Tag: classroom management

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A New Page Just for Personality Typing in the Classroom

Over the last few years of writing for this blog, I’ve featured a variety of different personality typing and how to use the knowledge of these in your classrooms. They’ve become more and more popular posts over time. Today I wanted to share it with you, my new page chucked full of this information for you! 

On the page, you will see buttons with links to each different personality series. Clicking these links will bring you to a new page where you have easy access to the different personality types in that category and the articles on using the knowledge of this in your classroom. 

You can find the new page here. 

Have you started using personality typing in your classroom? Which test do you prefer, and how has it helped you as a teacher? 

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Conclusion to The Child Whisperer

the child whisperer in education

This post is part of a series on The Child Whisperer and using it in the classroom. To see more, head here.

I’ve now written about all four Child Whisperer types and how to use them in the classroom. I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again, it truly can be incredibly helpful to learn more about your student’s personality types when you are spending so much time in a room together. It can ease frustrations and give you more clarity in some of their behaviors and actions. Whether you use enneagram, Myers-Briggs, The Child Whisperer, or another personality type test, it can give you a better idea of each of your students. 

Personally, I think The Child Whisperer is one of the easier personality types to use in the classroom setting, because it’s geared toward children, and there are only four types. It focuses on the energy of the child and how they utilize said energy. 

If you haven’t yet, check out all four types of The Child Whisperer on our blog and let us know if it’s helpful for you to use in your classroom! 

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Type Four: The Child Whisperer

the child whisperer in education

This post is part of a series on The Child Whisperer and using it in the classroom. To see more, head here.

Alright, it’s time to talk about Type Four of the child whisperer! For The Child Whisperer types, it’s important to remember that this is not just personality typing, it’s channeling in on a child’s energy and how they use their energy. Most everyone has all four types in them, but one or two shine through the most in the majority of situations. 

Type four is typically known as “The Serious Child” A type four’s primary connection to the world is through intellect and logic. 

Words that describe type four: critical thinkers, straightforward, logical, efficient, and thorough.

Tips for teaching a type four: 

These students thrive on consistency. They love and need a schedule and can be thrown off when the schedule is changed, especially last minute. 

Type fours are big picture thinkers, giving them the ability to look at the finer details to create a better all-over big picture. 

Oftentimes these are the kids you are constantly urging to “just have fun” throughout the day and through certain games or activities, but they cannot see it this way. Their mind is on work and getting work done. 

They can feel vulnerable when they do not have all of the answers. 

Type fours want to know what to expect, how to expect it, and when to expect it. Giving them a heads up of how many minutes they have to read a paragraph of text or how many times they need to write out their spelling words can be a very powerful tool for them to find success in their work.

Do you have a type four child in your classroom? What have you learned through teaching this type of student? 

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The Child Whisperer: Type Three

This post is part of a series on The Child Whisperer and using it in the classroom. To see more, head here.

Alright, it’s time to talk about Type Three of the child whisperer! For The Child Whisperer types, it’s important to remember that this is not just personality typing, it’s channeling in on a child’s energy and how they use their energy. Most everyone has all four types in them, but one or two shine through the most in the majority of situations. 

Type three is typically known as “The Determined Child.” A type three’s primary connection to the world is through being physical in some way, and their primary need is to have support from loved ones as they experience new things. 

Words that describe type two: busy, physical, energetic, forward thinkers.  

Tips for teaching a type three: 

Consistency is huge for a type three child. And so is pushing them out of their comfort zone! They may take some coaxing sometimes, but typically once they are given the support to try something new or big, they take off with it and shoot for the stars! 

Oftentimes a type three child can forget who is in charge and need to be reminded. Their big, bold personalities take over and they try to step in and take charge when they can. 

They will be your students rushing through work and then buzzing off to the next assignment, task, or even next activity that might get them in trouble! Staying busy is what they need most, even if they cannot communicate that to you. 

Do you have a type three child in your classroom? What have you learned through teaching this type of student? 

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The Child Whisperer: Type One

I am excited to dive into The Child Whisperer types and give you tools to utilize them in your classroom. The best part is that this book and personality typing were made for kids. So let’s dive into type one! 

For The Child Whisperer types, it’s important to remember that this is not just personality typing, it’s channeling in on a child’s energy and how they use their energy. Most everyone has all four types in them, but one or two shine through the most in the majority of situations. 

Type one is typically known as “The Fun-Loving Child”. A type one child’s primary connection to the world is to be social and their primary need is to have fun and happy adult interactions. They want to play, move, and go all of the time. 

Words that describe a type one: social, smiley, friendly, flighty, busy, messy, active, outgoing, talkative, mischievous, funny. 

Tips for teaching a type one: 

They love learning through games. 

If you feel disconnected from them, take away the seriousness of school and let them relax and play for a time. 

Ones need time for talking. They are extremely social and can handle school better if they are given the support of meeting their needs as well. 

Type one kids are so fun! They can be exhausting to keep up with at times, but other times, their energy is exactly what you need to get through the day! 

Do you teach a type one child? What other tips would you add to this list for teaching a type one? 

