Pressure

A couple of weeks ago, Miss M confided in me that she felt like I was pressuring her too much.  My first instinct was to tell her that I wasn't pressuring her.  I was just asking her to get her work done.  (She tends to need some extra motivation on some days.)  But I tried to really listen to what she was telling me, and I came to the conclusion that even if I don't need to back off on my daily work "pressure", I might need to examine my stress level and how that might be coming out during the day.  I realized that I feel pressured.  By society, by my own expectations, by the feeling that I'm not doing a good enough job.  I am letting myself feel pressured, and that is probably not a good thing.  I cannot instantly fix this problem.  But being aware of it is a good first step.  I want my kids to work hard (even if that means sometimes working on things they'd rather not.)  But I don't want my insecurities and self-imposed pressures to cause them to feel that learning isn't fun or that perfection is our goal.  

Besides committing this issue to prayer, I have also been seeking out some creative ideas for our classroom to help our day go more smoothly.  I came across the idea of Work Boxes and modified the idea for us. I put letter-sized stacking trays above our work area.  (These fit perfectly because of the slanted ceiling.)  Each tray can hold one assignment that needs to be finished by Miss M.  From left to right, I have a set of four trays, then a "break" card, then two more trays, then a "lunch" card, then two more trays, then a "break" card, and then two more trays.  In each section, Miss M can choose the order in which she wants to complete the assignments.  This helps break everything up, but it also puts the decision partially into Miss M's hands.  The hope is that Miss M will feel some more control so we spend less time "discussing" what subject to complete next.  It also gives her a visual when she first comes into the room.  She knows exactly how much work she needs to complete for the day.  

The other items I added to our system are two posters with Velcro circles and small pictures printed on card stock.  The poster on the left tells Miss M what she needs to complete for the day.  As she completes the assignments, she can move the appropriate subject cards to the poster on the right.  This is another visual way for her to keep track of her work on her own.  

So far the system seems to be working nicely.  I will post updates to the system as we adapt and change it.

By the way, Miss M's My Place in the World idea came from here.

The Marathon

We lost nearly the whole month of December.  Both kids had upper respiratory infections for two weeks with secondary infections that followed (bronchitis for Miss M and an ear infection for Mr. J.)  Then they were feeling better the week before Christmas but we were swamped getting presents wrapped, cookies made, packing for Grandma's, etc.  Then they both had the stomach flu.  It seemed like everything was working against us in December.  So, we had an unplanned break.  And when I start to feel guilty about how little work we actually got done, I remind myself that it's a marathon, not a sprint.  And God has given us the gift of a new year, a clean slate, a chance to start over.  I am so thankful for that daily blessing, not just on January 1st.  So, tonight I have cleaned up the classroom, planned out the week, put up a fresh calendar, and I'm ready for our school year to continue.  Let's hope the kids are just as excited in the morning.

And here is proof that we did get a little bit of work done in December...