Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers!

Meet Amanda

Teachers who are on summer break or counting the days ‘til the next getaway may benefit from meeting Amanda Beasley here.

Travel – The Best Teacher

Amanda believes that travel is the best teacher. A perfect outlook for educators with bags packed. Consider embracing Amanda’s view that travel can be fun and functional – an opportunity to explore new places and new ways to help kids learn about the world.

The attention connection? Encouraging children’s focus on skill building to effectively connect with a global community requires kids to learn about people and places outside their personal spheres.

International Education

I recently talked with Amanda in her role (effective to 03/19) as Chair of the North Carolina Association of International Educators (NCAIE). Her “full-time” position is serving as the Senior Assistant Director in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, North Carolina State University (NCSU), Raleigh, NC (US).

The NCAIE is not an actual affiliate of a national or international association for international education, but note that those organizations exist and can be found online using obvious keywords.

Amanda’s connection to NCAIE began at another college in North Carolina’s capital city, Meredith, where she worked after graduation there. When she transitioned to NCSU she first worked to assist international students entering the university. Amanda’s current work is in technical operations related to student applications, including international students.

Community Outreach                                 

Part of Amanda’s success is a suggestion for any educator – Look for organizations in your community that have global connections – schools, businesses, industries. Amanda recognizes that as she puts it, “a teacher’s job is one of the hardest and least rewarded.”  “Access anything that helps integrate learning with global education because we are all responsible for helping children learn.”

Amanda points out the large and strong global population that is home to NCSU. The university has formed alliances that benefit what Amanda calls “Knowledge Communities” to serve students coming into NCSU with diverse needs and students heading out for study abroad.

Speaking of heading out, some international students visit elementary schools while attending NCSU to introduce their cultures to children nearby. Global community outreach at work!

Early Travels Shape Interests

Amanda grew up in a family that embraced travel. Raised in a town called Rocky Mount in eastern North Carolina, Amanda’s world expanded with study abroad programs in high school and after that took her to the UK and Europe, the southwestern US and Mexican border, and New Zealand.  Forty countries and counting – Amanda has already visited all seven continents! More travel on her horizon, as fortune allows.

Benefits of Journal Keeping

Encouraging journal keeping is a proven tool to help children develop writing skills. More than that, journal keeping is a must for Amanda. This explorer tied to international education remembers being inspired to journey and journal by her 4^th grade teacher, Bonnie Lovelace, who had traveled to Belize shortly before Amanda was in her class. Ms. Lovelace talked about her experience – “the animals in Belize, the people she’d met, the impact people have on the world, and the small ways to make a big difference.”

Recurring Theme

Amanda’s year with Ms. Lovelace and the support of her family have formed the foundation of Amanda’s enduring interest in global awareness. What Amanda calls “the lightbulb,” remains bright – “your actions affect others.”

Amanda is guided by this recurring theme – “No matter how different the environment or experience,” she asserts, “you can feel connected by humanity.” “Because no matter the differences,” Amanda continues, “you can find and show willingness to understand each other.” “We share,” she concludes, “a lot more that is similar than different and for many, a willingness to help.”

Remember, you don’t need to be a magician to work magic in any instructional setting!

Talk with you again soon,

Barbara The Lovable Poet

The post Help Kids Skill Build in a Global Community appeared first on Attentionology.

Let your mindset go on break when school is out. Take time to dig deep within yourself and discover something new.

Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers!

School breaks are a good time for mind breaks as well.

In a hectic world, it can be a challenge to put everything on pause,

break from the mindset of school days,

dig deep within,

and “pretend that you are meeting yourself anew.”

Karla Kuskin, an American poet, can help you get started.

She offers inspiration to dig deep.

Kuskin writes with a contagious sense of opportunity and joy in Finding a Poem.

It’s worth the read. See if you agree…

Finding a Poem

Dig deep within yourself to “sketch the ever-changing views” and “unlock the weather in your heart.”

 Barbara  The Lovable Poet

The post Dig Deep Within Yourself During a School Break appeared first on Attentionology.

Teachers can always use quick and easy ways to keep kids on task in any instructional setting.

One proven approach is to tap into students’ creative thinking.

Imagine that you have a magic hat on your desk.

Imagine that you have a magic hat on your desk and when you look under it, you discover eight great tricks to fire up creative thinking.

Look under the magic hat to find eight great tricks to fire up creative thinking.

