today
i taught a math lesson with the help of a jar of buttons. (yes, buttons.) when
my grandmother passed away a few years ago, there were a few things i took from
her house as keepsakes…the jar of buttons being one of them. i’m guessing other
people’s grandmothers had a similar collection somewhere their house. as a
kid, i remember her getting this jar out when she had to “mend” something and she would sometimes allow me to play with them. i knew that i could use them for
something in my classroom, or at home with my own kids and that is exactly what
i did today. we are learning about sorting objects by size, so instead of only using the standard worksheet to teach the lesson…i handed each child a handful of
buttons. it went something like this: when the children clean up from playtime
each day, they know that math comes next. however, after i blew my train
whistle (if the thought of me blowing a train whistle makes you laugh. good.), i
walked to the front of the classroom and just stood in front of the room with the jar of buttons in my hands. most children usually take their good old time
cleaning up after playtime, but upon seeing me standing there with a glass jar of goodies they were in quite a hurry to put away their toys. as they quickly returned to their seats,
they were all shushing each other and sitting with their hands folded on their
desks (showing me they were “ready”) because they just couldn’t wait to see
what i was going to say or do with those little round gems in a jar.
i
explained to the kids that we were going to sort the buttons according to size.
i may have thrown something in there about them being magical. (it’s all about
wording and enthusiasm, people!) we discussed what sorting meant (putting objects into
different groups) and what size meant (how big things are) and then i started
walking around and dispersing my wares. the kids were SO excited to get their
handful of buttons. actually, most were losing. their. minds. there were
giggles galore and just an overall air of excitement in the room. (over
buttons!) as i passed them out, i allowed the children a good 10 minutes to
explore with their hands before i asked them to sort them. most were running
their fingers over them (fine motor skill practice), counting the holes in each
one (counting practice), naming the colors of each one (color practice), discussing their buttons with other kids at their table (social and discussion skills), and
just pumped they didn’t have a pencil in paper in front of them. this was
different. (different is good.) after i allowed some time for exploration, i
explained that i wanted them to make two piles, one for large buttons and one
for small buttons. they happily got to work. every. single. child. was engaged
in learning and every single child in my room was having fun. they were so
bummed when i told them in was time to clean up, that i promised tomorrow we
would use the buttons again for another lesson tomorrow. (cheers and high fives all around!)
i
decided to share this story, because every year i have a handful of parents
that are worried their little bill shakespeare or young al einstein is going to
be bored in my class. i must say that i know parents don’t mean it to be hurtful sometimes…but, as a teacher, it is kinda insulting. it’s like me telling a
mechanic that he didn’t put my tire on correctly, even though i know nothing
about cars or tires. (and if you read my last story, you know damn well i do not
know anything about tires.) it’s like me telling a nurse that they aren’t
inserting the needle correctly, even though i never went to nursing school. now
i know, there is a fine line here…because no one knows your child better than
you. (i’m a mother, i know.) but there is a lot that goes on in the classroom
that the parents do not get to see. lots of good stuff. lots of fun stuff. lots
of educational stuff. lots more than just the worksheet that is sent home. parents (like you) need to know this. also, i treat all of my students like i would want my own kids to be
treated. (and that’s the truth.) most teachers do the same. (most.)
most
importantly, remember the story about the buttons. it didn’t matter at what
level each of my students were reading, what background they came from, where
they went to preschool…when i stood there at the front of the classroom with my
grandmother’s button jar, every single child was wondering what i was going to
do next. (thus is the magic of teaching.) i could’ve stood up there and said,
“get out a pencil and paper and we are going to do this worksheet together.”
instead i said, “today we are going to use my grandmothers magical buttons! you
are so lucky that you get to use them!” like i said, each individual child was losing their mind. (thus is the magic of 5 year old imaginations.) as i wrapped
up my button lesson, one of the kids told me it was best day of his life.
(because he got to play and learn with buttons. that’s awesome.) i love that children get
excited about things that seem trivial or mundane to us as adults. we should try
to learn from these little people. get excited about the simple things, and try to let go of
the things that bring you down. (at the end of the day, it’s really not worth it.) in short: buttons? yes. bills? no.
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