A Listening Ear

All I have to do is turn on a cable news show with talking heads barking at each other to know how important listening is for the young generation I teach.  I work intensely with my students on their ability to listen to teachers and each other.

Like any other skill, I start my plan for listening skills by familiarizing myself with the state’s idea of mastery.  The NJ Preschool Expectation for listening is pretty comprehensive.  In addition to following directions with several steps, students must demonstrate proficiency in engaging in a dialogue with others and incorporating ideas from previous discussions and songs into play.

With these guidelines in mind, I design lessons that cover each component.  These can be games explicitly dealing with following directions (Simon Says has always been my favorite) or increasingly complex directions given to students in small group and one-on-one interactions during choice time.

Story time discussions are obviously valuable opportunities for students to strengthen listening skills as they listen to the teacher read to them.  Students can also work on listening to their peers as we engage in a dialogue about the story.  I have taught my children how to build on the comments of another student and respectfully offer alternative ideas by using phrases such as “I agree” or “I disagree.”  During a recent read-aloud of the book Giraffes Can’t Dance, Jeffrey noted, “I think the giraffe is gonna leave the jungle ‘cause the lion mean to him.”  Samar then responded, “No, he not gonna leave.  The other animals will be nice to him.”

As you can imagine, with 14 four year olds egocentric tendencies can pose challenges for the frequency and depth of these kinds of interactions.  Tanasia, whose mind was often on her family in the beginning of the year, would comment on her brothers and sisters regardless of the topic of our class discussions.  After months of working on listening skills and becoming more comfortable in the classroom, she now makes comments and asks questions pertinent to stories.  During a story for Mother’s Day just last week, in which the mother is in a wheelchair, she asked, “Ms. Pappas, why she in the wheelchair?”  Derrell demonstrated his own growth in listening by answering her: “I think she fell in the street and was hit by a car.”

Students also show progress by incorporating ideas from discussions and stories in their play.  After building a house in the Blocks Area, Fuquan told everyone to step back and then cried, “I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down,” thereby applying his knowledge of the Three Little Pigs to his independent work.  Ravon showed me a turtle moving slowly in the Discovery Area after we acted out The Tortoise and the Hare during Outdoor Play time.

These skills lay a strong foundation for our students as they head off to kindergarten, having gained an understanding of how to follow directions and recognize the perspectives of others in pre-k.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have some “Hardball” and “O’Reilly Factor” to catch up on...

Choice Time = Critical Time for Student Growth

"Choice Time" is a critical time for pre-k students to grow academically and socially.  During choice time in my classroom, the children can go to any of ten interest areas that provide a wide range of opportunities for learning through hands-on, experiential activities.  Each area has labeled materials and books pertinent to that area (e.g., Blocks has books about building and transportation; Dramatic Play has cooking and career books; Art has books of art with famous paintings).  These materials help teach how literacy permeates all areas of life.

Here is a glimpse into choice time in Pre-k 114:

Blocks Area – Quite logically, the blocks area contains different types of blocks - wooden and plastic, large and small.  In addition, we have worker hats, transportation toys, animal toys, and people figurines.  We put illustrated labels on all toys to help make children aware of letters and words and how we use print in a functional way.  When this photo was taken David and Samar were trying to construct a tunnel through which the car could pass.  I asked them to recall what the tunnel looked like in the book we read.  They found the book and discovered they were missing the top part of the tunnel.  They also learned about cause and effect when they pushed a car through their construction project too fast and the tall sides fell in.

Dramatic Play – This area includes everything from plastic fruit to a medical kit.  The children take on pretend roles ranging from mommies and daddies to doctors and waiters.  We expose them to different functions of print by including real maps, menus, recipe books, and bus schedules to support their play.  I often engage students with open ended questions that build their vocabulary and target their individual needs.  In the "doctor's office," I asked Doctor Tyrique whether he was going to fill out a prescription for my medicine.  He responded by grabbing a notepad and writing my name.  We worked on listening for the sounds in Pappas and connecting those sound to letters.  In the photo, Tyrone is writing a grocery list for his family.