1. Ask creative questions that start the learning process.

For example, try leading into a Social Studies lesson with these two Qs: “How far can we go? How much can we know?”

2. Use short rhymes to catch kids’ attention. 

Short rhymes engage children in a creative learning process.

Picking up on a sample Social Studies lesson, let’s say that your class is learning about the country of Portugal. Here’s a short rhyme that would work:

Pick a port in Portugal

we haven’t visited yet.

Listen to the sound of music

floating from ships’ decks.

I hear maracas shaking

like the ones I have in school.

Learning about new places

makes us world-smart. Cool!

3. Mix in music to pick up a creative beat.

If, for example, your class is studying Portugal, you might add impact with the rhyme printed above by shaking some maracas

“I hear maracas shaking!”

after you share the rhyme.

Ask the class if they know the name of your instruments.

Pass the maracas around the classroom to allow students to shake them and feel the creative beat.

4. Integrate all of the arts into your core curricula to fire up creative thinking.

During your Social Studies lesson about Portugal, shake, shake, shake, go your maracas, an instrument popular in Portugal and many other countries.

NOTE: Maracas and other simple, easy-to-play instruments are available in toy stores, even dollar stores, as well as from music retailers in store and online.

Consider including visual art into your Social Studies lesson by inviting students, for example, to draw pictures of your maracas at an appropriate time.

How else can you fire up creative thinking?

5. Ask probing questions.

Depending on the grade level you teach, you can boost students’ creative thinking skills by asking questions that require more thought.

For example, after you shake your maracas as part of your Social Studies lesson about Portugal, ask kids to guess what these “shakable” percussion instruments were first made from.

Answer: hollow dried gourds.

Then ask students to name other vegetables that might be turned into musical instruments and how.

Consider inviting kids to bring in vegetables or other natural materials that you can convert into musical instruments over time.

Hands on exploration is a way to learn by doing.

6. Cash in on virtual tours through the magic of online resources.

Maps are great, and hands-on exploration is a way to learn by doing.

Life is a journey, not a destination, but virtual tours take a big step beyond maps, letting teachers take students to places around the world.

One visit can prompt creative thinking about the next tour and encourage exploration.

Building global awareness and understanding of different people and cultures is key to education in the 21st century.

Make virtual visits seem real by encouraging kids to say…

– what they think they’d see in a place, like Portugal for example, if they ever get to enjoy an actual visit.

– what they’d like to see.

You can help them find answers online like the Lisbon Oceanarium and Maritime Museum.

7. Brainstorm with students.

Identify a problem that affects your class (such as the way some students distract others during study time) and ask for ideas on how to solve the problem.

– Write all of the ideas down on the board.

– Discuss the options for solving the problem.

– Take a vote about options to adopt for your “classroom code of conduct.”

– Post the new code of conduct in a prominent place in your classroom.

Revisit it periodically to keep students focused on the results of their brainstorming.

8. Tell a joke.

Share a funny at the beginning of the day and/or invite volunteers to share a joke with the class.

Laughing relaxes us and helps let creative ideas flow.

Humor also reduces stress which is a creativity-killer.

Tell your students that firing up creativity is like building muscle strength.

As Maya Angelou, the American poet, wrote, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

It’s good to fire up creative thinking…good for teachers and students.

Remember, you don’t need to be a magician to work magic in any instructional setting!

Talk with you again soon,

Barbara  The Lovable Poet

The post Eight Great Tricks to Fire Up Creative Thinking appeared first on Attentionology.

Yummy! Add frosty touches to help young kids learn in summertime.

Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers!

In the hot months of summer (Northern Hemisphere), most kids crave icy treats…

…ice cream, snow cones, anything frosty to cool off outdoors and in.

Add frosty touches to learning that catch the attention of young students or campers when the thermometer soars.

Cook up teaching or training themes that connect with icy delights.

Choose from a menu of creative options…

Count the Cones at Cool Count Ice Cream Shop – Find or make ice cream cone images.

Glue different numbers of cones to sheets of colorful construction paper. (Children will add up the number of cones on each sheet.)

Post the ice cream cone sheets on a bulletin board.

Center a sign that you print with the shop’s name, Cool Count Ice Cream Shop.

Cover the bulletin board with a large piece of fabric, like a bed sheet, so that it’s hidden until you surprise the class with it.

