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A Teeny Tiny Teacher

Transition Trick

Well . . . as much as I like the days to seem longer with sunlight lasting all day, I am not a fan of losing an hour of sleep.

I mean, what in the world?  Really?  Who came up with this?  And why?

And I woke up with a sore throat.

A thore throat, I said!  

And it didn’t go away!  And now I’ve got the sniffles like Cindy Brady on the Brady Bunch.  So I decided to have some wine because I heard alcohol kills anything.  Really.  I heard that.  I certainly didn’t make it up.

And I might watch Catching Fire later because I heard that’s relaxing and should be watched whilst eating vodka pasta and bread and caesar salad chicken noodle soup.

In the meantime, my hubby’s aunt and uncle are over and we’re sorta kinda watching the dogs play while simultaneously watching Taken 2 and some of us might be blogging, as well.

And what I’m blogging about today is a little management/trick/transition tool that I use every once in awhile when I remember it.

For example, I used it this week when I remembered I had it in my bag of tricks, and my kids were in awe and then it dawned on me it was the first time I’d used it this year.  

I am forgetful.

I have too many tricks.

This is what happens after teaching in the same grade for seventeen years.  You lose track.  

So, anyways, my all time favorite transitional tool is music.  My kids know that if I play a song, they have to be on the carpet before the song is over.  I like to use Heidi songs or Math songs or Disco songs or Katy Perry songs or Sitcom songs (because they’re short and I learned that from Rick Morris who is absolutely brilliant!) or I just sing my own song that I make up such as Hurry Hurry Now You’re Taking Way Too Long To Clean Up And I Am Losing My Mind You Cannot Organize Your Pencil Box Right Now Ooh La La and Do Do Di Di Thank You Very Much For Joining Us Mr. and Mrs. Slow Poke!  (Be sure to look for this song on the Billboard Top 20)

Well, anyways, I remembered that I had this song and my kids were enthralled by it and it also made me remember that I love first graders and they are actually little preschoolers trapped inside six and seven year old bodies.

So as my kids are coming to the carpet, I sing . . . 

Click {HERE} for your own copy.
And PS, I did not write this and I don’t know who did.
Sorry.
Forgive me.
I am old.
I put my hands together (like I’m praying) and “swim” around our carpet area where the kids are sitting so nicely . . . and now there are no slow pokes because every kid is dying for me to come to them so they are running to the carpet and they are sitting ever so politely. . . and I sing the part where it says “along comes Mr. Alligator, quiet as can be” super duper duper quietly, like in a whisper . . . a stage whisper, if you will . . . and then I pick an amazing kid that is doing EXACTLY what I want them to be doing (sitting quietly, on their bottom, hands in their lap, basically defying every single thing that says they are six or seven years old) and I SNAP THAT MONKEY RIGHT OUT OF THAT TREE!
And basically, I just clap my hands near their smiling face and make their whole entire day.
We squeal, we laugh, and then I have to do this FOUR MORE TIMES for the next monkey.
This class died.
They loved it so much.
And I thought to myself, what a great day I’m having.
Who cares about that pronouns lesson or adding tens to 120 or writing a paragraph?
We are having FUN and they ARE ALL ON THE CARPET!
Voila.
Try it.
Let me know how it goes.
And I don’t really know what the tune is . . . I kind of made it up.  And I don’t sing.  I just pretend to.
So good luck.
🙂
PS  Is it just me or is this a violent song?  I like to think the alligator is snapping the monkey out of the tree to help carry it to shore.
Or possibly to take it home to its mother.
Or something.
Right?

Comments

  1. Hardlyable Farm says

    OMG…too funny. I will certainly be trying this little transition trick. I have a group of chatty Cathies and talking Tommies so this may get their attention in a sweet, I am not going to lose my patience way:) Thanks for sharing such an easy, cute idea. And I hope your sore throat feels better….I feel your pain…literally.

  2. Laura says

    I love that song! My friend who teaches preschool taught it to me. I use it with my class every so often. I like to introduce it without them singing because I whisper the whole song unit it gets to the SNAP part… which I then say really loudly and clap my hands really loudly… the kids are always a bit taken back and then they giggle and then they want to sing along.

  3. Deb says

    Thanks for the printable copyI love your actions! I know there's a Dr. Jean version of that song.
    Deb
    Not very fancy

  4. susan says

    Ready to try it tomorrow! Thanks – and feel better

  6. Jen R says

    You are toooo cute! Can you be Autumn's teache!?

  9. JanCT says

    I'm absolutely positive the alligator was just being helpful. I'm sure of it.

  10. Tessa says

    Do you think rambunctious third graders would love this too? My gears are a-turnin!

  15. laura speller says

    Yes it is on a CD by Dr. Jean and it does have a tune. We had to actually do it with her at one of her seminars. It was pretty fun! I mean how many people can say they've done the Five Little Monkeys song WITH Dr. Jean, right???

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