Special shout-out to Dr. Dartt and the rest of my ECE class. Hope this semester is off to an amazing start :)
Today I played hookie (shhh....Don't tell my boss) and took a little "me time" and did some of my favorite things. Being a Pre-K teacher and being around young children gets to you a bit when you are still spiritually healing; so why not take one of your PTO's. Other countries do it, so should we :)
Of course I had to do a little retail therapy and found myself catching the semi-annual sale at Victoria Secret finally (Gotta get ready for V-Day 😉), got my nails and feet done, and finally settled down for lunch and some good reads at Barnes and Noble.
Which would be a FANTASTIC segway into tonight's blog.
Anyone who knows me knows I love reading. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always had an affinity for reading. I rembwr up until seventh or eighth grade my mother would buy me Nancy Drew books for Christmas and I was just has happy as the kid next door that recieved the newest PlayStation system. Reading has always been my gateway to another world and, quite frankly, adventures I wish I had.
Everytime I read, I have this outerbody experience where I visualize the setting, characters, the movements, the dialogue, everything plays out like a small film in my mind and the words direct each page. I have always been a fan of the romantic genre (of course) and have grown to like a bit of mystery and adventure of late- one of my favorite books of all time being "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" that embodies the romance, suspense, noir, and adventure that I get quite a thrill out of when reading. (Anyone who has NOT read the book, read it. And if you watch the film, don't watch the crap English version. The Swedish version is the best)
Well, today I decided to switch it up and learn more about my craft as an educator. Being new to the early childhood field, I want to learn and absorb as much as I can to better serve my students. So.....*drum roll*.....I got a little busy and read a few of the following:
As I was reading, I began to reflect on how I can make social change starting when children are young. I talk a lot about my experience with my older babies (yes, they will always be my babies) and this it because I have watched them grow and mature from the lessons inside and outside the classroom. However, a lesson you teach a child at ten is not the same lesson you teach a child at three; so how can I differenciate my approach????
Kozol had a chapter in his book where he specifically talked about Early Childhood and how low-income families do not get the quality resources or early childhood education as their counterparts to begin their children off on their quest towards quality education. (Sounds vaguely familiar from the video clip from this week 😊😊😊)
Well, one of my favorite quotes is the following:
"Tell me, I forget. Teach me, I remember. Involve me, I learn" - Ben Franklin
I wrote this quote in every classroom I teach in and I ask my kids what it means. Their response is all the same, " they want to be included in the learning process".
I feel like we as educators, and even just as adults in general, feel like we are the experts in knowing how children should be taught and what they should learn in order to be successful; and to an extent I agree. I'm not going to argue with a toddler about why they can't eat seven pancakes just because they want to. I know seven pancakes is not good for you, even if you may not understand it right now.
However, asking a toddler what they want for breakfast is something I would do because they are intelligent and astute enough to associate the time of day with what is traditionally eaten around this time. Maybe today they want pancakes. Tomorrow they want cereal. Next week, French toast. Just because I want something for my toddler, does not mean the toddler does and that is where the disconnect comes into play. There needs to be more conversation, more dialogue, and more student-led/centered learning.
Children are little people (clumsy, silly, loud, and sometimes dirty little people) and they have ideas of their own. Children are natural creative thinkers that see the world on a different spectrum than we do as adults. Their creativity, imagination, and spark of interest is what field their desire to grow and learn all that they can. Why not help foster that instead of stifle it?
Working in the traditional school system has shown me that our current education system is too bent on testing material instead of teaching it. Children want to learn-I have my eigth graders excited for their test review in my History class- but that spark and curiousiry gets lost when the delivery grows monotone and authoritarian.
Taking a students question and helping them DISCOVER the answer is much more rewarding than teaching it out of a book. My approach to how I can bring about social change at a young age is to bring out my kid's interests and revolve my concepts and ideas around those focal points; even taking those points a step further to ideas they hadn't even considered.
Especially dealing with urban education (which is its own beast), having a dialogue with the children not only shows that they are heard, but it builds trust and ultimately a mutual respect (which is something any teacher who has taught in the inner-city knows they need)
My goal as an educator is to smoothly transition into early childhood and adjust my teaching strategies to a younger audience to where I feel like I am actually teaching and not "babysitting". I want to create lessons plans where I can teach a two year old the the it's OK that the sky and her best friend's hair is blue; or a three year old that hitting his friend Timothy isn't nice while also teaching him that only sitting next to Billy and not Henry because Henry is different than you is wrong.
I literally just started this journey and I have much to learn and digest in order to sharpen my skillset but I am confident and prepared.
Until next time!
Chanel
(I attached some cute photos for your viewing pleasure)
Pictures of some of my students in a few of my teaching adventures 🤗🤗🤗
My 7th grade boys building a mock Dakota Pipeline to test to see if the oil is capable of passing over a large body of water without ruining the Sioux Tribe water supply. (It wasn't btw 😉😉😉)
My 5-6th graders in Shouguang, P.R.C excited to video chat with my peers from America during "Post Cards to America Week.
I enjoyed reading your post and learning about you. I want to wish you much success as an early childhood educator. Early Childhood Education is a rewarding career. I enjoyed looking at your pictures. I can tell children are your passion. As an assistant director, that is what I tell my staff that they need to build a rapport with the families and children so that they feel valued and respected. I love your blog background.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. I can see you have a great passion for children.
ReplyDelete