My Blue Hat

This is not a reference to the 6 hats of thinking by Edward de Bono, but rather a method I use in the classroom to help my teaching.

I am a PE teacher, but on Thursdays I am in a year 4 classroom, while the regular teacher occupies an IT role at our school (@Kalinda_Knight). Like all classrooms it has it's challenges, the most noticeable for me being the constant demand for your attention. Sometimes the demand is legitimate, with students needing assistance or asking a question. The demand is constant, and it can be difficult to speak to student A when students B, C and D are pressing you with their own needs. Sometimes you just need a solid 30 seconds or 1 minute with a student so you can slow down and address a problem, or explain a concept.

Enter the blue hat. It is a bright blue cap that I had at home and brought to school to experiment with. I explained to the class that when the cap is on my head, it means do not disturb. It means I am working with someone else and it is THEIR time with me. I need to spend a moment with this student uninterrupted. When I am finished with the student, the cap comes off and you can raise your hand or approach me with your needs.

It is explained to the class that while I am occupied with the blue cap on, students are encouraged to attempt to solve their own issues themselves. Independence and initiative will hopefully be one of the outcomes of this method. I find that too often students use my brain to solve the simplest issues, rather than their own. Hopefully the blue cap will foster an environment of problem solving and resilience.

So far it has worked well. The students have accepted that when the blue cap is on, a classmate has my attention. They accept this because they know that their time to have my attention will come shortly. The uninterrupted time with students, even if just for a minute has been valuable and rewarding. I can take the time to check for understanding, and draw out ideas and thoughts from my students, particularly the quiet and compliant ones in my class.