Mill Valley Middle School 7th Grade Girls Basketball

This is one of the things I did last winter.....

Stories 'n stuff with Mr T: Basic Team Offense

Stories 'n stuff with Mr T: Basic Team Offense

thanks this will really be great.

Andrew :-)

How Full is Your Bucket? a followup

At our first staff meeting this year, I talked about concept of the bucket, how the kids took to it and the positive effect it had on my students. The question in my mind at that time was, will this have a lasting effect?

Six months later, I can tell you that the bucket concept is one that, as they say in show business, has legs.

Teaching kids about their buckets and how to keep it and those of others full is not a panacea. I'm not going to tell you that everybody gets along, for they don't, or that we never have disagreements on the playground or in P.E., for we do.

But, I can tell you that the number of conflicts that we have is reduced, those that we have are resolved quickly and don't have the long term repercussions they might have had in the past. The bucket concept has something, maybe a lot, to do with this.

I believe that this is because the bucket concept does two things for the kids.

1. it gives them a common vocabulary. The bucket is a way to objectify feelings.  Now, when one child tells another that s/he is "emptying my bucket", the other kid can consider her/his actions without taking the comment personally and hopefully, without getting defensive.


2. it teaches children to see things from the other person's perspective. Children are, by nature self-absorbed and egocentric, seeing the world only in terms of how it affects them. Most people don't develop a true sense of empathy or compassion until they are in their late teens/early 20's. The bucket concept accelerates this.

The caveat: Just as with any other lesson we try to teach, the bucket concept needs to be revisited and repeated and practiced many times before it becomes ingrained. If we just talk about it once or twice, the kids will take to the idea and practice it for a week or two then go back to their old ways. If, on the other hand, we repeat the lesson throughout the year, then expand it by tying it into other social skills we teach ("respect is a good way to keep buckets full"), positive social behavior starts to become second nature.

The bucket filling concept serves as a starting point to more specific character ed lessons.

Whenever I start to see behavior degrade on the playground or in P.E., I revisit the bucket concept. I do this by asking a couple of questions or telling a story or sometimes, by reading a book. I don't talk about buckets specifically, but use the moment to talk about more specific social skills like honesty or responsibility. I always conclude these sessions with a question and answer period. When I talk about specific social skills, like encouragement, someone will blurt out something like, "that's a good way to fill buckets!"

We recently concluded our annual hockey tournament.  For this unit, each class had its own tournament during P.E.. After the class's team standings were determined, 5th grade classes played an inter-class tournament at lunch with opponents determined by class standing (1st place in class A played 4th place in class B, etc.). This was a highly competitive situation that went on for almost 2 months.

Historically, when kids play one sport on the same team against the same opponents for such a long time, tolerance and tempers grow short and the competition deteriorates into a series of arguments. This year's 5th grade hockey session was the longest I ever ran.  As the number postponements due to weather and replays due to tie games mounted, I braced myself for increased levels of unruly behavior.  It never happened.   In fact, throughout the course of the entire tournament, we didn't have a single argument.

Instead, what I saw were hockey teams whose prowess grew steadily throughout the tournament.  With only a couple of minor exceptions, teammates were very supportive of one another.  This allowed kids to play freely and without fear of insult or ridicule.  This resulted in extremely cohesive teams and a very high level of unselfish play. 

In the classroom, 5th graders are currently in the midst of presenting "how to" speeches to their classmates. Students choose their own subject, then present it to their class. This can be pretty traumatic for shy students. The behavior of listening classmates can make this experience more or less difficult for the speaker.

This year, I'm told, the behavior of the listeners has been very supportive, particularly towards those speakers who seem hesitant or less confident.

It appears that the bucket idea is being taken to heart.