Since 2012, in an amendment to the Americans with Disabilities Act, the federal government made it mandatory for all new and renovated public playgrounds to have accessible equipment.
As I have been thinking and reading about accessible, it has been more clear to me that there is a big difference between accessible and inclusive. There is a link on the NPR website from their story about an inclusive playground in which you can find an accessible playground near you. When I used this link, some of the playgrounds simply had one ADA swing, and that counted as accessible by the new ADA mandate. Accessible really just means that you can get to the playground, or there is a few pieces of equipment that will accommodate a child with some limited mobility. They still may need a lot of help getting to that equipment, since the playground surface may not be wheelchair friendly. The design says, "Yeah, we gave you a second thought, but we're not really playing with you."
The parents of Brooklyn Fisher, a girl with spina bifida in Idaho, wanted their daughter to be able to be included when she went to the playground. What they envisioned was a playscape that allowed their child to go up on the structure with her wheelchair with other kids, access all the equipment and join in with her friends without having to be carried by her parents. They designed and raised money to build Brooklyn's Playground, which opened in 2011 in Pocatello, Idaho. It is probably the most inclusive playground in the world. Parents of children with disabilities from all over the Rockies make special trips to give their children a playground experience like they have never had before.
In Salinas, CA, Shawn and Amanda Bakker raised money to build Tatum's Garden, another inclusive playground that they were inspired to raise money for and build after they visited Brooklyn's playground with their daughter. These inclusive playgrounds, with their rubberized ground surfaces that allow wheelchairs to roll merrily along them, do not come with a small price tag. In both cases, the families raised over $500,000. What did not go into the initial building of the playgrounds stays in a fund for maintenance.
As communities around the country are considering updates to their playgrounds for their public, these two playgrounds can serve as models for how to include everyone in the play. As Brooklyn's mother said in an Aljezeera America article about her daughter's first time on the playground, "I saw her with all her best friends play like every other child," she
said. "She wasn't on a different level, there was nothing different
about how she was playing with them. They were all just enjoying play
together and they did it for hours."
Accessibility is okay, it says I'll let you in here, but I don't have to interact with you, but true inclusion is when social ties and real connections happen for people. We can do better on the playgrounds for all of our kids. It will take community support for inclusion everywhere.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Early Childhood's Future: What I Learned from Valora Washington
I listened to Valora Washington speak at the Vermont Association for the Education for Young Children Fall conference and she got me all fired up again. She pointed out that now that we have drawn attention to our field and that even President Obama is talking about the importance of universal access to early education in his State of the Union speeches, we can no longer hide in our bubble.
She called on us to first imagine for our field. Come up with a unified vision of what is important. In Vermont, many stakeholders have been thinking about a unified vision and have settled on: "To realize the promise of every Vermont child." I think that is pretty nice. It is a vision many early care and education stakeholders can then carve out their missions. Valora (I feel I can call her by her first name since she greeted me with a hug when I picked her up at the airport) wants us to be "Smart Improvisors" as we imagine. Our new ideas can come on the fly, but they come from a deep well of knowledge and experience that we have in the field of early childhood education.
Next, she asked us to know. We are in the midst of a field that has experienced a knowledge explosion in the last 20 years. We have to consider "What should early educators know and do?" as a question we need to answer. Valora says that we know more than we are doing. She also believes that we know what quality is. Our problem is that this is tacit knowledge in our field which makes it hard to articulate what we know. We also know that we do not have the funding to do quality work and for too long we have tried to uphold the myth that we can do for a quarter what really costs a dollar. One of our challenges as a field is to figure out how do we get better funding and then what would we do with it.
Her next step is that we have to act. We have to build networks among our groups. We have to all play in the same sandbox. We are a field that is compartmentalized and we often do not speak well of other sectors (who may actually be doing valuable work, if we could step back and look at the whole picture). She challenges us to figure out how to work together, combine efforts, and mobilize to focus on solutions. Part of this is that we have to be willing to call out bad practice when we see it. We are a field that is conflict-averse, so we have to learn to deal with conflict in creative ways.She also said she is looking for the Disruptive Innovators and the Positive Deviants. The people who are changing things because they know it can work and they are willing to act on their knew knowledge, or they see a new way of delivering an idea and go for it. Those are the people that change are field and pave the way for the rest of us. Change is not optional.
Lastly, she called on us to take personal responsibility. We often try to fly under the radar, when what we need to do now is focus on outcomes and build networks. Workforce qualifications are getting higher and this is a challenge for veteran teachers who do not have those credentials. How do we advance the field and serve the field? We need to take responsibility and unify and professionalize our field.
Currently, Valora stated, there are 1.8 million early educators in the United States. In the often quoted Perry Preschool Project, the teachers were educated at the Masters level, the students had wrap around health services and the program had high family involvement. As we think about the good outcomes that high quality produced, we need to figure out how we can replicate it throughout our varied systems, whether it be home and family providers, Head Start programs, child care centers, or public and private preschool programs. Early care and education has many faces, but in order to realize the promise of every child, every child should have access to high quality early care and education experiences in whatever environment that child's for chooses.
She called on us to first imagine for our field. Come up with a unified vision of what is important. In Vermont, many stakeholders have been thinking about a unified vision and have settled on: "To realize the promise of every Vermont child." I think that is pretty nice. It is a vision many early care and education stakeholders can then carve out their missions. Valora (I feel I can call her by her first name since she greeted me with a hug when I picked her up at the airport) wants us to be "Smart Improvisors" as we imagine. Our new ideas can come on the fly, but they come from a deep well of knowledge and experience that we have in the field of early childhood education.
Next, she asked us to know. We are in the midst of a field that has experienced a knowledge explosion in the last 20 years. We have to consider "What should early educators know and do?" as a question we need to answer. Valora says that we know more than we are doing. She also believes that we know what quality is. Our problem is that this is tacit knowledge in our field which makes it hard to articulate what we know. We also know that we do not have the funding to do quality work and for too long we have tried to uphold the myth that we can do for a quarter what really costs a dollar. One of our challenges as a field is to figure out how do we get better funding and then what would we do with it.
Her next step is that we have to act. We have to build networks among our groups. We have to all play in the same sandbox. We are a field that is compartmentalized and we often do not speak well of other sectors (who may actually be doing valuable work, if we could step back and look at the whole picture). She challenges us to figure out how to work together, combine efforts, and mobilize to focus on solutions. Part of this is that we have to be willing to call out bad practice when we see it. We are a field that is conflict-averse, so we have to learn to deal with conflict in creative ways.She also said she is looking for the Disruptive Innovators and the Positive Deviants. The people who are changing things because they know it can work and they are willing to act on their knew knowledge, or they see a new way of delivering an idea and go for it. Those are the people that change are field and pave the way for the rest of us. Change is not optional.
Lastly, she called on us to take personal responsibility. We often try to fly under the radar, when what we need to do now is focus on outcomes and build networks. Workforce qualifications are getting higher and this is a challenge for veteran teachers who do not have those credentials. How do we advance the field and serve the field? We need to take responsibility and unify and professionalize our field.
Currently, Valora stated, there are 1.8 million early educators in the United States. In the often quoted Perry Preschool Project, the teachers were educated at the Masters level, the students had wrap around health services and the program had high family involvement. As we think about the good outcomes that high quality produced, we need to figure out how we can replicate it throughout our varied systems, whether it be home and family providers, Head Start programs, child care centers, or public and private preschool programs. Early care and education has many faces, but in order to realize the promise of every child, every child should have access to high quality early care and education experiences in whatever environment that child's for chooses.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Five Favorite Children's Books
Okay, limiting me to just five is really hard, so I am going to list the top five that come to my mind because there are SO SO SO SO many children's books that I love.
1. Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini - I love to use this book to introduce the word "problem" to the kids.
2. Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell - My favorite book about being nice to one another, grandmothers, and self-confidence
3. The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas - kids need a good grounding in the original story to appreciate this one, but this one cracks me up every time.
4. Can You Hear It by William Lach - this is a fabulous introduction to classical music and paintings for kids. I was so surprised how much the kids loved the pieces and following the prompts to listen for the specific instruments. They ask to hear this over and over again.
5. How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman - I just love this book. We take out my children's map of the world and find all of the places the little girl goes to collect the ingredients for her pie. We also talk about all of the kinds of transportation she uses.
1. Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini - I love to use this book to introduce the word "problem" to the kids.
2. Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell - My favorite book about being nice to one another, grandmothers, and self-confidence
3. The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas - kids need a good grounding in the original story to appreciate this one, but this one cracks me up every time.
4. Can You Hear It by William Lach - this is a fabulous introduction to classical music and paintings for kids. I was so surprised how much the kids loved the pieces and following the prompts to listen for the specific instruments. They ask to hear this over and over again.
5. How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman - I just love this book. We take out my children's map of the world and find all of the places the little girl goes to collect the ingredients for her pie. We also talk about all of the kinds of transportation she uses.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Things I'm good at
Dumb Things I'm Good At
I can hang four spoons off my face at once, one from each cheekbone, one from my nose and one from my chin.
I can balance about 10-12 pennies on my bent elbow and then catch them in my hand.
I can spin couch pillows and heavy textbooks and a basketball (but not as well) on my finger.
More Impressive Things I'm Good At
I'm a pretty good singer, especially when I am in my mezzo-alto range. Now that I am older, my voice gets tired faster and if I spend all night happily singing, I will lose my voice the next day. I want to get up the courage to volunteer to sing the National Anthem at our local Single A baseball club this summer.
I'm really good at Boggle and Big Boggle. I play Scramble with Friends and I am pretty unstoppable.
I'm good at meeting people and making people feel at ease. I can strike up conversations with anyone. I really like people and enjoy having conversations with people from anywhere. It is the extrovert in me. So far, it has not gotten me in into trouble.
I can hang four spoons off my face at once, one from each cheekbone, one from my nose and one from my chin.
I can balance about 10-12 pennies on my bent elbow and then catch them in my hand.
I can spin couch pillows and heavy textbooks and a basketball (but not as well) on my finger.
More Impressive Things I'm Good At
I'm a pretty good singer, especially when I am in my mezzo-alto range. Now that I am older, my voice gets tired faster and if I spend all night happily singing, I will lose my voice the next day. I want to get up the courage to volunteer to sing the National Anthem at our local Single A baseball club this summer.
I'm really good at Boggle and Big Boggle. I play Scramble with Friends and I am pretty unstoppable.
I'm good at meeting people and making people feel at ease. I can strike up conversations with anyone. I really like people and enjoy having conversations with people from anywhere. It is the extrovert in me. So far, it has not gotten me in into trouble.
Pet Peeves
Off the top of my head, here are few Pet Peeves...
- When the word unique gets qualified. Unique means one of a kind. There is no such thing as very unique.
- People who wave you on in traffic when they have the right of way. Traffic works better when everyone follows the natural rules. I don't mind waiting for my turn.
- Passive-Aggressiveness
- Cell phones at the dinner table (unless you are food spotting)
- Come to think of it, cell phone that go off in movies, performances, meetings etc...Put it on rumble people!
- When opinion sneaks into news coverage (liberal or conservative)
- Gridlock (of all kinds)
- When technology decides to take the day off and I really need it to work
- Forgetting just one ingredient, but an important one, for dinner.
- Coffee grinds in my coffee (but I gave up coffee, so this doesn't bother me so much any more).
An Inclusive Classroom to Be Admired
A Colleague I Admire...this is easy.
Miss Andrea teaches a fully inclusive classroom in Vermont that has five students with disabilities. She weaves the best research-based practices for students with autism within an integrated, inclusive classroom that works for all students with and without disabilities. She incorporates discrete trial learning, DIR®, and video modeling, alongside with visual supports and scripted stories to help support her students progress. She uses many of these techniques, as well as the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) with a student who has Down Syndrome. She does have a lot of support staff, often up to four classroom assistants, but she also makes sure they have common planning time and they all know what all of the kids goals are form week to week. They work together to choose the best strategies to and activities through which to reinforce the skills each child is practicing.
I have worked with Andrea since 2005 as a coworker. We have presented on inclusive practices at many conferences together. She is extremely organized, where I am quite scattered. She is a linear thinker, where I am a creative throw spaghetti at the wall kind of thinker. She is often quiet and contemplative, where I am a total extrovert. But, don't cross her on her beliefs about inclusive practices...she lives it and sees its power and knows it works and she will defend it loudly. Her students make such amazing progress because she believes she can unlock the key to each and every one of them. She can figure out how they learn and how they can connect with their peers. While I hold these same beliefs, she has shown me the way with so many of my students over the years.
She is on a mission, and is one that I have joined her on the ride, she wants all Higher Education programs to offer dual certification in early childhood education and special education. It is what she had as a program when she went to Lesley College in Massachusetts. In reality, since there is no compulsory education for preschool children, young children with disabilities are in placements with early childhood educators that have no special education background. If every early childhood education program required some coursework in special education, it is possible the workforce may be more prepared to serve these children where they get their early care and education.
Miss Andrea teaches a fully inclusive classroom in Vermont that has five students with disabilities. She weaves the best research-based practices for students with autism within an integrated, inclusive classroom that works for all students with and without disabilities. She incorporates discrete trial learning, DIR®, and video modeling, alongside with visual supports and scripted stories to help support her students progress. She uses many of these techniques, as well as the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) with a student who has Down Syndrome. She does have a lot of support staff, often up to four classroom assistants, but she also makes sure they have common planning time and they all know what all of the kids goals are form week to week. They work together to choose the best strategies to and activities through which to reinforce the skills each child is practicing.
I have worked with Andrea since 2005 as a coworker. We have presented on inclusive practices at many conferences together. She is extremely organized, where I am quite scattered. She is a linear thinker, where I am a creative throw spaghetti at the wall kind of thinker. She is often quiet and contemplative, where I am a total extrovert. But, don't cross her on her beliefs about inclusive practices...she lives it and sees its power and knows it works and she will defend it loudly. Her students make such amazing progress because she believes she can unlock the key to each and every one of them. She can figure out how they learn and how they can connect with their peers. While I hold these same beliefs, she has shown me the way with so many of my students over the years.
She is on a mission, and is one that I have joined her on the ride, she wants all Higher Education programs to offer dual certification in early childhood education and special education. It is what she had as a program when she went to Lesley College in Massachusetts. In reality, since there is no compulsory education for preschool children, young children with disabilities are in placements with early childhood educators that have no special education background. If every early childhood education program required some coursework in special education, it is possible the workforce may be more prepared to serve these children where they get their early care and education.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
This is Easy Because I Like to Cook
Go to Easy Peasy Default Dinner Recipe
The winner this year is Chicken Bombs. They are so good and so easy.
