Anyone doing"first six weeks"???

[Heart4Him]

I got the book poured over it , adapted it to my curricula, and now I am done with week one. So far so good. I really like the Morning Meeting. Even with 4yo's it is working well. We have two quiet signs. My hand up then their hand up, no talking. and a music box that signals cleaning up. It is a stopable music box. If we have any music left on Friday they get a treat. It worked great so far. All but two kids got the idea right off.

The 'hopes and dreams ' project was ok, considering they are four. but it still gave me a 'peek' into their brains and let me see the artists right away. I like that I got them sharing specific things on the first few days, instead of generic 'show and tell' which usually is awful and degenerates into 'who has the best toy'

anyone else have 'first six weeks' stories to share?

 

[anonymous]

first six weeks

HI! I am doing the first six weeks and just recently completed a one-week workshop of Responsive Classroom. It was fantastic! If there is some way you can attend, it makes the world of difference in implementing everything. I've finished the Hopes N Dreams, Rules and Logical Consequences. The kids are responding extremely well. I have first graders. I am going to start week 4. So far I've done 4 or 5 guided discovery lessons. They really help and it's so nice to be proactive and take care of things BEFORE they happen. Our school has been doing Morning Meetings for quite sometime now, and that is our favorite time of the day. I am going to implement Sharing at the beginning of next week. I've been sharing and opening up for questions and comments so they could have lots of modeling but I think they are ready. I'll let you know!

Lori

 

[Heart4Him]

its' working great for me!

well, four weeks done and so far so good. even with my four year olds I have been able to adapt everything. I have a smaller group than in years past, but still I see a great improvement in the first few weeks from years past. Hopes and Dreams was a bit vague but it really helped me see some artists in my group. It also helped me see who the kids were that had the creative ideas. We did the rules thing and that went really well. I chuckled at the things they came up with "don't eat the leaves" and "dont' throw the chairs" we boiled it all down to "be nice to others" , "Be nice to ourselves" , "Be nice to the school" I wrote those at the top of my board, then I just point to them and ask.. "Is that following this rule....? You all agreed it was a good rule. I posted the labeled pics of following the rules in the main hallway. My principal was impressed I use a music box for clean up time. (one that you can start and stop) if we have just one note left at the end of the week they get a treat (at first I had to secretly rewind it , but they did not win every week) Now they can go a whole week with no extra chances. I am so proud of them.

Tell me how it is going with your group.
GC

 

[MJH]

Using for 5 years

I've been using The Responsive Classroom approach for 5 years now and I love the book "The First Six Weeks". I recently moved to a new district and my principal had me train the facutly on the approach and bought them all the book. I love this approach and my students work together better, get along most of the time, help each other and really have learned how to be good friends with everyone. These are K students and this moves with them through their primary grades of school.

One way that I've adapted the Hopes and Dreams is to write them on chart paper with the students name next to their statement and then let them draw their picture. I also revisit them in January and allow the students to adjust or make new ones because at the beginning of the year they want to learn how to paint, color, or use the computer but by January they want to learn how to read, write a story and some want to learn how to drive. This also teaches them that just because they achieved one hope and dream it doesn't end there. I teach them to strive to get to the next level which is another trait I want them to carry throughout life.