The Learning Studio

When I walk into a classroom these days I feel like I am walking into a dance studio.  I am the only one who isn't moving, learning, expressing, struggling or stretching and as a result, find myself sticking out like a sore thumb. For one, my clothes are too clean. And generally, a clipboard and pen now accompany me. I stand by the door observing, trying not to reflect on how much I'm interrupting by simply doing nothing.

I am enjoying my new job as a Child Development Specialist for Head Start, and some days I feel like I am really making a difference. Like last week, I was able to show a novice teacher how to negotiate the power struggle with a boy who kept pushing. I told her, "He wants to be told no. He wants you to love him by saying no. He wants to know that you won't let him float away." A little modeling on how to connect, some reflection, some follow-up the next day and she was teaching again with a new friend.

I get the feeling that teachers want me to see perfection when I enter their classroom. But there's no such thing as a perfect pre-k class. When I was teaching everyday, my classroom felt a lot like a studio. What happened there was imperfect, unfinished, and always a work in progress. I worked with an instructional assistant so I always had a "partner" to bounce ideas off of, to make sure I wasn't too far off the mark. Now I am by myself when I am "working."

I walk into other teacher's studios. I know they can't be sure how to interact with me. I am a supervisor and I am also too familiar with the imperfections of the classroom. Working in a preschool classroom is one of the most primal experiences you can have in education. I am talking body fluid primal. I am talking pure joy, pure rage, pure uncertainty, cultures clashing, towers smashing, tricycles crashing.

 

The children shed crocodile tears, Daddy arrested tears, and give me back my doll tears all in a couple minutes. Who am I to judge this chaos but, it's my job.

I could always tell how comfortable a visitor was with this primal experience by how far they came into my classroom. Another pre-k teacher might make it all the way back to the dramatic play area. Most, especially principals and school board members, never made it past the line-up line. The energy, chaos, joy, and terror, stopped them like a moat of tears. It was shallow, but who would want to get their feet wet in "real" teaching when they could just as easily not muddy the waters of their ideals with the human drama and primal experience of real pre-k kids.

 
I am trying to negotiate this role of supervisor. I wear the micro-politics of my role as a supervisor like a sports coat that is too small. I can see how tight it is, how it doesn't quite fit, and I wonder, does the teacher I am talking to think it doesn't fit either?

image: http://www.buzzle.com/img/articleImages/294252-3328-5.jpg

Why Men in Preschool Makes Sense

Recently, Lisa Guernsey at Early Ed Watch did a 5Qs Interview for Inside Pre-K. It is a series I have been doing mostly on authors writing about preschool. She was happy to do it but asked if, as part of a series at Early Ed Watch on Head Start, I would do one for her in return. I can tell you, a 5Qs interview is not as easy as I thought it was. When someone asks you tough questions about something you care about, you want to just spill your heart on the page. But, since it is a blog and not a book, you have to hold back a little. I thought I might take a chance this week to slightly expand on two of the questions Lisa asked me. I will post what I wrote in my response and then some thoughts I have had since I finished my Qs. Here was Lisa's first question:

It's unusual to find men teaching preschool. What should we do to change that?
As with any issue in education a lack of men in preschool classrooms can be addressed through treating symptoms or treating root causes. For example, in addressing the achievement gap the Harlem Children's Zone is an approach that addresses causes; NCLB treated the symptoms, test scores. In medicine, addressing symptoms only works if the body has the capacity to cure itself. Obviously the achievement gap and lack of men in preschool are not something that will fix themselves even if we provide grants to hire men or require more men in classrooms.

So what are the root causes?

 

The struggle for gender equity has always focused on putting more women in men's jobs. Only recently, in fields like teaching and nursing have men begun to step into the shoes of women. Women's reasoning for entering the workplace of men has been clear: men make more money, have more respect, and have more power. The reasoning behind men entering the roles of women is much less clear. We pay plumbers more than child care workers. Why? Because we value our working plumbing more than children. It's that simple when approached from an economic standpoint. It's about the money.

