Why Boys Will Be Boys

Peg Tyre saw a 6 year old boy crying and was inspired. The boy was having trouble at school, not because he couldn't learn, but because he couldn't behave the way teachers wanted him to. "Mommy" he said, "I just can't be good!" He had brought home a laundry list of "misdeeds" that he had done at school, none of which included aggressive or malicious behavior. Mostly they concerned fine motor skills, attention, and activity. Based on research begun at Newsweek, in The Trouble With Boys, Peg Tyre has written the most comprehensive and useful book on teaching and raising boys I have ever read. She has actually inspired me to look into studying boys as a focus of my future research.

I couldn't begin to count how many boys I have seen achieve academic and social success in pre-k only to "fail" on both counts by the time they reach 3rd grade. I have seen success too, but often those boys have been from homes with one or two involved parents. Boys whose parents work two or three jobs, have lower educations, or who did not do well in school themselves, see their possibilities decrease with each grade level.

Here is the real story for you about why I love Peg Tyre's new book. I had a student in the 2003-2004 school year named Darion. He wasn't the easiest student to teach. His mother was physical and distant. He had a hard time grasping concepts the first time but, he was excited about learning. I actually have video footage of him asking for the class to conduct a repeated trial in a science experiment by saying, "Let's do it again, let's do it again!" He was engaged and he was on track academically when he left my class. Then he went to Kindergarten. He didn't progress so he had to repeat. At 7 years old he was "placed" in 1st grade. He progressed a little bit but not enough. So, he repeated 1st grade. Now he is in 2nd grade and he is 9 years old. Having seen more success socially out of school than in, he has begun to be pulled by the streets. And, he has begun to slip even farther behind. Currently he has a first year teacher. She is trying hard to give him what he needs but I'm not sure at this early stage in her career that she knows exactly what that is.
I asked him as he passed me in the hallway the other day, "Darion, you did so well in my class, how come you have so much trouble now?" He said, "Because, your class was fun."

It sounds sort of simple but, I think he made an excellent point. In my class we were dancing the alphabet, singing our numbers, jumping to count, making up silly songs, playing with language, and catching snow flakes on our tongues just because it snowed. We were loud and we were active. We also connected emotionally, through the teaching of communication skills and consistently caring interactions. I know Darion has a lot more going on than not getting to be loud and jump around in class, but what if that was all it took to get him engaged again? Wouldn't it be worth it?

I think Peg Tyre wrote this book for Darion. In it, she looks at our society from 10,000 meters up and close enough to see a boy's tear drop. She looks at the "trouble with boys" in our society from every angle one could possibly consider. She looks at their biology and their sociology. She looks at our educational system, our social systems, and our parenting. She even looks at the effects of No Child Left Behind on boys' achievement. Finally, she looks at how boys become men, how that has changed over time, and how it affects our society.

I think what I like most about Ms. Tyre's is book is her obvious passion for the subject. She is a mother of two boys and I can't help but think she wrote this for moms like her, who see their boys struggling and need this book to help them understand why.

Classroom Helpers

Most pre-k classes that I have seen have some version of "Classroom Helpers" or student jobs.  These jobs -- which may be anything from line leader to librarian -- help to instill students with a sense of responsibility and foster community within the classroom.  In my class, every student has a different job each week.  So far we've established that the:

Line leader walks at the front of the line and models appropriate hallway behavior
Caboose walks at the back of the line while making sure everyone stays with the group
Door holder walks second in the line and holds the door as we're walking in the hall
Meeting announcer rings the bells before morning meeting
Equipment manager carries (or distributes) materials for outdoors (e.g. chalk, balls, jump ropes)
Electrician turns the lights off when we leave the room
Timekeeper gives "half way done" and "almost time to stop" warnings during center time
Botanist waters the classroom plants
Lunch servers pass out lunch to their peers
Meteorologist reports on the weather each day

 

We introduced these jobs slowly at the beginning of each year, and took time to discuss the importance of each job.  For example, when we introduced the botanist, we discussed what real botanists do, what plants need to live, how we could help plants live in our classroom, and why we have plants in our classroom.  I explained that I am not very good at keeping plants alive (a true fact) and underscored the importance of the botanist's role in our classroom. 