10 Chicken Breast Cutlets - skinless, boneless (already thin sliced)
Sliced Bacon (I use Turkey Bacon to lighten and lean it up)
4 oz 1/3 less fat soft cream cheese
1 c. Shredded 2% milk cheddar cheese
Pickled Jalapenos
BBQ Sauce (optional)
Mix the cream cheese and the shredded cheese together in a bowl.
Fill each cutlet with about a tablespoon (or a little bit more) of cheese, and a few sliced jalapenos (2-3). Roll the chicken around the cheese and pepper and then wrap one or two slices of bacon around and tuck them underneath. You do not need toothpicks. Place each chicken bomb on a cooking sheet (i spray mine with cooking spray just to keep any cheese from sticking). Then , if desired, baste each chicken bomb with your favorite BBQ sauce.
For oven: Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until chicken is done. Baste a couple times and finish under the broiler to set the BBQ sauce and crisp up the bacon.
If you want to make is harder on yourself, you can buy chicken breasts, cut them in half and pound them down until they are 1/4 inch thick, but the cutlets are quicker.
You can also add more work by using a whole jalapeno and slicing it in half. Fill the half pepper with cheese and wrap the chicken around that...that is the traditional recipe, but I am too lazy for that.
Either way you do it, they are really the BOMB!! (heh)
The winner this year is Chicken Bombs. They are so good and so easy.
10 Chicken Breast Cutlets - skinless, boneless (already thin sliced)
Sliced Bacon (I use Turkey Bacon to lighten and lean it up)
4 oz 1/3 less fat soft cream cheese
1 c. Shredded 2% milk cheddar cheese
Pickled Jalapenos
BBQ Sauce (optional)
Mix the cream cheese and the shredded cheese together in a bowl.
Fill each cutlet with about a tablespoon (or a little bit more) of cheese, and a few sliced jalapenos (2-3). Roll the chicken around the cheese and pepper and then wrap one or two slices of bacon around and tuck them underneath. You do not need toothpicks. Place each chicken bomb on a cooking sheet (i spray mine with cooking spray just to keep any cheese from sticking). Then , if desired, baste each chicken bomb with your favorite BBQ sauce.
For oven: Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until chicken is done. Baste a couple times and finish under the broiler to set the BBQ sauce and crisp up the bacon.
If you want to make is harder on yourself, you can buy chicken breasts, cut them in half and pound them down until they are 1/4 inch thick, but the cutlets are quicker.
You can also add more work by using a whole jalapeno and slicing it in half. Fill the half pepper with cheese and wrap the chicken around that...that is the traditional recipe, but I am too lazy for that.
Either way you do it, they are really the BOMB!! (heh)
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
My Desk At Home
Wordless Wednesday...
I can never go "wordless." I clearly do not work at my desk. It is a gathering spot for the things I need to work on. There is a table near my desk where I actually do some work, but, mostly, I sit on one of the couches, or in the recliner, with my laptop, and do most of my work at home.
Monday, January 20, 2014
5 Things I eat or Drink Nearly Everyday
I have been really working on eating the same thing for breakfast, lunch and snack, so this post was pretty easy.
1. Grapefruit
2. Chobani Yogurt
3. Water
4. Lean Cuisine (of Some varity
5. An Apple (it does keep the Doctor away)
1. Grapefruit
2. Chobani Yogurt
3. Water
4. Lean Cuisine (of Some varity
5. An Apple (it does keep the Doctor away)
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Hawaii...The Big Island, That's where I'd Live
If you had asked me this before February 2013, I would have answered Ireland. But, in February, I went to Hawaii. I have never dreamed of going to Hawaii. I do not like the sun. I do not warm, beachy, sandy, vacations. I do not like bathing suits. I love the ocean, but I do not like being in it. The things that live in it scare me.
But, Hawaii was very different than Florida, California, East Coast, New England, and other beach locales. I was talked into going on this trip because Hawaii has active volcanoes and I do LOVE volcanoes. I immediately fell in love with the Big Island. On Hawaii, there are 10 climate zones represented. In the whole world there are only 12-14 climate zones
(depending on who your reference is). It goes from arid desert with an average of 10 inches of rainfall on the west coast, to the 300 inches rain that can fall in Hilo on the east. The geology is fascinating. Volcanoes, rain forest, cloud forest, tropics, and ocean/beach. While we there, I could not go up the Mauna Kea because there was a blizzard. Amazing. It has two of the world's tallest mountains, if you measure from where they start on the ocean floor.
I went snorkeling and, for the first time in my life, I was not afraid of being in the ocean. In fact, I stayed in the ocean so long communing with the tangs, trigger fish, needle fish, sea turtles, lion fish, and anemone fish, that I got a mad sun burn on the back of my legs. Next time, I will take more breaks to apply waterproof sunscreen, or I will wear a wetsuit.
People in Hawaii are genuinely nice. Really nice. Friendly. Helpful. Conversational. I really enjoyed the conversations I had with the local people there.
I know if I lived there, I would walk, bike, hike, play tennis, swim and run more than I do now. I would get more vitamin D. I might even stop loathing bathing suits. I actually lost weight while I was there. since we mostly ate from local farmer's markets (lots of avocado, pineapple, and fresh greens), and fish. I think my first large purchase would be a sea kayak and spray skirt. There is not a ton of inland recreational kayaking on the island, so I will have to go out into the big water.
I would be slightly concerned about hurricane and tsunami threats, but other than that, I'm all in for the island life.
Again...that lottery win would be helpful. Living in Hawaii is expensive.
But, Hawaii was very different than Florida, California, East Coast, New England, and other beach locales. I was talked into going on this trip because Hawaii has active volcanoes and I do LOVE volcanoes. I immediately fell in love with the Big Island. On Hawaii, there are 10 climate zones represented. In the whole world there are only 12-14 climate zones
(depending on who your reference is). It goes from arid desert with an average of 10 inches of rainfall on the west coast, to the 300 inches rain that can fall in Hilo on the east. The geology is fascinating. Volcanoes, rain forest, cloud forest, tropics, and ocean/beach. While we there, I could not go up the Mauna Kea because there was a blizzard. Amazing. It has two of the world's tallest mountains, if you measure from where they start on the ocean floor.
I went snorkeling and, for the first time in my life, I was not afraid of being in the ocean. In fact, I stayed in the ocean so long communing with the tangs, trigger fish, needle fish, sea turtles, lion fish, and anemone fish, that I got a mad sun burn on the back of my legs. Next time, I will take more breaks to apply waterproof sunscreen, or I will wear a wetsuit.
People in Hawaii are genuinely nice. Really nice. Friendly. Helpful. Conversational. I really enjoyed the conversations I had with the local people there.
I know if I lived there, I would walk, bike, hike, play tennis, swim and run more than I do now. I would get more vitamin D. I might even stop loathing bathing suits. I actually lost weight while I was there. since we mostly ate from local farmer's markets (lots of avocado, pineapple, and fresh greens), and fish. I think my first large purchase would be a sea kayak and spray skirt. There is not a ton of inland recreational kayaking on the island, so I will have to go out into the big water.
I would be slightly concerned about hurricane and tsunami threats, but other than that, I'm all in for the island life.
Again...that lottery win would be helpful. Living in Hawaii is expensive.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
I'm in love with Force and Motion Right Now
I am in the last part of a delivering an advanced science training to early educators on force and motion concepts and the ride has been fantastic.