Announce that you’re taking your students or campers on an imaginary trip to the Cool Count Ice Cream Shop and need their help tracking the number of cones for sale when you get there.

Ask the class to form a line and follow you around the room to the ice cream bulletin board.

Uncover the ice cream cone display and after the laughter, engage the group in a count of the cones. Write the correct number of cones at the bottom of each sheet.

What other frosty touches can help young kids learn?

Match the Color of the Number to the Snow Cone Color  – Play a frosty-themed matching game to help young children master color and number recognition.

A red number eight needs a red snow cone to match! Play a color-matching game to help young children master number and color recognition.

Find or make large number cards in different colors.

Find or make snow cone images in matching colors. Draw or glue them to sheets of white construction paper.

Post the large numbers on a bulletin board. Be sure to mix them up so that they are not in sequence.

Distribute the snow cone sheets to children who volunteer to participate in the game.

Invite kids, one at a time, to walk to the board and point to the number whose color matches the color of their snow cones.

Open Up a Frosty Cafe for You Choose Day – Turn your classroom or instructional space into a delightful cafe that serves kid-crafted frosty creations made with writing and illustrations.

You Choose Day works for any part of a curriculum, but it’s especially effective with language arts activities.

Begin You Choose Day by explaining that the kids will become chefs when you post a menu of frosty choices they can choose to create.

The concept of “cookin’ up” immediately catches and keeps kids’ attention.

Offer a menu to young writers that includes short story starters featuring ice cream and other summertime treats. (Frosted fruit is a healthful alternate to sugary treats, but it’s hard to beat icy sweets.)

Invite kids to imagine writing a story, for example, that begins with Max pushed the start button on the slushie machine and…

Compose a Frosty Acrostic – Add a word to the menu that you write down the board to begin an Acrostic poem, like G – E – L – A – T – O (ice cream in Italian…take this opportunity to introduce children to other languages of the world).

Show how to create a frosty acrostic poem by writing a phrase that begins with the letter G across the board, like G ood to eat on a hot summer day.

Then ask children to suggest phrases that begin with other letters in G – E – L – A – T – O and compose a frosty acrostic poem together.

Serve Up an Ice Cream Cone Shape Poem – Trace or draw an outline on the menu board of an ice cream cone with three scoops of ice cream.

Switch out a fall tablecloth with a summertime design to host a Frosty Picnic Day to catch kids’ attention for learning.

Invite the class to copy the shape onto sheets of blank white paper.

Challenge kids to write their own poems about ice cream inside the shape.

Help them begin by writing a few lines inside the ice cream cone you’ve drawn on the board. You might write,

Ice cream, ice cream,

we all scream

for ice cream!

Remind the class that shape poems can be written with rhyme or in free verse (no line-ending words that rhyme).

Host a Frosty Picnic Day – Set out paper napkins and plastic forks or spoons at each desk or table space.

In the center of each student’s place set out a pre-printed “menu” of class work for the day.

A menu can be as simple as a handwritten day plan that you make copies of on white or bright-colored paper.

Your menu may include activities described above.

If you have the facilities to store single-wrapped small frosty treats, like ice cream sandwiches, announce that the last item on the menu – dessert – will help everyone cool off on Frosty Picnic Day.

Children love the opportunity to learn with frosty touches in summertime.

Please send comments about how you use popular food-related themes in teaching.

Remember, you don’t need to be a magician to work magic in any instructional setting!

Talk with you again soon,

Barbara  The Lovable Poet

The post Add Frosty Touches to Help Young Kids Learn in Summertime appeared first on Attentionology.

Ask students where Mini Mind Wandering Time will take them for a few minutes to escape from school work?

Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers!

As the end of the school year or term draws nears, you may have students who act as if they’ve mentally left for vacation already!

Here’s an attentionology trick to pull students back where they still need to be…in school.

Use the magic of Mini Mind Wandering Time.

When it’s clear that students aren’t at their attention-best, hold the scold and suggest instead that it’s time for Mini Mind Wandering Time.

Imagine kids’ surprise when you unexpectedly give them permission to NOT pay attention – that is, to not pay attention for a limited amount of time.

Choose a Travel Zone to Mind Wander To – Lead into this magical Mini Mind Wandering Time by suggesting to the class that before you begin the lesson ahead, they’re free to choose a travel zone to mind wander to…for a few minutes.

