Many of us are doing the storybook projects now (among others) as a way to get to the end of the year in a calm manner. We can therefore now start slowly turning our attention to next year*, when Card Talk is how many of us start out our first classes.
Just a suggestion – keep Card Talk simple because it is not an activity I designed for maximum engagement but rather only to (a) teach the kids at the beginning of the year that the class will be about THEM and that it will involve laughter and lightheartedness, and (b) use Card Talk to set the rules in place with a big hammer. For 20 years with Card Talk now I never try to make an “activity” out of it. Instead, I have them only put one thing down (sports or pets are the best), develop about 5-8 sentences of CI about that one kid only, using that time to constantly shut down their breaking Rule #2 by always walking over to it on the Classroom Rules poster as we have talked about, and then after only 3-5 minutes I go to another activity. In a big class, using the activity in this way, it takes all year to get to all the cards.
*The idea that we are all exhausted in our profession at this time of year is no longer an issue. It is possible now, using the overall approach we have discussed here over the past three years, to end the year in peace and live normal lives w/o all the teacher drama. Those crazy days are over and now we can focus on enjoying the fruits of our labor to make this work A LOT EASIER than it ever was.
The Problem with CI
Jeffrey Sachs was asked what the difference between people in Norway and in the U.S. was. He responded that people in Norway are happy and
