#Kinderchat, glue, glitter, gogurt, bringing daily joy to twitter. Find us Mondays, 9 pm EST and 8:30PM London time when we talk all things Early Years!
Come out come out whever you are! It's #kinderchat time! Share your location and tell us what you wanted to be when you grew up, when you were in kindergarten.
Kathleen from Edmonton, co-moderating our scheduled questions with @happycampergirl! I wanted to be a lawyer. Turns out I was argumentative enough to be a teacher and moderate this chat. 😂 #kinderchat
Who is in our family? What makes our family special? How has our family changed? These were all questions we focused on with our Wonders Reading program and we made family trees to show off our special family members! #kinderchat#wondersreading
I sneak in circle time every day for about 10-15 minutes. Used to do half an hour which was much better for discussion, learning about each other, etc. #kinderchat
A1) We have a meeting before each exploration time (sometimes a story/yoga activity/breathing exercise) and one after each tidy time to review expectations for the next transition. Total is anywhere from 5 to 6 a day. Lasting 5 to 10 minutes max.
#kinderchat
I have two main circle times where we teach content for about 10-15minutes and then have an opening and closing circle that we keep short like 5mins. #kinderchat
I am still a student but in my time observing in classrooms each semester, there is usually one to start the day lasting about 15 minutes and then depending on the class I have seen it right after lunch as well. #kinderchat
We usually build up to include one community circle a day where we practice listening to each other share something we made or did or noticed....we haven't really got the hang of it yet (only 10 school days in). #kinderchat (Attentive listening is a skill we build). 🤣😅
A2: I do a circle time/morning meeting for oral language skills, social emotional skills, reinforcing classroom rules, and academics as well #kinderchat
Joining late- bedtime was kind of crazy tonight! So much my new #preschooler wanted to share about his day. ❤ K teacher from Missouri. I only remember wanting to be a mom. I loved my baby dolls! My fam says they knew I'd be a teacher. #kinderchat
I use them to introduce content. We usually have one circle time about our STEM unit topic or a PATHS lesson (Social & Emotional Curriculum). The second circle time is to talk about the Number & Letter Focus. #kinderchat
Just wondering what "circle time" is being defined here. A story? Class meeting? Large group learning times? If it's all of those, we do several "circle times" a day. The big carpet is our meeting place. #kinderchat
A2: We start our day with morning meeting. This is one of the most valuable parts of our day! We are together sharing about our morning and sending wish wells to those who need some extra thoughts and love. We are a class family and this is a crucial part of that. #kinderchat
I use our community circle to do mindful activities, breathing, calming the hubbub, sharing ideas and provoking thought to use in our play. #kinderchat
A2 (part 2): circle time provides opportunities for students to share their thinking and to collaborate. It hits all speaking and listening standards too! #kinderchat
A2 are we talking like morning meeting? Sorry I'm late...
Circles have lots of power whether done in morning or other times: relationship building & maintaining, restorative practices, SEL, and monitoring with content #kinderchat
#kinderchat when they look at me like Why are we breathing again?! I always say that I need to do it so I feel ready to learn and I need their help at first. Then we do different types of breathing (some ideas are from Calm Classroom)
We form a circle (sometimes a rectangle) during our share during readers and writers workshop too. I think it is less intimidating to those who are somewhat shy and for some magic reason it promotes more discussion. #kinderchat
A2: Circle time can be anything from morning meeting to a class wide discussion to teaching a lesson. The purpose, in my opinion, is engagement of young minds and it’s easier for flow of conversation when they are all facing each other #kinderchat
I'm from Fairfield, CT. I wanted to be a teacher. I never wanted to be anything else. I've now taught every grade between nursery school to 8th grade except 1st & 5th... who knows, maybe I'll try one of those next...LOL #kinderchat
I love teaching the Mind Up when they learn about how their brain works. It helps that i get just as excited about it because it explains so much about how they learn, play and act and I can help them find a way to calm down. #kinderchat
A3 if we are in a restorative circle or using it's techniques, we have a taking piece. Ss are respectfully listening to the S holding the taking piece. It's a safe place to share out & speak honestly. #kinderchat
A3: I have a visual of a student sitting “properly” (down flat so others can see and with her hands to herself/eyes on teacher) that I use to guide Ss to make wise rug behavior choices - I call her “Sunny Student” and remind Ss to “sit like Sunny” when needed. #Kinderchat
A3: We have Eyes are Watching, Ears are listening, Mouths are quiet, Bodies to self sitting criss-cross and Raise a quiet hand when you have something to say. #kinderchat
We typically have two rules.
Be kind. (Self and others)
Listen. (Self and others)
Almost any rule can fit into either of those two categories.#kinderchat
Honestly, I let my kids talk. Like grownups. We sometimes interrupt each other. We are kind, but we get excited and involved. No talking stick or whatever. No hands raised. #kinderchat
As a future educator, I enjoy seeing different reasons for "circle time." Using it as a time for social interaction is great with the growing amount of technology use. #Kinderchat
I like it for the carpet because they seem more contained as in no legs sprawled everywhere for people to trip on and a place to set their hands. In yoga it can sometimes be called easy pose so I like to call it that sometimes as well. No idea about the rhyme... #kinderchat
In other types of circles or just whole group, we have collaborative conversations. I teach Ss various ways to engage/act in conversation. I also teach various ways to sit. Sitting criss cross does not = engagement, rather it = compliance. But others expect it #kinderchat
A4: I think my students enjoy it most of the time. They like when we bring out the puppets that go with the PATHS lesson. It can be hard to keep some of their attention. I need to be better about my delivery. #kinderchat
Ah, I just commented on this to someone. Crisscross does NOT = engagement! If all your Ss are crisscross, it's likely they're compliant but not necessarily engaged. #kinderchat
I simplify quite a bit of it but I use all the real brain words. The intro lesson is good explaining the security guard, etc. It alsp helps when we regroup after witnessing a fight or flight situation. #kinderchat I ordered mine from @Scholastic
In reply to
@tiegradloeppky, @Miss_Sevcik, @kindergeek, @Scholastic
Right! They can learn to listen to one another and not yell over each other if given the space. Teach them and model. They are little but they are human and can have conversations. #kinderchat
I agree - a circle can definitely instill the foundations for such much including collaborative conversations #KinderChat
And the answer A4: if Ss voice is being heard than circles are important and fun
I talk about the three key brain parts and I actually am teaching healthy to grade 1 and 2 so I am following up there as well. I think it definitely helps understand some of my own reactions sometimes! 😂people in general really. #kinderchat
In reply to
@tiegradloeppky, @MissTaylorOCT, @kindergeek
Almost time to wrap up! Join us next week when our theme is outdoor play. Also, if you are interested in moderating a chat re: classroom toys & tools, please let me know. Have a great week folks! #Kinderchat
