Extra-Curricular Activities since Irma; Why They Are Needed

Extra-Curricular Activities since Irma; Why They Are Needed

As a community our territory has been through a tremendous ordeal. Two category five hurricanes have made life as we knew it impossible to return to as almost everything has changed. With change comes the good and the bad as we all know; the good part is that we get to rebuild. It is a chance for change, to learn from our countless mistakes, to push forward, and a time for atonement. The bad part is the restoration phase and the inconveniences that we all have to suffer in order to make our futures brighter. One such inconvenience is the lack of extra curricula activities and adequate after school enrichment programs to sustain the new half day of school that we have adopted to ensure the needs of all are met.

 These half days of school are very strenuous on families and make it hard for parents, as well as students to actively participate in various ways. Yes, parents are allotted two hours a month to check in with their child’s teachers and schools, but many parents have more than one child and two hours may not be enough. Transportation and number of children should be taken into account as well as the needs of the child or children in question. Parents of students with delays or disabilities need to actively participate to learn routines and techniques to attribute to their child’s development. This too is true of students who exhibit challenging behavior due to emotional trauma/stress, parents need to be involved to ensure resilience is built upon with a support system; in this case the home and school community.

Every child on this island or in the territory at the times of hurricanes Irma and Maria have suffered a traumatic experience that WILL stay with them throughout their lives. When you really think of the ordeal we have faced as a community it must have been extra hard on the children. They did not have prior knowledge and experience that came with past hurricanes to mentally prepare for the storm (I got my experience with Marilyn and those after and still was in shock and dismay).

Every outlet for recreation that still exists has been ‘modified’ somehow leaving nothing much to help the youths cope. This is the time when we need those “Big Brother” enrichment programs to detour youths and adolescents from participating and engaging in self destructive behavior which can become the beginning of the path to becoming the next degenerate on the street corner.

The views expressed within this blog are solely those of Ms. Child Advocate and does not reflect on any of her affiliations. For more on the youths of the U. S Virgin Islands visit https://www.usviearlychildhoodlearning.blogspot.com . For more on the U.S Virgin Islands youths read Curriculum Choices, Learning Environment & Strategies, My Beliefs on Language Acquisition,  Respect Goes Both Ways: Teacher and Student, V. I Character, and Curricula Standards & Benchmarks

Quick & Simple Classroom Management Tips

I'm sure we've all heard of the old saying 'you live and you learn'; well I've certainly learned a lot in the past six months and I thought it wise to pay it forward as I know I still have much more learning to do. I would also like to quickly touch on a topic that I think is usually taken for granted and that is mentoring. While I think it pertinent to find ways to incorporate mentoring and apprenticeships within our educational institutions, I also think that there is an important aspect being ignored which is the mentorship of new teachers. Having mentors ensure that we are continually able to pass our cultural traditions on through educational lessons as well as bridge the old with the new. While there are many new practices in early childhood and education in a whole over the last few decades they have all come with a great deal of good and they were all also build on the backs of the previous generation. Encourage others you know to mentor new professionals entering their field. It does not mean that they have 'vouched' for them but rather taken time out to share some of the experiences they have learned within the classroom. For new professionals adopt a mentor, tell them how much you value their professionalism and would like to learn more about their journey through professional development in a hopes to find peace within your own niche.  

Now that we've gotten through how I got my idea for this blog post let's actually get to the post. Within the last six months I've had the opportunity to work with some amazing individuals, all with a vast variety of techniques and methods for classroom management. Being the inquisitive individual I am I decided to try a few of these classroom management tips or 'diffusers' and I found five to be effective hands down with different age groups. As I mentioned before I decided to share them in the hopes of continually 'paying it forward' and I hope that others will too share their ideas and experiences as well. So without further adieu, these are my quick simple classroom management tips! 

  

Quick & Simple Classroom Management Tips 

1. Give clear and concise directions 

• Post classroom rules and expectations within eye level and sight range. Use teachable moments to reinforce the need for rules and consequences if necessary 

2. Engaging work alternatives for students who finish earlier 

• Use learning areas/ stations with engaging manipulatives as resources to aid in lessons 

3. Engaging energetic activities 

• Play student oriented music during transitions and encourage them to dance and re-energize themselves. I've personally become partial to the Jammin Minute videos that are engaging ways to exercise while having fun. As school across the nation participate there are many video to different songs that can be found via YouTube and incorporated into any routine; you can even add your own! 

