Our ECSE Classroom Schedule: Part Five - Outside Time (10:20am -10:45am)

Welcome back to our classroom!  We left off with the students just finishing up snack.  With full bellies (and some help from dear Mother Nature), we head outside for a little sunshine next.  That being said, we live in Kansas so occasionally rain, snow, or 70 mph winds deter us from outdoor play.  

Also being that some years our kiddos have some pretty fragile health needs, we don’t always go out when the big kids do.  Our school has the policy that students will go outside if it is above 20 degrees with the wind chill.  We go case by case and year by year with this policy.  Never going out if is below 20 but also implementing other policies as needed.

We try to prepare parents and students by reminding them to dress appropriately for the weather with reminders, notes in the handbook, and monthly newsletters like the one below.

  

Despite our efforts, it is a judgement call whether we go outside or not.  On somedays due to a drastic weather change from the day before, parents do not dress their kids appropriately for outside play.  I always have a few extra coats and jackets for kids to borrow, but if I don't have enough we go to Plan B. 

(Plan B:  You may remember from my explanation of centers that if we do not go outside, we simply stretch the length of each center by 2 minutes to add a total of 20 minutes to learning rotations to prevent down time at the end of our day.)  

The routine for going outdoors is to line up on designated circle spots and wait for all the peers and teachers to go out together. 

Note:  There are two doors to our classroom so we actually have two ways to line up.  Lining up on the circles to go outside and lining up on the triangles to go into the hallway.  

Just another way to add shape recognition and listening skills to our daily routine!  We also have square shapes by the sink for students to stand in line for washing their hands before snack. 

The lining up process for outdoors time can be lengthy as we try to support all students in working on independent skills to get their jackets, hats, and gloves on.  Although this is an important life skill, it makes the transition and wait time a little lengthier than I would like. 

We try to keep our students engaged and on their toes during this transition by talking about our day, reviewing concepts with "I spy" games and guessing games, or singing songs that encourage imitation and active listening. 

For example, we may sing to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It".

If you’re ready to go outside, clap your hands, CLAP-CLAP***

If you’re ready to go outside, clap your hands, CLAP-CLAP

If you’re ready to go outside clap, clap your hands.

If you’re ready to go outside, clap your hands! CLAP-CLAP

***We change the action words to take a deep breath, stomp your feet, shake a hand, give a hug, stand quietly, etc.  I like to change the song's words to fit the class' needs in that moment.  If we need a little connecting, it might be hug. If we need to calm, it might be breath or stand quietly.    

Another great chant we use, adapted from Miss Molly's work at Colby Head Start.

Standing in line playing a game, 

when I point to you, please tell me your name!***

*** We change the chant depending the level of the students and what their goals are.  We might say tell me your mom's name, tell me your birthday, tell me your favorite toy or even say non-verbal directives for our limited language communicators like point to your nose, or point to your teacher, etc.  

When all the kids are ready to go outside we review the outdoor rules and expectations. 

Note:  Sometimes the rules need to be more specifically taught with visuals of students doing the activities. 

Or with a social narrative to support the students in knowing the rules and what the consequences are for not following the rules.  

 (We simply chalk out a pink circle on the sidewalk for the sit out spot.)

Other times we find it more beneficial to create video examples of what to do/not to do outside. Click below to see a video model that was created to support our kiddos in the ever challenging task of lining up to come inside.  We watched the video while reviewing rules at large group during morning calendar. Then refer to it again on my iPhone or iPad as needed.  

Following the review of the outdoor rules, we get all the students ready for a successful walk to the playground by singing this song to the tune of  Gilligan's Island found on Mrs. Jones' Room blog adapted from work by Dr. Jean.  

Note: We sing the last line "I’m ready to go out!" when we are headed outside. The song is perfect for body awareness and line up expectations.  However if you are like me and never get the tune right, you can record it on a big mac placed by the door so it starts and sounds the same every time. 

Now that we have prepped the kids for a successful outside time, we can head out the door!  We are fortunate to have a preschool playground a short walking distance from our classroom.  The only challenge is that we walk by the elementary playground on the way to our playground.  (I am sure you see some trouble dancing in your head with preschoolers whom are a little overly excited and impulsive.)  

Needless to say after the first week of school, our principal was kind enough to add a paint yellow line to visually help get us all to our playground.  The children also have another (blue) line going through the big kids' playground to dismiss to parents at the end of the day.  

It is amazing the difference these two lines have made for the kids.  Note: the paint was actually just left over yellow and blue paint from grounds department painting the parking lot. 

Of course with these added lines came a visual to prep the kids for which line they were going to walk.  

It is simply velcroed to the wall and flips to the other color line when needed.  

We also have a chart to show who is the leader of each line. The pink line is a sidewalk chalk line on the playground where the kids line up to come back inside when the whistle blows. 

(Yep!  We do use a whistle in preschool! It is a great habit to get into since that is what is used on the big kids' playground.)