We started with a webinar through which we explored Newton's laws of motion:
Next, the participants read a few great articles to deepen their thinking. Then we got together for a four-hour face to face training in which we grappled with these concepts. We came to grips with the fact that an object did not have to be moving to have a force acting on it. A book on a table has gravity (a force) pulling it down. And, an object in motion does not always have a force acting on it. A force may have got it starting. And acceleration is any change in speed, up or down, which was just crazy to those of us who think of the accelerator in our car as only going faster. We also talked about how friction slows things down, the amount of friction varies from surface to surface (think ice versus sand).
Then we played with the concepts. We had big and small trucks. We changed their mass by filling them with large rocks and tried to move them, noticing that it took more force to move the fuller, more massive truck. We played with the motion of cars going down ramps, guessing which ones would go further and noticing if their acceleration changed at all based on how we built the pathway.And we rolled things over sandpaper, paper towels, bubble wrap, and wood.
Today, I have been reading all the the participants reflections on the experiments and inquiry with kids. My favorite was the teacher who took advantage of our recent ice storm who did friction experiments with the kids outside. They tested different "sleds" and "surfaces." They slid on ice and gravel and they used traditional sleds, carpet squares, and lunch trays. Another participant's students used their own bodies as inclines to roll balls down. Sweet. What everyone learned as they explored the concepts with their children was that they needed to allow they kids time to explore with the new materials they were introducing, whether it be rain gutters, cars, balls, marbles, trucks, sleds, trays, etc., before they began to talk about the concepts of pushes and pulls and friction. They all agreed that kids were able to come up with their own questions.
I have had so much fun exploring a science topic deeply with early educators and then listening to how they apply it with their children. I am so excited to see how the next group I bring this to in February uses the information with their kids. I hope it sparks these educators to bring inquiry into their classrooms on a variety of scientific topics.
We started with a webinar through which we explored Newton's laws of motion:
- An object at rest will remain at rest unless is acted upon by a force
- Accelerations happens when a force acts on a mass. The greater the mass, the greater the amount of force needed to accelerate the object
Next, the participants read a few great articles to deepen their thinking. Then we got together for a four-hour face to face training in which we grappled with these concepts. We came to grips with the fact that an object did not have to be moving to have a force acting on it. A book on a table has gravity (a force) pulling it down. And, an object in motion does not always have a force acting on it. A force may have got it starting. And acceleration is any change in speed, up or down, which was just crazy to those of us who think of the accelerator in our car as only going faster. We also talked about how friction slows things down, the amount of friction varies from surface to surface (think ice versus sand).
Then we played with the concepts. We had big and small trucks. We changed their mass by filling them with large rocks and tried to move them, noticing that it took more force to move the fuller, more massive truck. We played with the motion of cars going down ramps, guessing which ones would go further and noticing if their acceleration changed at all based on how we built the pathway.And we rolled things over sandpaper, paper towels, bubble wrap, and wood.
Today, I have been reading all the the participants reflections on the experiments and inquiry with kids. My favorite was the teacher who took advantage of our recent ice storm who did friction experiments with the kids outside. They tested different "sleds" and "surfaces." They slid on ice and gravel and they used traditional sleds, carpet squares, and lunch trays. Another participant's students used their own bodies as inclines to roll balls down. Sweet. What everyone learned as they explored the concepts with their children was that they needed to allow they kids time to explore with the new materials they were introducing, whether it be rain gutters, cars, balls, marbles, trucks, sleds, trays, etc., before they began to talk about the concepts of pushes and pulls and friction. They all agreed that kids were able to come up with their own questions.
I have had so much fun exploring a science topic deeply with early educators and then listening to how they apply it with their children. I am so excited to see how the next group I bring this to in February uses the information with their kids. I hope it sparks these educators to bring inquiry into their classrooms on a variety of scientific topics.
If I Ran the School...Heh Heh
Oh, if only.
Of course, this would also have to follow me winning the lottery.
I would love to run a PreK - 3rd grade school that also had an onsite licensed childcare facility that operated for working parents.The child care could run independently of the the school, but share facilities like the playground and cafeteria. Ideally, we would be housed near a senior facility as well, so we would have more opportunities for interactions across generations. Parents would be welcome at the school any time. Hopefully, the school would feel as much like a community gathering place as a place where our children come to learn.
The school would have a covered outdoor area, so there would always be options for going outside, even when it rained. Schools in Washington State, where I worked for a year, had this and it was fabulous. Kids got recess, outside, no matter what the weather. The under cover area was stocked with basketballs, playground balls, riding toys, jump ropes, hula hoops, etc. There was also side walk chalk for four square and hopscotch.
Teachers in my school would have to be dedicated to teaching all children who come int he door, regardless of ability. All of my teachers would be expected to be up to speed on the how to plan their classroom space with universal design for learning (UDL) principles and to approach all of their teaching in this manner. Teachers would teach in teams and have trained support staff to help them. Everyone would be trained in and implement Positive Behavior Supports and the Center for Social Emotional Foundation for Early Learning's strategies for addressing challenging behavior in young children. The social-emotional curriculum in the school would be as important as the academic curriculum.
Other things that would be priorities in my school:
Of course, this would also have to follow me winning the lottery.
I would love to run a PreK - 3rd grade school that also had an onsite licensed childcare facility that operated for working parents.The child care could run independently of the the school, but share facilities like the playground and cafeteria. Ideally, we would be housed near a senior facility as well, so we would have more opportunities for interactions across generations. Parents would be welcome at the school any time. Hopefully, the school would feel as much like a community gathering place as a place where our children come to learn.
The school would have a covered outdoor area, so there would always be options for going outside, even when it rained. Schools in Washington State, where I worked for a year, had this and it was fabulous. Kids got recess, outside, no matter what the weather. The under cover area was stocked with basketballs, playground balls, riding toys, jump ropes, hula hoops, etc. There was also side walk chalk for four square and hopscotch.
Teachers in my school would have to be dedicated to teaching all children who come int he door, regardless of ability. All of my teachers would be expected to be up to speed on the how to plan their classroom space with universal design for learning (UDL) principles and to approach all of their teaching in this manner. Teachers would teach in teams and have trained support staff to help them. Everyone would be trained in and implement Positive Behavior Supports and the Center for Social Emotional Foundation for Early Learning's strategies for addressing challenging behavior in young children. The social-emotional curriculum in the school would be as important as the academic curriculum.
Other things that would be priorities in my school:
- Technology would be supported and working. Teachers would get the technology that they needed to support their philosophy and pedagogy. In order for this to be a reality, my school would need to have two competent full-time education technology support staff. Why two? Because one is never enough.
- The copy machine would work and be placed in a space that is available and does not interrupt instruction of nay students.
- There would be a teacher lunch room/kitchen that did not double as a storage space.
- The library collection would be up to date and the school librarian would both love to read to children and be knowledgeable about technology.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Post A Day Progress
I have managed to keep up with the Blog-A-Day challenge for all but one day. I also upped the anti on the challenge for myself. I try to keep this blog focused on classroom ideas and inclusive practices, so I try to twist each prompt to meet the goal of my blog. I think I have managed that on most days.
Since, in the real world, my goal for "All Together Now" is that I blog roughly once a week, I am not beating up on myself too much if I stray off topic for a post or two during this challenge. I don't think the picture out my window yesterday, or the contents of my backpack had much to do with teaching young children.
Anyhow, I plan to keep blogging the rest of the month and month and keep trying to spin it to my early education special education focus.
