Making Adjustments in the Classroom, Personalized Approaches

Throughout the year there have been multiple cases where my team and I have had to find creative solutions to problems that arise. One case stands out to me in particular. It was a rainy day and most of our children were frustrated and restless from not being able to go outside for recess earlier on in the day. Once we got the group settled into our Jumpstart reading group assignments, the restlessness seemed wear off a bit. However, by center time one girl in particular became disinterested and frustrated. She was at the writing center and I tried to encourage her to create her own story. I should also mention that it was spirit week for our students, and she was dressed in a ballerina tutu. Despite my encouragement she refused to participate in writing and said that she did not want to move to another center. While my other children were working to develop their own stories, I took five minutes to make a personalized book for her. On the cover I drew a picture of a ballerina that wore a similar tutu to the one that she had on. I wrote her name on the cover and entitled the book her “special ballerina book.” Slowly but surely she regained interest in the activity. I gave her the book and told her that she should write out stories and illustrations to tell her ballerina’s story. She began to smile and at last picked up a crayon and began to write her own story and draw her own pictures within the book. It five minutes to implement a personalized approach that dramatically refocused my student’s engagement in the center time activities. Ultimately, she was able to receive the proper enrichment during center time. I learned that sometimes it takes a personalized approach to get your students engaged in the session curriculum, and sometimes all they need is a little cheering up from you. 

-Maureen Smith