The Best of 2013: #Kinderchat Blog Challenge, Day 3

Today's #Kinderchat blog prompt is to share the best thing (s) about 2013.  2013 was a challenging year, intellectually, professionally, and personally.  It was a year that pushed me to reflect deeply and stretch beyond my comfort zone.

Within those challenges, however, were a few notable high points.

I led my 6th Chicago Cares Serve-a-Thon, this time at a "VIP" site where I gave my orientation speech in front of Chelsea Clinton.  I will continue to fight for social justice and advocacy through volunteering into 2014 and beyond. 

After 3 intense years of study and reflection I graduated with my Master's Degree in Child Development.

With a lot of kicking and screaming I turned 30 and celebrated by painting and drinking with friends.

I began to re-investigate my creative interests through book making and rediscovering my guitar.

I started my current teaching job as an alterista and 2s teacher. 

Here's hoping that 2014 brings more moments of joy and hopefully some traveling.

A Resolution: #Kinderchat Blog Challenge, Day 2

Today's prompt for the #kinderchat blog challenge is to write about one resolution we have for the year.

I saw this penguin staring down a rubber duck at the aquarium.
I love his confidence and the fact that he's not backing down.

I'm not one for rash resolutions just because it's the new year; but I am for creating change, reflection and continued improvement.  There are several things that I have recently begun or am planning to start/get back into, but ultimately they all contribute to my one resolution, something that I have been reflecting on and working upon for the past year.

This year, I am resolving to try to be confident.  

I'm hoping to do this in ways both big and small that add up to me beginning to trust myself and my decisions and not to agonize over every choice after the fact.  Change doesn't come suddenly, it takes work and reflection and messing up and trying again.  I know that there is a lot of work I need to do with the taking care of me; to begin I am going to (try) to stop apologizing for things that don't need an apology because I'm quite guilty of saying "I'm sorry" when someone else bumps into me or when someone is angry near me or.....the list is embarrassingly long.  I'm also going to try to be more confident in my casual, day to day interactions with people.  Like many people, I am not overly happy with my physical appearance and, as a result, I often look down when walking down the street or display nervous body postures when talking to those I don't know well-all of which come across as slightly aloof, not a reflection I want to give.

As I work hard to show better confidence in small ways, I also want to work on my professional confidence.  In a detached way, I know that I understand child development and working with families and young children deeply and am able to apply this understanding in my work and in professional conversations.  But, in the day to day, I second guess myself constantly.  Especially when confronted.  On a practical level, I need to be more confident in what I know and do so that the families I work with are able to feel secure in our relationships.  On a professional level, confidence in my knowledge and practice is necessary for the eventual direction I want to take in the field of early childhood care and education.  On a political level, teachers of young children need to be confident in what we do in a way that allows us to defend play, children and families, and our profession.

This is my resolution for change.  One I hope is realistic and one I know will be a lot of hard work.

A Photo to Represent 2013: #Kinderchat Blog Challenge, Day 1

In an effort to bring blogging back to my reflective practice, I'm planning to participate in the Kinderchat 30 Day Blog Challenge as a way to reinvigorate this blog.  Make sure to check out the blogs of the other wonderful early childhood educators participating in the challenge!

Day 1: Wordless (mostly) Wednesday: A Photo (s) to represent 2013

2013: Attempting to Defy Gravity

The Problem with Cute

At a staff meeting today we were discussing the idea of daily documentation and our director challenged everyone to try it.  Some of the staff were unsure of how much time this would take and what it would look like.

I've been doing daily documentation for a bit so I brought one to share with the group.  I was hoping to use my example as a catalyst for conversation and collaboration.  

What I got instead was the response "yeah, it's cute" from a colleague.

                                 This is the problem with cute.

I was hoping for genuine feedback.  Acknowledgement of the work that I had done.  Even critics.  

         What I got was a brush off.

As dejected and angry as I was with this response, it really made me reflect on my ongoing dislike of the word "cute" in relation to children and their work.

Telling a child that the work they do is "cute" is sending them a brush off.  It's telling them that their work is not valued.  That it's not worth being looked at closely and given a thoughtful remark.  