Art Area – This area includes a wide range of materials intended to spark the children's creativity and invite constructive and open-ended dialogue between the teacher and student.  Rather than tell children exactly what to make, we give them tools such as water color paint, paint markers, hard and soft clay, and collage materials.  We provide an example, and then encourage them to express themselves with their tools.  The symmetrical paintings shown on the back wall in the photo exemplify this process.  I showed students how to paint on one side and make a mirror image on the other side by folding their paper.  They then made their own paintings and, in the process, learned about symmetry.

These examples reveal the successful results of learning through play, or what I would deem constructive play.  Teachers create interest areas with opportunities for children to explore and grow in various content areas.  They then use choice time as a chance to target individual student needs identified through ongoing, performance-based assessments, and analysis.  As children explore and discover, teachers can seize teachable moments and move their students forward.

Becoming Social: Karen's Journey into our Community

Karen's grandmother told me from day one that she was concerned about her granddaughter's social skills.  She had never been to school before and spent most of her time around adults: uncles, grandparents, and cousins.  Karen already excelled in basic literacy and math skills after working with her great grandmother, a retired school teacher, one-on-one for the past year.  Her transformation into a highly sociable member of our classroom community highlights the benefits of pre-k, even for those children who can attain academic readiness at home.

Karen's experiences made her quite focused on reading, writing, and interacting with Ms. Morrison and me in the fall.  She chose to read in the Library, play with Table Toys, or paint by herself during Choice Time.  Like David she was quite hesitant to join her fellow four year olds in more social areas such as Dramatic Play and Blocks.  Yet she listened to and comprehended stories read on the rug, could write her name, and was starting to make connections between letters and their sounds.  While I kept challenging her with her academics, I knew the real challenge for Karen would be developing relationships with her peers.

I exposed Karen to the same community building lessons as David.  But whole group songs about our friends and puppet role plays did not motivate Karen to socialize with her friends.  She would cheer on her friends and participate in role plays at the rug, but then continue to play on her own during choice time.  I needed to use a more proactive and involved approach that both reflected Karen's current comfort level and built on that comfort level to further her social development.

Karen gravitated toward and listened to me because I was an adult.  So, I invited her to play with me and then suggested we either join her peers or invite them to play with us.  She agreed and, over time, discovered how much fun her friends could be!  I remember her laughing with Samar in the Discovery Area while they tested magnets with various materials.  She even started problem solving independently with her friends in December.

Karen has come a long way since September.  Just this week, she chose to go to Dramatic Play and was soon taking her friends' orders at our pretend restaurant.  She and her friends joked about changing their names in the Sand Area last month.  She still sometimes prefers "alone time," like when she became adamant about separating the seal and the alligator in the Water Area so the seal would be safe, as shown in the picture.  Yet she frequently experiences the very social interactions that will help her build and nurture relationships for years to come.

Ready for Take-off: David's Story

Four months ago David’s mother remarked that she wants her son to go “sky high in life."  Now, as he begins to transition to kindergarten, David shows tremendous social and academic progress. His story shows how high quality pre-k supports multiple facets of childhood development.

Socially, David adjusted to our rules and routines fairly quickly back in the fall, but he tended to avoid playing with others and participating actively in large group activities.  He was reluctant to sing along with the group or respond during a read-aloud. He preferred playing with dinosaurs by himself in the Discovery area to playing with his friends in more populated areas such as Blocks and Sand. The challenge was to have him go beyond just following all the rules as an individual and begin collaborating more with his peers and participating during whole group lessons.

