pie and chips
Okay, so there are some things that are starting to piss me off. Four year old children are not designed to sit on a carpet for long periods of time. Seriously 5 mins is their max and then they will NOT LEARN ANYTHING. Some do, most don't. So WHY do British schools still have an assembly every day for the younger ones (ages 4 - 6)??? I think they should be in a different format for those ages. Then again, I'm coming from my biased background and a different system altogether. All that training about multiple intelligences? I'm doing my best, but I have to follow certain guidelines here. I'm VERY lucky with the visual learning and this white board. My kinesthetic is crap because it's NOT SAFE TO HAVE 30 CHILDREN IN ONE SPACE DOING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY! THEY ARE FOUR! FOUR! FOUR! FOUR!
What do you remember about being four?
Anyways, I do agree about them having to learn discipline, independence, social skills, reading, writing and an appreciation for each other and themselves. I'm all over that. It's the STRUCTURE they need less of... some days more than others. I suppose today annoyed me because they didn't get their play time to do those things. We had them sit on the carpet for assembly, then to learn their Christmas song, then to hear a special presentation. By the end of the day, when all 90 children were again crammed in one of our rooms to hear the guest speaker about Diwali, we had to open a door for air AND THEY ESCAPED! A group of them actually got up and walked out the door! It was pretty funny but truly a sign of how overwhelming it is for their little minds to have to take in so much by sitting down and listening. They need to talk too!! They need to guide some of their learning themselves by discussing it, going off on their tangents and BEING KIDS!
Despite my whining, it's going well. My one previously-mentioned child has honestly been trying to follow instructions, make eye contact and listen, but now he's been labeled as the "naughty child" and the children are NOT being fair to him. I have clear evidence from my class of children provoking him to lash out physically because he does not often communicate well with them. They will snatch is toy FIRST and then he snatches it back or hits someone for it and they shout and scream to me abou tit. He wants to tell him something himself, but his words are mumbled. When he then gets shouted at by me or any other teacher/dinner lady, he doesn't know what to say. Usually just "I din do it" but... well... he tries to say something else like "he noring me" (annoying me) which FINALLY made sense after seeing a few of the antagonizing things other children are doing to him. Now, I do give him consequences like missing playtime or lunch time, but I wait until the class has left so they witness him getting into trouble. Still he's getting in trouble everywhere else that the rest of the SCHOOL has now labelled him as "naughty" and will come and blame him for every little thing that has happened. I DO believe he pulled out that girls hair today, he's capable of it, and i DO believe he would have hit a few of the kids, but... well there's more going on. Plus ihe honestly needs to be pulled out after 10mins of doing something. He can focus on one task like re-building his poppy, but if there's too much stimulus (ie: playtime outside with millions of children making loads of noise) he's bound to act up! He WANTS TO BE PULLED OUT WITH AN ADULT TO A QUIET PLACE! HE LOVED WALKING THE HALLS WITH THE DEPUTY-HEAD FOR "detention". It's what he NEEDS! ONE-ON-ONE! He acts up FOR IT sometimes!!!
So why can't people see this? Again, my bias view form working with K-dawg last yeat and having to go through similar things. He could handle small portions of social interaction and then needed to de-compress for about 30mins after any social encounter!!!! My student now self-removes himself (runs away in other words) when things are too much.
This wasn't meant to be a post about him. It was meant to be a "so, this is England" kind of update.
So, this is England:
- Fireworks are STILL going off after Guy Fawkes/ Halloween. Perhaps they're Diwali fireworks?
- Autumn is beautiful but it's cold.
- I have no idea what the British news is about right now. I believe there are more shootings in Vancouver though! Eek!
- The Isle of Wight was beautiful and great to have a free introduction to the place! Getting to know staff was great fun as well! Being tired and getting sick, not so great.
- I'm definitely "settled" and speaking the slang, mate.
- What does one want to know about England really? It's quaint. I had pie and chips for dinner. bangers and mash may be on the menu tomorrow. Or a good 'ol fry up. Yes, grease is on everything!
I am going to start apartment hunting now.... come and visit in a few months!!!
What do you remember about being four?
Anyways, I do agree about them having to learn discipline, independence, social skills, reading, writing and an appreciation for each other and themselves. I'm all over that. It's the STRUCTURE they need less of... some days more than others. I suppose today annoyed me because they didn't get their play time to do those things. We had them sit on the carpet for assembly, then to learn their Christmas song, then to hear a special presentation. By the end of the day, when all 90 children were again crammed in one of our rooms to hear the guest speaker about Diwali, we had to open a door for air AND THEY ESCAPED! A group of them actually got up and walked out the door! It was pretty funny but truly a sign of how overwhelming it is for their little minds to have to take in so much by sitting down and listening. They need to talk too!! They need to guide some of their learning themselves by discussing it, going off on their tangents and BEING KIDS!
Despite my whining, it's going well. My one previously-mentioned child has honestly been trying to follow instructions, make eye contact and listen, but now he's been labeled as the "naughty child" and the children are NOT being fair to him. I have clear evidence from my class of children provoking him to lash out physically because he does not often communicate well with them. They will snatch is toy FIRST and then he snatches it back or hits someone for it and they shout and scream to me abou tit. He wants to tell him something himself, but his words are mumbled. When he then gets shouted at by me or any other teacher/dinner lady, he doesn't know what to say. Usually just "I din do it" but... well... he tries to say something else like "he noring me" (annoying me) which FINALLY made sense after seeing a few of the antagonizing things other children are doing to him. Now, I do give him consequences like missing playtime or lunch time, but I wait until the class has left so they witness him getting into trouble. Still he's getting in trouble everywhere else that the rest of the SCHOOL has now labelled him as "naughty" and will come and blame him for every little thing that has happened. I DO believe he pulled out that girls hair today, he's capable of it, and i DO believe he would have hit a few of the kids, but... well there's more going on. Plus ihe honestly needs to be pulled out after 10mins of doing something. He can focus on one task like re-building his poppy, but if there's too much stimulus (ie: playtime outside with millions of children making loads of noise) he's bound to act up! He WANTS TO BE PULLED OUT WITH AN ADULT TO A QUIET PLACE! HE LOVED WALKING THE HALLS WITH THE DEPUTY-HEAD FOR "detention". It's what he NEEDS! ONE-ON-ONE! He acts up FOR IT sometimes!!!
So why can't people see this? Again, my bias view form working with K-dawg last yeat and having to go through similar things. He could handle small portions of social interaction and then needed to de-compress for about 30mins after any social encounter!!!! My student now self-removes himself (runs away in other words) when things are too much.
This wasn't meant to be a post about him. It was meant to be a "so, this is England" kind of update.
So, this is England:
- Fireworks are STILL going off after Guy Fawkes/ Halloween. Perhaps they're Diwali fireworks?
- Autumn is beautiful but it's cold.
- I have no idea what the British news is about right now. I believe there are more shootings in Vancouver though! Eek!
- The Isle of Wight was beautiful and great to have a free introduction to the place! Getting to know staff was great fun as well! Being tired and getting sick, not so great.
- I'm definitely "settled" and speaking the slang, mate.
- What does one want to know about England really? It's quaint. I had pie and chips for dinner. bangers and mash may be on the menu tomorrow. Or a good 'ol fry up. Yes, grease is on everything!
I am going to start apartment hunting now.... come and visit in a few months!!!