When we use the word "cute" to talk about children we are sending a dangerous message.  We are telling them their ideas are not what we value, that instead we value their physical appearance.  By placing an emphasis on cuteness we diminish all that make children wonderful, including their flaws and "badness".  When children hear adults tell other children that they are "so cute", they begin to internalize cuteness as something to be desired.  What does this do to our buoyant, busy, exasperating, but still amazing children?  

So let's stop giving children the brush off and stop using "cute".

Reflecting on the Spaces Where We Teach

It's been about a month since I started teaching at my new school (while also managing 3 other professional jobs, but that's another story).  And it's been nothing but changes and new experiences!  I think at this point I'm moving through my over-scheduled days by pure stubborness.  My role in this school is multi-faceted.  On Mondays I am the studio teacher for the young 3's class, the 3's class, and the JK class.  On Tuesdays and Wednesdays I teach a young 2s program within the studio space.  On Thursdays and Fridays I teach a 2s drop off class in a classroom that is used by the 3s on Mondays through Fridays.

To sum up, that is 5 groups of children in 2 different shared spaces.  I should also mention that the programs are all in the morning...so I see 5 groups of children all before 11:30!

Dizzy yet?

So, aside from often feeling like I am running around in circles, I have learned to be intentional and reflective about the spaces in which I teach in a whole new manner.  I have no other choice.  The 3s and the JK have different interests and developmental needs so they are working on 2 (sometimes 3 or 4) different projects on Studio Mondays.  The young 2s need an inviting and appropriate place to play within the studio two days a week.  The drop off 2s have different needs than the 3s we share a room with.  This means that several times a week (or even several times a day) I am physically moving furniture and selecting materials.

This constant state of change hasn't been totally negative.  It has stretched me as a professional in a good way, a growing way.  Now I'm literally forced to reflect on the environment and its role on the children's play more than during initial classroom set up.  And I think that's a necessary thing.  Even if I wasn't teaching five groups of children in two shared spaces, I still think that regular reflection on the environment is useful.

This is kind of the "default" studio set up.  It's really only like this when it's not in use or when children and teachers stop by to choose materials.

This is one of the ways the studio has been set up lately because the JK class is working on large collaborative painting.  It'll look even different tomorrow because the 3s are playing with large mirrors in their study of the sense of self.

And then each week, I set up the studio to welcome the young 2s group.  This is just some of the ways it has looked.  It depends on what materials I want to introduce or they are interested in.

This is the room that is a space for 3s Mondays through Wednesdays and a space for my drop off 2s Thursdays and Fridays.  Every week my co-teacher and I put plexiglass on the ladders of the loft, have to put materials meant for the 3s up on the loft, rearrange tables (we like the 8 person snack center table and the 3s group uses a smaller snack center table), switch out manipulatives and dramatic play items, lower the legs on the sensory table, and beautifully set out the items we plan to introduce.  And then on Friday we do the reverse so the room is ready for the 3s on Monday.  EVERY WEEK.

The outdoor environment is very important to me as well.  I use the outdoor garden with both sets of 2s and there is a lot of thought and care put into this space as well.

All of this requires a lot of effort, both physically and intellectually.  But it's also something that is important in supporting the play and development of the children.  I'm sure these spaces will change hundreds of times over the course of the year as the needs and interests of the five groups of children change.  But this state of change and adaptation is a part of the learning process.

A Space for Wonder and Risk and Relationship

I've been filled with many emotions (awe, anxiety, excitement, guilt, disbelief, un-certantity, and drive to name a few!) since accepting and starting my new job.  I'm going to put those emotions on the back burner and reflect on them in a later post.  (Especially the guilt and the disbelief; I've never had access to so many resources in a school I've worked at before.)

The studio space on my first day.

But those reflections are for another day.  Today I have been thinking about a lot about the studio space that I am responsible for maintaing in our Reggio-Inspired nursery school.   I've set up many early childhood classrooms; this space is different.  The studio is not a classroom and is not owned by one teacher/teaching team and class of students.

Shelves above the sinks. I place items that I hope the children and teachers  will view as beautiful and inspiring.

The studio is a collaborative space for the school community.  This idea that the studio is a community place was one of the driving forces behind the decisions I made in preparing the space for the beginning of the school year.  I want this space to be a place where all of our little students and their teachers can feel wonder and joy and curiosity.  I want them to feel compelled to touch the materials, to look up and marvel at the items above, beside, and below them, and to feel safe in taking risks and trying new things.

