At Ashley Park PreK-8 Elementary School in Charlotte, North Carolina, fifth grade English teacher Barry White, Jr. has created a new classroom tradition: greeting each of his students with a handshake that’s personalized just for them. The routines have brought a new level of energy and focus into his classroom. Via a radio interview with wbur.org:
“How I presented it at the beginning of the year was simply, “Hey do you wanna make a handshake with me? And of course, you know, all the students jumped at the idea. What I do is I say, “Okay, you make up a portion, and I’ll add a little spin to it, and they would pretty much collaborate and come up with a personal one. So really, each handshake reflects their personality.”
And via Thrillist:
It has to be a bit of work to get all those handshakes memorized, but White shrugs it off. “It’s muscle memory at this point,” he says. It’s an amazing way to connect with the kids and make school feel like, as he said in a separate interview with NBC, “a sanctuary.”
What would your daily handshake be?
Next, more body percussion and more from school: A home made string shooter & slow moving waves in rope and Fourth graders create a solar powered classroom.This Webby award-winning video collection exists to help teachers, librarians, and families spark kid wonder and curiosity. TKSST features smarter, more meaningful content than what's usually served up by YouTube's algorithms, and amplifies the creators who make that content.
Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.