The Kinderchat Guide to the Classroom

Heidi Echternacht, Amy Murray

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000415414
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Early Childhood Education

From the founders of #Kinderchat, this book provides a comprehensive, friendly guide to teaching in the early childhood classroom. Organized around the same core topics as #Kinderchat, conversational yet authoritative chapters cover everything a novice teacher needs to know, from setting up your classroom to establishing routines and engaging with parents. Learn how to effectively incorporate play, meet the needs of diverse learners, and cover curriculum like a pro. With helpful tips for working with a range of program structures, this is a must-have read for anyone new to the kindergarten or pre-K classroom.

1

Red: Establishing Routines and Relationships

Too many teachers rush into curriculum before they’ve worked with their class to establish relationships and routines. No, we don’t mean to write the “agreed-upon rules” or “good ideas of school” on a large piece of paper that everyone signs and no one looks at again. We mean doing the hard, exhausting work at the core of teaching far too many overlook. Your first full SIX WEEKS of “lesson planning” should be solely focused on establishing routines and relationships with your class. The hard work you do here will pay off in big dividends down the road. In this chapter, we show you how to slow down and make key investments in your class culture.

Routines: The First Six Weeks of Teaching

You will work harder in the first six weeks of kindergarten than you will all year long. Breathe that one in. Every ounce of work that you put into scaffolding structures and routines and building rapport with your class WILL PAY OFF. The key is to slow down, take your time, and acknowledge that this is time well spent.

• If you only do one thing for the first six weeks, it should be to actively build and facilitate relationships with and among your class.
• Your second goal is helping kids be independent in following school and class routines.
• Keep reminding yourself that this is the general entire scope of your curriculum for A FULL SIX WEEKS. Get to know your students and help them know each other and help them build independence in the classroom. That’s it.

The First Day

To a little kid, whatever new grade they’re entering, is like a baseball player’s first time in the major leagues. This is doubly so for kindergarden. THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY, TOTALLY, AND COMPLETELY *STAR * STRUCK*. This is it, the big time, and they’ve hit it. They’ve been up and dressed since 5 a.m. They’ve dreamed of this moment every night over the summer and IT’S FINALLY HERE. It’s all so exciting, it’s possible they will literally lose it at any moment. To them, this is Disneyworld, Harry Potter Hogwarts, their birthday, and New Year’s Eve all in one. This is kindergarten, baby. It’s pure, raw, joy, and emotion, and you, the TEACHER, are the official ringleader.

If the first six weeks are tough, the first day of kindergarten is the toughest in many respects. If school starts at 8 a.m., be prepared to be utterly exhausted by 9:15. For this reason, keep the first day simple. Plan ONE THING and then cut it in half. The trick to the first day is surviving your first two hours. After that, you are primarily teaching the routine and holding everyone together until the end of the day.

Let’s get clear here: we are going to tell you straight up that anyone pretending there’s not a degree of desperation and complete and utter exhaustion in the first few days of teaching kindergarten for even the most experienced, kind, and capable teacher, is 100 percent lying to you via omission or inexperience. You will sweat, but you WILL GET THROUGH IT. Why desperation and exhaustion? Here’s the first five minutes of the first day of kindergarten:

• José is crying.
• José’s mom is crying.
• Petunia’s grandma is picking her up at the car line early.
• Cara is going on the bus Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but not this week.
• Georg jumps into the room, trips, and starts crying.
• Sara knows Lola from camp and they are already BEST FRIENDS.
• Did you get Paola’s allergy medicine? No tree nuts or dairy.
• Paula’s allergic to peanuts and it’s her birthday next week. Can she bring in cupcakes?
• Grace’s mom would like to meet.
• Liam keeps touching the center you JUST SET UP.
• Jasmine HAS TO wear her glasses, which she hates. They’re in her backpack. She thinks.
• Marcus can’t find his cubby and is already eating his lunch.
• Marcus’s mom wants to know if he needs sneakers today.
• The administrative assistant wants to know how many kids are buying lunch today and for you to have your attendance done by 7:55 a.m.

Meanwhile, YOU BARELY KNOW WHO IS WHO YET. And who the heck put Paula and Paola in the SAME CLASS?

Deal with the onslaught and chaos as gracefully as you can—it’s important to be grounded and confident as you move around the room. Everyone appreciates a teacher with a firm but loving hand on the first day. You’ll be sweating for sure, but it’s important you don’t look flustered in the least. It is all your pleasure, and everything is under control. YOU WILL BE OK. Just keep going!

• Take the time to greet every child (with eye contact and a genuinely warm greeting, of course!).
• Engage with parents. After a while, if you’re having difficulty getting parents out of the room, get the class seated and start reading a book. Give a gentle= but firm, “Goodbye, parents! We will see you later today! We can’t wait to tell you all about it!” Let them lurk if they must, but you keep your focus completely on the kids. They are in your care now and you’ve got to firmly establish the classroom space and work on building rapport.
• A story works well to make the break from tearful parents or kids as it usually engages the children and everyone sort of knows the behaviors of “listening to a story,” at least for the first few minutes of the first day. Keep the story short. There’s a ton of “first day”-type books. Have a collection handy so you can read them throughout the first few days when you’re desperate.

After your five-minute story, they will start wiggling. They’ve been so good. Did you notice? Say so! Brag them up! Remember, they were working really hard during those first five minutes because they are dying to engage! Did you know Petunia got a new backpack? Liam got NEW shoes! And José stopped crying, but now Sara wants to sit next to Cara and Lola’s upset. Time to move.

The Importance of Props and Keeping It Moving

Jump up, hold hands, and sing a robust “Good Morning!” song. Sit back down. Get out your handy-dandy shiny object: a puppet, a literal shiny object, a rock, whatever it is, don’t be proud, and talk to it. Oh yes, talk to it. They’ll think you’re a loony tune, but they’ll be magically transfixed. Go with it.