The studio is not a traditional classroom.  It will not be used in traditional ways.  In the studio I will work with small groups of little learners between the ages of 2 and 5 for varying amounts of time.  Some work will be projects that last for extended periods of time and involve many people contributing to their evolution.  Some projects may last only a moment and be captured only by photo.  Some work will be experimenting and tinkering and playing with space and objects in unexpected ways.  Some work will be left and returned to when the child is ready.  Some work will be left and never returned to, but perhaps adopted for play by another child.

Though I will be working with 2 year olds in the space two days a week for an extended time period, I am trying to challenge them and myself to play in new ways.  And so, even though it was offered, I turned down typical dramatic play furniture and instead am starting the year with large boxes with stools and baskets of fabric inside.

I don't yet know all of the possibilities that the studio will provide.  I do know that I will try to be observant and reflective and intentional in the ways in which I maintain the space.  I will use the space and my relationships with the children and other teachers to challenge and question and inspire new ways of looking at the world.

I made a decision not to put chairs in the studio.  Instead I set the tables low and am stacking carpet squares along the wall in a hope that the children won't feel chained to a particular spot, but will feel free to move around as the work beckons.  Should our work lend itself to it, I will raise the table legs and create an elevated space that we can stand around.  

And so the studio may be set up to welcome children, families and teachers to the beginning of the year, but it is not done.  It will never be done.  It will be always evolving and adapting as we use it for our own risk taking and learning.

Exploring Names

This is kind of a departure from my usual posts. As in it's not really reflective, it's more my suggestions of the way things could be.  Though, when I think about how this came up, I suppose even this is reflective.  During my graduate school internship, I was working with a group of instructional coaches who work with PreK-3rd grade teachers.  One of the coaches and I were talking about ways to help her PreK teachers understand that there is so much more that needs to be done in PreK than having children sit down and do drills on writing their names.  So this is what I came up with (based on knowledge of child development principles).  And because I do believe so strongly in play and exploration I thought that I would share it with you.  (I also believe that these are solid ideas for kindergarten as well as Prek.) 

Exploring Names in Prekindergarten: It’s Not about Name Writing

Value of Name Play in PreK

• Recognizing one’s name helps children feel important
• Recognizing others’ names builds community
• Introduces concepts of print
• Begins the process of site reading
• Supports beginning math concepts

Fine motor skills must be developed before writing begins.

• Focus on drawing with details (self-portraits, observation drawings in nature, sketches of creations in block area)
• Playing with play dough (rolling with palm on table/between palms, squishing with fist, using finger and thumb to roll balls)
• Drawing/tracing name in salt/sand trays 
• Using tweezers to transfer object and eye droppers to transfer water

Names in daily routines:

• Write each child’s name next to their photo and place in cubbies
• Write each child’s name next to photo and use in home or school chart
• Children move their name from home to school upon arrival and from school to home upon dismissal
• Can integrate math into routine by exploring which column of chart has more names, how many children are in school, how many are at home

• Write every child’s name on a sentence strip (or several) and laminate. Place in a basket where children can use the names to label block creations, art in process, etc.
• If you have a word wall, the children’s names should be the first words that occupy the wall.

Name Activities:

• Name puzzles; write child’s name on an index card, using magnetic letters/letters on bottle caps/cut up index card write name again so it can be moved around.
• Talk about how many letters are in child’s name, what is the first letter in their name, what other letters do they see in their name
• Tactile letters; use tactile letters that spell the child’s name for the child to finger trace.
• Build the letters in their name with pipe cleaners.
• Place child’s name card next to sensory bin with letters buried in sand and have child find the letters that match their name.
• Name Sorts
• Sort the children’s names by placing name cards under the correct letter that each name begins with.
• Sort the children’s names by length.
• Sort the children’s name by matching individual names to that child’s photo.

• Create a class book with each child’s name and photo for children to read during choice time.

Writing their Names:

• Children are ready to learn how to write their names when they 
• are showing an interest in writing their names 
• are holding pencils with the correct grip
• are creating recognizable drawings
• are able to tell you the letters in their names
• At this time, it is important to guide children in the correct formation of the letters that make up their name.  Working individually with the children who are ready, model for them how to form each letter in their name and help them practice how to do so.