Mr. Hoot
We now switch over to our Life Science Unit. We were focusing on different animals and how to communicate differences between offspring and parents and between populations. At the same time I was focusing on how students could observe and record data. Being my ambitious self, I also was trying a new management tactic. It seemed like the more I went on with the drama, the more I seemed to be the "fun" teacher that the students could get away with things. To capture back some of that respect I decided to create an alter ego. Enter Mr. Hoot.
Mr. Hoot is an eccentric entrepreneur. The idea is that whenever I put on my green scarf I become Mr. Hoot and Mr. Barton disappears. The kids can get away with a little more with Mr. Hoot, but he comes bearing missions that need accomplishing. The first day he became the manager at the Hogle Zoo, but with one problem. He's never seen the kinds of animals at the zoo and has no idea how to take care of them. The students were tasked with portraying 6 different animals, what they looked liked and how they behaved so Mr. Hoot could see them. Then, they were tasked with drawing a map of the Hogle Zoo so Mr. Hoot could know where the animals were.
As soon as they finished being the animals, I took off the scarf and became Mr. Barton again. I could then be a little more instructive and serious because they had had fun with Mr. Hoot. And it worked. Whenever I was Mr. Barton they listened more carefully and had less outbursts because they were waiting to see if/when I would become Mr. Hoot.
The second mission Mr. Hoot gave them concerned an animal refuge that he became manager of the next week. After reading Is Your Mama a Llama? They were tasked with going about a day in the life of an animal. But, instead of all the students being all 6 animals for a short time, the students got to choose 1 animal to be for the entire time. I then went through a narration of a day including naptimes, eating, and playing, giving the students plenty of choices to create their character and portray their animal. I used a soundscape of different environments and we moved to different places to see how it would affect their animal. They responded perfectly in character.
The small victories I've been racking up are some interactions I've been having with individual students. I always leave off with an invitation to continue the play at home or recess, taking their favorite stories or characters and perform what we were working on that day for their parents. Around 10 students have come up to me as I'm leaving saying they've done that and they like doing it. Success! Small victory. To leave off here's some tableau's of the students animals.
Mr. Hoot is an eccentric entrepreneur. The idea is that whenever I put on my green scarf I become Mr. Hoot and Mr. Barton disappears. The kids can get away with a little more with Mr. Hoot, but he comes bearing missions that need accomplishing. The first day he became the manager at the Hogle Zoo, but with one problem. He's never seen the kinds of animals at the zoo and has no idea how to take care of them. The students were tasked with portraying 6 different animals, what they looked liked and how they behaved so Mr. Hoot could see them. Then, they were tasked with drawing a map of the Hogle Zoo so Mr. Hoot could know where the animals were.
As soon as they finished being the animals, I took off the scarf and became Mr. Barton again. I could then be a little more instructive and serious because they had had fun with Mr. Hoot. And it worked. Whenever I was Mr. Barton they listened more carefully and had less outbursts because they were waiting to see if/when I would become Mr. Hoot.
The second mission Mr. Hoot gave them concerned an animal refuge that he became manager of the next week. After reading Is Your Mama a Llama? They were tasked with going about a day in the life of an animal. But, instead of all the students being all 6 animals for a short time, the students got to choose 1 animal to be for the entire time. I then went through a narration of a day including naptimes, eating, and playing, giving the students plenty of choices to create their character and portray their animal. I used a soundscape of different environments and we moved to different places to see how it would affect their animal. They responded perfectly in character.
The small victories I've been racking up are some interactions I've been having with individual students. I always leave off with an invitation to continue the play at home or recess, taking their favorite stories or characters and perform what we were working on that day for their parents. Around 10 students have come up to me as I'm leaving saying they've done that and they like doing it. Success! Small victory. To leave off here's some tableau's of the students animals.
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