Growing Up

Spring has officially sprung here in Washington, DC, and alongside the budding flowers and foliage are my growing pre-kindergarten students.  In addition to their newfound passion for gardening brought about by our dramatic play "Garden Shop" and the warmer weather, they're also expressing a keen interest in the lives of grown-ups as of late.

 

From what I can tell, it all started about two weeks in our classroom "Garden Shop."  My students had been using the dramatic play space exactly as I intended; working as cashiers, associates, and customers, and purchasing seeds and flowers to plant in our classroom "garden."  But one afternoon, I noticed that Aaliyah and Jose were sitting under the table in the shop holding a bouquet of flowers.  "What are you doing?" I asked genuinely curious to hear more about their play. "Me and Jose are getting married!" Aaliyah replied excitedly.  "Oh, what happens when you get married?" I asked, again curious to get more information.  "You sit under the table and hugggggg!" Aaliyah again exclaimed.  After addressing the issue of safety related to sitting under the table, we talked about ways that they could extend their theme of "marriage" while playing in the Garden Shop.  Aaliyah and Jose stayed in the flower shop for the rest of center time, working cooperatively to buy tools and plants for their house.

 

I was impressed with the complexity of their play, but thought it would end when center time ended that day.  However, Aaliyah and Jose quickly proved me wrong; they continued to refer to one another as "husband" and "wife" throughout the rest of the week!  They sat together at lunch, played together at recess, and were quick to help each other solve problems throughout the day.  They even acquired several children!  Within a day, Ana and Suniah were their "daughters" and Malik was their "son."  The intensity of their play was remarkable! 

 

While I thought this was a funny anecdote and I'm curious to see how long this play scenario will last, it also represents the tremendous developments that my students have made throughout the year.  In the fall, most of my students, especially Jose and Malik, primarily engaged in parallel play with their peers (i.e. playing alongside them with the same materials, but not interacting with them).  But, as the year has gone on, they've learned how to ask friends to play and interact with them.  In May, the progress they’ve made has become even more evident. Their ability to enter and remain engaged in complex play is apparent in their imaginary, growing family and prolonged play scenario.  The skills of developing a play theme and carrying it through an entire week, across different contexts and parts of the day, is tremendous.  There's no more denying it; my students are officially growing up. 

A Real Life Story Problem

Math was never a favorite subject of mine.  I think it stems back to a difficulty with story problems throughout my elementary school years.  I attended a Math Institute this past week put on through the MN Department of Education.  I am pleased to say that we are incorporating many of the strategies in our classrooms already – always a good sign!

 

What was more interesting was to look at standards for mathematics at the early childhood level.  There is a slight difference in our state standards, or Early Childhood Indicators of Progress, and those put out by NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children). 

 

As we discussed these standards and indicators of progress, our group was split pretty evenly.  One third of the programs represented were required to follow the standards and assess students to show progress.  One third used these indicators as a guide for their curriculum and used their own assessment model.  The final third were learning about these standards for the first time, although they include most of them in the programming already. 

 

As our state gets closer and closer to mandates related to Early Childhood Education, it will be interesting to see how programs respond to new or more strictly enforced standards.  Our director is currently researching curriculums, programming options and student contact time.  Quality rating systems are starting to play a role in funding and the choices parents have for early childhood opportunities. 

 

So now the story problem reads like this: 

 “Karissa is a teacher in an urban setting.  She has been told her 20 students need to show progress in all the areas of mathematics or her school will receive 3 stars instead of 5.  90% of her students start school without any knowledge of the English language and they have 6 hours of contact time a week due to budget cuts.  What would you do next?”

