AboutMarsha Cunningham Expertise My expertise is in 1st-3rd grade, I specialize in beginning
reading and writing, but I teach drawing and painting first to help students gain confidence.
I also use jigsaw puzzle strategy to teach concentration as a subject and enlist parents to keep their children away from scary movies,among other things,which cause nightmares, sleep deprivation and low test scores!
Experience I have taught K-3 for 24 years, given in-service to parents and teachers and presented at reading conferences. To see my children's art work and examples of improved test scores go to www.artsimprovingacademics.org
Expert: Marsha Cunningham Date: 3/17/2008 Subject: How to keep work at work
Question My girlfriend is a kindergarten teacher, this is her 3rd year teaching. The problem is she comes home everyday depressed and it a bad mood from her teaching. She says her school is lower class and they dont listen to her.
For example - She will tell a kid to NOT touch that, the kid will respond by saying " I'm touching it, I'm touching it, ha ha ha"
Also - She will send a note home with a kid for getting into fights at school, and the parent of the kid will write back saying they still havent gotten their pizza certificate back from book-it. Completely ignoring the fact that her child is fighting in school.
I guess my questions isnt so much what she can do to help her class but more how can she leave work at work and come home happy?
Being a teacher can be stressful and I understand that, but by her bring it home it is causing stress at home. I have tried to help her, but it hasnt worked so I am turning to an expert. Thank You
Answer Dear Eric,
I have worked in the roughest parts of Los Angeles so I do have a few ideas.
1. Never argue or get into a contest with a child. Divert their attention or change the subject instead. She may have to be very persistent, but it will work eventually. She must also practice non reaction both in her voice and facial expression.
2. Next, comment in a strong voice about how nicely everyone is doing at their task, even if they're all climbing the walls. This works like magic. Never use names, but like this. " I see that 5 boys wearing blue are doing quiet work, everyone in pink is listening, four girls with ponytails are using good manners, etc. and ignore the one making a problem; but as soon as they get into line with the others be sure to look at them and smile with, "Thank you for helping us, what would we do without you?" Find a dozen different ways to say these things and say them sincerely.
3. These children are probably all sleep deprived and malnourished. This is what I discovered in almost every single case. Make some sort of contest or homework for who can eat the most broccoli. You need parents support on this, and promise that they will see a big difference in their child. I learned to start this program on the first day of school. It made the most amazing difference. Make a big pot of brown rice, sprinkle with butter and sea salt and serve it to students in plastic bowls, maybe the broccoli, too. It should be steamed for no longer than 3 minutes and my students dip it in mayonnaise, but sometimes I spray it with I Can't Believe it's not Butter and sea salt. Try it at home first so you can be enthusiastic about it.
4. They are probably watching scary movies, even my preschoolers see them. My first graders saw them all, too. I was shocked, but young parents don't have a clue about the damage they cause. The children have nightmares, wet their beds, get whipped in the morning and are so sad that they don't want breakfast. By the time they get to the classroom, they're fit to be tied. One day I let my students talk about the scary movies they saw and their night mares; but I wrapped it up with a plan: Just Say No To Scary Movies". We used drama and practiced how to tell other family members that they didn't want to see that stuff anymore and why. I asked their parents to help and described the difference between a sleep deprived child and a normal child.
5. Teach students how to work jigsaw puzzles of 24 pieces and reward those who are the first to follow directions by sending them to the puzzle table for a while. Explain that you can tell who eats broccoli and doesn't watch scary movies by the way they listen to directions. So, if they want to go to the puzzle table, eat more broccoli.
6. Blow up a lot of balloons and use those as a special treat for good listeners. They can bat them around on the playground and make it easy for the problematic children to get a turn so they won't feel discouraged and they will have the feel of what is is that they are working towards.
7. Your girlfriend also needs excellent nutrition and a good night's sleep which means that she must first "retire for the evening" which means to turn off the TV and any noise, take a bath, get into PJ's, lay out her clothes, make her lunch, put everything in order for the next day, and read something inspirational for at least half an hour. She should have no caffeine outside of a morning coffee and she should eat a good breakfast before she goes to work, one including protein.
8. This means that you must help with all of the cooking, washing, shopping and housework. She needs quiet on Sundays to prepare her lesson plans and reflect on what's working and what's not. On Friday nights you could take her out to dinner and ask her for a full report on how things went with the kids.
9. If you are people of faith, pray like this: Father Mother God you you give me all of the information that I need to do my job. You also speak to my students and my students love to hear everything that is good and right. We reject evil influence and prefer all that you made for us....and so on. Pray like this over everything that crosses your path that needs correction and God will show you the best way to fix it. That's all that I ever did.
10. You can read some of my experiences at my website: www.artsimprovingacademics.org Click on: Experiences, Children Teach, and Inspiration.
I am helping to start a charter school where perhaps we will all be putting such ideas into practice; it's the home page of my website, but the rest of the pages are from my experiences.