I place a great deal of emphasis on classroom jobs, and by extension, so do my students.  Malik, in particular, loves to tell his family all about his job each week; the first time he was the line leader, his mom told me that he tried to lead the family everywhere they went! 

 

Every Monday morning, before we even get to the classroom, my students pepper me with questions about what their job will be. When they get to the classroom they immediately go to the carpet and read the "Helper Chart" to figure out their responsibilities for the week. This is a great opportunity to reinforce the importance of reading as a means to gather information, and it helps students recognize the names of their classmates. We currently have pictures next to each job title and student name, but as the year progresses we will take away the pictures of students so they are left to recognize their names in print independently. 

I'm always looking for new jobs to introduce into our classroom. Currently I'm planning on establishing a veterinarian, scheduler, and attendance counter later in the year. If you have other suggestions about jobs that you've used in your classroom, please leave them in the "Comments" section! 

"You get what you get and you don't get upset!"

I didn't realize what a tremendous effect such a simple phrase could have on my classroom!  Another pre-k teacher taught me this phrase over the summer, and I started using it this year with my students.  I explained it to them one rainy day before passing out materials for a bean bag toss: "Not everybody is going to get the same color beanbag, and you might not get the color that you want.  But that's okay, because 'You get what you get and you don't get upset!'"  We said it together, and I explained what "upset" meant. We talked about what you could do instead of getting upset (repeat the phrase, hope for a different color next time), and then I passed out the beanbags.  The effect was fabulous -- some students started to protest their color, but I reminded them of the phrase and they (sometimes begrudgingly) accepted it.  

  

Since that rainy day, we've continued to use the phrase with amazing success.  Last week, when we took a walk to the fire station, we had the opportunity to try on the firemen and women's reflective vests.  I was worried that my students would get upset about which vest they wore, but we repeated the phrase before distributing the vests, "You get what you get and you don't get upset!" I was proud to see that every single student was happy with the vest they got. Again its efficacy was tested during this week's center time.  Stephen started to get upset because Makiera had the doll he wanted.  He started to cry, then yelled “You get what you get and you don’t get upset!” and took another doll.  Repeating the phrase aloud (albeit a little too loud…we’re still working on that!), helped Stephen remember what he was supposed to do and prompted him to regulate his own behavior. 

 

These anecdotes illustrate the ultimate purpose of catch phrases such as this one – they are explicit, memorable explanations that teach students how to approach social situations and regulate their own behavior.  Students move from an adult reminding them of the phrase, to reminding themselves of the phrase, to eventually internalizing the message of the phrase and demonstrating the appropriate behavior naturally.     

 

Do you have any other catch phrases that help students in your classroom?  If so, please share them in the “comments” section so that we can all benefit!    

"Maybe it's more than the moon..."

People may think I am crazy, but I tend to believe the position of the moon affects my students.  Research says there is statistically no relation, but I must say, what happens the day before and the day after a full moon just feels different! 

 

The last full moon happened last week on Tuesday.  My students, now used to our routine and the expectations for our class, were just a little off.  What is most interesting to me is that by “off” I don’t mean “bad.”  Let me give a few examples, to set the scene!

 

Randall came in to our morning class and was walking towards the writing table to do his morning work.  He reached the table.  Pulled out his chair, walked around to the other side of the chair, and then just seemed to fall over!  Certainly balance and motor coordination are developmental.  However, Randall is able, on most days, stand on one foot for more than 15 seconds. 

 

Darren was working in dramatic play and was serving his friends some coffee and cookies when he found a broom, green sunglasses and began to walk around our room inviting people to come with him on “an amazing journey.”

 

Sarah, a very quiet student in our afternoon class, was calmly completing a puzzle on the carpet.  All of the sudden she was chatting to no one and eventually said to me, “Karissa, I think I forgot my brain at home!”

 

 

These stories just skim the surfaces of the funny, confusing and odd things that I witnessed last week.  Because researchers and scientist have not found a significant relationship between human behavior and lunar cycles, I will have to be satisfied knowing that my beliefs only play into age-old folklore. 

 

The beauty of pre-kindergarten students is, they are growing physically, emotionally and cognitively with each passing day.  As an adult, you never know where their inquisitive and imaginative minds will take you.  Just when you think you have figured it out…the moon is full again!