Yoda vs. Piaget: Creativity and Recipes

Sometimes I think of the teaching I do as training creative Jedi. Just think of me as Yoda for the pre-k set. "Trust yourself Luke. Use your creativity!" From 3- 5 years old, children experience a burst of creativity. Children are able to move from their imaginations to the real world seamlessly. It is the last outpost for the imagination. When kids get in kindergarten they start to hear adults first, and then their friends say, "I can't draw." "I'm not creative." "I can't sing." Then they doubt, "Can I sing? Am I creative? I want to fit in with my friends, and none of them are creative, I should probably not be creative either." Piaget may have accidentally set this up by describing the pre-operational stage of development in which young children perceive the world through their imagination, as hierarchically lower than the concrete operational stage. It is as if a child who sees the world for what it is, (4 apples is 4 apples no matter what shape they are in) should not see the world for what it could be, (4 apples cut in to 8 pieces and boiled can be applesauce).

Why isn't creativity important in our schools? The easy answer... it is hard to test. Concrete understanding of the world is easy to test. If you don't know that 4 apples are 4 apples, then you don't get it.

There are some rubrics that attempt to judge creativity, but in general, much of our appreciation for creativity, like her sister beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. In a recent discussion about creativity with someone on the decision-making side of the education game, I asked why creativity isn't considered a school readiness indicator. The response was, "It is the only indicator of school readiness that was deemed unreliable in several states." It was also said that many teachers are not creative enough to recognize creativity even if it bit them in the patootie. (Well that isn't what was said, but it is close enough.) Why don't we expect teachers to be creative? Why don't we expect children to be creative?

On the dinner table of school, creativity is often considered the frosting on the cake. However, in life outside of school, it is often the difference between a home cooked meal and fast food. In "real" life, ie. life outside of the socially constructed definition of school, creativity is what makes things happen, from finding cures for diseases to selling everything we know. We can't test the future ability to find a cure for cancer. To borrow a metaphor from my wife, in schools, we only test if kids know the recipe, not if they can cook.

Here is my question... Why?

Why aren't some teachers able to recognize creativity when they see it? Why isn't creativity taught as a skill?
Any art teacher can tell you that much of making art has more to do with experimentation with and mastery of materials, than with innate talent. We expect this in language arts, so why not in life? If we can teach kids the creative writing process, why can't we teach them the creative living process? If we are going to survive the "unknown" future, we are going to need new ways of looking at problems to meet those challenges. If everybody knows the recipe but nobody knows how to cook, how are we going to live, much less live well?

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Understanding Patience

I heard an interesting statement today: 

 

“If you have an understanding of where a student is at developmentally, there is no need for patience.”

 

Typically I would consider patience, or the lack thereof, a primary emotion felt among teachers of young learners.  But this statement got me thinking…I wonder if you can understand where a child is at developmentally and still need the grace of patience. 

 

At first I was offended.  Teaching early learners is one of the hardest, most beneficial, most rewarding and most difficult ages to teach.  I was appalled to think that this presenter, one of our “own,” would dare to mention that patience is not a virtue most pre-kindergarten teachers hold.  Our world in early childhood revolves around the process of doing and experiencing everything around us.  This requires expectations, planning, the ability to have steady perseverance, and a quiet and diligent demeanor towards those in your care.  

 

However, I began to think about the actuality behind this complex statement.  I do agree that it is important to understand the development of our learners.  It is important to recognize not only the age appropriate benchmarks of a particular growth area but also to contextualize and familiarize oneself with the lives of their students.  I need to know where my students are coming from, where they are and where they hope to go.  For example, it is crucial that I am aware and understand the fact that one of the families I work with is going through a terrible divorce that is causing some emotional and behavioral challenges at school.  But it is hard for me to separate this understanding with the visceral act of practicing patience with that child.  I feel that the process of understanding in itself takes lots of patience! 

 

I wonder what our readers think about this interesting conundrum? I have the gift of understanding and patience and I feel it is my job as an educator to share and model both of these life skills. 

 

It definitely got me thinking.

