Remember these guys and the song they sang as they marched off to the mines? Except for Grumpy, they were a happy community of responsible hard-working little fellows.

We want our communities of learners to be happy and responsible too, and one of the best ways to assure this is to give each and every member ownership of the environment, the atmosphere, their behavior, and their learning.

I’d like teachers to assure that each child has a specific job each day (see past blogs)

https://teachsinger.wordpress.com/2017/02/23/best-jobs-ever     https://teachsinger.wordpress.com/2017/02/23/more-work

But I also want teachers to try to have the children do much of the extraneous ‘busy’ work that keeps teachers from quality and quantity time interacting with the children in meaningful ways like personal conversations, listening, observing them as they work.

Here are the children’s Routine responsibilities throughout the day. Please allow them to learn to participate in them (even though you think it may be easier to do it yourself to save time). Use your knowledge of DAP to determine expectations for ability & understanding. Begin to show them how to do this in the first days of school. Guide, lead, model, and remind them until the routines become expected and natural.

• Wear their backpacks and carry their lunch boxes by themselves
• Place backpacks in place on arrival, sorting papers for teachers, placing snacks, lunch boxes, and water bottles in appropriate places
• Wash hands
• Choose a staged activity or join together for morning Community (Circle) Time
• Listen and express ideas, opinions, memories, stories, & words
• Sing, dance, chant, recite, or participate in Community Time activities
• Choose an area for Purposeful Play
• Take action in Purposeful Play
• Make decisions for peaceful Purposeful Play
• Reorganize environment when requested
• Wash hands and take care of personal hygiene (developmentally)
• Prepare for snack, eat, listen, talk, reflect on the morning’s activities, and clean up
• Transition to other experiences
• Participate in experiences in other locations
• Prepare for lunch, eat, listen, talk, reflect, and clean up
• Prepare for dismissal (gather belongings)

These are the children’s educational responsibilities during the day:

• Use large muscles
• Use small muscles
• Use the senses and deduction (logic) to make decisions about the sensations
• Plan, build, take apart, rebuild, and build something new
• Use imitation and imagination
• Use art, music, dance, drama, and spoken & written word as self-expression
• Select where, what, and how to take Action in Purposeful Play
• Take Action in Purposeful Play
• Reflect on the Action taken
• Apply the learning from the Action to repeated and new strengths
• Listen and follow directions

That’s a lot to do, so don’t forget to Whistle While You Work!