I’ve always felt I could write a book of ‘Teacher’s Tales’, filled to bursting with the Best Bits of working in the Early Years. But I’m not sure how many people would buy it… . So the Protocol Blog seems like the perfect opportunity to put down on ‘paper’ all those things about my job that just make me roll on the floor with laughter!
You’ve got to hand it to these kids. They’re just trying their hardest, bless ’em, to understand this crazy world we live in. It isn’t easy. How often have you picked up a Raspberry and wondered how on earth to make it connect to the internet? Or marvelled at the wonder of being able to transfer your favourite tunes from a computer to a phone by nothing less that magic? And don’t even get me started on rewinding Coronation Street if your boyfriend commits the cardinal sin of calling in the middle of Deirdre’s latest ramblings. But, the thing is, for many of these little darlings to whom we dedicate our working lives, they are trying to make sense of everything, and doing it all the time. No wonder they so often get it wrong.
* * *
So, when the World Cup came around last summer I thought, (like so many other like-minded professionals out there), ‘Ah ha! Here’s a perfect opportunity for some cross-curricular learning, with plenty of opportunities to incorporate thinking about different cultures and countries, all set against a backdrop of something the children will relate to and be excited about, and therefore be engaged in. Perfect!’
I brought the children in after lunch and settled them down on the carpet, rushed through the register and the usual scrabbling around to get everyone settled into their carpet places without being poked by a peer, becoming
‘squashy’ or getting over-excited about the fly buzzing around the corner of the room, then proudly flicked on to my ‘World Cup 2010’ flipchart. It was complete with animated text, interactive games and stimulating photos of top football players to get the ideas flowing. I started off with a Youtube clip of a football game and watched in satisfaction as 30 little people fell silent and stared in awe at the board, pleased that they were so interested in the latest topic. Then, once the clip had been played (and played again, and again, in response to their demands), I turned to the class to explain that we were going to be doing some work on the World Cup over the next few days.
‘Yeah!’
‘Cool!’
‘I love the World Cup!’
‘My Daddy likes the World Cup, it’s the football.’
‘My Granny has false teeth.’
‘I like Chelsea.’
‘I like Arsenal.’
‘I play football in the park.’
‘I was sick last night.’
‘There was a bird in the playground.’
And so on and so on
…
Once I had quietened them down I started to explain a little about the World Cup to ensure that everyone knew the score (no pun intended). I talked about football, and explained that the World Cup was a big football competition where a lot of countries played together, including England. I made my explanation succinct, simple and inclusive as I mentioned a few particular countries that related to my pupils. Then I set about explaining what we were going to do that afternoon, when a waving hand at the back of the room attracted my attention.
‘Yes, Abdul?’ I noticed the crease lines on his forehead and the confusion in his deep mahogany eyes as he opened his mouth to speak.
‘But Teacher,’ he started, very serious and concerned about the matter at hand. ‘How big is the football going to be? Will it be this big?’ As he spread his arms apart demonstrate the size of his ‘big football’ I lowered my head, took a deep breath and tried to straighten my features out before I tackled that challenge…
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