Kick start imaginary travel time by asking where they’d like to be outdoors or indoors if they could be anywhere right now.

Challenge kids to choose magical modes of transportation for Mini Mind Wandering Time.

Ask for a few volunteers to call out their choice destinations.

A little call-out time releases energy and stress, paving the way for improved focus when you return to lesson time.

Then ask for absolute quiet.

Explain that mind wandering is private and requires quiet.

Encourage kids to imagine themselves using a magical mode of transportation to their travel zones.

Back to the Classroom Campground – Close Mini Mind Wandering Time with an announcement that now it’s time to meet back up at “the classroom campground” (or group meeting area with a name that suits your community, country and culture.)

Designating your classroom as “a campground” creates more opportunity for later mind wandering time. For example, when students seem restless, you can invite them to stand up, stretch, and picture themselves at “a campground.”

As kids rise, ask them to close their eyes and mind wander about what they might see and do at “a campground.”

Follow up this Mini Mind Wandering Time by instructing students to join you in a circle in the center of “the campground” for storytelling time.

How else can you use the magic of Mini Mind Wandering Time?

Invite kids to make up a funny character name and write a silly short story or poem during Mini Mind Wandering Time.

Mind Wander to Make Up Funny Names, Stories and Silly Stuff – Introduce this activity by announcing the opportunity to use Mini Mind Wandering Time to make up funny short stories and silly short poems or rhymes.

Start this mini work break entertaining your students with the funny names of two poets you pretend to be quoting. In English, you might use one name like Ida B. Gonenow.

Tell the class about her cousin, Ima G. Neverreddy.

Quote “Ida’s and Ima’s favorite rhyme – one of mine (see below).

What Time is It?

I’ve got a hunch,

it should be time for lunch.

Let’s ditch the math for candy bars

and enjoy the crunch, crunch, crunch!

Explain that Ida and Ima love to complain about school work; their minds wander all the time.

Ask your students to guess how well Ida and Ima do on end-of-term tests!

Tests aside during mind wandering time, invite kids to make up a funny name, short story, or silly poems of their own…before…you guessed it…“we all get back to work.”

Put On a Mini Puppet Show – Students will stay tuned in if you use a puppet or stuffed animal to personify a mind wanderer.

“Oh no, Little Bear, you look like you’re in Mini Mind Wandering Time!”

In the middle of Spanish instruction, for example, put a puppet, like a little bear, on your hand.

The kids will be all eyes on you.

Make it look like you’re speaking directly to the puppet and ask it to spell a word phrase in Spanish, like adios amigos.

Then, using a made-up “puppet” voice, make the puppet say “Huh? What? What’d you say?” as if its “mind” had wandered.

Ask the class to repeat after you – an attentionology trick of its own – repeating – and say, “Oh no, little bear, you’re in mini-mind wandering time!”

Mind Wander for Pre-Writing Improvement – Pre-writing involves choosing a FOCUS for a poem or story.

If students have trouble thinking of a fictional focus, encourage them to spend “Mini Mind Wandering Time.”

Traveling by memory or imagination can lead to some wonderful settings for writing and learning.

Mind wandering enhances learning because it allows students and teachers to relax, but it also stimulates thinking.

Remember, you don’t need to be a magician to work magic in any instructional setting!

Talk with you again soon,

Barbara  The Lovable Poet

The post Use the Magic of Mini Mind Wandering Time appeared first on Attentionology.

Power up your ability to catch kids’ attention. Spice up Word Play in school, camp, vacation destinations or on a holiday!

Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers!

Word Play is a great way to catch and keep kids’ attention.

Where?

Anywhere…school, camp, vacation destinations, during holiday travel time…anywhere!

Voiced Word Play  works best for young children.

Rhythmic and humorous sounds tickle little kids’ ears.

Simple word sequences paint pictures that are easy for children to see and understand.

Spice Up Word Play with Invitations to Action – Word play that invites participation delights students, campers and vacationers in their early years.

I’m reminded of a first grade teacher who invited me to present a poetry workshop to her class.

Mrs. Radcliffe used a wonderful variety of Word Play to gather the children together before I began my program.

Her animation reminded me of a conductor standing before a glorious symphony – the children responded like instruments to her commands.

“If you can hear me say touch your nose, touch your nose,” she called out to the class.

Moving around the room, she continued, “If you can hear me say touch your toes, touch your toes.”

