my cupboard to pass around one Cheerio to quiet, on-task students. After one or two times of doing this, they learned fast. As soon as the box was in my hand to pass them out, every student would be working hard. It amazed me how motivating one piece of cereal can be.
Clip charts clearly are not a classroom management win. It may work for some and could possibly be excellent personal behavior management tucked away in a desk for one or two students that need it. But as a whole class approach, there are better options out there. Positive reinforcement has been proven to be the most effective for changing behavior, and clip charts do not promote this. Let’s all take a minute to put down the clip chart and pick up a more positive approach for our student’s sake.
The only thing I love more than a good list is the Winter season. I know the cold weather isn’t everyone’s favorite, but the magic of the holidays and the peaceful falling snow makes me so happy! If winter isn’t for you, here are a few fun winter-themed books to make the snow and cold a tiny bit more enjoyable.
These books are sure to have you smiling and feeling excited about the snow right along with your students. When you’re having a hard time getting to school in the cold and ice, just pull out a fun wintery book and get reading, it’ll be sure to brighten your spirits and appreciate snow for the fun magic it can create.
This is part of a series of using Myers Briggs personality types in the classroom. For more information, click here. For information on how to figure out your student’s MBTI type, click here.
Logical, reserved, creative, and decisive. Do these words together describe one of your students? They may be an INTJ personality type.
Introverted I(N)tuition Thinking Judgment
These logical students are forward thinkers that love to know the “why” behind learning. They need their information organized and in a logical format, they have a hard time seeing the big picture when the material is not orderly.
INTJs have impeccable recall skills. When shown information or a picture, then taken away and asked to remember what they saw, they can often name the majority of the details. This has been thought to be because they do not reflect on what they are seeing, they simply just memorize and make a list. Just because this is a skill of theirs doesn’t mean they learn best through rote memorization. They need the why and the how of procedures and processes to truly understand a subject on a deep level.
These introverted learners don’t necessarily do great in group work unless they see their definitive role in helping. However, this much interaction with other students can cause stress in learning and they will often need a break. Not only do they not thrive in group work, but they can also have a hard time asking a teacher for help. They would rather do everything they can independently to figure out their problem before going to a teacher for help, which can cause a student-teacher relationship to be almost impossible if the teacher isn’t putting in an effort. It’s important to keep an eye on these students and check in often to see what they need and how they are doing.
Is your INTJ student struggling to understand long division? Go through the process as a list over and over, see if that might help them. Show him or her how long division can relate to multiplication and why those two functions work together. Give them a real-life example of when they will use long division.
Maybe they are having a hard time in an English class using the correct verb tense in their writing. Show them a list of the rules for verb tenses and when/why we use the verb tense that we do. Give them the bigger picture of how the verb tense in one sentence relates to the verb tense in a paragraph or story as a whole.
They do not need inquiry-based for subjects they are struggling with, they need logic and rules.
If you still would like more information about INFJ students, watch this video that explains the personality type in 4 minutes.
Do you teach an INFJ student? What benefits have you seen from knowing your student’s personality types?
How often do you hear as a teacher or a parent in a school, “Oh, Sally Sue is in Mrs. Smith’s class because her mom requested her to be there.” Or, “I would never let my child be in that teacher’s classroom, the principal knows this.”
Is there a benefit to choosing your children’s teachers? There could be because you know your kid best, you know how they work, if they can handle disorganization or not, their interests, and how those line up with the teacher.
But, could you be doing a disservice to your child by handpicking their teachers? Someday, your kids may not have the opportunity to pick and choose their employers and especially those they work with, they will have to know how to handle different personality types.
One excuse I hear often from teachers is that their kids do not do well in disorganized classrooms, they are too Type A to handle it and their grades would be affected. But here is a question we all need to consider. Is it better for your child to struggle and learn coping skills in 5th grade, or in college with their professors? Or roommates? What about their first boss?
Also, let’s dive into the teacher’s perspective. First, it can be slightly offensive to them when they hear a student cannot be in their classroom because their parents had a hand in who educates their child, it can make the teacher feel inadequate or unappreciated. Maybe an unorganized teacher has had a Type A student in the classroom before and they know what tools to use to help these students.
Maybe you’d be surprised at what students can accomplish in circumstances that are less than ideal for them. Maybe they will struggle for a time, but then know how to learn in various ways, a tool they will need for the rest of their lives.
So maybe we shouldn’t handpick teachers for our kids. Maybe we should let our kids grow and learn outside of their comfort zones.
Do you choose your children’s teachers? Teachers, how does it affect you when you find out parents choose their kid’s teachers?
Thanksgiving is only two weeks away, so do you know what that means? Thanksgiving picture books! There is no better way to celebrate a holiday than with picture books in the classroom, I am a huge advocate for picture books at any age. Here are four books you need to keep on your radar this holiday season.
A Turkey For Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting A fun story about woodland animals that get together to eat Thanksgiving dinner together, just to realize that their friend, Turkey, is missing!
Thanksgiving in the Woods by Phyllis Alsdurf This book is based on a true story of a New York family who celebrates Thanksgiving in the woods with family. Not only is it a great book, but the pictures are also beautiful as well.
Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano A story that will have your students laughing out loud seeing Thanksgiving from the perspective of the turkey.
If You Were At The First Thanksgiving by Anne Kamma This isn’t a picture book per se. However, it is a great book to keep around the classroom for the month of November. It answers common questions and some misconceptions you or your students may have about the first Thanksgiving.
What fun books are you reading in your classrooms this Thanksgiving?