 

Botanists, Backhoes, and Brilliant Connections

In 1995, Betty Hart and Todd Risley published Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children, a book that closely examines how experiences within children's first few years of life can impact their life trajectories for years to come.  Using data collected from families at a variety of income levels, they learned: 

  

"...the average child on welfare was having half as much experience per hour (616 words per hour) as the average working-class child (1,251 words per hour) and less than one-third that of the average child in a professional family (2,153 words per hour)...In a 5,200-hour year, the amount would be 11.2 million words for a child in a professional family, 6.5 million words for a child in a working-class family, and 3.2 million words for a child in a welfare family. In four years of such experience, an average child in a professional family would have accumulated experience with almost 45 million words, an average child in a working-class family would have accumulated experience with 26 million words, and an average child in a welfare family would have accumulated experience with 13 million words."

Excerpted from The Early Catastrophe: The 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3 (Hart & Risley). 

Over thirty million words! Children in professional families have experience with over thirty million more words than their peers in low income families.  Just stop for a minute and think about the implications of those different qualities of experiences!  

  

As a pre-k teacher in a low income community, I know that I cannot close the word gap alone.  John wrote a post in November that alluded to this same conclusion, and I completely agree with him.  That being said, however, I have found some relatively simple ways to help my students build their vocabularies at school.  Starting from the first day of school, our classroom is flooded with rich vocabulary words.  We have a "botanist" who waters the plants, an "equipment manager" who takes our balls and chalk outside, and a "meteorologist" who checks the temperature.  We build "gigantic" towers with blocks, do "phenomenal" work with patterns, and make "brilliant connections" to books.  My students are inundated with new words throughout the day, and because they are presented in a meaningful context, my students quickly learn the meanings of these words and are able to use them in conversation.  Just last week Mayala complemented Makiera on the "beautiful, gigantic house" that she built with blocks.   

  

In addition to these natural contexts, I also make a point to teach new vocabulary words associated with our thematic units.  Last month our theme was "Measure Up!" which focused on building, measuring, and construction. My students learned about backhoes, graders, screwdrivers, pulleys, blueprints, and more.  I taught the words initially through books -- we read Dig by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemsha when we learned about backhoes -- and then reinforced the newly learned words throughout our classroom.  In this example, we had toy backhoes in our blocks center and sand table, pictures of backhoes in our blocks center, and several nonfiction books about backhoes in the library.  I took a picture of a construction site near my house and we found the backhoe in the picture, and we practiced acting like backhoes (pushing with one arm and scooping with the other) during morning meeting.  By the end of the unit, all of my students could identify backhoes and describe their function.  While I unfortunately can't go into quite this much detail for every vocabulary word, I always make it a point to bring up new words in their natural contexts and help my students understand the meanings of those words.   

  

The socio-economic realities of the word gap are impossible to overcome alone. But every time I hear Makiera explaining how a "bud blossoms into a flower," and Aaliyah calling her friends to use their "magnifying glasses to look at insects" I know that I've made an irreversible dent in the right direction. Hight quality pre-k will not solve the word gap, but providing children with access to a language rich pre-k experience will significantly improve their language and school readiness skills.

How to Choose a Preschool

It's the time of year when many parents must make decisions about what preschool or day care setting to choose for their child in the fall. There are a bunch of resources out there including: education.com , babycenter.com, and greatschools.net . Great Schools is particularly good because it includes parent reviews and public and private preschool options. All of these sites and many more will give you sound advice, most of it based on the same body of research.

I want to offer something a little different, based on my experiences as a teacher and a parent. So here are my tips for choosing a preschool from "the inside."

Step 1: Talk to your neighbors. Most advice sites suggest looking at distance, transportation and cost first when choosing a preschool. I am not sure that is the best way to make the best choice for your child. One great way to find a good school is to spend time in your neighborhood at playgrounds and community spaces talking to parents. If you are more Web 2.0 you can also put out a general request for advice on a social media venue like facebook, a blog, or a parenting message board. I suggest these things because the most reliable and perceptive information is going to be gained from someone who has had their child actually IN the school. Before making a decision based on your new friend's advice, figure out if she/he has a similar parenting style to your own. After all, the permissive parent who expects their kid to break a bone or two in childhood is going to have a different perception of what makes a good school than someone who expects their child to where a helmet every time they get on a big wheel.

