10

Wherever I am, when a group of children walks into a school classroom, I’m so happy to see them. I never know exactly what I’m going to say to them first, but it often is casual, friendly, even silly. Things like: 

 

• “Are you the extraordinary 2^nd graders I read about in the newspaper?”

 

• “I heard you’re some of the best musicians on the planet. Is that true? Okay, well, today you get to show me.”

 

• Hello you lovely people! Would you be so kind as to sit right where you are and then show me on your fingers what grade you’re in. Now show me how old you are. On a scale of one to ten, with ten the highest, how happy are you today? Show me with your fingers.”

 

Things like that grab their attention so much more effectively than, “Today our learning objective is blah, blah, blah, blah blah…”  Another strategy I often use is simply to begin clapping a pattern or singing a song. “Here’s the refreshing waters of music— shall we dive right in?” Indeed, I rarely introduce myself or tell them my name, so if I’m a visiting teacher at a school and ask at the end of class if they have any questions, I sometimes get this one:

 

“Who are you?!!”

 

Today—and for the first time— I asked those questions above that they answered by showing me the numbers on their fingers. When some showed me 4 or 6 or 8 when it came to their happiness quotient, I did tell them the class objective: 

 

“I hope that by the end of class, you’ll all be tens!”

 

On these third graders went to do one of my favorite classes—Stations. (See my Intery Mintery book if you’re curious). It was as fabulous as it always is and at the end when I asked them to show me how happy they were now, it was 10’s across the board. While the number assessors would have been looking for clear understanding of the stated objectives and measurable mastery of the activity, the kids’ spread fingers said it all.

 

It was a GREAT class!!