My knees are wearing out

Today I spent the morning observing in a classroom where a teacher was having trouble with a couple of boys.  They are just so full of energy and she needed to know if it was something SHE was doing, something that needed to be changed in her environment or schedule, or if some outside services needed to be called for additional support for some of the children.

After my observation it is apparent that it is NOT the environment or her; we will be calling in a counseling service for two of the children to give them a little more support.  These boys have a lot to deal with at home and it has very obviously come into school, as it typically does.

Here’s how I know that she is being responsive and helpful to the children’s needs:

When they were running around, she very calmly and quietly SAT in the block area where they were jumping around and just sat.  She didn’t say anything; she didn’t need to.  Suddenly, the boys began to focus on what they were doing. 

Then, one of them went to the learning area on the other side of the shelf and she noticed he needed a little help.  She crawled over there.  Yes, I said crawled.  Staying down on their level kept the energy level down.  She understands this.

When she noticed that the boys she left in the block area needed her presence back (which was about 30 seconds after she left) she crawled back over. 

In 15 minutes time, she must have crawled back and forth about 20 times.  I’m not exaggerating either, I think it was more. 

On her last trip over it was because a child had called her over to help him with something.  With a smile on her face, calmness in her voice, she crawled over all while saying, “I’m on my way Brian, my knees are wearing out, but I’m on my way”

Yeah, there are great things happening in that classroom!