To help his growth in this area, I encouraged David and his classmates to support their friends by cheering them on with individualized chants (e.g., There is a friend who’s in our class and David is his name-o, d-a-v-i-d, d-a-v-i-d, d-a-v-i-d, and David is his name-o).  I also used stories and puppet role plays to facilitate discussions about how we can help each other solve problems (e.g., if our friends are struggling with a task, we can help them remember the “Little Engine that Could” by saying, “I think you can, I think you can” or if a friend does not get picked for something we can say, “oh well, you’ll get it next time,” just like “Susan the Squirrel” puppet did for her friend, “Danny the Dog” puppet).   

David soon started having breakthrough moments.  He expressed pride in himself by informing his mother of his “purple” status (a reward system I use) the moment she picked him up.  The next day, David would let me know how proud his dad was when he told him.  He also started contributing more on the rug.  Just this week David got to purple for his active participation throughout the day.  In terms of playing with others, David often travels between play areas with friends, most notably last week when he and Tyrique together made newspaper hats in the Art Area and drew a pirate adventure on the chalk board in the Writing Area. 

Academically, David came in to pre-k knowing some letters and was starting to write his name, but he had difficulty counting, making connections between letters and their sounds, and forming letters.  I soon made him the snack manager, which required him to count his friends every day.  We also worked with him in small group on name puzzles and exposed him to print and letter sounds at every opportunity.  His mother was also quickly responsive to my efforts to invest her in David’s progress; his father soon followed.  They worked with him on writing the sight words we learned in school, labeling pictures he drew with the beginning letter of each objects and person, challenged David with opportunities to count with everyday routines (e.g., the number of dishes needed for dinner or shirts in the laundry), and, as they noted in their New Year’s Resolution, read with him every night.  His father remarked at one of our conferences that David was so excited about books, he would stop his father repeatedly during stories to make comments.  I kept them updated on specific strengths, weaknesses, and ways they could move him forward.  I could tell from looking at his writing and hearing him explore letter sounds that his parents were using the strategies at home. 

David can now write short sentences with little guidance and is starting to sound out words.  Furthermore, he not only counts to twenty, usually without mistakes, but also suggests using counting to figure out the answer to a question (e.g., how do we know that more students voted for apples as their favorite fruit?).    

David, like all of my children, came to me in September with strengths and room to grow, both socially and academically.  I responded to these complexities with a multifaceted approach that reflects and addresses the needs of the whole child.  His progress highlights the potential of pre-k to impact several developmental areas positively and the important, collaborative role parents can play in laying a strong foundation for their children.

Perpetual Peace: Kant's Vision Realized through Pre-k?

The other day I was reminded of the importance of solidifying positive and peaceful attitudes early on in pre-k.  I overheard a teacher reprimanding a first-grade student in the hallway for hitting another child.  The teacher simply said, “You cannot hit her, it’s not nice.  Do you understand?”  When the child did not respond, the teacher said, in a more abrasive tone, “Say YES!.”  The child then said “yes,” as commanded, and the teacher moved on.

I had to wonder how effective that child will be in solving problems on his own.  Perhaps his teachers to date have not taught social skills effectively.  Or possibly he has experienced things that have undermined the endurance of those skills in the long run.  The incident caused me to reflect on my efforts this year.

I start teaching our peaceful and empowering approach in the beginning of the school year.  The process entails direct whole-group instruction through puppet role plays, books about friends and feelings such as Words are not for Hurting, and songs like “The More We Get Together.” In these activities, we use consistent language like, “I feel sad when you [fill in the blank].”  Add to this many one-on-one, informal teachable moments, and gradually the children gain an understanding of why they should use their words instead of their hands. 

By December, my students were able to follow through with a “peace agreement”, but I served a dominant role in the initial stages of the process.  Since then, the children have made even more progress and now take ownership of the peace process from the beginning.  For instance, David used to suggest that characters in our stories use violence to solve problems.  If the Cat in the Hat won’t leave, David suggested, we should “hit him on the head.”  Now, he is more likely to recommend talking through problems.  When we discussed recently how the farmer in Farmer Duck exploits duck and refuses to do any work, David chose peaceful means over violent ones, advising the duck to tell the farmer, “Please, can you help me?.”