So after we follow the yellow line to the playground, the students have the flexibility to play on whatever equipment they choose unless they show a need for more structure.  My philosophy is that all kids need down time and outside time is a perfect time to do that if kids can play in a safe and functional manner. 

If, however, they show that they need support to be safe or play in an appropriate way, we will make modifications and add supports. 

For example, one of our little guys would tune out and simply walk along the fence when we were outside so we created this visual to support him in using playground as it was designed. 

Note: After he finishes all five activities on the visual, he could go back to walking the parameter of the playground as he seemed to find comfort in doing so and needed it for downtime.  

The idea is teach new skills and create balance.  We wanted him to experience typical playground activities so he could possibly engage with peers and staff.  By giving him an organized structure to do that, he learned outdoor play skills and eventually played on the equipment without being prompted.   He still does not play on the equipment for significant lengths of time, but has some balance of playing and interacting socially and getting the downtime he needs. 

Another support we added for a little girl was a clipboard schedule with first-then icons.  She loved to swing and would spend the whole time on the swings if we let her so originally we structured it so she had to do something else first and then could go swing.  Later when she was ready for the next step, we created a three choice system in which she had to pick three things to do then she could do her preferred choice that seemed to change from week to week from either walking along the fence or swinging.

When we started having our little gal do new things like the trikes and sandbox, we had to build in more structures.  For the trikes, we added a token system to show her how many turns she could have as she hated sharing the trikes.  This actually turned out to be a great structure for all the kids.  They could each visually see how many rides around the bike path they got and when they needed to share their trike with friends.   

Note: We had a staff person standing at the start of the bike path to take tokens each time the students went around and facilitate the kids in going the correct direction around the path.

For the sandbox, our little gal had a different problem.  She hated the sandbox and wanted nothing to do with it so we added three sand tools and a bucket.  To start, the expectation was just for her to pick up the sand tools and put them in the bucket. Then as her sensory system got used to touching the sand, she was expected to scoop sand into the bucket three times and then she could be done.  Eventually, we removed the bucket system as she was comfortable to play in the sandbox without the added structure.

One more structure we added to outside was a aided language boards that hung on the storage shed.  These are similiar to the communication systems in the classroom centers and were used to support kids in communicating what they wanted to play with outdoors.  If you look closely you will see two icons for bikes and balls on velcro right inside the shed door. These were great for kids to take off and hand to a teacher like PECS communication to request the bikes or balls.  

Generally speaking, outside time is 15 to 25 minutes depending on the weather and how the rest of our schedule for the day played out.  For our morning kids, we do outside time toward the end of the day as it is typically warmer later in the morning making it more likely that we will get to go outside.   Ideally however, we would do outdoor time more in the middle of our day so the kids can have unstructured downtime to burn off some energy in the middle of the day to make for more focus time in the classroom.  

Finally, while outside we try to have staff spread out so that one person is helping on the swings, one by the equipment, and one by the trikes or sandbox depending on what is out for the day. This is a work in progress as it is in our nature to speak to each other at this point in the day about how the kids did throughout the day or to develop tweaks and restructures that need to be put in place, as well as other adult conversation kinds of things! :)  We really have to be disciplined to do this zoning step. If you would like to try the zoning system and/or support your staff in being more effective at it, I suggest you take a look at this excellent book by McWilliam and Casey.  

That's outside time in a nut shell, folks!! :) Join us next time as we close out our day with end of the day group time!  Until then...Enjoy the outdoors!! 

Playfully Yours,
Lindy

Curbing "Preschoolitis": Surviving the Last Few Weeks & Preparing for the Next Big Step...Kindergarten!

As we wrap up our school year, we find ourselves exhausted, and overwhelmed with huge to do lists, IEP meetings, and transition planning.  The students are catching our stress and anxiety as they hear whispers of next fall's kindergarten or their more typical preschool.  That, along with spring fever and countdowns till summer, are bound to create some behavior and classroom ‘yuck’.  Much like seniors getting ready to leave the nest with senioritis, our preschoolers go through similar anxieties and growing pains.  I truly believe there is a real thing called preschoolitis!

Although our students may not have mastered all the preschool curriculum and objectives, they are getting bored with the day to day routines and finding a need to push the limits just to see what will happen.  They may also be feeling a little anxiety and betrayal.  

“What! I finally figured out how this preschool thing works and now mom, dad, and my teachers are talking about me moving to a new classroom.  I like my friends and teachers here! Why are they going to leave me?.”  

Over the years I have realized this scenario is even more real for our kiddos with emotional disturbances and those who have a hard time building relationships. Which are also the kids who often struggle with routines and acting appropriately—inevitably creating a lot of behavior toward the end of the year and maybe even seeing the return of past behaviors.

Does all this make you feel a little doomed? No worries...we have plan!  

Let’s focus on the positive!  I like to remind myself this time of the year that I only have a few more weeks with this group of students so it is important for me to be present and available to teach them and make as big of an impact as I can before I send them on their way. 