On she went, mixing up action commands with word reply commands, like, “If you can say ‘mouse in the house,’ say ‘mouse in the house.”

She closed the attention-getting Word Play with a dramatic and intentionally drawn out rendition of an expression of love.

Mrs. Radcliffe called out to her class, “If you can hear me say I, say I,” and they did. “If you can hear me say, LOVE, say LOVE,” and the students said LOVE louder than they said I.

“If you can hear me say MRS., say MRS.,” and the students knew where this Word Play was headed.

She then predictably said, “If you can hear me say RADCLIFFE, say RADCLIFFE,” and the class squealed with laughter as they finished the Word Play.

Notice how she used the words, “If you can HEAR me.”

This approach engages kids and leads them to LISTENING.

Word Play is effective when you present it with other tricks, too…

Spice Up Word Play with Awesome Alliteration – One way to spice up Word Play is to use alliteration.

“What is Whensday?” Use this catchy Q that incorporates alliteration with a visual trick.

For example, if you need to get the attention of your class, ask for a show of hands from students who love the beach.

Then reach in your desk or in a bag and pull out a large seashell to show the class.

Hold the shell high and ask your group to repeat a phrase after you. Using English for example, you could say, “She sells seashells down by the seashore.”

Challenge the class to come up with their own sentences or phrases that have alliteration.

Invite kids to “run with the word fun.” Start a word sequence that begins with the word fun and ask children to keep going with words that begin with the letter f to describe a pet.

You might get, “My pet is my fun, favorite friend; funny, fantastic, finicky and sometimes freaky.” The English word freaky, when used to describe a pet, always makes kids laugh.

Adapt your spicy Word Play to the language in which you work with kids.

Spice Up Word Play with Challenging Visual Tricks for Older Kids – Announce to your group that you need all eyes on you because you have something special to show.

Hold up a sign that reads:

Q for You: When is Wednesday not exactly Wednesday?

Call on a few volunteers who want to guess an answer.

Flip the sign over (make the sign ahead, printing both sides in bold letters) to reveal the answer:

Answer: When it’s Whensday.

Pause to see if anyone notices the new spelling of the weekday.

Yes or no, reach for a marker and underline When to make it distinct.

Put the sign down and ask the class, “What is Whensday?”

Listen to their responses.

Suggest that the word when, as part of the word Whensday, is a little word that opens up big thinking…

such as…When you see someone bullying a school mate, what should you do?

…When you see something you would like, but can’t pay for, what should you do?

…When a friend asks you to do something that you know is wrong, what then?

Stress to the class that all of the thinking about what is Whensday doesn’t have to be about difficult situations.

Ask if it’s possible to plan for Whensday when the sun seems to shine brightly in our lives. What then?

The possibilities for Word Play with intentionally misspelled words are endless.

Spice Up Word Play by Speaking in Different Languages – When I work with students, I speak in different languages, if only with a few words that I have learned.

Try presenting the word ATTENTION in multiple languages to get kids’ attention as you begin an activity.

It’s important to pronounce the word correctly in each language you speak.

The word ATTENTION, for example, is spelled the same in French as it is in English, but it is pronounced differently.

The German word for attention – ACHTUNG – is attention-getting all by itself.

Google Translate serves as a good resource for language learning.

Spicy, clever Word Play opens up a world of learning that attracts kids’ attention with the fun and function of the activities involved..

Remember, you don’t need to be a magician to work magic in any instructional setting.

Talk with you again soon,

Barbara  The Lovable Poet

The post Spice Up Word Play to Attract Kids’ Attention appeared first on Attentionology.

A fifth grade student quiets himself during a mindfulness exercise to learn self-control skills.

Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers!

Try this new link in your thinking and share it with students…

Concept behind the link:

the ability to pay attention is a must-have skill to gain control in any situation.

Gaining control isn’t always a goal, but control is key to achieving universally desired outcomes in school settings .

Two outcomes predicated on attention = control:

• effective classroom management – mandatory for student achievement.
• students learning self-control skills, gaining the ability to pay attention in class.

Some BIG problems can interfere with this link between attention and control, however, and that’s the focus of this post.

Background: I recently read a “rant” by a meteorologist who is well-respected in the US and known in other parts of the world, as well.

His “rant,” as you might imagine, was about social media posts related to the science of climate change. No debate here about that.

The words that caught MY attention were (paraphrased) “we live in an era where higher education and research are no longer respected.”

