After reading through the last few posts, I felt the need to go back to modeling when the kids returned from Winter Break. For my class, the biggest challenge is always transitions, so I started there. I would have a student model picking up his materials and lining up for math. Then the whole class would follow. I would have a student model how to go from her desk to the meeting area, and then the rest of the class would follow. They were very successful with this for a couple of days. Then came the moaning.
After a few days of doing A LOT of modeling, my kids would groan every time I asked for a model. I tried transitioning without a model, and they reverted back to their old behaviors. I could tell they were sick of the modeling process, and I could tell that they knew what was expected. Many just weren't doing it that way.
I decided to try something a little different. I told the kids that I knew they were tired of modeling, and that I knew they didn't need me or anyone else to tell them how a transition should look. I also explained that the reason we had been modeling so much, was that I wasn't seeing the majority of the class follow the expectations. I asked them all to close their eyes and silently think through what our transition should look like and sound like. After about 30 seconds, I said, "Go." They all went to their desks quietly and efficiently, and waited for the next directions.
I'm not going to pretend this has worked every time, but I think my age group really appreciated the independence this "visualizing" process gave them. I go back to this process once or twice a week, now, and there seem to be fewer groans.
Great idea! Thanks for sharing it. In first grade, they do love to be the "model" but I can tell the rest of them do get a little sick of watching people model the behaviors. I am going to try this. We are starting visualizing in reading, so it works perfect! :)
ReplyDeleteIn 4th grade we are really tired of the "modeling" as well. They ask me why we always have to model, and I respond to the tune that if we would do it correctly we could skip it. We also started making classroom goals to have a total of 10 successful transitions a day. The problem with this is as a teacher trying to grab materials for the next activity it is hard to keep track of successful vs. unsuccessful transitions.
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