Never Underestimate the Power of...

Lowering Your Expectations
Hands-on Activities
Rewards (no, not bribery--rewards :) )
Praise
Social Thinking principles

The first three days back from Christmas break were probably the worst days of kindergarten for me yet this year. By Wednesday afternoon I was feeling like I was going to go crazy. I was thinking, "What am I going to do with these kids??!" It was that bad. Just ask my mom--I called her and vented my lights out when I got home from work that day.

But after venting, I was able to sit down and think, "Okay, really, what am I going to do with these kids?" I recently have had a handful of challenging kids added to my class, and so it was good for me to sit down and think about what I needed to do differently to help these kids. And that list up there is what I came up with.

First up, I had to lower my expectations of how much we were able to get done in a day. I needed to focus on QUALITY more than QUANTITY.

Secondly, I decided these kids need more hands-on activities--crafts, sensory stimulation, etc. This is really not my forte, but I'm working on it! Playing with clay, finger painting, making puppets, and playing musical bells are a few things I've tried. If any of you have any easy, fun craft ideas, feel free to pass them on!

Third, I realized these kids needed a little more to motivate them to get work done. I needed to reward them more often and with a wider variety of things. I'm still working on this, too.

Fourth, I needed to praise positive behavior more than give negative attention for negative behavior. And I've found being more exuberant in my praise hasn't hurt either. This is actually something I'm pretty good at already, so that's helpful.

And last but not least, I've applied some of the Social Thinking principles I've learned through working with my kids with autism to my kiddos at school. And it has worked wonders! Thank you, Social Thinking!

And I'm happy to report that the last three days of school have been leaps and bounds better! Wish me luck with the next three! :)