Gaining a Sense Of Wonder. It Takes Time.
There are times over the course of the year, but especially towards the end of the school year, when a teacher can sit back and simply watch the children’s stories unfold. Resting easy, without intervention or instruction, trusting that all the supports are in place to be able to simply listen as the children’s individual stories sing, little melodies woven into great bursts of joyous song.
Out On A Limb: Practicing Mind-Body Integration
Andrea stepped up and reminded the parents gathered for the membership meeting to breathe. She also told me to let them breathe, but I couldn’t, just wouldn’t stop, I kept going…something very important had happened earlier during the school day and I needed to share it. It was so relevant to the evening’s topic, “Mind-Body Integration” (see note below). The problem was I had not fully processed it, or more specifically, had not worked it through with the children, so it was just coming out scary rather than instructional.
The Campfire Arc
It was the magic of Jiffy Pop that changed the whole thing.
It has been my experience that a campfire at school is one of those activities that does not require an anticipatory set or a bunch of “Hey, won’t this be fun!” We do go over safety and the co-oping parents know about our fire safety kit, what’s in it and what to do in case…, but with those gathered, there is an instant quiescence that settles when the first flame makes its appearance.
COLLABORATIVE RISK ASSESSMENT
She climbed up fast…it took her only seconds to reach the domed top of the “nature den” the Tink children had built. And in this case, built actually means wedged and woven. The builders had propped and pushed branches upright and once a number of the larger branches were leaning and wedged just so against the chokecherry tree, they began weaving in smaller branches.
YOU WON’T GET LOST. JUST FIND THE SCAT.
“How will you find your way out of the forest? You already know the signs! You have the directions! Remember the deer scat? If you find it, you won’t get lost!”
“What’s scat? Do you mean the deer poop?”