This meteorologist mused with a half measure of sarcasm that his parents had “wasted money on his education; that he could have waited for the age of social media and simply declared himself online as an expert in any field of his choice.”

Wow!

Those stunning words prompted my thinking about a new link for educators to consider and share with students: Attention = Control.

Let’s explore what that means…

Think of control as the ability to direct one’s future, from childhood to adulthood.

At any age, attention = control, and control gives us the ability to direct our future. Self-control is a skill best learned early in life.

Of course, there are circumstances beyond anyone’s control that “bump along” life’s path.

But, teachers can play a major role imparting this important lesson…

…children who learn to pay attention to a full “picture”, the specifics in the “picture,” and the likely consequences of actions related to the “picture,” will have better control of their lives.

“Picture” can be any circumstance, situation, challenge, etc.

The link again: Attention = Control

Picture a student who has trouble staying focused on school work.

Now picture her or him in the future.

Will that child be able to achieve higher education?

Will that child know the value of research, whether the research be on a formal or informal basis?

What is the future likely to hold for that child?

The lesson in sharing the link between attention and control can’t wait for the future.

It needs to be taught early on so that children grow with an ability to sustain concentration.

We as teachers must find ways to make children see that higher education and research (both available in many forms) DO MATTER!

Focus skills require time to learn. Helping kids become “Minute Masters” develops focus skills.

Do we want a world where education and research are no longer respected just because anyone can log on and spout off about any topic any time?

Speaking of time, like teaching, the very nature of paying attention requires time.

Unfortunately, time seems to be in short supply in many school settings.

Thankfully teachers can use quick creative “tools and tricks” to catch and keep kids’ attention for more than a few minutes at a time.

Designing and discovering creative, attention-getting tools and strategies drive this blog.

The subject is timely.

Attention, as a subject, is hitting the news more than ever before…

• attention as it relates to adjusting presentations for a world leader who is renowned for a short attention span…
• attention deficits due to distractions that lead to deadly automobile accidents…
• attention to our surroundings, urged by security agencies around the world, to help prevent more horror on streets and in venues that draw large crowds.

Children won’t know that they need to care about paying attention to learn and control their futures if we don’t teach them this important lesson.

Can we afford not to take the time to share this link: Attention = Control?

Let’s shout out the answer…No!

Please send comments with your views.

Remember, you don’t need to be a magician to work magic in any instructional setting!

Talk with you again soon,

Barbara  The Lovable Poet

The post Share a New Link with Students: Attention = Control appeared first on Attentionology.

When worries have students down, ease their distress with fun and functional teaching tools.

Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers!

Helping Kids in Troubled Times – More worrisome world news can make even the brightest of us feel troubled.

When you sense that a number of students feel anxious for whatever reasons, begin the school day with a simple question…

Worry got ya down?

Hold up a poster that features a funny face with a frown.

You’ll grab the class’ attention…

now the key question is what can you do to help ease students’ distress?

Power a Flower with Sun Power – Only through our imagination can we make sunshine in our classrooms during troubled times.

Help put sunny smiles on the faces of K – 2 kids after they’ve endured a difficult situation, including instructional activities, such as taking a test.

Show students a bendable flower, like one made of felt with wire underneath on the stem (available in dollar stores or toy stores.)

Tell the class that you found the flower in your “pretty pretend garden” and you picked it because it looked bent down, sad and worried.

“Bent down, you look worried, pretty flower.”

Invite the class to “brighten the flower’s day by bringing the sun inside to give it warmth and care.”

Make the Sun’s Magic Shine in Class – Continue your hold on the class’ attention by asking the children to “help you make the magic of the sun shine on the flower you’re presenting.”

Invite one or two kids to come to where you’re standing with the flower in hand and hold the stem with you.

Count in a loud voice with the class…”One, two, three, little flower, listen to me, the magic of the sun’s warmth and care will chase away your worries and make you happy!”

Engage Kids with a Touch of Drama – Add a touch of drama to this activity to emphasize the importance of chasing away worry.

Ask the class to repeat the “chant” to the flower and then, with the flick of your hand… bend the stem so that the flower stands tall in troubled times.

Point out how the flower now looks worry-free and happy! See if your students agree.

“Ahhh…standing tall…now the flower looks worry-free and happy!”

