A Reflection

Teaching is a highly reflective process. 

As I spent the weekend writing and preparing my presentation for the NAEYC conference in November and trying to best explain my way of teaching to others, I learned a great deal about myself and about curriculum misconceptions.

Emergent curriculum is a widely used and misused term.  It reminds me very much of the way Whole Language was used and abused many years ago back when I taught Kindergarten.  People wrongly thought that if you used Whole Language than you didn’t teach phonics.  If you don’t incorporate phonics into reading instruction, than you cannot teach a child to read as it is one of the strategies.  However, HOW you integrate that phonics instruction can look very different in a Whole Language classroom and a phonics based classroom. 

To some people Emergent Curriculum means letting the children take the lead and run with the learning, leading the entire journey, with very little teacher involvement.  The purists may say that one cannot even plan as you need to be continuously spontaneous and only supporting of the discoveries the children make on their own.  With this thinking, I began to doubt if I was truly a teacher of Emergent Curriculum and decided I was perhaps, more of an Intentional Teacher. 

I observe my students and watch their interests.  I foster these interests and take their lead.  However, I am then intentional with my actions.  I will then plan the environments that will help them answer their questions that they have raised, seek experts in their field, find books on the subject.  At the same time, I am watching the development of the set of standards for which my state is holding me accountable.  I am creating learning opportunities for children to practice or develop or strengthen in areas where they are lacking. 

Are my students self motivated?  Yes!

Do they have a say in their learning process?  Everyday

Are we a team in our learning together?  Yes!

How is this Intentional Teaching done; this planning while remaining spontaneous, this teacher directed while following their leads accomplished?

Join me in at the NAEYC Conference in CA in November and I will walk you through a year in my classroom. How did each investigation start?  Where did it lead?  What is the research behind why this type of teaching is so critical to our young learners?

Catch me Friday, November 5, 10am  Become a Polar Explorer, Feather a Nest and Make it Rain Inside: Emergent Curriculum, It’s not only Possible in Preschool, it’s Incredible

And if you can’t make it, keep reading.  The journey continues and it is shared here. 

Keep PlayingJ

A Dirty Kid is a Happy Kid-or Is He?

“A dirty kid is a happy kid” I always say, or is it?

 

Most of the time, yes, the dirtier the better.  Messy art is fantastic and having the freedom to get dirty is a privilege that I hope all children get to experience.  But for some, it is not joyful. 

For some it causes the same type of adrenaline reaction that many of us get when we see a spider.  This is exactly how it was described to me by an occupational therapist.  These are the hundreds of children that suffer from varying degrees of sensory issues. 

These are the children that have trouble with their clothing every morning, that don’t like loud noises, that don’t like to get dirty, or wet or sandy.  This is not the forum for a lengthy explanation of sensory issues, rather a plea as educators and parents to keep our eyes open to them.  These children are not being defiant or difficult.  And with simple adaptations, they can enjoy many of the same activities with their peers.

Here are a few examples:

Last week I traced the bodies of all of my students and they painted them outside.  I could not get this one boy to let me trace him.  He absolutely refused.  His mom came in to volunteer and we tried just tracing his hand, but he really did not want the marker or pencil near his skin at all.  As I was looking out the window later that day, I saw the shadows of the younger children on the playground.  I grabbed the paper and this child and I went outside.  He stood in the sun and I traced his shadow.  He had a body tracing just like his friends without a pencil going near his skin. 

To paint his body, he also had issues.  Many people might say, “oh, he just doesn’t like to paint.”  Thinking about how in the past, at camp, he didn’t like getting wet, I cleaned off the handle of the used paint brush and handed it to him.  He then took the brush and began painting.  He painted as long as the brush handles were dry. 

When the class was finger painting, I gave him a shaving cream brush.  It looked like finger painting, but his hands stayed clean.

 

When we were gluing small things onto name cards he wouldn’t go near it.  Again the sticky/wet issue.  When I handed him tweezers, he sat there happily choosing the objects he wanted to glue onto his paper. 

These are small differentiations that were made for this child and they made his entrances into all of these art experiences possible.

Please, watch for these children, read about sensory issues, and whether your students have them or not, make sure you are providing each child with what he or she needs.  Fair does not mean the same. 

Once in awhile-A dirty kid isn’t a happy kid.

Keep PlayingJ

Never Too Old To Play or Why I Never Learned Geography

This post is a little different for me than usual.  As a preschool teacher and play advocate, I live by the words, "children learn best through play."  It is our role as adults, parents and teachers to give children safe, yet challenging environments which encourage discovery in a fun way.  This should not end when they are five years old.

Last night I went to my oldest daughter's high school open house to meet her teachers.  She was telling me that her World History teacher was very funny and made class very interesting.  I was happy to hear this as History for me was never a favorite class and Geography never clicked for me.  I remember dull lectures, taking notes and memorizing fact after fact.

Well last night, when her teacher started his talk with parents, he began with the line, "I think it is important that kids learn through play....."  Now this is high school!!!

He had me intrigued right there.  He went on to explain that History can be very dry and he doesn't like to go from war to war and make it all about dates, so he has them analyze the music of the times, and the food and explore the clothing.  They do this by singing and debating and creating projects.  The students are not sitting in their seats inactively listening all class period.  He wants them to be laughing and enjoying themselves as he makes the various time periods come alive to them in a meaningful way.  These children will be making connections, rather than memorizing past events.

Learning through play-in high school-I think these honors World History students will learn more in one year than I did in four years of simply sitting in my seat listening to boring lectures.

So Kudos to you Mr. V and all other teachers of older students who are letting children learn through play!