I'm sorry, but I have to come into this debate again because there is something
nagging me ... and
I think a different perspective might offer something.
Some years ago in Australia, when there was a definite and definable shift in the
way we managed our
students, someone whose work I still highly respect, taught my colleagues and I to
frame our
requests for student behaviour in positive terms rather than negative. He said
that in the phrase,
"Don't run!" we will automatically put the emphasis on the word "run" and that is
what the children
will hear. They don't hear '"don't". It is the nature of the child and their
developing audial
perception. He said we were much more likely to have positive results if we
expressed the behaviour
we wanted - in this case to say "Walk!"
That has always stuck in my mind and it certainly changed my teaching - even a few
months ago when I
started my last school year and the students were developing their own library
behaviour codes
(different codes for different grade levels), I was encouraging them to express
their thoughts in
positive terms. They actually find this quite difficult because they know what
they should not do
but re-phrasing it into what they should do is great vocabulary practice. So,
"Don't get your
library books dirty" becomes "Keep your library books clean."
Anyway, all this is a preamble to responding to a message that talked about having
a box of things
about the care of books and discussing the items with the children - something that
it appears a
number of you do. When I read through the list of things, I was thinking., WOW!
Wouldn't kids who
apparently cannot say, let alone recognise their names to be able to check out a
book be confused!.
Here some YES things and some NO things, now which was which? All they remember
are crayons,
backpacks, stickers and so on.
Now it may be that those of you who do this sort of thing do more than just tell
the children why
each thing is in the box - that wasn't explained in the message, but may I suggest,
with my
how-children-learn-effectively hat on, that you strengthen the message by having
them really get
involved by
1. Have two hoops on the ground, one with a very large tick (check?) mark in it for
yes, and the
other with a large cross in it for no. As students draw something out of the box,
have a discussion
about whether it is good for books or not, and have them place it in the
appropriate hoop.
2. When the item has been placed in the hoop, attach a large tick or cross (cut
from cardboard) to
it to reinforce the message. Most learning at this stage is done by seeing and
doing, and the
crayons with a large cross on them will remain in the mind.
3. You might even continue consolidating the message by making a display with the
hoops and the
yes/no items.
I apologise if some of you think I am stating the obvious but there are newbies
amongst us who may
well be struggling with this whole issue of how to make these book-care lessons
effective, and the
more ideas in the pot, the more they are likely to find a morsel that suits their
tastes.
And just for the record, because it has been mentioned a few times, I did NOT work
at a perfect
school. No one does. In February, at the beginning of the school year, we had 450
students with more
than 40 nationalities represented and over 50 languages spoken in their homes. All
our students
have a unique borrower barcode that is printed on a class sheet with their name
underneath their
code. We got around the name issue by having the teacher accompany them on the
first/ all visits
so he/she could help us with those we didn't understand; the children all wore name
tags that their
teachers had made for those first few days before names were learned; and the
children were able to
recognise their names on the class sheet and point to it. Consequently, they all
got to borrow on
that first day.
In terms of educating parents, I believe our parents are no smarter than anywhere
else (and many
have no English), but, on the whole, they are smart enough to know how to look
after other peoples'
property. If they aren't, then letters home are unlikely to make a difference.
There was
information about their child's borrowing in the school enrolment pack they were
given and we have
to assume that is read. (There's no guarantee that letters are read or understood
either.) But, if
we are discussing the woes of the dumbing-down of YA non-fiction, don't let's be
guilty of the same
thing and dumb-down our parents.
Political correctness makes me feel I should be apologising for my strong stance in
this discussion,
but I won't. I am such a strong believer in the empowerment of kindergarten kids
borrowing on their
first day that I write what I believe after 33 years working with little children
and a willingness
to share that experience. No personal slur or flame is intended so please don't
think this is
directed at any one person or idea.
Barbara
Barbara Braxton
Teacher Librarian
PALMERSTON ACT 2913
AUSTRALIA
E. barbara@iimetro.com.au
"Together we learn from each other."
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