Hang up a Worry Wash Line – Third and fourth grade classes will enjoy “washing away worries” with this clever classroom clothes line.

Stretch a cord above a section of your classroom and clip clothes pins with blank note cards to the line.

Tell your students when you first hang the line that you’ve added a Worry Wash Line to your room.

Announce that it’s open for anyone to pull off a card, jot down a worry, write one’s name or not, and clip it back on the line to “wash the worry away.” When your students are not with you, read the cards that students have clipped on the line to get a better sense of their concerns.

Find Friends for Dennis B – Challenge older elementary students to “help a fictitious character named ‘Dennis B’ become more worry-free.”

Introduce Dennis B with a poem that I’ve “written in his honor”…

Worry-Free

Dennis B vowed that he would live his life worry-free.

When problems tested his resolve, Dennis B said problems can be solved.

“Look,” Dennis said with poise, “let’s find solutions, not make noise.”

“Nashing teeth ’til jaws are sore will only make us worry more!”

“Simply put,” said Dennis B, “I feel much better worry-free.”

Make a Worry-Free Bulletin Board – Find a large funny face of a character that you name Dennis B and post it with a name tag header on a classroom bulletin board.

Post blank sticky notes all around the new class character.

Invite students to use the replaceable notes to offer Dennis B ideas on how to be worry-free.

This…a writing activity that may engage reluctant writers.

Create a Contract to Worry Less – Help kids in troubled times by creating individual contracts with students that agree for them to worry less.

Format the contract any way that suits your students, but be sure to include a line for the child to write his or her name, age, and points of agreement, including a promise to bring persistent worry to the attention of a trusted adult.

In a world of 24/7 news cycles that often report tragedies, smart teachers find creative ways to address children’s worries.

We are empowered to help kids in troubled times.

Remember, you don’t need to be a magician to work magic in any instructional setting!

Talk with you again soon,

Barbara  The Lovable Poet

The post Helping Kids in Troubled Times appeared first on Attentionology.

Teachers discuss the distractions that detract from the learning process in their classrooms.

Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers!

Every school year has its own ebb and flow, you know?

During some school days its seems as if a term will never end.

Then, we’re shaking our heads at how fast time has flown by.

In the sometimes chaotic classroom conditions we have to manage, it’s easy to be thrown off-balance by distractions that pop up at any given moment.

Distractions can put anyone – teachers, students, and parents – off task.

One way to counter distractions is to pause and refocus on our mission by reading powerful words for powerful teaching.

I had the pleasure of working in the classroom of a veteran fifth grade teacher who has written some powerful words for powerful teaching…

Angie Stafford calls her composition a Philosophy of Education Creed.

Writing the creed, she explained to me, was the best way she knew how to express her professional goals as a teacher.

Her beliefs about children’s capabilities and how she can best nurture them include attentionology in their foundation.

Read for yourself and see if you’re inspired as I have been by these powerful words for powerful teaching…

I believe:

All children are capable of learning; I am to set the stage for learning and to prompt the learners.

All children are worthy of love and respect; I am to love them and treat them with dignity, even when it is difficult.

All children need to know what is expected of them; I am to provide them with reasonable structure.

All children learn best when actively involved — body and mind; I am to plan and implement meaningful learning experiences.

All children need effective role models; I am to meet the children where they are as individuals.

All children need to be children; I am to remember that they are not mini-adults.

All children can rise to what is expected of them; I am to set high but attainable goals.

All children want to succeed; I am to help them in their quest.

All children have good days and not so good days; I am to be tolerant and forgiving.

All children have a right to an education; I am to teach them. And they will teach me.

Power Teaching includes Attentionology – Where exactly are the ties in this education creed to attentionology.com?

You’ll make your own connections, but here are a few of mine…

1. The opening act in setting the stage for learning must include tools and tricks that catch and keep children’s attention and serve as prompts to help them stay on task.

A powerful education creed for teachers includes a commitment to catch students’ attention and keep them focused and on task.

2. Providing children with reasonable structure includes commanding attention at critical moments in the day.

These moments include instruction time.

3. Using creative and engaging techniques is the best way to command attention and make the most of the limited time that each day offers.

4. Planning and implementing meaningful learning experiences that actively involve children — body and mind — means incorporating activities that hold students’ attention by engaging body and mind.

5. Setting a good example includes showing, as a teacher, your own capability to stay focused and on task.

We need to model the attentionology skills that we hope to help children develop.

