Remember who it's for

I'm pretty bad at owning up to when I'm wrong about something. I've gotten better over the years, learned how to admit it out loud (the hardest part!). Though apologize to the kids in my classroom was easier. How could I expect them to own up to their mistakes if they never saw me do it?

But it took me 3 years to admit that I'd been lying to myself about the classroom blindfolds.

They just need to be a bit older to really get it, I thought as I watched my class of three year old struggle to velcro the straps behind their heads tight enough so it wouldn't slip all the way down to their mouths.

Next year, watching them confidently help classmates fasten on a blindfold....only to have it slip down off their nose. It's just all that slippery hair, if they put up above her ponytail....

Then that third year some of our blindfolds needed repairs so I borrowed a few from another teacher for a few weeks. These soft, flannel blindfolds, with their stretchy elastic bands kept mysteriously appearing on the top of the blindfold basket. I kept putting my original ones back on top, trying to keep the borrowed ones only as 'backups'.

To prevent wearing them out, I told myself.

Yet multiple times I watched the children dig through the basket to bring up a borrowed elastic headband.

It's because they're pink.

It took until the end of the school year for me to just give up and admit that I'd failed. The blindfolds I'd lovingly made, spent hours piecing together, just didn't work really well and the students knew it. They saw something better and they used it.

And finally, finally I reminded myself that these things were supposed to be for them. To use, to enjoy. Not for me to smile about and think how proud I was to have made this great tool for them. They were for the children's pleasure, not mine.

So the next time I had to make blindfolds? Well they've definitely got elastic. They're made of nice, soft, fuzzy fleece. But they're not pink. I still don't think that was the reason they were the favorite....was it?

Where's your other mitten?

Someday I would love to know how many times I've asked the children "Where's your other mitten?" over the course of just one winter. It's ridiculous how quickly things can go missing.

(Psst! Parents! Teachers aren't just trying to make your life hard when we say label clothing. Trust me you want to do it because everyone shops at Target and gets the SAME IDENTICAL MITTENS)

Anyways, obviously this post is not as relevant for those living in warm climates, but my experience is teaching in Minnesota and Alaska. Winter gear is around for a good chunk of the school year. And there's always the struggle of what to do with it. How to make sure it has a chance to dry, how to make sure it doesn't get mixed with someone else gear, and how to make sure parents are actually sending their children with warm gear! In an age of car commuting it blows my mind how many don't even wear their jackets to school because they go right from a warm home, to the warm car, into the warm school. And yes, it happens then that they sometimes forget the entire jacket at home!

We've tried having the children stow their gear in a sleeve of their coat. And that's fine when everything is warm and dry in the morning, but after recess who wants to put sopping wet gear inside something you're going to wear again later. Boots had the same problem. And giving things a chance to air out was especially important for those children who had a second outside period.

I"m sure that it's true at every school that space is usually at a premium. Students need to cram their things into too small cubbies already and there's no extra space to spread out hats and mittens to dry.

Enter my favorite fix: The clothesline.

So let's just pretend that I didn't just make a post about giving children beautiful things and recognize that sometimes functionality supersedes it!

Now I've done a similar set-up at both schools. Basically providing each student with three clothespins to hand up a hat and two mittens. The system allows the children to hang up these small items as soon as they take them off to help prevent them from getting lost in the chaos of a transition. When dropping off or picking up parents can quickly get a visual about whether or not their child has these accessories. And it helps keeps getting the clothing from being mixed up with another students.

Now I know this is the wrong season for those in the northern hemisphere but if you are interested in replicating this at your school here are a few tips:

1. Find sturdy string/rope from the hardware store (not twine or cotton string)
2. Super glue the metal clasp to both sides of the clothespins to keep them from snapping apart
3. If possible thread the string THROUGH the metal clasp to keep them on the string better
4. Color code the clothsepins if using one long line for all students instead of individuals
5. Keep some spares handy

And as always, be sure to give a lesson on HOW to use this material. Becasue that's what it really is. A material for the children to use that works best when it's presented, rather than just assuming they'll figure it out!