4. Rearranging furniture  

• Redecorating can have powerful positive effects on the environment and may possibly changing the tone in your classroom; restructuring/ rotating learning areas and tools or even student partners can also attribute to a positive environment for learning 

5. Humor 

• Reading age appropriate comic strips or even using spontaneous moments to encourage laughter in the classroom. The classroom should be viewed as neutral place where they can have fun and learn, usually giving students the opportunity to laugh at the teacher is usually ideal and always calls for response. 

  

Regardless of your teaching style, culture, or the environment in which you live I'm sure you can agree that an engaging activity can usually set a positive tone within the atmosphere. With that being said I believe the greatest tool to classroom management is to model and display a mutual sense of respect within reasonable bounds. It is understandable that a line must be drawn between teacher and student to many great reasons but role modeling a mutual sense of respect for all regardless of everything is a lesson that students can take with them throughout their lives and one in this day and age that many would say they need.  

  

The views expressed within the blog are solely those of Ms. Child Advocate and does not reflect on any of her affiliations. For more on the U.S Virgin Islands youths read PTA, Parent Committee, & Volunteering: Get Involved , Too Much Violence: USVI Shootings Near Preschools, USVI Shootings Near Preschool's 2, and Respect Goes Both Ways: Teacher and Student 

Respect Goes Both Ways: Teacher And Student

Respect Goes Both Ways: Teacher And Student 

 

Over the course of the past few weeks I was afforded an opportunity to recognize just how much ( and how far) respect goes within a classroom or school setting; it goes both ways. First off I'd like to state that when I mention respect I mean in all forms; professional, cultural, and ethical. As teachers and role models we are tasked with the blessing of illustrating the behavior we expect from our students and their families with regards to the development of the 'whole child'. Secondly I'd like to add we must remember to respect the ideas, opinions, and emotions of others as well  in order to create the learning environment necessary and rapport needed to keep the lines of communication open between the classroom and the home. This sort of communication is key and without it developing the whole child can be impossible.  

From my experiences I would say having this open line of communication is crucial within the aspects of classroom management, the development of the 'whole child', and the learning environment that would be set forth without it since it would technically be excluding the areas of the aforementioned as they pertain to the development of early learners or any individual. Respect between students and teachers or schools and families is crucial to the development of every child as we know adolescence are the impressionable years. With that being said, any and all disagreements or 'meeting of the minds' need be handled with the utmost scrutiny with the best interests of the student and family in question; this is where respect is comes in. Respect and empathy are necessary and as is implied by many there is a trait from intrapersonal intelligence that teachers (successful teachers) exhibit. The ability to empathize with students and their families needs will ultimately improve the rapport within their relationship stance, between all parties concerned and enable the facilitator with the information necessary to create a learning environment that can suit the needs of all.  

Furthermore, respect must be reciprocal in all forms, one cannot sincerely expect their concerns to met with diligence nor sincerity if they too disregard the concerns, opinions, and ideas of others in the same respect. Simply put, you cannot expect respect from anyone (including students, their families and your peers) without first giving it in return. Most individuals don't respond to aggression kindly (maybe MLK, Ghandi, or Marcus Garvey), in fact I've come to realize that most people regardless of age commonly have the same reactions to aggression; more aggression. Once more this is why respect is so important. I once recall telling a group of students 'if you respect yourselves you will command respect from others in return', as this is what I truly believe. Despite age differences all human have different senses and feelings and it is  certainly not hard to tell disdain nor resentment, child or not. Most people think that their sincere beliefs will never show since they have gotten away with their 'methods' for so long, but I believe there is a simple question that can answer all of that; "are you proud  of the job you have done?"  

The views expressed within the blog are solely those of Ms. Child Advocate and does not reflect on any of her affiliations. For more on the U.S Virgin Islands youths read PTA, Parent Committee, & Volunteering: Get Involved , Too Much Violence: USVI Shootings Near Preschools, USVI Shootings Near Preschool's 2, and Violence And Abuse In School