Other children still require occasional reminders and encouragement, but their skills are clearly developing.  Tyrone’s first inclination during a recent read aloud was to hit the animals that had stolen a character’s fruit.  After I asked him, “Do we hit animals or people?” he offered an alternative measure: “I would tell the animals that I won’t ride them no more.”  Similarly, Jeffrey came to inform me today that another student would not let him play with a certain toy.  All I had to say was, “Work it out on your own,” and Jeffrey returned to the student to say, “I feel sad when you won’t let me play with it.”

Pre-k teachers - indeed, all teachers - have an obligation to teach conflict resolution in a way that empowers students to solve problems peacefully.  I want my students to leave pre-k with the rationale and language needed to facilitate peaceful conflict resolution so that, throughout their lives, they will rarely, if ever, receive a scolding like that first grader in the hall.  Perhaps if we start with pre-k classrooms that provide students with such tools, we will lay the foundation for a society that more closely embodies Immanuel Kant’s vision of enduring peace between people and states.   

The Benefits of Pre-K: A Parent's Perspective

After reading the reports about the link between childcare and negative behavior problems later on, I thought it might be helpful to hear a parent’s take on the effect of pre-k on her son’s development.  I decided to interview Ravon’s mother (“RM” for the remainder of the interview).

Ms. Pappas: Why did you decide to enroll Ravon in pre-k?

RM: I didn’t want a lot of play for Ravon.  My younger brother was in your class the previous year, and I always liked the way you involved the parents in the homework assignments.  I like the interaction with me and Ravon because I know what he is learning and we can work on further developing his listening and language skills together.  Also, you still let them play in your classroom, but they learn through the play.  Daycare was just play, play, color, color, all day long, but not enough learning. 

Ms. Pappas:  What do you think about recent studies that link childcare programs with negative behavior later on?

RM: Well, I used to work in daycare, so I agree.  They tend to baby the kids instead of giving them ways to solve problems when they misbehave.  They don’t explain things as much.  The regular elementary school pre-k is different.  You explain to the child why they are wrong and how they can correct themselves. 

Ms. Pappas: How much education do you think a pre-k teacher needs in order to benefit children?

RM: I think experience goes a long way, often more than education.  Some people with experience over education can deal with children better.  My grandmother had no education and kept eight children in line. 

Ms. Pappas: What are the benefits of pre-k?

RM: I have seen so much growth with Ravon.  He’s expressing himself better.  He’s more disciplined, and he wants to come to school.  He doesn’t want to miss a day.  My husband and I are so happy. 

Ms. Pappas: What are your hopes for Ravon?

RM: Ravon can write, express himself more, interpret things better, read at least on his level. 

Ms. Pappas: What about in the long run?

RM: I want my son to go to college.  I want him to have a very decent job.  I want him to enjoy what he does.  It's not as much about the money.  I really want him to be happy. 

The Power of Planning

“Your students’ growth will be your growth”: wise words from one of my three greatest role models as a teacher, an older Teach For America teacher who taught in my district. 

Each year, as we begin to discuss signs of spring in the sprouting flowers and leaves outside, I can also notice my students’ academic growth, particularly in basic literacy skills.  As I observe them throughout the day, I see how the individual action plans I created and implemented facilitated their achievement.  The anecdotal notes and work samples in their portfolios provided insights into my students’ strengths and weaknesses.  I then used that data to develop teaching plans for both me and the students’ families to follow.  While I started using these plans last year, more practice with anecdotal note taking and familiarity with analyzing skill deficits using our performance based assessments strengthened my ability to target and address student needs this year.  The success of this valuable teaching tool makes me feel like I have really improved as an instructional leader. 