6. Meeting children where they are as individuals is a challenging proposition because to do so requires teachers to create individualized attention-getting tools and tricks to help students learn in styles that suit them.

7. In setting attainable goals and helping children on their quests it is mandatory to help children learn to block out distractions in a world full interruptions and disruptions.

8. Tolerance and forgiveness is to accept that, even when you use every attention-getting trick in your teaching toolbox, there will be days when your students and you fall short of your goals.

9. Teaching students and learning from them in the process opens up all kinds of wonderful possibilities for the use of new tools and tricks to catch and keep children’s attention.

As Emily Dickinson, one of my favorite American poets, wrote, “Dwell in possibilities!”

Speaking of poetry, Angie Stafford was inspired to create the poetic form she used in her Philosophy of Education Creed by another teacher’s poetry lesson.

Networking with good ideas and information is one of the best practices teachers can follow. That’s why I hope you will send comments about your best practices to share with other readers.

Remember, you don’t need to be a magician to work magic in any instructional setting!

Talk with you again soon,

Barbara  The Lovable Poet

The post Powerful Words for Powerful Teaching appeared first on Attentionology.

Catch kids’ attention with a mask that you assert holds magical powers for you to see.

Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers!

Here’s an engaging command to catch K – 3 kids’ attention…

“Look at this!”

All eyes will follow your lead, not just because of your command, but because of the curiosity and excitement that it will generate.

“Look at what?” Kids will wonder.

In response, hold a mask to your face and tell the class, “Look at the magical powers I’ve mastered, powers I want to share with you!”

Masks Offer “Magical Powers” to See – Colorful masks attract attention in a heartbeat. A mask visually invites students to look at this!

Why? Mystery lies behind a mask. What’s there; who’s there? Why has my teacher masked her face? What can she now see?

Surprise students by donning a mask and using “magical powers” to hook kids into lessons.

For example, tell the class to look at this…the mask’s “magical powers.” Announce that the mask lets you see the basic problem-solving process at the center of the Core Curriculum:

• Ask
• Imagine
• Plan
• Create
• Improve

Connecting steps to the mastery of skills by using a visual symbol, like a magical mask, helps children remember the steps.

Let young students take turns wearing the mask to gain “magical learning power.”

Usually associated with special occasions like Mardi Gras or Halloween, masks make marvelous attention-getting tools any time of the school year.

What other ways can you ask your class to look at this?

I Spy a Good Listener – This instructional activity focuses on sight, but the attention-getting aspect of this trick is all about the ACT of looking to find students who are paying attention to you, the teacher.

Use a large magnifying glass on a long handle to “ACT-centuate” your “spying.” (Many “dollar stores,” at least in the U.S., sell inexpensive plastic magnifying glasses designed for children.)

Hold up the magnifying glass for all to see.

Using your best “detective voice” announce, “Boys and girls, I’m looking to spy a good listener.”

Move around the classroom as you look into the magnifier and lean toward students who readily respond to you in a positive way.

Praise students who are showing excellent listening skills.

Test students’ listening skills by asking them to repeat a short rhyme:

Look at this!

My class has ears /eyes on me.

Is it magic?

Call it HOCUS-FOCUS, what I like to see!

Language Arts Connection – Turn this trick into a language arts activity by inviting kids to make up other short rhymes that begin with the line, Look at this!

Let your class know that there will be other opportunities to “play” I Spy a Good Listener!

Catch and keep your students’ attention on other days just before you begin a lesson by holding up your magnifying glass.

Ask who remembers what you’re trying to spy. “Good listeners,” students will reply.

The magnifying glass can become another visual symbol of a specific skill.

Science Connection- Use this teaching trick as an early years science lesson. Explain that early magnifying glasses led to modern-day microscopes.

Visual symbols, like masks and magnifying glasses, that dramatically invite students to look at this reach out to kids who are audio and tactile learners, as well as students with visual acuity.

Consider the old Chinese proverb that roughly translates in English to, “We hear and we forget; we see and we remember; we do and we understand.”

Do you agree that this proverb has merit for teaching?

If we consider that DOING almost always includes hearing and seeing, eye-catching visuals and ear-catching voices will help kids DO well.

Remember, you don’t need to be a magician to work magic in any instructional setting!

Talk with you again soon,

Barbara  The Lovable Poet

The post Look at This! appeared first on Attentionology.