Google Maps meet Mr. Rogers Neighborhood - Web. 2.0 Pre-K

How do you teach kids their address? It is kind of a rote activity, but with some help from Web 2.0 tools, I was able to make it much more fun and effective.

Web. 2.0 tools have provided teachers tremendous opportunities to increase student achievement. Teachers in upper grades have an easier time of hugging those tools close than pre-k teachers because content is the key to their practice. At the pre-k level, process can be more important than content, so it is harder to see opportunities to expose 4 year olds to 21st century learning. The opportunities ARE there, though, and the more you look for them, the more you find them.  One of the traditional "subjects" or themes in pre-k is family and community.
Here is what happened: In my classroom, I have my computer hooked up to a big TV so that all my students can see the screen. I mentioned to my assistant that I looked up her address by "finding" it in google maps. I showed her how I looked up a school that was near her house and then I used google street view to "drive" to her house. I had dropped her off before and knew how to get there but didn't know the street or the address. She was amazed. Then the kids wanted to see my house. So I typed in my address. After that we were off on a virtual field trip around our neighborhood. Then we asked the kids to name their addresses. It was really exciting for my students to be able to see the landmarks in their neighborhood and tell me how to get their houses. Joseph shouted, "That's my house and that's Sinclair's house!" I asked Tiandra, because I thought she lived across from Iyonna, "Is that your house?" she shouted, "No that's not my house, I live next to the church!" So we "drove" down the street to the church. She said, "go that way!" I said, "Left or right?" using my hands to point. She said "Go right!" and there was her house. The activity built community because we all got see where we all lived and that it wasn't very far from each other. Maybe we will take a trip to Mr. Rogers neighborhood next week.

To go on virtual field trip through my students' neighborhood click here. Make sure to make it full screen for the full effect!
 

Early Childhood Education and Career Summit

Having worked as a pre-k advocate and a classroom teacher, I know that there is more than one way to influence the realm of early childhood education.  We need people on all levels -- national, state, local, and school -- to understand the benefits of pre-k and work relentlessly together to advance educational opportunities for our youngest children.  For this reason, I was truly inspired to attend the Early Childhood Education and Career Summit hosted by Teach For America and CityBridge Foundation this past weekend.

The summit was designed to help second year Teach For America early childhood corps members -- teachers who are in the final year of their Teach For America teaching commitment -- understand the myriad of ways that they can stay involved and influence early childhood education in the future.  We heard from expert teachers who have taken on leadership roles within their schools, policy experts who are working to close the achievement gap, education entrepreneurs who have developed creative strategies to increase student achievement, and an employee from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education who oversees early childhood education in Washington, D.C.  Additionally, we had the opportunity to learn from a Washington, D.C. school board member and council member, both of whom are tremendous supporters of pre-kindergarten education.

Hearing from such passionate advocates -- from teachers to policy makers -- was truly inspiring.  It was fascinating to hear how each person got "hooked on" pre-k, and how they've been working relentlessly to increase the quality of and access to pre-k for all 3 and 4 year olds in the country. 

 

This weekend put my daily work in the classroom into a broader perspective by reminding me of all that I can do, while still teaching, to help advance pre-k in Washington, D.C. and nationwide. Writing to my council member and school board member, participating in advocacy campaigns, and advocating for the needs of students within my school were just a few of the examples provided.

I'm energized to think beyond the classroom about how I can have the greatest effect on the educational trajectories of young children. Having high-quality teachers is one piece of the puzzle, but it's not the ultimate solution.  I firmly believe that to truly close the achievement gap, we need a "massive force of leaders who have the insight and conviction that comes from teaching in low-income communities" (Teach For America, Our Mission and Approach). 

I am only in my second year of teaching, and for right now, I believe that the best place for me is in the classroom.  I love helping my students discover and learn new skills, and I know that I am helping to close the achievement gap by sending my students off to four-year-old pre-k prepared with the social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language skills they need to be successful.  In the long term, regardless of what career path I ultiamtely take, my work will be guided by my experiences in the classroom and a commitment to the belief that all children deserve an excellent education. 

Parent's Night

As I have mentioned before, parents in our program are required to participate in a variety of activities. These objectives are outlined by the state of Minnesota in a comprehensive document called the Parent Education Core Curriculum Framework and Indicators. In addition to my day to day work as an early childhood educator, I also facilitate the parent education component for both of our school readiness classes.

Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to host a Parent Night at our school. I think some parents were confused. Many thought it was going to be an Open House or conferences with their child’s teacher. Imagine the surprise when they realized that this was a night just for them! My goals for this evening were simple. I wanted to bring parents together in a safe and supportive environment to allow them to share their hopes, dreams and concerns for their family. In addition, my goal was to help create and maintain a community of parents who would know and share with each other in the hall, in the parking lot and in their neighborhood.

Our agenda for the evening included a chance to write and share our hopes for our pre-kindergarten children. Several parents noted that they want a better education and a better life for their child than they had. Another common theme was a desire to raise children to be caring, respectful and generous people. It was amazing to hear the hopes of parents and see the walls and barriers, normally caused by socio-economic levels or cultural differences, be broken down. We ended the evening with a small group discussion time. Parents were invited to share things that their child likes about school, things they struggle with, what parents like about being a parent and what they struggle with as parents. There was laughter and tears amongst most of the groups. I was honored to be with a group of parents that care so much about their children and their family.

Based on the verbal and non-verbal feedback, the night was a success! I think it is always good when a dad says, “It’s been an hour?! Really? Can we stay longer?!” I hope to host at least three more events like this throughout the school year. It is a great way to model community to our children, and practice what we preach!

Creative Problem Solving

"I'm angry!" Stephen yelled and stormed out of the blocks center.
"No." Ana replied calmly as she rolled the toy fire truck back and forth on the floor.
"I want the fire truck!  I'm so angry!" Stephen yelled and stomped his feet.
Ana continued rolling the truck, and Stephen glared at her.
"Stephen," I intervened, "I can tell how mad you are because your arms are crossed and you're using a loud voice.  I'm proud that you used your words."
"But I want the fire truck!" Stephen yelled and tears started streaming down his face.

 

Learning how to identify and solve social problems can be challenging for young children.  In my classroom, we spend a great deal of time at the beginning of the year discussing, role playing, and practicing how you can identify and solve problems.  Students learn how to label and identify emotions in themselves and other people (e.g. "I know that you are frustrated because your eyes are scrunched and your body is tight."), which is the foundation of problem solving.  They then learn what they can do to solve problems: calm themselves down, use words to explain what happened, and generate possible solutions.

Today, Stephen demonstrated some tremendous progress in terms of social problem solving.  At the beginning of last year when Stephen was angry, he would kick, hit, scream, and cry.  He did not know how to label his own emotions, and he had trouble taking the perspective of other people.  In this anecdote, Stephen is clearly able to label his own feelings, and, while his response is not ideal, it does keep everybody safe.  I took this brief "teachable moment" as a time to use physical and verbal cues to discern his feelings, and reinforce all his hard work.

From there, we were able to transform Stephen's frustration into a literacy activity.  I knew Stephen needed to distance himself from the fire truck and engage with different materials, so I suggested that he write Ana a note to tell her how he was feeling.  Stephen got excited about this idea, and quickly sat down to write.  "How do you spell Ana?" he asked.  I showed him her name tag, and he copied it correctly.  We then thought about what he wanted to tell her, and he decided on, "Let me play with that all by myself." We counted the words in his sentence and I wrote one line on his paper to represent each word.  Then Stephen began sounding out the message. He ended up with, "L M P W d o b msAf," -- essentially wroting the beginning sound for each word in his message, plus some middle and ending sounds in "myself."  He signed his name at the bottom, and we reread the message together. 

 

Stephen walked back over to the blocks center and proudly reread his note to Ana.  He gave her the paper, and she handed him the truck. Both students were happy, and they each learned a great deal in the process!

Pre-K as Equalizer

Public preschool has played a large part in the role of education as an equalizer for social injustice. Lyndon Johnson’s war on poverty created Head Start as a major battalion in an effort to address systemic poverty in America. Since 1965 Head Start and other targeted pre-k programs have consistently shown their benefit to the at-risk students they serve and on a larger scale to society. But, school has become less about social leveling and more about business-like effectiveness and efficiency. It is this focus on business-like efficiency that has made the debate about funding preschool an argument of cost to the state instead of benefit to the child. In tough financial times, the public wants to fund programs that “pay off.”

