An Observation

       This week, I chose to observe a teacher/student interaction. This week our math resource teacher worked in my classroom to introduce a math game. She used several techniques to extend the children’s language (Rainer-Dangei & Durden, 2010). 

     The teacher, Mrs. ***********, began with a demonstration of the game. She asked me to choose a student to play with her. During the game, the little girl was shy and nervous. I had not anticipated this. The goal of the game is to match domino cards to their number on a board. As the card is placed, the players have to say, “I count 9, I need the 9 card.” (Or) “I count 9, I do not need a 9 card.”  Each time, the student I chose, would count, but forget the words to say. Mrs. Johnson would look at her and the shrug her shoulders. Sometimes she would say, “Class, what should ***** say?”  Each time, I wanted to rescue my student, and help her. Her facial expression seemed afraid and embarrassed. Her voice near to a whisper. This is a bright child who normally raises her hand and shares with smiles. I was mad at myself that I had not chosen a different child.

      Research notes the impact that the changing notion of childhood has had on policies. Silin’s article suggests that we reflect on research and consider strategies that we must reconsider (2005 & 2008). We as educators are asked to consider new frameworks based on the complexity of the world in which our students live and learn. As I reflect on the lesson, I wonder if the math resource teacher has reflected on best practices for early learners.

       It appears that the chosen student was too nervous to produce the words she needed to say. A gentler approach may have helped. Maybe I rescue my students. Maybe I don’t allow that tense silent period..

I allow for wait time, but when I see the blush come over my students’ faces, I often give them a life line. Example: “Do you want to think about it a little more?” “Do you want someone to help you?”

Resources

Rainer Dangei, J., & Durden, T. R. (2010). The nature of teacher talk during small group activities. YC: Young Children, 65(1), 74-81. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database. http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=47964033&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Silin, J. G. (2005 and 2008). Who can speak? Silence, voice and pedagogy. In: Yelland, N. (Ed.) Critical issues in early childhood education. (p 81). Berkshire, Great Britain: McGraw-Hill Education. Retrieved from:http://site.ebrary.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/lib/waldenu/docDetail.action?docID=10175188

Home Child Care and Education-The River Academy

The River Academy

It is important for all parents to know that the center or home where they have chosen to place their child is regulated, licensed, and safe. So at the entryway to my center would be a check-in spot where all information is posted.

Also in the "arrival area" a resource center will be in place.

Parents will also have access to their child's binder which will contain all emergency information, behavior notes, doctor's letters, teacher notes, and any other information about that child.

As families bring their children into the learning area of the center, they will notice bursts of color which welcome the children and family.In each area, differing races, cultures, faces, jobs, and identities will be pictured.

The flags above can be specific to the cultures of the people attending. New flags can be added as needed. This space is used for teaching, centers, and play.

This room is an additional room with materials that are used then returned. This would be a perfect space for children in "before and after" care as it requires the child to place items in higher shelves. This smaller area can also be used for children who prefer small item tasks such as Legos.

A Resting Room

This layout would be similar, with much smaller beds, and no toys in the room. 

It is important for 2, 3, and 4 year old children to rest. In my center,  there would be a sleeping room for each age group and children will have a their own cot. Families will bring in blankets and stuffed animals from home to offer that home school connection for the child. The sleeping rooms would be permanent rooms that require no set up each day. When children lie down to sleep, lullabies from around the room will play.

The Outdoor Space

The outdoor learning areas would be the place where families can make the biggest impact on the cultural awareness of the children. Each family will be encouraged to plant seeds, bring in items for the musical garden, or paint murals throughout the area.

Parents will be asked about their talents and special skills so that they can come to the center and make presentations, read books, or teach the children a new skill.

The Staff

The staff will be representative of the community. It will be important to be aware of special skills and talents, and look for diversity when hiring all teachers and support staff.

A Few PepTalks

We are learning about diversity..And with newly learned information we need to do something. Something that adds to our world, make our world a better place..With that, Be Awesome...

With That...Here is PepTalk, cause we can all use it!

This little guy's videos are worth sharing..If teachers could watch these each morning, we'd be better off! 

