(Rockin’ Intro Music) 

Hey teacher friends, this is Angie and the Rockin’ This Teacher Thing podcast show, the podcast for early primary teachers that rock their classrooms everyday.  With the help of interview guests I’ll be that teacher friend that shares with you the best of all things primary. Since today is episode 1 we will be getting to know each other, and talk about student attention-getters for the kindergarten and first grade classroom. Plus a little teacher encouragement. Lots of amazing stuff ahead so let’s start rocking today’s episode.

 Here we go.

00:36

Hey there teacher friends this is Angie and the Rockin’ This Teacher Thing podcast show, episode 1 of 1 million. This is the podcast show for kindergarten and first grade teachers because we all know when we go to professional developments and what not, and they say,  “Hey try this in your classroom. Do this in your classroom. And you’re sitting there as a kindergarten or first grade teacher, you know what you’re thinking, “Yeah come on into my classroom and see if that works. You’re already modifying. 

01:23

So this is a podcast just for the kindergarten and first grade teachers so you don’t have to modify.  It’s also here because we need each other. Those times in our classrooms can be super fun or super frustrating and it’s so fun to be able to share those times with each other. That’s something that we’re going to be doing a lot of here on this podcast. So I hope you’re excited to get started with me and to get started I mentioned in the intro that we’re going to be talking a little bit about attention-getters with your students.

01:51

 I like to give you something right up front in these podcast episodes because I know how life gets. Yeah, sometimes you have a real you think oh I have 10 minutes I can listen to this and then three minutes into it you’re thinking, “Ah, no I forgot to go to the bathroom. I need to go do that right now.”  So, first up let’s give you something for your classroom. 

02:15

Attention-getters,  we need them in the kindergarten first-grade classrooms. Without them our classrooms go to chaos. Right? It gets really crazy really fast, and it seems like just as soon as your class gets to know an attention-getter, it starts to lose its effectiveness. So today let’s talk about some easy attention getters and how to switch it up and how to get your class involved with it so that they have a lot of buying in. 

02:49

Everybody knows the  “Class, class.” “Yes, yes.” call back. The teacher says,  “Class, class.” and the students say, “Yes, yes.” and that works really great for about a week. Then you say,   “Class, class.” and your class says….nothing, nothing you hear crickets right? And it’s just about that time that your administrator walks in for a really quick little quick walk through and obviously your attention getter has lost its attention gettiness.  Yes, I make up words.

03:29

 So today let’s talk a little bit about how you can think up new attention getters and how to get your class involved with it so it stays fresh. So one thing you want to be able to do is switch up your attention-getter every few days or whenever it starts to lose its effectiveness you have a way to switch it up. And sometimes if you’re like me as soon as you need to switch it up your mind goes blank. So today let’s give you a few fallbacks and it will get your mind thinking of ones that you can use in your classroom.

04:08

 So one thing you want to do is use your attention getter to also teach. One thing we teach in kindergarten and first grade are opposite and we also teach synonyms and vocabulary building so why not use attention getters to also teach some of those things. Here’s an idea, the opposite idea is you think of something like cats and the opposite is dogs and so you say to your class, “Today we are going to use the attention-getter kitty kitty meow meow and you guys are going to say puppy puppy, woof, woof. I want to hear and see, let’s think of an action to go with our kitty kitty meow meow puppy puppy woof, woof.” As a class you brainstorm and practice your, Kitty, kitty meow, meow”- “Puppy,puppy woof, woof” and you’ll be surprised how useful this is because your students are not only going to love kitties and puppies, right?, Who doesn’t love kitties and puppies but they’re also going to be able to do an action with it and that’s always good for a kindergarten and first grade students. As soon as you can put an action to anything they’re in.  They love it.  