 

The other issue is that men are discouraged from exploring their capacity to nurture as an avenue for employment. It is discouraged from a young age through lack of example and sometimes the dampening of boys' capacity for empathy. As a society we associate nurturing behaviors with weakness and our culture rewards strength. A man who is caring towards children is considered less masculine and so less valuable, according to his peers, as a member of society. This is where the tired cliche of "woman's work" turns on its head. Not that only women should care for children but that caring for children is a skill or capacity that is squashed in men from a young age. It is societal and until we begin to help boys grow up whole, we will never have men in younger classrooms. This is especially true in the community I work in. For some kids, I have been their first introduction to what a caring man can be. I have even been able to help some kids with fathers because the fathers are more comfortable volunteering in my classroom. The father sees how he can care without being weak and nurture without giving up

his masculinity and become a more caring person.

 

This is changing, slowly, but I wonder if it may be changing too slowly. My supervisor has actively sought out men to hire and this year we expanded the number of men in our program to six. Of course that is six out of over 140 employees.

Here are my recent thoughts. One thing I have noticed is that many of the men I have met who are pre-k educators, are very talented and passionate about their jobs.

When I asked myself why that is, I thought many of these men have found teaching in preschool as a later career decision and have chosen it as a practical way to make a living while they are also focused on other passions, namely art, music, family, etc. What usually happens though, is they fall in love with it and they realize that they really enjoy and thrive on teaching. If I were to try to "sell" preschool teaching as a career to men here are some of the things I might say.

Teaching in preschool is a team effort, in that most classrooms have a lead teacher and instructional assistant. So if you enjoyed team sports as a kid you already have many of the skills necessary to work in this environment.

 

Teaching in preschool can be extremely rewarding. Working with at risk children has its own risks and rewards but truthfully, a relatively passionate and interested teacher can change a child's life.

 

Many at risk children have never known a consistent father figure and if they have, that person may have been the "good times" guy and not the role model for a responsible caregiver much less represent a man/father in the traditional "Cosby Show" sense.

 

When young children and parents see a man in a classroom it automatically changes preconceptions about what school is. This can positively impact parents who have never had good experiences with school. 

 

Young children need to be actively engaged while learning. If you don't see yourself sitting behind a desk for the next ten years but you don't want to work in construction (I almost became a house painter) then preschool teaching might be for you. It is a career that engages your mind and body.

 

You get to make messes, play tag, read stories, sing songs, play instruments and or make noise, and explore what it means to be a man all while getting paid a modest (not great) salary. 

Most importantly, everyday you will make a difference in a child's life, guaranteed, just by being a decent human being who is also a man.

Are you convinced?

Image: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/story?id=6070282&page=1

Image of: Jonathan Maiden of Lexington, Ky.

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.

 

Setting Goals with Students

During center time, Jose was in the library reading The Three Bears by Byron Barton quietly to himself. He was totally engrossed in the book when Julia came over and asked, “Can I read with you?” “When I’m done,” Jose replied, implying that he did not want to read with Julia at that moment, but that she could have the book when he was finished. Julia stepped back and her eyes started to well up with tears. Just as she was about to start crying, I approached her and said, “Julia, I can tell that you’re upset that you can’t read The Three Bears right now. What are you learning to do when you get upset?” Without missing a beat, Julia replied, “Calm down all by myself.” And with that, she took a deep breath and smiled. “Like this! I’m going to read this book [she picked up The Little Red Hen by Byron Barton] while I wait.”

 

Each month I set approximately eight individual goals for each of my students; two goals each in reading, writing, math, and social/emotional development.  I share these goals with my students in child-friendly language, and we talk explicitly about what it will look like for them to work hard at and ultimately master these skills.  I also share the goals with each student’s family along with ideas on how to reinforce the targeted skills at home.  When my students achieve a goal, their classmates cheer for them and we talk briefly about what they have learned.   

 

I have found repeatedly that explaining to my students what they are learning and why they are learning it has increased their motivation and helped them take ownership over their own learning.  In the above anecdote, Julia knows that one of her goals for this month is to learn how to “calm down all by myself,” and she understands how to do this.  She also knows that this is a difficult skill, and that it will take practice to be able to do it independently. Julia is working hard at her goal, and has already made tremendous progress.  It has been amazing to watch her and my other students take control of their own learning and support one another in reaching their goals.  I’m excited to see how much more they will accomplish before the end of the school year!