Accepting Differences

As the sister of a gay woman, I am passionate about learning about the LGBTQ community. I wasn't always in the "know" and have spent the last 20 years trying to understand and to get a better sense of what it means to be part of that community. Do I have all the answers, oh heck no! But I won't stop trying. I want to be tolerant of all walks of life. 

One segment of the LGBTQ community that I fell in love with years ago is the Drag Community. This is a distinct group of people who are typically gay men who dress in women's clothing as a job. Most treat it as an art form. Most tend to dress as men in their day to day life, but are somewhat feminine. 

Please take 8 minutes to watch how life is for RuPaul throughout his early life til now. I learn a lot from Ru..As a matter of fact, and as a part of my continued learning about this group from LGBTQ community I will be attending a DRAG show tonight in DC. As much as I love Drag Shows, I honestly know that attending shows like this broadens my scope of understanding. It is important. 

Of course I believe that early childhood centers should NEVER avoid the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals such as same-sex partnered families. Not every child would understand the books, but there are some out there that would! We aim for ALL the children, which is very different than aiming to reach the “average” child….

I would respond to a parent/family member who informed you they did not want anyone who is perceived (or self-reported) homosexual or transgender to be caring for, educating, and/or interacting with their child

by sharing that we are not about excluding anyone. Schools and teachers should be tolerant and accepting of all groups of people, and if the parent cannot support the differences, then they are free to find other arrangements for their child. 

Best of Luck and Thank You!

As we wrap up this course, I'd like to thank you all for your contribution to the class!
It's always difficult to focus during the summer with work, vacations, kids, and life in general. Thank you for keeping it interesting and focused.
Best of Luck as we move on..

Julianne

saying goodbye…

Saying hello, meant saying goodbye…

Thirteen years ago I joined a group of pre-adoptive families. Although it was only an online group, it was the most supportive gathering of people I have ever known. The group was specific to the Far East Region of Russia where we were all adopting from. As each member received a date to go and meet their child, we would sing out praises knowing we would all have a turn..Then we would all come home and wait for a 2^nd trip to attend court and finalize our adoptions. There were travel ideas shared, hotel recommendations shared, and a host of other ideas to make that month long trip a bit easier..What each of us knew was that once we came home, our anxiety about travel and finalizing our adoptions would be behind us and we would slowly stop coming to the online group, in order to put all of our focus on our babies..

Are high-performing groups hardest to leave? Absolutely, but the only people who left the group were the families who had finished the journey. I lived, breathed, and ate Russian Adoption while going through it, now we just live our lives.

Which of the groups that you participated in was hardest to leave? By far, this group was difficult to leave, as it was such a big part of my life for 10 months. After meeting most of the families who were near me in the process, Facebook has thankfully brought many of us back together.

What sorts of closing rituals have you experienced or wish you had experienced? There was no closing ritual, more of a gentle lack of posts and returned phone calls.  

How do you imagine that you will adjourn from the group of colleagues you have formed while working on your master's degree in this program? Because my masters is work related, I don’t have the same connection as I did while adopting, but saying goodbye is always difficult.

 The beauty of making friends online is they can become In Real Life Friends..These little ones are all part of the Russian group that were adopted with my two little ones! (On vacation together in Florida)

 Same family traveling to NYC for a visit with another family who adopted with us!

Conflicts

Several years ago I wrote some concerns in my personal blog. Someone read it, printed it, and then put it on my principal's desk..I was subsequently called in to discuss my opinions with my boss. For some reason, both my principal and assistant principal entertained the complaint against me and what I wrote in my blog. I kept saying, "This is my opinion, this is my blog, It was written at my home, and on my computer, How can I be punished for this?"

Our conversation surrounding my blog entry went in circles. They had their thoughts on it, and I had mine. At the end of the day, they put the blog in my school based personnel file with a note about our meeting. Nothing was done, but somehow having it in my file has irritated me every since. Both my assistant principal and assistant principal have left my school and I plan to ask my current boss to remove the entry into my personnel file. 

Two strategies that I could have used are: 

1) Involving a third party. (ACResolution.org., 2011)
THIS IS WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE. I should have contacted the union to help with this, as I know I was being targeted for my personal opinions.

