Sockittball and Democracy.

Let me introduce you to one of my (many) class pets. This scientifically accurate critter is Sockitt Bamboo.

Being a democratic class, each mini-human submitted a post-it note with their proposal for a name. We then had a vote and I learnt one of many important lessons an NQT should learn. Namely, that if you let your minis name something, you should be prepared for something ridiculous.

Mr Bamboo went through various jobs (celebrity guest in the Christmas production, times table thrower, counting pendulum…) before he settled on his role as the star of Sockittball.

It’s only in a primary school nativity play that a koala is deemed a necessary companion for the baby Jesus.

 

 

You may have heard of Trashketball, the review game championed by a number of American teachers. Sockittball is similar, with a collaborative, democratic twist.

First, I split the minis into three groups of ten and got them arranged around big tables. Then, they had to elect a scribe, who would write down the answers for each question.

Having spent the previous evening diligently preparing a fancy powerpoint with multiple choice questions about animals, picture clues and youtube links to exciting videos (wobbly-necked giraffe fights and three-legged gators terrorising golf carts to name a few), I proudly showed the first question and read out the possible answers.

The minis then had to have a vote in their groups and decide which answer they would put forward based on which option had the most votes.

The groups who got the question correct got a point, and then one of the minis from each correct group got the chance to earn another point by delicately flinging poor Mr Bamboo across the length of the classroom and into a box (we decided against the bin that many American teachers use, since milk-time had left the bin a rather unsavoury place for a young koala). Naturally, the minis were encouraged to cheer on their team-mates.

Considering that, in my limited experience, many 6-year olds tend to descend into an indignant sulk in a classroom when they don’t get their own way, or when they feel that they’re not being listened to, teaching them how to vote, while embedding animal facts and having fun, seemed an ideal way to help them resolve conflicts and come to group decisions without becoming petty, tantrum-y horrors. Amazingly, the whole endeavour ended without quarrel. I shall be on the watch over the next half term to see the mini-humans using their new-found voting skills to independently resolve their own disputes.

Result.