7: Red Light, Green Light

"When the light is green you go.

When the light is red you stop.

But what do you do

When the light is blue

With orange and lavender spots?"

-Shel Silverstein, Signals

Many people think that Henry Ford is responsible for inventing the automobile. Contrary to this belief, cars already existed in his time, but he created a system — the assembly line — that made the process of making cars better. In a society, having a system is important because it helps us to be more efficient, safe, and organized. Apart from this, it also makes our day to day life more sustainable.

In other words, how we organize ourselves affects the way we live.

To find out more about the systems in place to make our roads safer, the kindergarteners enrolled in Ms. Pam's driving school. If a pigeon could drive a bus, I’m sure 12 kindergarteners would fare better. Right? 😆

First step, we assembled the cars that we will use a la Henry Ford.

(The engine is manual though. Just our feet, a la Flinstones!)

Then, we had a refresher course on Road Safety 101:

Green means GO.

Red means STOP.

"But what about yellow, Ms. Pam?"

"Yellow means you should slow down because the red light is coming."

Our little drivers passed the theoretical part of the driving test.

"Green means GO,

Red means STOP," they said.

Easy enough to remember, right?

Let's see if we can put the theory into practice. Off to the roads we go!

And... it was chaos!

Our little drivers knew when to stop and go -- but that's all they could do.

There were bumping cars, speeding cars, and cars that were zigzagging all over the road! 😅

"Not safe, Ms. Pam!"

They were right, of course. So we put our cars on park -- as we have so much more to learn as drivers.

I asked the children:

"What would happen if we don't follow the road signs?"

"We'll get into an accident," one said.

"We will get hurt," another one answered.

I shared the story called The Dangerous Driver by Terence G. Crowther to the little drivers. It is about Mr. Lee, a father who couldn't follow the road signs when he drove his children to the park.

But why couldn't he follow the road signs?

("Ms. Pam, my dad is named Mr. Leigh too, but he drives well." one of them said.

"I'm sure he does," I answered.)

As it turns out, Mr. Lee needed a new pair of glasses to help him see better!

We all agreed that we will be better drivers than Mr. Lee.

First, we checked our eyes. All clear! ✔

Second, we set off on a road sign hunt to observe how drivers and pedestrians follow them. We needed to understand how they work for us to be able to be better drivers.

Apart from learning how road signs work, we also discovered their importance in keeping our communities safe and organized. They don't only tell us when to stop and go, but they help lead us to the right direction, too.

Since road signs are good visual reminders that lead us to the right path, we used them in our classroom to revisit the choices we make, and how they impact others.

Green choices mean GO.

Red choices mean STOP.

But sometimes, choices are not just black or white --- in this case, green or red.

Sometimes, they fall under a spectrum of colors.

I shared with the children our very own choice-o-meter in the classroom, which is a scale that can help us identify where our choices fall under. As I've shared with the students before, the wonderful thing about choices is that they can change -- and red choices can be opportunities for us to learn and grow.

For this week's Story Workshop, I shared with the children my personal story of when I turned a red choice into a green choice -- from a mistake to an act of kindness.

Then, I asked the children:

"What green choice have you made that you are proud of?"

And they began to tell their stories.

TAMAKI

I was in the hotel with my Mommy and Daddy.

It was night. Daddy is sleeping.

Mommy said she wants to drink coffee so I went with her to the table.

Mommy drank coffee.

My green choice is spending time with Mommy.

KALLEA

I play a lot of toys in my house, like playdough and Minecraft.

I cleaned all of the toys and my Daddy saw it.

I asked him, "Daddy, did I clean up well?"

He said, "You cleaned up well."

My green choice is cleaning up my toys.

SARAH

I was playing with my friends and my cat.

My cat's name is Mi.

We were playing outside.

After playing, me and my friends tidied up our toys.

My green choice is tidying up my toys.

CLARA

I was in the forest.

I lined up quietly.

The line was for taking photos.

My green choice is lining up and waiting for my turn.

I was happy.

KOH

I was in the park.

I was taking pictures of different animals.

It was getting late.

My Dad told me, "Let's go home."

I said, "Okay."

My green choice is following my Dad.

HANA

I went to the park with my Daddy.

My Daddy tried to balance on one leg on the bench.

He fell down.

I helped my Daddy.

I put plaster on his leg to make him feel better.

My green choice is helping my Daddy.

EMMA C.

Mia and I were playing with our toys and our dog.

We didn't clean up.

Our mom told us to tidy up.

We cleaned up our mess.

Our dog got a gold necklace after.

We got candy and watched movies with popcorn.

My green choice is tidying up my toys.

YORINOBU

My Daddy and I played with cars while eating chocolate.

The chocolate was yummy.

My Daddy drew cars for me.

My green choice is spending time with my Daddy.

KANATO

I saw some animals outside my house.

They were hungry.

I gave them some vegetables to eat.

They were happy.

My green choice is sharing food to animals.

HARUTO

I was watching TV.

I made a mess with my toys.

Mommy told me to clean up.

I fixed my toys.

My green choice is fixing my toys.

EMMA I.

This is my house.

This is my family.

My brother, sister and I went to the park.

We played together.

Then we went home.

We played again.

I was happy.

My green choice is spending time with my family.

CHANIN

In the forest, I saw big trees and animals.

I played with them.

My green choice is being kind to animals.

Just like systems, our choices affect our life, too.

Sometimes, even the littlest acts of kindness we do, have a big impact on others -- even without us realizing it. If we are lucky, the kindness is returned to us tenfold.

"You reap what you sow," they say.

And reap, we did. Literally.

We finally harvested the sweet potatoes that we planted last school year!