#slinkymalinki

[sneevish]

“Never again did he answer the call, when moon shadows danced over garden and wall. When whispers of wickedness stirred in his head, he adjusted his whiskers and stayed home instead.” From “Slinky Malinki” by Lynley Dodd. If ever there was a poem for our times, eh? #puffin #slinkymalinki #lynleydodd #stayhome #flattenthecurve #corona https://www.instagram.com/p/B-J_ObgnzgR/?igshid=1xrzexnelejfy

[lovedecorateletters]

Our much loved copy of #slinkymalinki Open the Door by Lynley Dodd is our best pick for today's #picturebookchallenge . The theme is #rhyme and the exquisite rhythm of this hilarious tale will keep us reciting it for years to come! #cats #mischief #kidslit #picturebooks #kidsandfun @littleelfman

[readingmum]

What comes first? The book or behaviour management?

When I read to kids, I read to the kids that are listening. I feel the pull of the book and I use voice, performance and eye contact to draw the children closer to the story. But, what do I do when some children stop listening and start annoying the kids around them? 

In the secondary English classroom I’d call out the kids who are behaving inappropriately and I’d wait for attention. This strategy is most often applied at the start of the year when I meet a new class and we get to know each other. Sometimes I need to activate it again later in the term if the students’ behaviour has moved outside of acceptable bounds.

When I do the pause and wait routine, there is an invisible tension that scratches its way around my body. The waiting sometimes seems interminable, even though in reality it may only be seconds. What I find worse than my own physical discomfort is that the kids who have been connected to the story (or to what I’m saying) find their attention interrupted while I deal with those who are no longer focused on the task at hand. This is frustrating as a teacher (but I get that it’s part of the process. You lose time at the start to make up time later on.)

When reading to preschoolers as a parent visitor in the class I’ve been focused on positive rapport. I use the same key phrase every visit to get the kids to settle and sit. I say, “Can everyone see the book? If you can’t see the book the book can’t see you.” I noticed today how two boys quickly responded to that phrase and moved to sit down on the mat when I said it.

I’ve been focused on learning names so I can identify particular children and provide a personalised and caring reading experience that sustains a positive experience with books.

There were moments today though when the children that hadn’t felt the drawing of the story went from being distracted to distracting others. It wasn’t cool and it interrupted the story flow.

It was also disrespectful to the kids they were interrupting and to me.

So. Next story time. What’s the plan?

I think I may have to use the pause and wait strategy - even if it means the story flow is a bit jagged.  

I think I will have to show that I do care that the kids who are not listening are worth my time and attention just as much as the kids that are listening. I do have a habit of focusing on the attentive behaviour and ignoring the distracted. There are reasons for this but maybe for the next few sessions I focus on getting everyone listening. 

Otherwise, maybe I’m already undoing the purpose of my reading with preschoolers. It’s not just meant to be reinforcing the positive reading habits of the kids who demonstrate ‘good’ reading behaviour.  The goal was to draw the kids who didn’t have an affinity with books and help them to develop an awareness that books are for them too. 

It’s pretty lax of me to slip into the ‘bad’ teaching habits so soon but in writing and reflecting on these activities I’m hoping I’ll be self-correcting next time in situ.

Book of the day: Slinky Malinki