I Like the Real Thing

Earlier this month I accompanied my granddaughter's first grade class to a museum of 'natural history.' I'm always disappointed to see a bunch of stuffed animals. There is something quite 'unnatural' about it to me, almost creepy. I guess this is one way we can learn about animals, but....
Last week I went with my six grandkids to the zoo. Now THAT was natural. I don't care how many times I go, the animals fascinate me in some way. I certainly came to the conclusion that for me, there is nothing like the real thing when learning about animals.

Here We Go Again...

I recently heard from a former coworker who taught with me for a number of years. She mentioned that in her new district they are always reinventing the wheel with educational practices. That seems to happen often. Sometimes I chuckle at the 'latest' teaching method or curriculum because often it is an old technique reorganized. I have been working on a workshop highlighting the RTI (Response to Intervention) teaching methods. Although founded in special needs, it is an organized way for the classroom teacher to provide support for all children, particularly those who need extra help. The first tier requires the teacher to have clear-cut goals/guidelines and an organized way of tracking the progress of each child. When we wrote POCET (Preschool Outcomes Checklist and Evaluation Tool) several years ago, that was exactly the philosophy. Give preschool teachers a clear roadmap of skills that is easy to understand, in developmental order, and provide a way to track each child's progress in mastering those skills. So, I'm reinventing my POCET workshop to the first tier of RTI. The good news is that great teachers can adjust to the new label and still perform their good teaching practices. Ya gotta satisfy the boss. :-)

She Can't Talk!

Every spring the turtle in our backyard pond goes wandering. We think it has something to do with trying to lay eggs, but we need to keep one hole underneath the gate blocked so she can't leave the yard. Neighbors have found her in the street, etc. I took this picture of Gertrude trying to escape and sent it to my grandkids in California. When my daughter showed it to her 2 year-old and said, "Papa's turtle just came out to say hello." My granddaughter replied, "She can't talk!" It reminded me of the old story about the answer from a kindergarten boy when listening to a story of the Three Pigs. When the first pig asked the man for straw to build a house, the teacher asked, "What do you think that man said?" The little boy replied, "I'll be damned, a talking pig!"

Children are so literal and yet so imaginative and creative if given a chance. I love big mouth hand puppets because they give the child an opportunity to allow the animals to talk and tell their own stories. Something tells me that my granddaughter wouldn't have any problem allowing a turtle hand puppet to talk! She is coming to visit soon, we'll see what she finds out about the turtle.

But It's Cute!

I am writing this while sitting on my deck eating ice cream (hey...its 90!). I recently remembered a teacher who was very unhappy with me when I asked her to remove a 'cutesy' picture she had created from the wall of the her classroom. She needed the space to display more important items, such as the children's artwork. She was upset because the picture was so 'cute.' Well, sometimes cute stands in the way of functional. We just removed a tree/bush from our backyard (see photo). It was beautiful and added wonderful color, but it blocked the view of our waterfall and pond area from the deck. So we dug it up and put it in the front yard. We initially missed the color splash, but removing that lovely bush has let us enjoy the waterfall and pond area so much more. Not only that, but we have a complete view of the area when grandchildren are here (we still have three that are a worry around the water). It has also let us watch the daily march of the huge flock of quail that come to our yard to feed and bathe (they hatch eggs in the neighbor's unkept yard because they can hide and no one goes in the backyard...but we provide the restaurant and atmosphere). All these things we enjoy more because we moved the beautiful picture...bush. Sometimes adjustments are necessary to see the real beauty around.

A Happy Meeting

I just returned from speaking at the New York AEYC Conference in Brooklyn. What delightful people were there at the conference. I had the opportunity to meet Vera B. Williams, one of my favorite authors. We discussed my favorite book that she wrote, "Amber was Brave, Essie was Smart." It is probably one of the least known books my Ms. Williams, but it is my favorite. It is for older children (first grade +) than most of her books. Through prose, it tells the story of two sisters who care for each other while mom works and daddy is 'away.' I always ask my children's literature students to address the multicultural aspects of the book, using the text and the pictures. The book always reminds me of the vulnerability of children and how resilient they can be in difficult circumstances. It was a joy for me to meet Vera Williams, as she has given me many great memories as a teacher and as a grandparent.

The Roadmap

I appreciated all the comments from my last entry about teaching children not subjects. I do sympathize with the constant pressure for teachers to follow the standards, as I think they should. Our challenge is to organize learning experiences that meet the needs of the children and support each skill. I am a firm believer in looking at the core curriculum and creating a 'road map of skills' in the order that supports development and learning. It is like having a GPS system for the year. Each week when I did my lesson planning I looked at my road map to see which skills needed support. Then I chose activities that suited the group of children I had at the moment. In the early childhood years, you can adapt almost any activity to provide support for a certain skill. This kind of planning kept me on track with the core curriculum and it also helped me choose developmentally appropriate activities for the children in my class. I also read my class. If the group (or individual children) was restless or bored, I adjusted the activity. The test scores were high because the interest level was kept high. Children do learn more when engaged in the learning experience.

Teaching the Child, Not the Subject

We recently viewed a video by the creativity expert, Sir Ken Robinson. (http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/66) In this video he told the story of the choreographer of "Cats" and other Broadway shows. As a child, she could not hold still in class and her parents were told she had a learning problem. Fortunately, her mother and doctor discovered that she did not have a disability, she was a dancer. A dancer who could not sit still all day in a desk. She was sent to a performing arts school and became very successful in her field. My Introduction to Teaching students tell me stories about their visits to classrooms where the teacher is so structured that there is no room for children with diverse learning styles. In these cases, I think the teacher is only concerned with covering the material, not with turning the light switch of learning on for each child. We can use excuses like class size and high-stakes testing all we want. The bottom line is to be a good teacher is to provide support for learning basic skills through the learning style of the child. It is not impossible, it is just not 'assembly-line' work with dittos. Teachers need to work smarter, not harder. We teach children, not standards.

Put the Rosey Glasses Away

I know I am a couple of years behind, but I just read, "The Book Thief" by Marckus Zusak. The perils of Liesel and Max during the Nazi occupation reminded me of the Head Start classroom that I used to supervise at the homeless shelter. I don't work with truly at-risk children on a daily basis any longer. I sometimes forget that we have children living in cars, living in foster care until a parent 'gets on their feet,' going to school or bed without food, etc. My heart always breaks for the children. They have no control over their circumstances and they live not knowing what tomorrow might bring. I worry that the current economy might leave more children in heartbreaking situations. I babysat three grandchildren yesterday. It hurts me that all children don't have the same safety, love and security that they enjoy. I wish I had a magic wand...