Blinking IS Allowed

I came home from the first day of school and immediately crawled into my pajamas. I'm exhausted and hoarse...sure that I talked more today than throughout the entire summer months. It actually was a pretty good first day, though, if you take into account the rain and 2 inside recesses. As any teacher can tell you, managing a class after inside recess is tricky, even after rules and routines are firmly in place.

I spent the day explaining and modeling the essential parts of our school routines, then we did short activities for the kids to practice. Getting the hang of sitting still to listen and focusing on me is a challenging thing for wiggly small people. 

Music and activity is a big part of my teaching, and I used several songs today. Dancing around the room to the song ,The Freeze, was a fun way to practice the "stop and listen" part of our classroom routine. The kids obediently froze in place when the music stopped, then crazily marched and danced when it started again. At the end of the song, one little boy walked up to me and solemnly asked, "Is it ok that I blinked?"