Making beautiful things

During my student teaching I was poking around the classroom, totally in awe of all these fun things I was just learning how to use and teach when I found them. These beautiful, colorful, enticing....folders. Yeah, like a folder you're supposed to organize your papers in for school.

In fact these were the cultural folders for the classroom, each one color coded for the continents of the world and containing pictures of all sorts of different scenes from that continent. Lucy, the absolutely wonderful guide, saw me admiring them and admitted that she had just gotten around to finally making them, even though they had been on her "to do" list since leaving training years ago.

Now it's not that these fabric folder were that spectacularly beautiful. Sure they were well sewn and had a fun color scheme, but it was the contrast to other versions of that material I had been seeing in different classrooms. Some teachers had put the pictures in paper folders that seemed to inevitably get bent, ripped, torn, etc. and just look tattered. Other used plastic pockets of some kind that also quickly got cracked or broken in some way. Yes, we're supposed to teach the children how to handle things gently and with respect but still, they're in preschool and things happen.

But these colorful, fabric ones weren't going to do that. It might have taken a bit more money and time, but they were going to last far longer than one school year and still look great.  I immediately decided that was how I wanted to make my folders too. And now, almost 6 years later, those same folders are still lovely and enjoyed by the children in my classroom.

A monkey see monkey do moment as one child inspires others to get out their own cultural folder to enjoy
The penguins in Antarctica always seem to be the favorite and l love showing them that they are in Africa too!

Now, this isn't just about the cultural folders though. It's about thinking how to offer children beautiful, quality things that will last (especially in a classroom setting!). Whenever I'm looking at making or buying a new materials I'm sub-consciously thinking about these folders. I want to have something that's able to be used independently by the children, but will hold up to them fumbling through how to use it the first few times. Something that can be easily fixed by me if it does break/tear/fail for some reason. I have a box of fabric scraps of things I've sewn for the classroom, and some cardstock remmanents for printed materials.

We want to be able to tell children that they are worth our time and effort. That they are worthy of things which are valuable (both monetarily and personally). And I know that I don't want to spend time walking around my classroom cringing about how tattered and torn something looks!

So I'm trying.
Trying to make it well the first time.

Repair Box

"It was an accident!" the four year old had immediately blurted out when the crash of breaking glass subsided. He didn't quite have a look of terror on his face, but he was certainly concerned that he was in trouble. I told him that I knew (though inside I was thinking "How on earth am I going to replace that?!??!) and asked him to carefully take a step back so I could go and get the broom. I swept up the glass while he cleaned up the rest of the food prep activity. The rest of the class either kept working or wandered over for a quick peak then went about their business.

Mistakes happen, especially when you're learning something for the first time.

Things break all the time in the classroom or pieces go missing. As Montessori guides we always try to help children learn first how to be careful to try and avoid these things; and then when they inevitably happened anyways we show them how to pick up the pieces (thought not literally in the case of broken!).

Some kids get petrified when they break something. Others seem to not even notice. I'd rather they fall somewhere in between. In our classroom we have what we call the repair box. It's a plain plastic storage bin that's tucked into the cupboard by our resupply items so the children have full access.

Whenever a child breaks something, or finds something broken we encourage them to put it in the repair box if it's not an easy fix. We also use it for empty bottles of polish, glue, soap, etc; hence the location right next to our resupply area! Basically we explain to the children that the repair box is for something that needs the teacher's attention later.

Most times I know why/how something ends up in there. Usually the children tell me when something breaks, but sometimes random pieces of work show up in there and I wonder what happened. While it seems like this might end up being a "get out of jail free" card, I feel like the ability to take the pressure off those more sensitive kids is worth it.

With our repair box we're saying "It's ok, mistakes happen. Let's try to fix it."