Introduce yourself to the puppet, rock, whatever it is. A puppet is a bit more personal, but almost any interesting prop can work in a pinch. “Hi, Beavie the Beaver! My name is Ms. (Your Name)! I’m so glad to see you today!” You might even mention that Beavie is a bit shy to meet the new class and he’s afraid he won’t have any friends. Ask the kids if they’ll be Beavie’s friend and watch ’em melt.

Beavie’s going to do a lot of work for you over the course of the year. Don’t be too proud to bust out a puppet friend. You can project every insecurity you sense in the room onto this puppet friend. Model introducing yourself to Beavie with your name and favorite color, animal, whatever, and keep it moving around the circle until everyone has had a turn to share.

The prop often helps the quiet child open up, and if they don’t want to contribute, you just say, “Marcus, would you tell Rocky the Rock your name later?” He’ll nod thankfully. Always help a child save face. Give them extra time to gather their thoughts as it can often take them a bit longer to respond, but always be ready to rescue them quickly and gracefully.

Inevitably, someone will say, “I’m five!” and shock waves will roll through the crowd, “I’m five TOO!” Did you know they were five or six years old? They are! Get them back up moving with another game like “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” or whatever’s in your arsenal. (We list a bunch at the end of this chapter!) Phew. You made it through the first 15 minutes! Time to visit the bathroom! It’s new and different TOO! Get your play partner and let’s go check it out!

Transition Times and Facilitating Relationships

• One helpful transitional routine to get students in the habit of, is to integrate frequent group bathroom breaks, water fountain, and cubby/backpack visits so all of your transition time is grouped together. This way you minimize interruptions during class time for bathroom and water breaks. Have students do their “three things” before going to recess, after recess, before and after lunch. Anytime there’s a transition, give them some time and space to “take care of business.”
• For the first few weeks of school, you can spend 15–20-minute intervals doing “three things” and you absolutely SHOULD! AT EVERY TRANSITION. By November, it will all be old hat, and while still interesting, they’ll have a little dirt under their chin by then.

“Three Things”:

1.Visit their cubby (very important for the first month of school, especially as kids need to spend A LOT of time talking about their backpack, lunchbox, or even just sitting and chatting in the cubby). Giving them TIME to do this is not only soothing but also helps build community.

2.Use the bathroom. (Opportunity is knocking!)

3.Get drinks from the water fountain. (Yes, it’s that exciting.)

Play Partners:

• Play partners help ensure that every child has the opportunity for some one-to-one time with each of their other classmates. You can be as strict or as loose about them as you need, but the general idea is that each child is assigned one classmate to line up with when you go places or they need a partner for something. Switch the partners up each day. You will quickly find it’s the first thing they ask or remind you to do in the morning and a great talking point for parents and their children, “Who was your play partner today?”
• For a quick first day “activity,” have play partners show each other their cubbies, backpacks, lunch bags, shoes, whatever they’ve got. If you’re in a school where even one child might not have supplies, be sure to hand out a “school thing” so everyone can put something in their cubby and show it off and connect. It can be as simple a thing as a rock or pebble from your personal collection. It’s not about the “things” as much as it is establishing the kids have THEIR OWN special place for THEIR things.

A Schedule for Security

For your first day, pretty much the only agenda you have is to make sure every kid has a good time. By this point in the day, the kids have been at school for 30–45 minutes. Believe it or not, they are starting to tap out. When is it time for lunch? When do we get to go home? Oh yes, we know it’s 9:15 a.m. The schedule is critical to share that first day to help ease anxiety. We ALL like to know what’s next and when “it” ends. Kids are no different. For the first day, keep it simple and try to chunk it all into five things. Use each finger on your hand to give them a visual. That way you can quickly switch to a nonverbal cue when Joey asks you for the bazillionth time when is it time to go home. Modify the following example as your schedule calls for:

• Thumb: “Good Morning” (all routines)
• Pointer: activity or going to visit places
• Tall man: lunch
• Ring finger: rest, activity, or going to visit places
• Pinky: play and snack
• Then it’s time to wave goodbye:)

Save your ONE VERY SIMPLE planned activity for somewhere in the middle of your day. Any activity you plan should be a maximum of about 10–15 minutes. Honestly, the kids just really want to look at their lunchboxes, shoes, and look around at things and each other. Everything is new and shiny. Take the time to look around at things as a group. Spend the first day taking a walk to some of the places around the school they will need to go to, and greeting a few of the people they will see in the school. Practice doing “three things” and playing “getting to know you,” simple nursery school-style songs, and clap games. Keep it moving!

In the afternoon, get outside and play. Like for all afternoon. This is how humans get to know one another, and children need LOTS of unstructured time to do that work. Make sure to have an extra afternoon snack and a rest time. Remember they’ve been up and PUMPED UP since 5 a.m. and they are pretty much toast after 11 a.m. that first day. A good rule of thumb for kindergarten is to plan for half days of an “academic” program and long afternoons of unstructured play.

Giving children the space to play and move, earns and builds trust between the teacher and the students. They are learning that they can depend on you to give them what they need.

A Note on Class Jobs

Jobs always feel very important at the beginning of the year and then seem to erode as the busyness of the year progresses. There are usually a few key jobs that are actually necessary to the class functioning, o...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Images
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction and Getting Started
• 1 Red: Establishing Routines and Relationships
• 2 Orange: Curriculum
• 3 Yellow: Child Development
• 4 Green: The Complexity of Play
• 5 Blue: Behavior and Classroom Management
• 6 Indigo: Research, Readings, Assessing, and Documenting Learning
• 7 Violet: Professional Life
• Appendix