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Period: 1 CE to 1 CE
General information
Student named D: six years old, cute as a button, with a smile that brightened the entire room. A few months in school later, D became angry, and that smile faded. -
Period: 2 to 2
First attempt
She talked to D, as the first thing we teachers always do. -
Period: 3 to 3
Second advicement
Talking to his parents was the next thing, in that way they would know if D is always like that in his house, or is just in school. -
Period: 4 to 4
What can I do?
She was thinking to kick him out, and I knew that would not help him because she had nothing else to do. -
Period: 5 to 5
An idea came
Somehow, they had a great idea: not teaching them how to write and read, but dealing also with problems or managing emotions. -
Period: 6 to 6
Easy, you would say
It is obvious that teachers should be focused on the emotions of her students. But being in a big class with 20-30 students, you would not find it so easy. But a big thing came out of this: the small changes can make big differences, and especially for kids like D. -
Period: 7 to 7
Go deeper
Like all teachers, we mostly care about our students. In this case, she got deeper and discovered why he changed in a short time. His father had left the home and his mother was working long shifts in order to support the family. He became the adult in the family, having in charge a younger brother. Remember he's only six years old. -
Period: 8 to 8
Action!
As thinking about what could they do, they had an idea. Teachers created a calming area for D in our time-out room, which they equipped with rocking chairs and soft cushions and books, allowing him to go to this place in the morning, away from the other kids, allowing him time to transition back into the school environment on his terms. -
Period: 9 to 9
Step 2
After this amazing idea, they came with a new one to help him even more. They made him a kindergarten helper, he went into the kindergarten classroom and taught students how to write their letters.
This little thing helped him amazingly. -
Period: 10 to 10
Changes
School figured out the tools and tactics that worked for D, so they were able to use them with other students. Teachers took time during the lesson plan to teach kids how to identify their feelings and appropriate, healthy coping strategies for dealing with them. They incorporated brain breaks throughout the day, allowing kids to sing songs, do yoga poses and participate in structured physical activities. -
Period: 11 to 11
No money!
It didn't cost a whole lot of extra money, and by that simple ideas, and taking the emotional development of the students seriously, they saw a growth in the reading and math scores. -
Period: 12 to 12
Partnerships
They started a big change in different local groups by helping different students and have different life experiences in classroom ideas. Everyone benefitted because teachers got access to the latest college-level thinking, and college students got real-world, life experiences in the classroom. -
Period: 13 to 13
Reflexive video