Step 2: Go to the school. Look for creative projects that show individual decision making by children. Look for well-organized and defined areas of interest. Look for print on the walls and storage containers that are labeled. Ask about the daily schedule, school philosophy, teacher child ratios, etc. This is all important information. Especially the question about teacher/child ratio. National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has its recommendations and states have requirements documented by National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) but you really need to find out what a phrase like 1-10 or 1-12 ratio means. I worked in a daycare for a short time where the teacher/child ratio was 1-12. Having worked as a substitute in the public schools, I thought that meant 1 adult and 12 kids. In public school settings, the decision about staffing is made based on potential number of students who will be in a room, not the actual number at a particular time. What did this mean? In the daycare I worked at, 1 - 12 meant that you were by yourself no matter how many kids you had until the "second" adult came in at 10:00 a.m. From about 8:45 - 10:00 there were usually 24 kids in the room.

Asking detailed questions is the best way to find out the answers you need. Another really important question to ask during this meeting is: "What curriculum does your school use? Some schools use specific curriculum like High/Scope or Creative Curriculum. Others have an overarching philosophy that guides the curriculum like Montessori or Waldorf. Schools with this type of integrated philosophy/curriculum are more than willing to tell you all about how children are learning in their classrooms. However, most use a teacher-created curriculum which can mean everything from printed worksheets to making mud babies that grow grass hair. Make sure you understand how decisions are made about what your child will be doing at school. It is not the form of the curriculum that counts, it's the content. Would you want to spend all day filling out forms? This is what some worksheet driven curriculum amounts to; busy work.

Step 3: Ask "What if?" questions. This is how you can really tell if a director knows what is happening in their classrooms. Here are a few good ones. What happens if one child needs more attention because of behavior than all the other children? What if there are two needy kids? What what would happen if my child bit another child? Not that your child will actually bite another child but they might get bit and you want to know how this type of incident is handled. Finally, ask what is the best and worst thing about your school? This could be the most important question you ask because it tells you what a schools' priorities are.

Step 4: Spend time in the classroom (with your child if possible). When you do this you will not necessarily see what it will be like in the classroom on a daily basis. What you can see, if you look closely, is the space between a school's philosophy and practice. In many preschools parents are told that children are nurtured and cared for but, what happens if a child interrupts an adult conversation? Is the child acknowledged, ignored, rebuffed, or listened to? Is there a general sense of joy or fear? Does it seem like the children are pushing limits or comfortable with their expectations? Most importantly listen to how and how often the teachers interact with the children. Does the teacher participate in conversations with kids that include more than 2 exchanges? What is the content of the conversation? Are the teachers at the childrens' level or do the interact from across the room. All of these questions shed light on what a preschool is like on the inside, in its heart.

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Open Choice Time

 

This year we were lucky to have two sections of School Readiness in our building.  One of the best parts of this was the ability to work cooperatively with the other class and teacher.  During our last weeks of school, we decided that once a week we would allow our students to play together during choice time. 

 

This was a great opportunity to practice playing with new friends, respecting another classroom and teacher, and most of all, it gave our students a higher level of responsibility.  I was impressed!  These days went very well.  Socially, our students were using the skills we have been working on throughout the year.  I heard people introducing themselves, asking friends to play and using their words to solve problems. 

 

One of the boys in my class has been removed from his classmates throughout this year.  He is one of the older students in my class and is more advanced academically.  I have been working with him one on one and in small groups to help challenge him.  It wasn’t until he meet two boys in my colleague’s class that he wanted to participate socially with his peers at school!  It has been rewarding to watch him strike up conversation, play cooperatively and enjoy himself at school. 

 

He has thanked me many times for letting him go to the other class.  He said, “I have the best friends in the whole world.”  However, most of the time he follows that with a more somber, “and I won’t see them ever again.” 

 

This comment made me think about the fact that I really have no control over who is in my class.  Hopefully, we will continue these community-building activities so our students can find someone they connect with and use the social skills we teach and model everyday.  Practicing and participating in this social and emotional development in the key to not only kindergarten readiness but a lifetime of great communities.

