A Classroom Management Tip for Using Crayons to Help with the First Day of School
We've all been there, no matter how much you plan, things will always take on a life of their own on the first day of school. A new student.... with no more desks. A parent who is sadder than most, her friend who just dropped off child #5, dragging her away because she is a seasoned vet! A student who had you last year, and just had to sneak out of the bus line to visit.... meanwhile, your little newbies have no idea about your procedures. By having a somewhat self-explanatory lesson on their desk, with limited supplies prevents the big UNPACKING and wandering without your directions.Don't get me wrong, I love crayons.... most of my followers have figured it out already... I believe children, children of all ages, need to color, color for fun, color to develop their fine motor skills, color to learn how to follow directions, color to have a sense of accomplishment and stick-to-it-ness, click here to read my post about why I'm an advocate for children coloring. But on the first day when some bring 8 crayons, and some bring 24 crayons, others bring 64 crayons and OH MY! there's a pack of 128 crayons on the first day too! It creates chaos, no matter what was on the school supply list... but, seriously, I do love crayons :)
But when your little newbies are wandering around wondering if they should use red, violet-red, red-violet, orange-red, red-orange, or even strawberry, you can lose complete and total control in 10 seconds flat!
I like to not only have something fun and inviting on the desk for the boys and girls to start working on, but I collect the little clear detergent cups that come with the laundry detergent. They are perfect to hold a small amount of crayons. Then if they ask anything, anything at all about what color....you can say, "Any color you like in the cup..." without losing your momentum.
The little cups are perfect when you're done with using them, just clean them in the dish washer, or even easier, I don't use the new one each time, I save it. I keep one and just keep using it for every new container of laundry detergent. But you could also use a Solo cup or other container....the bottom line is everyone is busy, and the child that has no supplies is still able to get right to work without feeling left out.
It also works with 2nd to 3rd grade, just give them the age appropriate crayons.
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