Rock on!
Since, in the real world, my goal for "All Together Now" is that I blog roughly once a week, I am not beating up on myself too much if I stray off topic for a post or two during this challenge. I don't think the picture out my window yesterday, or the contents of my backpack had much to do with teaching young children.
Anyhow, I plan to keep blogging the rest of the month and month and keep trying to spin it to my early education special education focus.
Rock on!
My Front Window
Winter is my favorite season. I was delighted to wake up to the blanket of snow this morning, so I am glad I am a day late with "Wordless" Wednesday.
My dog, Max, is looking out the window because he loves the snow as much as I do. If you look closely on the window, you can see all of his nose prints from waiting by that window for us to up the driveway back him.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Survive...
I hate to say it, but this week I want to survive with my class. I am embarking on a new life. I am teaching undergraduates instead of preschoolers and I am feeling overwhelmed, this, my second week of classes.
I know my stuff, but my stuff is not tightly organized into a coursework 16-week plan yet. I am trying to not become overwhelmed.
So, this week, I want to make 1:1 correspondence and seed studies fun with my my Early Childhood Math and Science students. I'm bringing in The Tiny Seed, One Seed, and The Carrot Seed. We're going to do an exploration of cutting open fruits and vegetables and sorting out some 13 (or 18) bean soup. We'll see where their inquiry brings us from there in the lab.
For 1:1 correspondence, we're going to play "The Shoe Game" where everyone takes off a shoe and tosses it in the middle of the circle. We pick a friend's shoe, find the match, and then say to that person, "Hello, ____. how do you do? I think that I have found your shoe." And then the person whose shoe it is responds politely, "Thank you, ____." In addition, I'll have 1:1 correspondence activity stations set up for the students to go through. My favorite is where I have poker chips, tennis ball puppets, and a die. They roll the die to find out how many chips to feed the puppet. When he gets full, I like to make him burp out all of the chips.
Will that cover three hours? I guess I'll have to throw in some Piaget and Vgotsky and a bit about inquiry and problem solving. Cheers!
I know my stuff, but my stuff is not tightly organized into a coursework 16-week plan yet. I am trying to not become overwhelmed.
So, this week, I want to make 1:1 correspondence and seed studies fun with my my Early Childhood Math and Science students. I'm bringing in The Tiny Seed, One Seed, and The Carrot Seed. We're going to do an exploration of cutting open fruits and vegetables and sorting out some 13 (or 18) bean soup. We'll see where their inquiry brings us from there in the lab.
For 1:1 correspondence, we're going to play "The Shoe Game" where everyone takes off a shoe and tosses it in the middle of the circle. We pick a friend's shoe, find the match, and then say to that person, "Hello, ____. how do you do? I think that I have found your shoe." And then the person whose shoe it is responds politely, "Thank you, ____." In addition, I'll have 1:1 correspondence activity stations set up for the students to go through. My favorite is where I have poker chips, tennis ball puppets, and a die. They roll the die to find out how many chips to feed the puppet. When he gets full, I like to make him burp out all of the chips.
Will that cover three hours? I guess I'll have to throw in some Piaget and Vgotsky and a bit about inquiry and problem solving. Cheers!
Monday, January 13, 2014
Sing and Move!
OK, this prompt is hittin' where I live. I love music that makes me get going. I have a list on my phone called "driving home" which is full of songs I can sing along to and get happy. I designed this list because I realized, before the list, I was listening to NPR and the news of the day and I was not shaking off the day before I got home. When I came into the house, I was still in work mode and not in, "Honey, I am home and happy to see you," mode. Since I changed to the list, I am different person when I come in the door. The news of the day can wait until Morning Edition. At the end of the day, driving home, it's all about winding down.
These songs make me SING!!!
1. Watershed - The Indigo Girls
2. Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
3. Fish and Whistle - John Prine
4. I've Just Seen A Face - The Beatles
5. Everyday I Write the Book - Elvis Costello
And, I recently started running. I ran/walked my first 5k (ever) in December. I still have a goal to run a whole 5k before 2014 is done. When I am running, these songs make ME move:
These songs make me SING!!!
1. Watershed - The Indigo Girls
2. Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
3. Fish and Whistle - John Prine
4. I've Just Seen A Face - The Beatles
5. Everyday I Write the Book - Elvis Costello
And, I recently started running. I ran/walked my first 5k (ever) in December. I still have a goal to run a whole 5k before 2014 is done. When I am running, these songs make ME move:
- Jai Ho - from Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack
- La Taberna Del Buda - Café Quijano
- Here it Goes Again - OK Go
- I'm Shipping it Up to Boston - Dropkick Murphys
- I'm Too Sexy - Right Said Fred (I know it is cheesy and inappropriate, but it is so fun to move to...I literally dance-run when it comes on my workout list)
- Bubble Toes - Jack Johnson
- Say Hey (I Love You) - Michael Franti
- Shake Your Tailfeather - The Blues Brothers (watch the movie scene on YouTube and teach the kids the moves...It's a BLAST!!)
- The Hoppity Song - John Ondrasik
- Mahna Mahna - The version by Cake (it's a phenomenal cover of the old Sesame Street Favorite).
Sunday, January 12, 2014
My Cubs Hat
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My Cub's hat has both practical and sentimental value. That is why it is my favorite article of clothing. Practical: It keeps the sun out of my eyes, which keeps my 4:00 pm headaches at bay. It keeps my hair back (otherwise, I am eating my errant strands). It keeps my head warm. It fits perfectly and is just the right weight, thickness, and shape for a baseball hat.
Sentimental: I love the Cubs, and this hat in particular. I became a loyal fan around the time I was 8 years old. I had a streak of going to Opening Day of 8 years in a row, until my unmissable Investigative Journalism class senior year of college broke the streak.(I did try to bribe my professor to move the class to the evening with my two extra tickets..no go.) I lived two blocks from the bleacher's gate for a year post-college and pre-graduate school. It was awesome. I think bleacher tickets were $5 then. Nothing makes me happier than riding by on the L heading North in the summer and seeing the W flag flying over the bleacher entrance, knowing the fans got to sing, "Go Cubs Go," before they left the game.
I have a bunch of baseball caps, but this is the one I love the most. It's my "go-to" cap when I get home and need to get my hair up to make dinner. As soon as the pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training, it's a staple for the season.
Go Cubs Go!
The Polar Express
I get choked up every year when I read The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg to my preschool students on the last day before we go on holiday break. So far, no one has told me that I cannot read a book that so blatantly celebrates Santa Claus and Christmas. I am careful to teach about all celebrations of all kinds of religious and ethnic traditions throughout my school year.
Anyhow, back to The Polar Express. The day before the holiday break is always "Pajama Day." Everyone, kids and staff, come in their Pj's. We make popcorn (see earlier blog on pressure experiments) and watch movies of Scholastic Books form authors we have studied in the fall.
Then, we play a little, like a regular preschool day. And, finally, we gather for the story. Before I read, and unknown to the kids, I have prepared really thick, warm, hot cocoa. It is waiting on a tray out of sight. I have also prepared one silver bell which is on two twisted, sparkly, red and green pipe cleaners in the shape of a circle. Those are hidden next to me in a bag. When I start the story we keep the lights low.
As I begin reading, and the boy in talking about how he is in his pajamas when the Polar Express arrived, I notice out loud, "Wow, we're all in our pajamas, just like the kids in the book." Next, the cocoa that is as rich as melted chocolate bars is served on the train in the book, and, voila!, my assistants begin serving the kids their hot cocoa. I love watching their faces light up.
