Behavior...again.

I can follow directions.

I can work independently, stay on task, and complete my work.

I can organize myself and my supplies

I can participate appropriately in group activities.

I can respect adults and peers.

I take care of my supplies and school property.

I am willing to practice in order to learn new skills.

I can listen attentively without interrupting.

I can make appropriate transitions between activities.

 

Reort Cards

It comes down to this again: knowledge vs. behavior, skills vs. product, words vs. performance.

“I promise I will be good.”

“Yes, I can follow the rules.”

“I know how to do it quietly, it just forgot.”

I have been talking to my students these past few weeks about showing me their best work and behavior. Many of them can recite the rules and procedures of our classroom flawlessly. They just choose not to employ them except in tattling on others. So I have been emphasizing the difference between talking, talking, talking about the rules and just showing me that they can follow them. I have three students who have reached this halfway point in the year and still can’t walk from the cafeteria to our classroom without flapping their arms, poking a classmate, talking, hopping, laughing loudly, and just generally being a nuisance. Our path leads us through a hall past the office and other classrooms and they have absolutely no awareness of or respect for the occupants of either.

I also have students with unreadable handwriting and sloppy, sloppy daily work- not for lack of skills, but for lack of effort.  I know they have the skills because when I ask them to redo their work or stand at my desk and do something it is suddenly transformed into acceptable kindergarten work. I have told my entire class that I don’t want to see scribbling- “I could teach my cat to scribble.”  They are baffled by that statement the first time, but most have seen videos of monkeys, elephants, and even dogs painting, so once I conjure up images of my cat with a crayon tied to his paw they “get it”. Most strive to prove they can outperform a cat! Others don’t care about competing with anyone. They just want to make a few marks on the paper and be done for the day. They haven’t even put any effort into our glittery Christmas projects this week!

It is difficult to convince some parents that attitude and work habits are so important at this age. They hold tight to the belief that their child will change as he/she matures. Yes, they will. But it has been my experience with hundreds of kindergarten students that the foundation for becoming a good student lies in basic personality traits. And personality traits can only be changed through the efforts of the person who possesses them.  You can’t talk, teach, bribe, beg, cajole or love a person into being different.  You can only try to find out what they want- recognition, reward, privilege - and try to connect it to what you want them to do. Maturity brings self-awareness that causes some students to change their ways in order to receive what they desire. However, if lazy work habits are already established it can be a battle to change them. And many children are labeled by their peers as the class clown, smart one, good reader, troublemaker, etc. at a very early age. It can be a struggle to get rid of those perceptions!

 Some parents are concerned with the legitimate struggles of their children because of physical or academic disabilities. But once again, it is often their personality, attitude, motivation, effort, etc. that makes all the difference in their success as a student! Some children just give up and stay with what they have always done. Others strive to move forward no matter what.

It is a challenge to work each day with students who posses such a wide range of skills and personalities. That’s why I love teaching! But I must confess that it is always more rewarding to teach a child with low skills who says “I will try!” than a genius who says “I don’t want to!”