Cover photo from thesmallfryblog.com

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Fighting Fire With Fire

Using positive praise with our kids

Recently we’ve had some power struggles with our almost 4 year old. I was warned that 3 year olds can be one of the hardest ages, and I have to say I agree so far! 2 years old was bliss with her, then like a switch, 3 came in like a tornado and is still wrecking havoc almost a year later! 

I was getting discouraged that behavior was so poor in our house and that the conversations in our house from both sides were incredibly negative, with a lot of “Mom, I don’t like you” coming from her, and a lot of “You need to be nicer!” coming from my husband and I. No one was winning! 

But it seems like every few weeks I have a revelation come to me that I’m actually doing it wrong. I’ve written posts on this very blog about positive praise in the classroom and how far it can go in the eyes and minds of the students, but I don’t actually turn it around and apply it to my own children at home. So that’s what I was doing wrong, I was fighting fire with fire and only one thing was coming from it- more fire! 

So slowly, and I’ll admit, somewhat awkwardly, I started finding the positive, good things my daughter was doing and praising those, while trying to ignore the bad behaviors, as long as they weren’t dangerous to anyone else. Sprinkling little bits of water on the fire here and there. It took a significant amount of effort on my part, I’m not going to lie! It was easy to slip into mindlessly getting after her for all of the little things she was doing wrong, so it took the mental effort on my part to pick out the little, small things she was doing right. 

After some time, the words in our house turned from incredibly negative and unhappy, to positive and upbeat. It slowly became less fire and more water! I searched and searched for ways to praise her, and it paid off. She found that she was getting attention this way, so she continued these behaviors, even sometimes pointing them out for me! The best part was how she turned around and used the same language towards her dad and I. She would thank us for dinner or picking up her shoes for her. She was praising us for things that made her happy.

Now I don’t want to say it has been fool-proof. It’s a peak and valley process that comes and goes. We inevitably slip into our old habits of using negative language and calling out the bad things she’s doing. Then a few weeks in, we realize it’s not working, and switch our thinking back to a positive mindset. Things will get better behavior wise for a few weeks and we feel great about it! Until it becomes hard, yet again. It’s an ever-lasting cycle, but the important thing is that we keep trying. We continue to make an effort to bring back the positive talk in our house and praise the good, even when we forget. 

The jury is still out if we are going to survive raising a three-year-old, but for now, I can always count on reverting back to positive praise to slowly ground us and bring the happiness back. 

Cover photo: Lacey Ross Photo

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You Can’t Count The Apples In A Seed

Hi! Just me again, saying one thing and doing another. I wrote about my blog schedule just last week and was ready to get right to work on it! But on Monday, I strayed right away from the schedule and wrote about schools opening in the Fall because it felt so relevant and something teachers needed to be reading right now. 

I had every intention to dedicate today to introducing Enneagram types and why it can be important in education, but again, another topic came up that I truly felt compelled to write about. I appreciate that I am not getting any hate emails because I’m not following the set schedule I just gave myself. Thanks for letting my intuition take the lead for now. 

Setting up fun, educational activities for my daughter has been a side job and hobby of mine for about two years now. She’s well trained in sensory bins and being responsible with paint, play dough, scissors, and more. I have also been well trained in when and where activities take place. When I’m making dinner it’s a perfect time for unsupervised activities she knows well and can do independently. When her little brother is napping it’s a great time to pull out something new when I can sit with her and walk her through, and help where needed. 

Usually, I am great at seeing the cues of when she needs something besides TV or her regular toys to entertain her. She gets a certain kind of antsy when I am busy and her brain just needs to think and create. But the other day I was so hyper-focused on what I was doing, I didn’t take the time to give her what she needed. She ended up finding some playdough in her bin of activities I keep organized and brought it to the kitchen table asking if she could play with it. She’s an extremely responsible three-year-old, I know! Within minutes she was bored and asking for something new, while I continued to work and ignore her needs. 

My husband was cleaning the kitchen and watching the interactions unfold, seeing both of our needs. I needed to work and my daughter needed an enriching, fun activity, not just play dough. He walked over with a container full of food picks, food stamps, measuring spoons, and my rolling pin and showed my daughter how to roll the playdough, then stamp the shapes or make the food picks stand up, They scooped the dough with the measuring spoons and packed them in tight to make 3D shapes. Less than 5 minutes of instruction and she was on her way to independent play. 

It made me realize that the activities I’ve set up around my house are maybe teaching more than just my daughter. My husband has seen enough of these setups to know what she needed to succeed, and I’m sure my son is picking up on the rules I’ve set by watching his older sister carry out her painting and sensory bins. I also thought about this quote I’ve seen often as a teacher. 

One seed that we plant as teachers will have lasting effects for generations and generations to come. A positive influence on one child can have lasting impressions on everyone they come in contact with, you never know what great work you are doing. 

This apple quote printable was made for me by Kelsie Housley. If you would like to download the PDF to print and hang in your classroom, the link is below. Do me a favor and leave her a comment of thanks if you downloaded it! I would love to show her our appreciation!

You-can-count-the-seed-in-an-appleDownload