When Santa appears in the book, I use my best and deepest voice for him. I add all of these extra, "Ho, Ho's" as he talks, even though they are not in the text of the book. I whisper an aside to the kids that Santa cannot not help but laugh while he talks...he really is that jolly.
The crux of the story is that the boy who is the narrator gets to choose the first gift of Christmas and he chooses one of the silver bells from one of Santa's reindeer's harnesses. Then, when Santa takes off and the kids all board the Polar Express to go back home, the boy realizes he lost the bell through of hole in his pocket. However, on Christmas morning, when he is opening presents, he finds a small package under the tree. It is the bell and there is a note from, "Mr. C." who said he found it on the seat of his sleigh.
According to the boy and his sister, the bell made the most beautiful ringing sound when they shook it. But, their parents thought the bell was broken. They couldn't hear the sound at all. The boy had come to learn that only those who truly believe in the magic of Christmas can hear the bell.
Then, as I finish the story, I ask the kids if they believe. And, then I pass out the bells and they test them to see if they can hear the bells ringing. It really does choke me up every time.
What is really amazing is that I am not a big celebrator of the holidays and Christmas. But, there is something about this story that gets me every time I read it to a group of kids. I think it has to do with that they are still in that part of their lives where they can believe in magic and anything is possible. I love their magical thinking and imagination and I like when I am able to bring that alive, if even just a little bit. And, the part of Christmas I do like is the part that we spend a month or so making an extra effort to be a little nicer to each other and to go a little out of our way to think about what others need.
Anyhow, back to The Polar Express. The day before the holiday break is always "Pajama Day." Everyone, kids and staff, come in their Pj's. We make popcorn (see earlier blog on pressure experiments) and watch movies of Scholastic Books form authors we have studied in the fall.
Then, we play a little, like a regular preschool day. And, finally, we gather for the story. Before I read, and unknown to the kids, I have prepared really thick, warm, hot cocoa. It is waiting on a tray out of sight. I have also prepared one silver bell which is on two twisted, sparkly, red and green pipe cleaners in the shape of a circle. Those are hidden next to me in a bag. When I start the story we keep the lights low.
As I begin reading, and the boy in talking about how he is in his pajamas when the Polar Express arrived, I notice out loud, "Wow, we're all in our pajamas, just like the kids in the book." Next, the cocoa that is as rich as melted chocolate bars is served on the train in the book, and, voila!, my assistants begin serving the kids their hot cocoa. I love watching their faces light up.
When Santa appears in the book, I use my best and deepest voice for him. I add all of these extra, "Ho, Ho's" as he talks, even though they are not in the text of the book. I whisper an aside to the kids that Santa cannot not help but laugh while he talks...he really is that jolly.
The crux of the story is that the boy who is the narrator gets to choose the first gift of Christmas and he chooses one of the silver bells from one of Santa's reindeer's harnesses. Then, when Santa takes off and the kids all board the Polar Express to go back home, the boy realizes he lost the bell through of hole in his pocket. However, on Christmas morning, when he is opening presents, he finds a small package under the tree. It is the bell and there is a note from, "Mr. C." who said he found it on the seat of his sleigh.
According to the boy and his sister, the bell made the most beautiful ringing sound when they shook it. But, their parents thought the bell was broken. They couldn't hear the sound at all. The boy had come to learn that only those who truly believe in the magic of Christmas can hear the bell.
Then, as I finish the story, I ask the kids if they believe. And, then I pass out the bells and they test them to see if they can hear the bells ringing. It really does choke me up every time.
What is really amazing is that I am not a big celebrator of the holidays and Christmas. But, there is something about this story that gets me every time I read it to a group of kids. I think it has to do with that they are still in that part of their lives where they can believe in magic and anything is possible. I love their magical thinking and imagination and I like when I am able to bring that alive, if even just a little bit. And, the part of Christmas I do like is the part that we spend a month or so making an extra effort to be a little nicer to each other and to go a little out of our way to think about what others need.
Friday, January 10, 2014
If I Won The Lottery...
It would have to the Mega Bucks and it would have to be a big Jackpot.
I would stop worrying about making money and I would use my lottery winnings to start some sort of foundation or PAC that would work on ways to get access to high quality preschool for all children. I would focus my energy on both strengthening the quality of the available early care and education programs, and making sure there is no barrier to access based on family circumstances.
If I had enough to take on a second cause, I would fight for family leave that makes sense. This would include paid maternity and paternity leave for up to nine months (and not at the same time), and strengthening the Family Medical Leave Law to include paid time off to care for sick family members.
Oh, and I would also spend a lot of time in Hawaii snorkeling and hanging out by lava vents.
I would stop worrying about making money and I would use my lottery winnings to start some sort of foundation or PAC that would work on ways to get access to high quality preschool for all children. I would focus my energy on both strengthening the quality of the available early care and education programs, and making sure there is no barrier to access based on family circumstances.
If I had enough to take on a second cause, I would fight for family leave that makes sense. This would include paid maternity and paternity leave for up to nine months (and not at the same time), and strengthening the Family Medical Leave Law to include paid time off to care for sick family members.
Oh, and I would also spend a lot of time in Hawaii snorkeling and hanging out by lava vents.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Favorite Part of My Classroom and Morning Routine
I'm cheating and combining Wednesday and Thursday in a desperate attempt to catch up on the #Kinderchat Blog-A-Day challenge.
Here is what I liked best about my classroom:
Here is what I liked best about my classroom:
Our back door opened out to the sledding hill. This led to our morning routine in preschool. In the winter, I coach the parents to send their kids all ready dressed in their winter gear and we start the day outside sledding on the hill. We can get a good 30 to 40 minutes of high energy gross motor time when the Vermont temperature cooperates.
Then, we go in and have the rest of our preschool day. The kids are really ready to buckle down and do the preschool routine. The best part is, we only have to help kids get their winter gear OFF. When they go home from preschool, they do not need everything.
That makes out morning routine go something like this:
1. Meet me outside for sledding as you arrive in the classroom.
2. Everyone helps put the sleds away after the "last time down the hill."
3. Line up and go back into the school.
4. Remove wet boots before we go into the classroom.
5. Take off snow clothes, jackets and put them away and change into indoor shoes
6. Wash hands
7. Do name writing practice
8. Choose an activity from the morning choice board
9. When everyone is ready, we have morning meeting.
Monday, January 6, 2014
Five Things in My Backpack
I have never been good at carrying a purse. I can do a wallet, a tiny wallet that hooks on my keychain and carries essentials: credit card (singular), ATM card, driver's license and a few bills cash.
I am a backpack girl.
And, in my backpack, I always have these five things:
1. Laptop: Don't leave home without it. I just got a shiny new Macbook Pro and it is slim and sleek and I love it. I am typing on it right now and loving every word it produces. While I have an iPad and it travels well, the laptop has the really important stuff: presentations, story ideas, blog ideas, and, sometimes, I just need a real keyboard to compose my thoughts,.
2. Pens: Lots of pens, because I leave them places and then need to replace them in my backpack. And, I always have purple on hand for grading papers, because I feel it is friendlier than red.
3. Extra Sunglasses: I keep a pair in the car, but always have a spare in my backpack. My eyes are incredibly light sensitive and my sunglasses have my distance prescription. I need them more in the winter, when the sun reflects off the bright snow, than I do in the summer. If I do not have them on a sunny day, I can almost guarantee I'll have a headache by 4 p.m.