 

Field "Experience"

Last Wednesday, we had the wonderful opportunity to take a field trip to an indoor playground in a neighboring town.  When you live in a place like Minnesota where it seems like spring will never come, you have to do what you can to get moving!  Thankfully, our special education department was interested in coming with us and, therefore, we could save on the cost of busing and admission. 

 

First of all, we had a great day, with no major incidents!  Everyone remembered our rules, played safely and enjoyed their time on the playground.  More importantly, this opportunity was invaluable to my students on so many levels. 

 

Our program is a drop-off/pick-up class.  We are not able to offer any transportation.  Because of this, for most of my students, this was their first time on a school bus.  We spent a lot of time before this trip talking about bus safety.  We made bus safety books and of course, loved singing The Wheels on the Bus.  I suggested that we make up our own verses that would help us remember the rules.  Some of my students came up with, “The people on the bus sit right down,” and “The driver on the bus says, 'Quiet, please!'” 

 

The opportunity to ride the bus was almost as exciting as the time at the playground!  It was also great to have a chance to ride with my students to hear their questions, fears and anticipation about kindergarten. 

 

I was so excited to have an hour of uninterrupted time to really PLAY with my students.  There were some big breakthroughs that I want to highlight:

 

Timothy is a student with a hard home life.  He is an English language learner, but he struggles even his native language.  There are times when he seems angry, withdrawn and frustrated.  It has been hard for me to get a clear picture of his skills because of these behaviors.  He had a fantastic time on our field trip!  He came to find me more than five times to show and tell me about something!  I figured during that one hour that he knows some conversational English:             

            “Karissa, come look.”

            “Help me!”

            “Play with me!”

             In addition, Timothy was able to identify the many of the colors we saw at the playground.  He labeled, “car,” “truck,” “fire truck” and “slide.” 

 

Now that we have been back at school, everybody likes to talk about our field trip.  Timothy often mentions the bus and all the playing he did that day.  I know that this trip was more than just a fun thing to do on a school day.  Our experience has created a shared experience that will continue to help us become an even better classroom community. 

Hey Kid, Can You Spare a Quarter?

Imagine four state governors standing together in a preschool classroom talking to a group of preschoolers, their parents, and their teachers about the difficulties they are having with their state budgets.

The first one, from, let's say, New Jersey, says, "In these tight economic times it is tough to know where to invest your states funds wisely. Pre-k has consistently shown a good return on investments. That's where I'm going to recommend we put our states money."  The governor continues with something like, "It's like this, kids: What if you had to pay for your education out of your own piggy bank? You would want to put as much money in that piggy bank as you could. Well, I think pre-k is such a good idea I am going to increase your allowance so that we can buy the best pre-k we can afford for as many kids as we can. You would share your money if you had enough right?"

"I'd share!" says Sam in a Spiderman shirt.

The second governor, from somewhere like Texas says, "You know, that's a good idea, but not reliable enough. That is why we have included pre-k in our state funding formula. That way it is safer. Sort of like putting your piggy bank in a safe deposit box. That way it is really hard to take away." The preschoolers giggle and the parents smile. They know that state funding is anything but secure these days and a safe deposit box for their children's education sounds like a good idea.

The governor from a state like Louisiana says, "Well I would love to put more money into pre-k, but I can barely provide health services to my poorest residents right now and we are still rebuilding from hurricanes. We just can't afford to put any more money in your piggy bank, kids, but I am not going to take your piggy bank. You keep it, and when we start to recover economically I may be able to give you an increase in your allowance." The kids frown but the parents and teachers understand. Sometimes you have to make hard decisions.

Finally, the last governor gets up. She is from North Carolina. She says, "It is really hard to balance the budget these days, kids. So, can I have a quarter?"

The kids pause. They have heard adults make jokes they don't understand before. A teacher laughs a nervous laugh. The parents' eye brows start to drop low over their eyes.