With that, I also have to start implementing some strategies for transition success. I used to think that meant preparing social stories and photo books of the children's next setting.  Although I still do that, I don’t typically show the student these books. I give them to their parents to share with them in August just before entering their new program.  Three months can seem like an eternity for our kiddos with all these anxious thoughts “When am I going on to meet that new teacher everyone is talking about? What will happen there? Will I like it?" and many more.

So instead of sharing the transition books with the kids at this point, I start teaching them in a manner similar to what they will experience in kindergarten (or typical preschool).  Much like a well-respected colleague of mine, Jill Koertner, shared with me, "With every modification, visual, prompt, and support we put in place for these kids, we have to have a plan for taking it out of their programming for generalization and success.”

 

So goodbye to intense step-by-step visual schedules, cube chairs, and teacher supported play. Hello to class schedules, criss-cross applesauce sitting, peer play time and so much more.  

Okay so you are probably thinking...Has Lindy lost her mind?!  (Well, that is debatable.) However as for the changes in our classroom this time of the year, they are a work in progress and the kids get a slow transition to them with modeling and training involved.  This is what they have been working toward all year, if not two to three years depending on their programming.  

NOTE: The new routine and expectations are specific for our afternoon class as the morning friends will all come back to us next year. 

So let’s take a peek into the new routine.  First off, the kids work through a class schedule. Below you can see what it looked like before and what it looks like now.  Before it was for the teachers to follow. Now it has pictures added for the kids to follow too.  

It should be noted that some of the students still have their own individual schedules. However when we can, we have all the students transition as a whole group using typical transition items and cues.  For example, a song leads us to opening group time or the passing out of art materials leads us to whole group art.  So inevitably, there are less icons and transition match ups. 

This is a pretty traditional wall schedule that one student uses.  

He is a student that will return next year.  He requires some one-on-one training time so as you see on his schedule he will leave small groups to get some individual practice and independent work.  These times are strategically placed in his schedule as he is not able to handle our large group as long as his peers.

 

This is a first-then schedule that is used with one of our students.  

He has some pretty significant behavior despite the changes we have made in our routine to create novelty and prevent boredom.  So he works through the same schedule as the class schedule but with an additional ‘then’ choice time after his work.  He has a specific area in the classroom for ‘then’ time where he chooses an item out of this bag.

This is a paint stick schedule for another student who is ready for the new schedule but needs his own personal way of seeing how much work he has to do until preferred times like outdoors and free play.

I am not sure that you can really see the differences in our new schedule just by looking at the class schedule and individual schedules so I want to share exactly what is different.  First, art is no longer a small group activity. Instead, I demonstrate what we will be doing for art during circle time. Then, the kids go to their table spots to complete their art work, similar to how they will do desk work in kindergarten.  That being said, each student has a specific chair and school supply box they have to get before sitting down. 

They are also working on raising their hand if they need help or more materials, as well as, cleaning up their area and turning their work in when they are finished.

Also with our new schedule, the kids have two learning centers rather than four meaning that there are more kids in each small group. (It's 4 kids and 1 adult versus 2 kids and one adult).  The two centers are math and literacy. The students do math and literacy activities similar to my last two posts but just with more classmates in their group. 

Math is done on the floor.

Literacy is done at the table with follow-up free reading time in the library center.  

After math and literacy small groups, students have the opportunity for free play time. This is where we as staff step back and really watch to see if the kids have picked up the social, play, and communication skills we have taught them throughout the year.  Can the kids maintain play with friends?  Are they able to share? Engage in functional play? And pick up after themselves?

 

That being said, it is definitely not a free-for-all.  There are systems in place to help the kids be successful.   They have to choose where they want to play using one of two play charts.

The teachers present these charts to the kids at the end of the literacy and math centers.  There are two so the kids at math don’t pick from the same centers as the kids at the literacy center.  Then the kids put their picture on the center sign designating where they want to play. 

There are signs like this at each center so the kids know how many kids can play at each center.  We try to have the kids change centers at least 3 times during our 30 minute free time block so they can experience playing with a variety of things with a variety of friends.

The last big change to prepare our kiddos for the next big step is removing the cube chairs from large group time.  That being said, if we need them they are still available.  For example, if one kid just needs a little defined space he can use his chair or if the whole class is a little out of sorts we can go back to the chairs as we use these visuals. 

So there you have it...a revamp to the afternoon session that curbs preschoolitis and prepares our kids for the next step.  As you strive to survive the last few weeks of school be thinking about what supports you have added throughout the year that the kids are ready to remove or modify to a less intense support.

 

Don’t feel like you have to remove everything. After all your students are in your program for a reason. The supports and modifications you have in place for them may still be needed.  We all have supports and modifications that make our lives easier and more successful.  Just be thinking about what changes might create more novelty and challenge your students in a good way.

As you close out the year remember these are the last few weeks you have with this group of children make them GREAT!!!!  And if you need a little incentive...there is always CHOCOLATE!! :) 

(This is little reminder is in our staff bathroom!)