Teaching Aprons - Created By Me

I have attended several conferences and have tweeked some of the things that I have seen.  One conference in particular, which I loved was a Conscious Discipline workshop by Dr. Becky Bailey.  Following are two of my most treasured teaching possessions, my student greeting aprons.

Morning Meeting: Greeting Apron

This apron is used during Morning Meeting or if you have a "Greeter" on your job chart it works well too.  The student puts on the apron and walks up to each student and asks them something like this, "Good morning! I'm so glad you're here; how would you like to be greeted today?" The student then either points or states which greeting he/she chooses.  The greeter then proceeds to carry out the desired greeting with the student.  There are other variations that can be created for this apron, but these are just some that I chose.  Note: The "Wiggly Handshake" is one that I invented! The students put their hands together as if they are going to shake hands, except instead of shaking hands both students wiggle their fingers on their shaking hand.  I have found that the "wiggly handshake" works better than the traditional handshake with students because students tend to turn the handshake into a game, which then quickly becomes a disruption.  For example, a student might try to squeeze the other students hand and/or do an exaggerated handshake with their entire arm and upper body rocking back and worth, neither of which is very helpful and quickly turns this exercise into a game.  So, when creating these aprons be sure and think carefully about what you'd like the students to do with the gestures because things could get out of hand.

Afternoon Ritual: Goodbye Apron

Here is the afternoon apron.  This apron can be used with students at the end of the day to transition from school activities into afterschool activities or simply used at the end of the Recap Meeting at the end of your school day.  I personally used this apron after I did my 5-10 minute recap with the students at the end of the school day.  Using this apron at the end of the day was a good closure activity for the students and left them with a smile on their faces before the day was over.  Again, the animals and ideas on this apron are my personal choices and creations and if you have any other ideas I'd love to hear them! Gestures can be created to go with each choice on this apron or the students can simply say the verses to each other.

I am happy to provide my fellow teachers and bloggers with these ideas and many more, but please be respectful and give credit when using my ideas.  

For more on Conscious Discipline, please visit the site:  Loving Guidance