By now the Christmas excitement should have started in school – only last week I visited the Christmas Fair at one school …complete with decorated tree, Christmas music, loads of stalls and of course Santa.
Christmas is usually left until the final 2 weeks of the Autumn term because of course it takes over most things and naturally the Children start to get more and more excited.
So we’re really looking at the next 2 weeks – what sort of things should you be doing…..
- In order to keep the excitement down to a manageable level it is best to keep mornings stable – in other words maths and literacy. Make sure you have work for the children to actually do and don’t at this stage (2 weeks to go) have a Christmas maths/literacy focus. You can, next week, do Christmas maths or Christmas literacy but not this far out.
- DON’T give out Christmas puzzles in the mornings….it is not enough to keep the children occupied and you will get behaviour problems. Keep any puzzles for short fill in times and not as lesson replacements.
- You should have or should be doing, your classroom Christmas decorations – T.A’s are great at doing this but if you don’t have this help then it is best that you decorate after the children have gone home at the end of the day.
- Its nice to have a class Advent Calendar every day – get creative and make it a fun thing to do after you have taken the register….it’s a great start to the day. Keep a list of the children who have already won chocolates so that it evens out as fair for all
- You are bound to have interruptions in teaching with regard to school plays, nativities, carol services etc – but don’t worry. This 2 weeks is about going with the flow…and remember we allowed for these type of interruptions in our planning, so really most, if not all of what you wanted to teach this term has been finished.
- keep your classroom management strategies in place – but if you have had them in place all term you will now find that you can loosen them a little without worrying, as you know you can always bring things back if you wish.
- Enjoy a more relaxed classroom atmosphere!
- The afternoons should be all Christmas – so get geared up with the creative side of things. Cards, table centres, lucky bags…whatever you wish. However do keep an eye on quality as nobody wishes to receive rubbish! If necessary take the class step by step through the making processes with you checking as they go. In that way you will get a far better result than if you just explain, show and then let them go!
- Have Christmas music playing on the CD player…mostly afternoons. If your class is in a play with songs it’s a great idea to play the CD while they are making things and you will find the children will sing along…..aaahhhh
- DO MAKE SURE everything made has the child’s name on it – otherwise its a terrible job to try to sort everything out at a later date ready to take home.
If this is your first Christmas as a teacher then enjoy the experience as it really is great fun – but plan as usual what you wish to do and follow the tips given above. The Autumn term is a strange term as not only is it the longest term but it gets more hectic as it ends and the children become more and more excited….and tired!
My next post will also be about Christmas and I will be showing you my famous “Pop up card” that you can make with the whole class.
Have fun
Charles