2) Separate the people from the conflict.(ACResolution.org., 2011) This would have helped me to finish out the year without having hurt feelings. 

References

ACResolution.org. (2011). Association for conflict resolution. Retrieved from http://www.acrnet.org/

Here is the entry to the earlier blog post that I wrote:

The Old and the Young -April 18th 2013

It's Report Card time, so needless to say, I am a wreck of worry and confusion as I try to formulate little words and letters into a formal document fit for FCPS.It is the saddest thing I have ever seen. Standards based reporting for children who need an entire year to learn the language, let alone to count to 100 by one and backwards from 50...Just sad.

This is my best class in a very long time and I want to tell their parents, "HEY, they are reading and writing, they are memorizing poems, and figure out complex GT based word problems, they are well behaved and motivated to be GOOD, and  kind..

Ahhh, but not the case for the report cards we now have.. It is important to check the appropriate box and only give one of the approved comments. Which by the way are organized about as well as my craft closet.. So the past few days I have been very blue. Blue at the state of affairs in the schools lately. I am not alone. Not by a long shot. Young teachers tootle along and think this is the way to do it.. Search and assess, means missing the essence of who a child is. And what is more important than what they can do, is, Who They Are.. And we are fighting a battle between young and old. Young feeling as if those of us who have been around a while just never found the "right" way to teach.. Young feeling congratulatory to each other when they fill out the latest grid/matrix which tells them nothing but what that child could regurgitate that day.. The old hoping desperately that no one notices that said grid/matrix wasn't completed; because that day we had to complete a retelling bear that their favorite other teacher friend did.. And it was way more fun..

I woke up this morning thinking about young and old. Laughing that I am in the old group. Laughing that although I have been in the class for 22 years, I have people doubting me simply because I refuse to buy the company line. Reason being, I bought the company line in 1992 when we implemented the "15-To-1" program.  In 1996 I bought into the idea of pull out programs. In 1999 I bought into Core Knowledge. In 2000 I bought into Words their Way. In 2004 I bought into Lucy Caulkins.
But slowly and mysteriously through the myriad of programs thrown our way, whether it be working with a small group or large, I found out what works. I found out that I have the gift of sharing information. I found out that through sharing personal stories and my favorite books, that I can hold the attention of young children. I can review information in a way that small ones find interesting. I can secretly inflict my own personal "manners" beliefs on my small ones and they gladly buy into it. Over time, I feel like I know the children. And over time, through decades of relied upon evaluations, I can know what they know without needing an 8 page checklist. I can reteach and reach deeper for those who need it. One who has worked with 5 year olds for 22 years, KNOWS. 

But the young ones are the ones towing the line. They won't stand with us to say, "This is nonsense."
And this is where I am. Working with line towers. Me feeling like Norma Rae. Needing to stand up on the line and shout out, "We aren't going to take it anymore..."
But I won't. I can't.    The one thing about myself that I can't believe is that becoming a mother has made me very practical. Very.
I have given up the dream to live overseas. I have given up the idea of starting a business/charity. I have given up the idea of things..As much as it seems as though I have given up a lot. It's not the case. I get wayyy more than I give up. My girlz may be a pain in the ass sometimes, but they are the reason for my practicality, and I am ok with it.

Tonight is an event at my school. GAME NIGHT  With all of our self inflicted search for rigor, we have chosen to have Game Night. We invite the parents to come to our school and play games. Yeah, just what I said. There has to be a better way to use our precious time with parents in the building.
BUT, at the last minute, Anna reminded me that tonight is her chorus concert. I have missed most all of their events at school. Mom goes, but this time Anni asked/begged me to go.  The mistake I made is not telling my principal about it. Report cards have had me in a tizzy, so honestly, I kept thinking of emailing her, but then something would come up. So I sent it this morning.
And although I like to consider myself a rebel, I do worry that I will upset someone or they will be angry with me.

As the sun starts to rise and the birds begin their songs, it bothers me that I wake up with a nervous stomach. I should not dread my school day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looking back I can see my frustration, but what I don't see is information about my personal school that would be wrong to write about. Nothing confidential shared.. Looking back I can see that both of the leaders in my school felt the sting of what I wrote, but  my blog was semi private, meaning you'd really have to look for it to find it..