4. Thumb Drive: Just in case I need to get information on the fly.
5. Headphones: Never know when the opportunity to tune the world out will come up and I can grab some "me" time and jam to Spearhead, Elton John, the Indigo Girls, or the Beatles. I don't want to pass up tha chance to keep building the soundtrack to my life.
I am a backpack girl.
And, in my backpack, I always have these five things:
1. Laptop: Don't leave home without it. I just got a shiny new Macbook Pro and it is slim and sleek and I love it. I am typing on it right now and loving every word it produces. While I have an iPad and it travels well, the laptop has the really important stuff: presentations, story ideas, blog ideas, and, sometimes, I just need a real keyboard to compose my thoughts,.
2. Pens: Lots of pens, because I leave them places and then need to replace them in my backpack. And, I always have purple on hand for grading papers, because I feel it is friendlier than red.
3. Extra Sunglasses: I keep a pair in the car, but always have a spare in my backpack. My eyes are incredibly light sensitive and my sunglasses have my distance prescription. I need them more in the winter, when the sun reflects off the bright snow, than I do in the summer. If I do not have them on a sunny day, I can almost guarantee I'll have a headache by 4 p.m.
4. Thumb Drive: Just in case I need to get information on the fly.
5. Headphones: Never know when the opportunity to tune the world out will come up and I can grab some "me" time and jam to Spearhead, Elton John, the Indigo Girls, or the Beatles. I don't want to pass up tha chance to keep building the soundtrack to my life.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Camelot and the Beatles
If I could live in any historical era, I would live in the US in the 1960's.
Technically, I was alive in the 60's, but I wasn't old enough to have an awareness of what was going on around me. And, I only spent my infant and toddler years in the 60's. I started preschool in 1971.
I have always felt like I missed the boat by being born in the latter part of the 60's and I would have liked to at least have been a teenager during that time.
Why? Why would anyone want to live through the tumultuous Civil Rights, Vietnam protests and the assassination of JFK? That decade shaped so much of what the world has become. While there were unsettling events, there were also some of the most amazing things happening. What I wouldn't give to have seen the Beatles perform together, live, anywhere, or to have been present at any one of Martin Luther King speeches. I wish I had been around to vote for Kennedy.
I probably would have been protesting the war, but I certainly would not have been at Woodstock. I may have tried to get myself to the Newport Folk Festival at least once. I may have gone to the Supreme Court the first Monday in October in 1967 to see Thurgood Marshall take the bench for the first time.
I would have been so much more aware of the the Moon Landing. I just can't remember it since I had just had my 2nd birthday when Neil Armstrong left the Eagle and walked on the Sea of Tranquility.
I have always wanted to experience the 60's first-hand, not as a documentary on PBS. While I know it is not to far out of my wheelhouse, I think it is the most interesting time in in our history.
Technically, I was alive in the 60's, but I wasn't old enough to have an awareness of what was going on around me. And, I only spent my infant and toddler years in the 60's. I started preschool in 1971.
I have always felt like I missed the boat by being born in the latter part of the 60's and I would have liked to at least have been a teenager during that time.
Why? Why would anyone want to live through the tumultuous Civil Rights, Vietnam protests and the assassination of JFK? That decade shaped so much of what the world has become. While there were unsettling events, there were also some of the most amazing things happening. What I wouldn't give to have seen the Beatles perform together, live, anywhere, or to have been present at any one of Martin Luther King speeches. I wish I had been around to vote for Kennedy.
I probably would have been protesting the war, but I certainly would not have been at Woodstock. I may have tried to get myself to the Newport Folk Festival at least once. I may have gone to the Supreme Court the first Monday in October in 1967 to see Thurgood Marshall take the bench for the first time.
I would have been so much more aware of the the Moon Landing. I just can't remember it since I had just had my 2nd birthday when Neil Armstrong left the Eagle and walked on the Sea of Tranquility.
I have always wanted to experience the 60's first-hand, not as a documentary on PBS. While I know it is not to far out of my wheelhouse, I think it is the most interesting time in in our history.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
When I Grow Up...
When I was little I wanted to be a veterinarian. I held onto this dream for so long that I even went so far as to choose Latin as my language in high school because I thought it would help me with the medical and animal terms I would need to learn later in veterinary school.
I can't remember when the dream died. I still love animals, and I have many that live with me, but I changed my focus to writing at some point in high school. I joined the newspaper staff my sophomore year and loved it. It was my reason for going to school. It was a pretty prestigious high school paper and I got state-wide and national awards. I even went on to major in journalism as an undergrad.
Every year in my preschool classroom, I compiled pictures and videos from the whole year and presented it on the last day as a DVD yearbook. Each parent gets a copy. One of my favorite parts of the video is when I ask the kids what they want to be when they grow up. Here is an example from one year.
I can't remember when the dream died. I still love animals, and I have many that live with me, but I changed my focus to writing at some point in high school. I joined the newspaper staff my sophomore year and loved it. It was my reason for going to school. It was a pretty prestigious high school paper and I got state-wide and national awards. I even went on to major in journalism as an undergrad.
Every year in my preschool classroom, I compiled pictures and videos from the whole year and presented it on the last day as a DVD yearbook. Each parent gets a copy. One of my favorite parts of the video is when I ask the kids what they want to be when they grow up. Here is an example from one year.
When I do this project, I let the kids say whatever they want. I don't want to influence it, even if what they say they want to be when they grow up is fairly unattainable (i.e. the butterfly). I have had so many thoughtful and interesting answers to this question over the years. For a while, there were a few kids who wanted to be a Power Ranger or Spiderman. One year, one boy said he wanted to be a volcanologist, which at the time I would say was true. He loved volcanoes (as do I, so he and I talked about volcanoes a lot that year). One girl wanted to be a dog. I must admit, that thought has crossed my own mind at times. They do have the life if they fall into the hands of the right owner.
Now, when I answer this question, as I often do for the video, I say that I want to be an astrophysicist. If I went back and did school all over again, that is where I would go. I love space exploration and the existential crisis I have every time I think of the vastness of the universe. And then I start thinking of string theory and the possibility of parallel universes and my mind explodes. I love it.
The truth is, though, I love being a teacher, whether it be of preschoolers, undergraduates, graduates, or professionals. No other profession allows me to delve into my many interests and passions as much. Though, arguably, I could have pursued many different interests in journalism by reporting on them, but you get there faster in the world of teaching.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Pressure
The best thing about 2013 for me personally was going to Hawaii and trying snorkeling for the first (but in no way the last) time.
But, with my students, my favorite part of 2013 was a number of science explorations that we did with pressure.
It started way back in December 2012, when we made popcorn the old fashioned way, in a popcorn popper, not a microwave. Unless they go the movies with any regularity, many young children no longer see popcorn popping because it comes from a bag in the microwave.
We read Tomie de Paola's Popcorn Book. and found out that the reason popcorn pops is because there is a tiny bit of water in each kernel. When the kernel gets hot in the oil in the pan, the water pressure builds as the water expands and turns to steam in the heat. We used the word pressure to talk about the water pushing so hard on the outside of the kernel that eventually it popped it open. While we watched the popcorn, we could see steam coming out of the top vent of the popper...more evidence that Tomie was telling it to us straight.
