Divide and Conquer?
Divide and conquer. 🙂 The great thing about experience is – obviously – knowing what to do the next time around. 🙂 Today I taught PE in the morning and the teacher had suggested Duck Duck Goose. I have learned that you NEVER play it with 26 kids – always break it into 2 groups or it takes forever for everybody to get a turn. Well, I sent all the girls to one circle and all the boys to another. They LOVED that, and this way – the boys could be “boys” (throwing themselves on the ground, running around the gym to be funny, trying to change the rules or sneak an extra turn….) and the girls could be girls (screaming). For two classes, the numbers were even. For the other one – it really didn’t matter.
Mrs. Bee’s rule is that when I blow the whistle, they are to stop and listen. Well…..so after a couple of infractions I made a boy sit out for a few minutes because he was running across the gym well after I blew the whistle. Then I did it to a girl who did the same thing. She sat and cried, and then refused to play. It took some coaxing to get her back into a game later on. On the one hand, they NEED to stop and listen so I can give instructions – so much time gets spent waiting….waiting…..waiting….. for the few kids that don’t cooperate. On the other hand, I remembered how happy and carefree she was and her big smile prior to when she was told to sit out – and it made me sad that I made her sad.
It’s a lot like parenting.
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