"Here, see," says the governor as she takes Jill's piggy bank. "You just turn it over and pull out the cork and then you can dump out some of the allowance you were going to get next year." Nobody can believe it, but it's happening. Several governors around the country are proposing cuts to pre-k funding. They include North Carolina, South Carolina, and New York. It is easy to see how, when a governor is willing to raid a preschooler's piggy bank, that governors like the one from Louisanna or New Jersey are actually exhibiting hero-like political will. While flat-funding pre-k was seen as a blow to early education in the past, flat-funding pre-k in today's economy is worth recognizing.

This kind of analysis is made clear by looking at Pre-K Now's new report, "Leadership Matters: Governors' Per-K Proposals Fiscal Year 2010." Where does your state's governor stand on pre-k? Is he increasing your child's allowance or taking a hammer to the piggy bank?

 

However, according to the report, there is good news.  Despite the severe budget challenges so many states are facing this year, the majority of governors--five to one!--have proposed to increase or protect pre-k funding.  In fact, governors from three states that currently have no pre-k program--North Dakota, Alaska, and Rhode Island--chose this fiscal year to introduce new pre-k initiatives for the first time.  These facts demonstrate a growing agreement among state leaders--from all around the country, and from both sides of the aisle--that investments in pre-k cannot be sacrificed, no matter the economic landscape.  Governors like Jon Corzine of New Jersey seem to understand that these tight economic times actually call for more dramatic increases in early education.  More children in more states having better opportunities makes the dark days of this economy a little less dark.  Families in every state deserve high quality early childhood services, and in the long term, the communities--as well as the economy--of the states that listen will see the benefits for years to come.

Strong leadership will make the difference between states, families and communities that weather this recession and reap the benefits of early education, and those that do not. Governors choosing to protect or grow these programs are providing relief to families struggling with the untenable costs of quality pre-k and investing in their states’ greatest asset, children. In doing so, they are cultivating essential human capital – the engine that ultimately will steer America’s foundering economy back onto solid ground.

  Pre-K Now's "Leadership Matters" report calls for governors to stand up for what is right and protect their youngest constituents' piggy banks, not just for economic reasons, but because it's the right thing to do.

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Six Weeks

Six weeks.  It could feel like an eternity, but I'm pretty sure it's going to fly by before I even realize it.  I only have six more weeks, less than 30 school days, to make sure that each of my students meets our classroom goals, as well as their individual goals, before the end of the year.  Only six more weeks to prepare my students for four-year-old pre-k.

 

Looking back to the beginning of the year, I am truly impressed by the progress that my students have made.  They have learned their letters and numbers, how to make predictions and how to rhyme.  Several of my students are emerging readers, and nearly all of them can write their name.  This progress is tremendous, but our work is not done.  I have reviewed my written notes about my students -- both for formal skills (e.g. identifying letter names and sounds) and informal skills (e.g. engaging is sustained play with peers) -- and developed individualized action plans for each of them for the remainder of the year.  Here is an excerpt from Jose's plan:

 

Identify the letters in his name

Centers (prioritized on Tuesdays)

• Work with letter tiles and magnetic letters (with teacher or more advanced peer)
• Play game where teacher writes letters on board and Jose identifies them
• Put foam letters on floor -- jump on letters and call out the letter name
• Find letters from his name in books
• Dig for letters in the sand table
• Find letters from his name on alphabet charts

Small Group

• Letter BINGO with the letters in his name
• Sequence and identify the letters in his name
• Hand-over-hand write letters in shaving cream and identify them

Whole Group / Transitions

• Show letters for dismissal ("If you have this letter in your name go get your coat.")
• Identify letters in name during shared writing activities
• "Marching Around the Alphabet" song by Hap Palmer
• Graphs -- "Do you have a [letter] in your name?"

I have inserted each of these activities into my monthly unit plans and daily lesson plans, for May, and will repeat this process in June.  Because Jose is one of only two of my students who cannot identify the letters in his name, I am making a concerted effort to work with him on this skill throughout the rest of the year.  I continually take notes about Jose's progress so that I can reflect on his learning and adjust my plans if necessary.  I am confident that with additional support at home and these exercises in school, Jose will meet his goals by the end of the year!