Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Pick me, Pick me!

In an attempt to cut down on the wildly waving hands as students are desperate to share an answer, a thought, or a question, we often put our fingers on our noses instead. Sometimes I shake it up and have them put a finger on an ear, on their head, on their chin, etc. As a bonus, that also builds vocabulary.

Most of the kids put their index finger on the end of their nose. Effective, simple. But, as you can see with the girl below, sometimes the kids put their entire hand on their nose. I'm not sure why. Some kids pinch their nose and others smush it hard in their hopes of being chosen.

My favorite, however, is the little guy at the bottom. He doesn't always do this, but he frequently does. He's very serious and I'm certain he has no idea of the message he could be sending.

(I'm taking pictures all the time so the kids are accustomed to me pointing a camera at them. As a result, I don't think my snapping these seemed at all odd to them. Thankfully.)

3 comments:

Unlimited said...

LOVE IT! I must have been channeling this post-in-the-making because today I had my students put "fins on their head" - a la shark-style. It came in handy when I had to ask the "tank" to prepare for attack (ie., quiet down to answer a question).

The Science Goddess said...

First of all, when I saw the word "pick" in your title and pictures of children's noses...well, I expected a different post. I'm quite relieved to be disappointed.

Secondly, this gesture has a very different meaning here. In WA, touching your nose means that you are "not it," for whatever chore is at hand. I've seen lots of kids do this---but we adults use it, too. Makes for more amusing meetings.

teacherninja said...

Awesome.