Our assignment for last week was to write a "Hermit Crab Essay". Hermit crabs take on the shells of other crabs, fitting their little squiggling bodies into their makeshift new home. Hermit crab essays take on the form of other styles and formats of writing-- a recipe, a rejection letter, a glossary entry-- with the final form fitting the content in a way that gives new meaning to both the content and the form.
Since I teach preschool, I formatted mine as a lesson plan, a real theme I teach about to classrooms of toddlers. The instructor was impressed with my work, and I want to share it here now. Enjoy!
Learning Objective: Teaching socio-emotional skill: boundaries (preschool classroom)
Setting boundaries encompasses several social emotional skills not usually taught at this age. The teacher may be curious if it’s even acceptable to teach. She will find a way to teach it. Relationship boundaries are unquestionably important, and building strong foundations will shape the children’s behavior patterns for decades to come.
Circle Time:
A teacher will open circle time asking about friendship. The students are all friends at this point, with the line “you can’t say you can’t play” a frequent call among the young students. The students must all be included in play. Every child is so young, so full of hope, so full of love. Their feelings are big and their bodies are small. They are the next generation of world leaders, and they have a lot to learn.
At this point, the teacher may reflect on the upcoming lesson, the true meaning of boundaries. She may even feel jealous or resentful of these young children, toddlers given this opportunity to learn what she was never taught. She might think about patriarchy, and late stage capitalism, and a million other societal afflictions she cannot understand. She wants something to blame. She will not tell the children this; they are still young enough to believe everything is possible, that the world is mostly just, and righteous, and fair. The teacher will not push back against these ideas. The world is a bitter place but this classroom is safe. She wants to keep it that way.
The teacher will ask the group for an example when they were touched without their consent, a time friends were playing too rough and they didn’t know how to ask them to stop. Note: a circle time on consent may also be useful and/or necessary for the curriculum.
The teacher may consider the number of times she has been touched without consent, a number too large to count or make sense of. She will wonder if she should’ve been louder. Should’ve been clearer. Should have seen the red flags before they burst into flames.
The teacher will practice language with the students. She will suggest they repeat phrases including, “I don’t like that,” “please stop,” and “I’m feeling uncomfortable, I need space.” There will be a developmentally appropriate song with these lyrics, and it will be so catchy the teacher will sing it to herself later that day.
At this point, the teacher can bring out puppets, dolls, or a felt board. For the children in this classroom, this lesson is still so blissfully theoretical. Connecting it to a visual, real life example will be crucial for the skill to stick.
The teacher will go through all seven stages of grief for all the boundaries she had lost. Later that day, she will take her own advice. She will set boundaries, cutting off contact with toxic friends, terrible ex-boyfriends, dating app matches with emojis as their last name. She will not feel guilty about this.
The teacher will watch her little friends as they work to make their own boundaries clear. She will see how they balance the line of not hurting feelings, while still staying firm on what matters.
The teacher needs this skill for herself. She will sing her boundaries song, and practice using her voice. She will listen to others, and will listen to herself. She will teach. She will learn.
Preschool Circle Time Curriculum
Learning Objective: Teaching socio-emotional skill: boundaries (preschool classroom)
Setting boundaries encompasses several social emotional skills not usually taught at this age. The teacher may be curious if it’s even acceptable to teach. She will find a way to teach it. Relationship boundaries are unquestionably important, and building strong foundations will shape the children’s behavior patterns for decades to come.
Circle Time:
A teacher will open circle time asking about friendship. The students are all friends at this point, with the line “you can’t say you can’t play” a frequent call among the young students. The students must all be included in play. Every child is so young, so full of hope, so full of love. Their feelings are big and their bodies are small. They are the next generation of world leaders, and they have a lot to learn.
At this point, the teacher may reflect on the upcoming lesson, the true meaning of boundaries. She may even feel jealous or resentful of these young children, toddlers given this opportunity to learn what she was never taught. She might think about patriarchy, and late stage capitalism, and a million other societal afflictions she cannot understand. She wants something to blame. She will not tell the children this; they are still young enough to believe everything is possible, that the world is mostly just, and righteous, and fair. The teacher will not push back against these ideas. The world is a bitter place but this classroom is safe. She wants to keep it that way.
The teacher will ask the group for an example when they were touched without their consent, a time friends were playing too rough and they didn’t know how to ask them to stop. Note: a circle time on consent may also be useful and/or necessary for the curriculum.
The teacher may consider the number of times she has been touched without consent, a number too large to count or make sense of. She will wonder if she should’ve been louder. Should’ve been clearer. Should have seen the red flags before they burst into flames.
The teacher will practice language with the students. She will suggest they repeat phrases including, “I don’t like that,” “please stop,” and “I’m feeling uncomfortable, I need space.” There will be a developmentally appropriate song with these lyrics, and it will be so catchy the teacher will sing it to herself later that day.
At this point, the teacher can bring out puppets, dolls, or a felt board. For the children in this classroom, this lesson is still so blissfully theoretical. Connecting it to a visual, real life example will be crucial for the skill to stick.
The teacher will go through all seven stages of grief for all the boundaries she had lost. Later that day, she will take her own advice. She will set boundaries, cutting off contact with toxic friends, terrible ex-boyfriends, dating app matches with emojis as their last name. She will not feel guilty about this.
The teacher will watch her little friends as they work to make their own boundaries clear. She will see how they balance the line of not hurting feelings, while still staying firm on what matters.
The teacher needs this skill for herself. She will sing her boundaries song, and practice using her voice. She will listen to others, and will listen to herself. She will teach. She will learn.
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