05:42

Okay, so “kitty kitty meow meow” “puppy puppy woof, woof.”  Puppy puppy,- woof, woof is the callback for your students. How about salty, salty or let’s see. Let’s do salty salt,  peppery-pepper salty salt, peppery-pepper. And do some action that goes with that. Also how about this; it helps if there’s some sort of a rhythm too.  How about this one cookie cookie crunch crunch -glass of milk ahhh. So the teacher says, “Cookie, cookie crunch crunch.” and the class says, “Glass of milk ahhh.”  and I would just maybe have them doing the action of drinking a glass of milk and wiping their mouths with their sleeve or something and then holding the cup in their hands. That’s a great attention getter. 

06:36

How about Seasons? Opposites, “Summertime I’m so hot.” “Wintertime brrrr”  “Summertime, I’m so hot” “Wintertime, brrrr.” and so they’re doing the actions with that. So opposites are a great way to build in those attention getters.  

How about using synonyms and doing something like, “Smile, smile”- “Grin, grin.” “Smile, smile”- “Grin, grin.” and have them do the action for a smile. “Laugh laugh.” “Chuckle, chuckle” “Laugh laugh.” “Chuckle, chuckle” Okay? And get silly. They love silly, they need to have silly, so give them silly.  How about “Huge,huge” “It’s enormous!”“Huge,huge” “It’s enormous!” 

07:24

There’s some attention getters for you. In the show notes I have a free printable of all those that we just went over, in a little poster form, just to get you started, so that you can build it as you go. You can use it in your content too if you have some vocabulary that you need to teach for the week, why not use it in a callback with an action? There you go. Done. Alright? 

07:57

So, I hope you liked that. Now, let’s get ready for the next part of the show learning a little bit more about Rockin’ This Teacher Thing and  what you can expect.

08:09

 Okay, you guys, Rockin’ This Teacher Thing podcast episode 1, what can you expect for the other episodes? Well, I am driven, I am passionate, about giving you quality content for the kindergarten and first grade teachers. We’ve already talked about it. It seems like when we go to conferences, ‘It’s a  kindergarten through fifth grade workshop.” Yeah, no it’s not. This is built just for you kindergarten first-grade teachers just for you. So we will be having some interviews with kindergarten and first grade teachers. Telling about what they are doing in their classroom also educational interviews keeping you up-to-date with some of the newest and best educational technologies, books, tools, all sorts of things, educational new that pertains to the kindergarten and first grade classroom. You can look forward to that.

09:17

Also, I want to hear from you. What do you want? I am here for you. So many times when we are in the classroom by ourselves, day after day it can get a little lonely. It can get a little frustrating and we need each other. So we are here together. If you have a question or concern or comment or something that’s working awesome, please, share it in the comments, and we will work on it together or we’ll celebrate it together. It’s going to be great. And, I want you to know that, to start off with this is going to be an every-other-week kind of thing, until, I get my poop in a group this will be an every-other-week thing that we can get together and share our time together. So, look for it will be downloading every other Tuesday and you can look for it then.

10:21

 If you would like to go back to the other episodes go ahead and this will be on Apple Podcast but also on my website and my website is MakingTheBasicsFun. That’s my like a big umbrella type website that I stick everything underneath because, that’s what I’m all about, making the basics fun. It should be fun because if it’s not fun those kindergarten and first grade students they’re checking out. I have lots of ways to help you make your classroom fun even the really boring things that you think that you find yourself saying to your students “Well honey I’m sorry that you don’t like this but something we have to do things that are boring.” Ahh, no. We’re going to make it fun. Alright? Because you deserve to make it enjoyable and your students deserve to make it enjoyable. You spend a lot of time in your classroom. You need to leave the day going,  yeah rocked it!! That’s what this podcast is all about. 

11:29

Until next time you guys got your attention getters make sure you get that free printable I will see you in two weeks on a Tuesday. Until then keep rocking this teacher thing. By, by.

Hey teacher friends, thanks for joining us today. If you liked today’s podcast leave a review and make sure to hit the subscribe button so you get notified of the new episodes coming out.  Remember, to get today’s free download of attention-getters by visiting my website MakingTheBasicsFun under the podcast tab. You can also find me on Instagram under #makingthebasicsfun. Until next time keep Rockin’ This Teacher Thing and God Bless!!! By, by.