justplainbil

Just Plain Bill

Observations by a Substitute Teacher VI

I’ve found that many teachers teach their students to use a variety of hand signs to signal a few important requests. As I move from room to room, and from school to school, it’s imperative that I learn and recognize how these signs fit in classroom management.

When I begin my classroom schedule, I ask the students how they make their requests using hand signals. In the majority of the 30 or so different classrooms, in grades ranging from pre-K (or transitional K) through middle school eighth grade, I receive the following information:

·     Fingers crossed – bathroom (representing an “R”)

·     Three fingers - drink of water (representing a “W”)

·     Thumbs up – a good job

Last week, while teaching a kindergarten class, one four-year raised her hand to include a clarification to the above. Maria said, “We never use this middle finger or we’ll get into trouble.”

Good information to learn before these students get much older - and I had to hide my smile as I received this “warning!”

Priceless!