The next big pressure experience had to do with volcanoes (since I went to Hawaii). I brought back video from Hawaii of lava flowing in one of the vents on Kilauea. We were already talking about dinosaurs in the classroom, since it was a huge area of interest for the kids. We made a model volcano. First, I got a big plastic platter with a rim. I put a tall, skinny thick glass vase in the middle. We made home made play dough and built the mountain up around the tube. Last, we used modeling clay to make the outer layer, because it would not break down as quickly from repeated eruptions and lava flows. Then, just for fun, we put a bunch of plastic dinosaurs and trees at the base of the volcano.
Once the volcano was constructed, I put baking soda in the tube. Then the kids chose what color "lava" they wanted. We mixed food coloring and vinegar in a paper cup. If they chose a color that required mixing (like purple) we figured out which colors we had to mix. Then, each child in turn poured their cup of vinegar into the lava chamber and we watched the eruption. Most of the time the dinosaurs and trees got covered with lava.
Again, I was able to talk with them about how the middle of the earth is hot and, like the water in the popcorn, when the magma gets heated up, it gets pushed up by the pressure and causes the lava to come out of the volcano.
In the spring, we carried out the Mentos and Diet Coke experiment. I was able to get a Mentos geyser apparatus that fits on top of a Diet Coke bottle. It allows you to pull out a pin to drop the Mentos into the bottle with a minimum of stickiness. We learned that the reaction activates the carbonation in the Diet Coke. The gas builds up inside the bottle, putting pressure on the inside, and it pushes the soda up out of the top of the tube. We did this outside. Each time, we varied the number of Mentos that we loaded in to notice the difference in the height of the geyser.
The last pressure experience we had was making rockets. A parent of one of my former students is a amateur rocket builder. He helped all of the kids build their own rockets and we had an official "Launch Day" the second to last week of school. This way, we could, "blast off to kindergarten." In the classroom, we were talking about the night sky. The kids learned that the engine pushed hot air down with so much pressure that it pushed the rocket into the sky.
The whole school came out to watch us blast 18 rockets into the sky. The middle school kids acted as the recovery team, going into the field where most of the rockets came down to bring them back to the preschoolers.
But, with my students, my favorite part of 2013 was a number of science explorations that we did with pressure.
It started way back in December 2012, when we made popcorn the old fashioned way, in a popcorn popper, not a microwave. Unless they go the movies with any regularity, many young children no longer see popcorn popping because it comes from a bag in the microwave.
We read Tomie de Paola's Popcorn Book. and found out that the reason popcorn pops is because there is a tiny bit of water in each kernel. When the kernel gets hot in the oil in the pan, the water pressure builds as the water expands and turns to steam in the heat. We used the word pressure to talk about the water pushing so hard on the outside of the kernel that eventually it popped it open. While we watched the popcorn, we could see steam coming out of the top vent of the popper...more evidence that Tomie was telling it to us straight.
The next big pressure experience had to do with volcanoes (since I went to Hawaii). I brought back video from Hawaii of lava flowing in one of the vents on Kilauea. We were already talking about dinosaurs in the classroom, since it was a huge area of interest for the kids. We made a model volcano. First, I got a big plastic platter with a rim. I put a tall, skinny thick glass vase in the middle. We made home made play dough and built the mountain up around the tube. Last, we used modeling clay to make the outer layer, because it would not break down as quickly from repeated eruptions and lava flows. Then, just for fun, we put a bunch of plastic dinosaurs and trees at the base of the volcano.
Again, I was able to talk with them about how the middle of the earth is hot and, like the water in the popcorn, when the magma gets heated up, it gets pushed up by the pressure and causes the lava to come out of the volcano.
In the spring, we carried out the Mentos and Diet Coke experiment. I was able to get a Mentos geyser apparatus that fits on top of a Diet Coke bottle. It allows you to pull out a pin to drop the Mentos into the bottle with a minimum of stickiness. We learned that the reaction activates the carbonation in the Diet Coke. The gas builds up inside the bottle, putting pressure on the inside, and it pushes the soda up out of the top of the tube. We did this outside. Each time, we varied the number of Mentos that we loaded in to notice the difference in the height of the geyser.
The last pressure experience we had was making rockets. A parent of one of my former students is a amateur rocket builder. He helped all of the kids build their own rockets and we had an official "Launch Day" the second to last week of school. This way, we could, "blast off to kindergarten." In the classroom, we were talking about the night sky. The kids learned that the engine pushed hot air down with so much pressure that it pushed the rocket into the sky.
The whole school came out to watch us blast 18 rockets into the sky. The middle school kids acted as the recovery team, going into the field where most of the rockets came down to bring them back to the preschoolers.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
One Resolution for 2014
My one small professional resolution for 2014 is to get my blog up and going in a regular fashion, at least once a week, if not more. That is why I joined the challenge. I have to remember that I don't have to blog a huge article every time I post, and the prompts at #kinderchat are reminding me of that. I already have a bunch of great ideas bubbling in my head for when I get to blogging outside of the challenge. I am keeping a "notes" page on my phone for when ideas for subjects pop into my head.
My bigger professional resolution is to never miss an opportunity to talk about inclusion for children with disabilities. In Vermont, we have a lot of excellent inclusive practices, and children are included with their non-disabled peers in the regular classrooms at a high percentage, but there are still places that have separate classrooms for children with "intensive needs," and there are still children being taught a pretty separate curriculum in the back of the room or in a resource room with a para educator.
Ultimately, I would like "special education" to disappear because all teachers would learn to teach all children who come through their classroom doors.
My bigger professional resolution is to never miss an opportunity to talk about inclusion for children with disabilities. In Vermont, we have a lot of excellent inclusive practices, and children are included with their non-disabled peers in the regular classrooms at a high percentage, but there are still places that have separate classrooms for children with "intensive needs," and there are still children being taught a pretty separate curriculum in the back of the room or in a resource room with a para educator.
Ultimately, I would like "special education" to disappear because all teachers would learn to teach all children who come through their classroom doors.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
2014 January Blog-A-Day Challenge
So, as if I don't have enough going on in my life this month, I just saw this post on Twitter and I think I am going to use it to get my blog going.
The Kindergarten Scoop It blog aggregate site is giving prompts for each day of the month. Since I am not in a classroom anymore, I will post ideas I would have had when the prompt applies to the classroom.
Today's prompt is just to post a picture that represents 2013. It supposed to be wordless, but I have a difficult time not talking.
The Kindergarten Scoop It blog aggregate site is giving prompts for each day of the month. Since I am not in a classroom anymore, I will post ideas I would have had when the prompt applies to the classroom.
Today's prompt is just to post a picture that represents 2013. It supposed to be wordless, but I have a difficult time not talking.
This was a snow shoeing field trip that my preschool class took in February 2013. This photo represents the changes in 2013. This was my last group of preschoolers, since I resigned in June and moved into the Consulting, Training, and Higher Education world.
This field trip was such a challenge in many ways for the kids. For some, it was the first time they had ever been on snowshoes, so they had to figure out how to change their gate to traverse the trail in the woods. For others, they were challenged to work on the orienteering skills, following the blazes for the trail as we made our way through. And still others were in charge of looking for trees and animal tracks for the whole class to work on identifying. We took pictures and checked out field guides when we returned to the classroom.
I like that we are all together around a snowman we made when the trek was over. After we successfully made it through the woods, we still had enough energy and motivation to do a group project. I will miss being in a preschool classroom every day. This picture wraps that feeling up for me.
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