School Readiness Art Museum

Our school readiness classes are spending time learning about museums this month.  I started this activity a few years ago when we did not have the funding to take any field trips.  Instead of traveling to a museum, we would create an art museum in our classroom! I am so impressed with my students' imaginative creations.  They take a box full of random collage materials and transform the items into actual works of art complete with a title and artist description. 

 

This week, we are talking about color.  One of our books is "Mouse Paint" by Ellen Stoll Walsh.  This book is a great introduction to primary and secondary colors.  After reading through it, we do a colored water experiment to test out color mixing.  Each child records the results in their own take-home book.  I was pleased to witness almost all of my students following directions, staying on task and participating in our discussion.  I hope they will use their book to practice their colors at home and recall the “Mouse Paint” story for their family. 

 

In addition their creation making, we spend time talking about art appreciation (how to comment on art, how to describe what you see and how to respect art that you might not like or understand).  We also talk about other types of museums, including children’s museums, history museums and science museums.  My students have enjoyed finding dinosaur bones in our archeological dig site (our sensory table filled with sand, sifters, shovels, brushes and plastic bones). 

 

At the end of our unit, we open our doors to the public for a Museum Gallery Show.  We invite family, friends, other classes, teachers and administrators to come see our fabulous creations.  It is a great culminating activity that everyone enjoys!  

Making Connections

I had the amazing opportunity to travel to New Orleans, Louisiana this past week.  I am a part of a small organization called World Beat Connection.  Our mission is to connect with people from other cultures and promote peace and justice through music.  Throughout the week we played a total of 14 gigs, mostly at elementary schools.  What an experience!  From the moment we started playing, I knew this was going to be a life-changing week. 

 

I have done many service projects before, but this one, in particular, helped to reaffirm that our world thrives on making positive and meaningful connections through shared experiences.  So, as I reflect on the week, I know that my classroom will forever be my ongoing life’s mission.  My commitment to educating and supporting four and five year-olds is based on creating a safe and accepting community.  I try my best to teach tolerance, social justice and service to others.  We do this through our everyday classroom expectations, cultural lessons, specific social and behavioral lessons and a wide variety of great literature.                                                                            

This past month we have been talking about friendship.  I created specific lessons to help my students learn the language to use to create good friendships.  I have learned that this strategy is great for english language learners.  But, more importantly, it reminds me that I can't assume my students have seen positive interactions outside of our school day.  This gives everyone a chance to observe, practice and use these skills in real situations.  

     We practiced some of the following:  

        - introducing yourself: "Hi!  My name is ____________.  What is your name?"

        - making conversation/getting to know a friend:  "How are you?  What do you like to play with?"

        - asking a friend to play:  "Will you play _________ with me?"

        - how to tell a friend you do not want to play:  "No thanks.  Thanks for asking!"

                                                      

My students used these skills to work together on an art project.  They had to ask a friend to help them trace their body and then helped each other decorate their life size tracings.  It was great to see and hear some of the cooperation and friendships among my students!

                    

As a pre-k teacher, I have the opportunity to foster positive and meaningful connections among my students and their families.  We share our hopes and dreams and invite families to share their cultural heritage with our class.  It takes effort, flexibility and a genuine interest in people--all people.  This commitment to help our children to be thoughtful and caring people will make our homes, schools, neighborhoods, country and world a better place.    

New Kid in Town

I received notice two weeks ago that a new student, Olivia, would be starting in our class.  I added her name to our “who’s here?” board, our job chart and our name sticks.  All of our students were beginning to wonder…is she ever going to come to school?

 

At circle time we would say, “Hello Olivia, wherever you are!” and several kids had asked what she looks like.  I didn’t quite understand their interest.  We have had new students start before and people had been absent.  In the past, it didn’t really seem to change a lot of our time together. 

 

Today was different.  Olivia and her parents walked into our class just as we were finishing our group time.  The rest of my class was deciding where they were going to work for choice time and only a few students were left on the carpet.  With wide eyes, Tucker pointed and said, “IT’S OLIVIA!”  I felt like we were in a movie and time had stood still.  The mysterious and long anticipated student had arrived and Tucker, especially, was ready to show her the ropes.  He marched right over to her, extended his right hand and clearly stated, “Hello Olivia, my name is Tucker.  It is nice to meet you!”  This is one of the many greetings we have practiced in our circle time.  I was impressed. 

