DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET 4 Introduction I think children should also choose whom they play with and what they play. That is not to say that we shouldn’t set limits, but we need to rethink what many of those limits are in a typical classroom. Limits should foster our expectations for the whole child. We, as teachers, shouldn’t get too focused on one develop- mental goal at a time. Children will be learning many things simultaneously, and they will remember things that involve multiple stimuli. We also need to make sure that our goal for children is not simply obedience. This means making quite a few changes from some typical teaching prac- tices. I hope this book can help you and others make some of the changes with- out making as many of the mistakes I made along the way. Of course, you will make mistakes also, but that means you are moving out of your comfort zone. Throughout the book, I’ve provided background information about why some changes make sense. I offer stories from my own classroom (and a few other classrooms as well) to bring the information to life. I have included step-by-step guides for things that I have found to be stumbling blocks for teachers; for exam- ple, “I understand that kids should do woodworking, but I don’t know anything about tools” or “I’m willing to let kids roughhouse, but I’ve never done anything like that before.” Allowing young children more freedom of movement with their bodies will benefit everyone. Active children, especially boys, will be more successful, and teachers will spend less time managing behavior. I think many teachers will have COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL