Pre-School, Special Education Music, Movement Songs and Workshops

What are your strengths?

Bill Janiak — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:04:45 GMT

My question is “What are your strengths in dealing with children’s behaviors?” Since you are working with children and with your experiences, then you do have something special going on between you and children. You do have your successes and I ask what are they? Here are some reactions by teachers sharing this response:

My greatest strengths as a teacher is:

being able to connect with children and getting on their level.
managing a classroom and building and maintaining a warm, successful learning classroom environment.
listening and respecting children and developing creative and well thought out plans and activities.
from the experiences I used hands-on activities.
using my presentation skills are strong
loving to teach and ability to adapt to changing circumstances
being organized and finding fun ways to do subject areas
ability to relate to the children
include flexibility, compassion, passion for children and teaching, being an extremely hard worker, and using professionalism within a classroom
being patient and flexible
ability to read children are great strengths and assets
Having a strong background in child development and knowing what to expect at different ages
communicating with children, parents, and other teachers
perseverance
having enthusiasm and dedication
having strength in lesson planning
Learning to adapt a lesson at any time
using your own natural skill
never stop smiling
simply a loving what you do along with a dedication to children
being able to bring fun and excitement to the classroom
planning
knowing the ways of how to discipline and using voice quality
understanding what objectives I am teaching in a lesson
teaching from within
· doing well with one-on-one situations
bringing real world experiences into the classroom
knowing how and what to assess
being a positive role role model for children
managing the classroom
having confidence

T These are just some strengths mentioned. Anything to add What are to this list??

The Left Family

Bill Janiak — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:53:30 GMT

Children form a circle and each child holds something like a pencil or piece of paper or candy. Each time left is said the item is passed to the left. Each time right is said the item is passed to the right. When the story ends, the item held is theirs. Example: if all have a piece of candy but one item is chocolate, than that item is theirs at the end of the story. This story can be used for holidays like Christmas and hold presents or for birthdays, Easter, etc. Enjoy the Left Family story!

A Special Time for the Left Family

Mr. and Mrs. Left were celebrating their special day today. It was Left’s fifth anniversary. They chose the right restaurant to go to celebrate. It was their favorite Italian restaurant not far from Left’s house. Their children, Mary Left, John Left, and Peter Left planned the whole event. Also, the 6PM time was the right time to go before it became crowded.

Some of the other family and friend members asked for directions. The children wanted the family and friends to have the right direction and not get lost: go 3 miles to Center Street, make a left, go another 3 blocks, stay in the left lane and make another left turn on 4^th Street, take 4^th Street to Heart Avenue and make a right, go 2 blocks and you will see the Italian restaurant on your left, make a left turn into the parking lot. Make sure you stay in the right side of the parking lot because there is more than one restaurant there and park in the right side of the parking lot. The tables are located in back of the restaurant but ask for Mr. Right, the manager, when you go in. You will see all the names on the tables for your seating. It was not long when Mom Left and Dad Left entered. They were surprised to see many family members and friends attending and seated around the table. Of course, the children were seated next to mom and dad left: Mary Left, John Left, and Peter Left. They sat on the right side of the table. Grandpa Left sat on the left side of the table. Next to him were Grandpa and Grandma Right. Yes, the owner of the Italian Restaurant! Mr. and Mrs. Left’s closest friends filled the rest of the table. Seated was Sam who is Mr. Left’s boss; Susie who was Mr. Left’s co-worker. Mr. Left’s brother came late, Barry Left, along with Mrs. Left’s sister, Susie. They all had a great celebration for the 5^th anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Left. That’s the story of the celebration for Mr. and Mrs. Left. Did I get that all right!

3 Games

Bill Janiak — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:28:35 GMT

Button that Sweater (Need shirt or sweater)

A sweater or jacket with buttons is placed over a chair unbuttoned. A child is selected to spell an easy word like cat or say the alphabet or count to 10. With a correct answer, the child buttons one button on the sweater. This continues till the sweater is buttoned. You can continue the game by asking for more correct answers and unbuttoning the sweater. There is no penalty if the answer is incorrect as you ask the next child another question. You can make competition out of this activity by having two sweaters and the team who buttons the sweater wins.

Difference Between Day and Night

These are words associated with day or night. The children stand in the middle of the room. The teacher gives directions: if you hear anything that has to do with day you go to one side of the room or if the teacher says anything about night, the children will go the other side of the room. The children await the word and make their choice which side is for dark and which side is for night. Examples for day: light, sun, suntan, blue sky, white clouds, green grass, squirrel, ducks in the water, and bright. Words associated with night: dark, moon, stars, light switch, nightlight, shadow, bed, bats, dreaming and sleepy. The teacher should create around 20 words for night and 20 words for light.

Storyteller Puzzle

The teacher can cut out comic strips, mix them up, and have the child put the story together. If you white out the sayings above the cartoon strip, let the child tell the story in their creative fashion.

Shape Stomp and Free Dance

Bill Janiak — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:48:21 GMT

Shape Stomp

Draw shapes on a sheet of paper like a square, triangle, circle, etc, and color the shapes using different colors. Lay the sheets around the floor in an open space. Tell the children that you are going to select one child to stomp on as many shapes as the class counts each jump, while music is played for about 30 seconds. Ask the child which shape he or she stomped on more than any other shape.

Free Dance

Each child does their own thing and is able to express creative movement through music. You will be surprised with gifts children have. Put on a favorite song and simply dance. By dancing children learn about spatial awareness, co-ordination, and body awareness. You have also have individual solo dances for a short period of time and then see if the children can copy that creative dance.

What are the Goals Achieved Through Music?

Bill Janiak — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:15:51 GMT

What Kind of Goals is Achieved Through Music?

It sets up goals according to the group and/or individual situation such as:

1. Develops a sense of rhythm.

2. Improves speech and language.

3. Provides an acceptable means for emotional release.

4. Improves self-confidence.

5. Trains following directions.

6. Develops self-control, increasing retention and attention spans.

7. Encourages growth in creativity and imagination.

8. Correlates music with other subjects.

9. Improves coordination and motor control.

10. Strengthens self-expression.

11. Develops interpersonal communication.