 

I have to preface the rest of this anecdote by mentioning that Tucker is a bundle of energy.  He has a kind heart and an inquisitive nature.  Consequently, sticking to a task or controlling his body doesn’t always come naturally to him!

 

I was amazed as I watched him guide Olivia throughout the rest of our day.  He showed her how to use the play dough and reminded her to put the caps back onto the markers.  He even assured her that mom and dad always come back so, “really, don’t be sad.” 

 

The structure and consistency of our classroom was obvious today.  It is great to have a tangible moment to remind myself that my patience and persistence as a teacher pays off.  Our classroom is a safe space where new and old students feel welcome and our work as a community shows as we extend a warm welcome to our new found friends.  

Spark

We have a student who has been in the hospital.  Although he is very new to our class, other students have noticed.  Today I explained his situation.  All of the sudden, a fairly quiet, reserved and sometimes day-dreamy student gasped and with a twinkle in his eye, he said, “I know! With all of your help we can make a card to send to Brian!  I know we can do it!”  And with great confidence, he set off to make a difference.

 

There is another student in my class that requires assistance from a special education assistant.  She, too, has captured the hearts of my other students.  My favorite observation occurred before our winter break.  Every day we have a circle time when we greet each student. The greeting we were working on starts with the students having to find their name stick on the carpet.  Then as I sing a song, they come and put the stick in my container.  I have a student who speaks very little English but, for some reason, that day he was very intent on helping Laura.  When I called her name he pointed at her stick and then stood up, took her hand and helped her up.  From that day on, he has helped her do her jobs in our classroom, plays with her, and asks about her when she is not at school.  I am not sure what sparked this connection but it continually affirms that love and kindness are universal and unconditional.  It doesn’t matter what language you speak or what challenges you are facing, you are able to show others that you care. 

Professional Problem Solvers

Sometimes I think that the word "teacher" does not adequately describe my profession.  In reality, I am a nurse, mommy, confidant, playmate, safe haven, leader, observer, and perhaps most often a problem solver.  At the beginning of the year, we talked a lot in my classroom about what it looks like to be a good "problem solver."  There are three questions that good problem solvers always ask:

 (1) How do I feel?  Good problem solvers may feel happy, sad, scared, or angry when a problem occurs, but they always calm down before trying to solve the problem.

(2) What is the problem?  Good problem solvers need to know what is going on with everybody involved in the problem.  They often ask questions to figure out how other people feel or what they want. 

(3) What can I do?  Good problem solvers try to think of ways to help solve the problem and make everyone feel better.  You can often solve a problem with friends by sharing, trading, or taking turns. 

While these steps are broken down into "kid-friendly" language and are easy for three- and four-year-olds to apply to their lives, the same general process holds true for solving "grown-up" problems.  I spent a great deal of time over winter break thinking about my classroom and how to improve it in the coming year, and I found myself asking the following questions: 

 (1) How do I feel?  What do I notice in terms of student achievement, planning, or daily routines?  What is challenging?  What is working well?  While I am not identifying feelings per se, I am isolating the events and observations that are weighing on my mind and are, as a result, the most poignant. 

(2) What is the problem?  What is the underlying issue behind the observations?  This could be something related to concrete data, i.e. not all of my students are able to generate rhyming words, or something related to planning, i.e. I am unsure of how to best structure our mornings on days when my students do not go to art, music, or PE. 

(3) What can I do? In order to determine a solution, I need to first isolate the root of the problem.  Are my students not able to generate rhyming words because they do not know the difference between words that rhyme and words that start with the same beginning sound, or because I have not given them enough opportunities to practice the concept, or because I have not adequately explained to families how to practice this concept at home?  Once I understand the underlying cause of the problem, I can generate a list of possible solutions to address the issue at hand.    

I firmly believe that this process of reflective problem solving -- both for students and teachers -- is one of the most important factors for a successful classroom.  In order for my students to be independent, critical thinkers in pre-k and beyond, they need to learn how to identify and solve problems in their own lives.  In order for me to structure my teaching in a way that meets the needs of all of my students, I need to reflect on what is happening and how to address any shortcomings.  When my students and I work together as problem solvers, our classroom runs smoothly and efficiently and we all learn something new in the process!

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.