Teaching During Christmas Season

Oh, I'm so done with Christmas! I realize it's next week, but it's been Christmas since December 4th here. The students are just adrift, plodding giggles of zombies. It's a bit mortifying since I am in a Catholic private school, and I should be a bit more... respectful.

I also find myself, four years into this now, a bit more tolerant of their silliness. I mean, I've come to believe they sincerely cannot help themselves. It's as adults when we learn how to tone down our enthusiasm and exhuberance for the sake of maturity and a trade off for say, that promotion. Right now, these are glum adults in training, and they haven't worked off their energy yet. However, they also need to learn the ageless skill of appropriate behavior, so between warnings and the occasional consequence, the students and I are dancing the careful dance of holiday madness. How to enjoy the season without actually enjoying it ... too much, where I'm forced to go into correction-mode. I mean, it's no picnic calling parents and scheduling conferences. The goal is to shape and guide energy, not snuff it.

I've said this before and as usual, I've not listened to my own wisdom. I need to plan less tests and more projects during this time of cheer. It is an opportunity to do a different type of assessment, appeal to a student's artistic or other skills, rather than drill and kill. But it's also a blend of two needs: a professional neccesity of a wide range of assessment styles, to capture all sides of a student's abilities, and a logical approach to heighten student engagement when their attention is being pulled away by so much tinsel and fake snow.

My best Plan B approach right now is to slow down, teach a concept very, very well; and reward my students' good behavior with a bit of movie or craft time. Switching up the subject is useful, too, for capturing their attention. For example, in math, a natural leap is geometry. Children find geometry interesting when it is explained well, and especially if they have a chance to use their hands, as in tangrams or blocks or drawings. For Social Studies, creating the art of ancient civilzations is an exciting change. Science is always a big draw, and if you have the opportunity, experiments and labs which do cool things, like crystals, give you an excuse to pull out the old lab coat.

I've started and probably over this coming break fulfill my promise to myself to organize my idea cabinet. From my catering management days, I've used a calendar drawer system, where events were filed according to date. I've a plan to set up one file drawer in a similar way so that when December rolls around next year, I'll be better prepared with my ideas. I also can tuck new ideas away by holiday.

My flex plan right now is to teach very, very well; and then pop in a movie like "It's a Wonderful Life" when the lesson is over. That is a no-plan which works.. Over a week's time, the children are enjoying the excuse to watch a movie which has an excellent message, and I can utilize the first half of the class for a good lesson on protractors.

Merry Christmas... Break!