In the past 20 years, the nation’s economic landscape has changed. The median family income rose mostly due to middle class families moving from one paycheck to two with less time for quality interactions with children. The increase in single parent families has also contributed to the influence of child care on families and schooling. The quality of child care outside the home ranges widely. As a result, children enter kindergarten with large gaps in their prior knowledge, social skills, and experiences. State and local communities have a fundamental obligation to ensure that every student has the opportunity to fulfill his or her greatest potential by entering school ready to learn. This obligation applies not only to poor students or to rich students, but to all students. The three purposes of preschool are to increase cognitive skills, school readiness, and social and emotional development in children ages 3-5 years old. All three areas contribute to the child’s aptitude for success and the quality of future human capital available to the state and the nation.

Georgia, Oklahoma, and Washington D.C. have made bold commitments to every child’s future by adopting Voluntary Pre-K. America needs to make a similar statement about all of its children. Every child matters and every child should have the opportunity to start from the same starting line, to come to school fundamentally ready to learn. It is not fair that the poor must start from behind the educational starting line because of the effects of poverty. Nor is it fair that disparity is created because high Socio-Economic Status (SES) students start the race farther ahead. Should we hold back the high SES students in order for the low and middle SES students to catch up? Will the achievement gap ever close completely? Maybe not, because the rich will always seek advantages for their children, just as poor parents seek advantage (or more precisely, equity) for their child when they sign up for a state or federally funded pre-k program, and as the middle class scramble to find high quality services they can afford. It only makes sense to move every citizen up to the highest level of readiness we can before the race starts in order to create a fairer system.

Image from: http://www.nccp.org/topics/earlycareandlearning.html

Federal Agenda for School Readiness

This week, I was attempting to open the video link to a recent Congressional Briefing on “America’s Pre-K Movement” when, sadly, my computer decided it cannot read such applications!  Thankfully, Pre-K Now had other publications to reference on the same page.  I am sure this is old news to some, but I had not read “School Readiness: A Federal Agenda in Support of Pre-Kindergarten Education,” published in 2007.  I found many of the ideas and proposals to be helpful and consistent with what pre-k supporters in MN are trying to work towards.

So much of this information is frustrating to read because, on paper, support for early learning seems so easy and so crucial to the success of our society.  However, as most things go, money and priorities often play key factors in the success of an idea.  There were three main aspects of this agenda that stood out to me.  These large, but manageable, concepts are worth the investment by our federal governing body:

First of all, I agree that pre-k has a place within the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act), otherwise known as No Child Left Behind.  It only makes sense that as access to pre-kindergarten education grows, support from a governing body is necessary.  It is important to note that the field of early childhood education is very different than that of an elementary or secondary school setting.  Provisions must be made in the areas of assessment and academic learning.  Students at the pre-k level must be “assessed” in ways that are developmentally appropriate and consistent with a curriculum that teaches to the whole child.  For example, a milestone for a 4-year-old who has never been in a classroom setting is learning how to use words to share a toy with a friend.  This type of social and emotional development is what will truly prepare students for a lifetime of learning.

Second, the agenda speaks to the use of Title I money to fund pre-k programs within public systems. “ESEA could significantly impact alignment, provided that increased funding is also forthcoming, by changing the language in Title I to permit any publicly-funded pre-k program at the state or local level to use Title I funds for pre-k if they choose.”  This seems to be the most sound investment of these funds.  Currently, many school systems are using Title I funding to assist in remedial teaching.  Investing this money in pre-kindergarten programs allows preventive and supportive strategies to take place during the formative years in hopes that remediation is not necessary later on.

Finally, a growing challenge in the pre-k arena is the growing number of English language learners.  The agenda proclaims, “Title III language instruction program for English language learners should be opened to pre-k students or it should be made more explicit in the law that this is permissible.”  It is important to use best practices with language acquisition.  Pre-kindergarten students and their teachers need the support of a rich curriculum that incorporates various language modalities.  These strategies are complicated because the vocabulary base for many pre-k students is small and they lack exposure to literacy-rich environments.  Access to funding will help support our most challenged learner.

It is crucial to the future of our society that time and money are spent on our youngest learners.  But, more importantly, our law makers and citizens need to practice patience and have hope for the future.  The idea behind a good investment is that over time it yields a profit.  The same is true with our pre-kindergarten students.  The support we give them now will encourage their positive involvement in our world in the years to come.