Here are just a few examples of their growth:

•    David’s anecdotes and work samples from the fall revealed the need to work on listening skills (e.g., incorporating ideas from discussions into play).  Consequently, I linked my questions before and during choice time to ideas we had discussed during circle time.  I also brought in more topics that seemed to appeal to him, such as transportation and animals.  David recently approached me with a toy airplane and his name card and said, “Look Ms. Pappas, the airplane ‘bout to take off on the runway.  It can’t just go straight up, it has to go like this,” as he rolled to airplane on the flat surface and then had it take off.
•    Tyrone’s target areas in the fall included relating stories to his own life.  So, I worked on this skill with Tyrone in whole-group and small-group instruction, modeling how to connect stories to our own experiences.  For example, during a read aloud of Cat in the Hat, I might relate to the experience of the children sitting at home on a rainy day by saying, “I remember when it was pouring rain and I couldn’t go outside to play tag with my friends.  I felt sad.”  I also designed activities around comparing and contrasting characters’ lives with our own.  Tyrone’s recent literary insights include: “I took a long train like the one in the book to New York.” and “I went to the zoo too.  We saw an elephant.”
•    In the fall, Fuquan was strong in letter identification and was starting to identify beginning sounds in words.  From that foundation, he needed to work on making letter-sound connections and using that skill to write words.  My plan for him included playing letter-sound sorting games in small group, discussing sounds in words one on one during activities like journal time, and singing songs about letter sounds during transition times.  Fuquan is now labeling his drawings with the letters that match the pictures and can write short sentences with some guidance from me.

I look forward to using my improved planning skills to make the most of the precious few months left with my students this school year. 

Tackling the Digital Divide

“Google it,” “blogosphere,” “download it” - If you are reading this blog, chances are you are familiar with these terms, use technology on an everyday basis, and know many others with a similar knowledge base.  But what about children in low-income communities with little, if any, access to technology at home?  When trying to close school-readiness and achievement gaps, the impact of the “digital divide” can’t be overlooked.

I consider technological awareness, just like math, literacy, and social readiness, one of my main priorities as a pre-k teacher.  Children also need to understand the function of the Internet and email because of their vital role in communication, education, and jobs in our society.

We are fortunate to have two computers in my room, which children can use to play educational games and explore basic applications like Microsoft Paint.  I set up the activities before choice time each day and introduce them during our tour of the centers in the beginning of the week.  The children can then choose to use the computers during choice time, alone or in pairs.  I have also set up an email account for the class and invite family and friends to send interesting stories, photos, and questions.  We respond as a class using the large “Smart Board” projection screen in our school’s Computer Lab.  Last year, my friend Alex sent pictures of llamas from his trip to Peru, and the students contemplated and answered his question about whether they would want to ride a llama or a horse.

This week we learned about researching online.  The students came up with questions about animals and brought them to the Computer Lab along with clipboards and pencils.  I searched on Google for answers to their questions while the students took notes using drawings and words.

Our first question was, “What do zebras eat?”  We walked through the search engine process and discovered that zebras eat grass.  The students drew the zebra they saw in the photograph and labeled it.  One astute note taker, Aniyah, raised her hand when I scrolled down to the picture past the words and said, “Wait, Ms. Pappas, go back so I can write zebra.”

We also explored bear and bat caves, lions, and dogs. The only disappointing part was when we had to leave, as many of the children wanted to look up additional animals.  We will have to wait until next week.  Luckily, though, their exposure to various uses of technology won’t have to wait because it isn’t available at home.

Curriculum Connections

Noticeable growth in pre-k is all about making meaningful connections. The connections happen when a child links decisions about sharing to consequences, a letter she sees on a label to a friend’s name, or a discussion about hibernation to the cave she built with blocks. Children’s ability to link pieces of information reveals their progress in a wide range of social and academic skills.

The approach and underlying principles of a pre-k curriculum can significantly influence a child’s ability to form such connections and, in turn, the quality of pre-k programs.  While many pre-k curricula seem similar because of a common emphasis on “learning through play,” the structure and focus of those activities can dramatically differ. 

During my first year teaching pre-k, my school used Curiosity Corner, a highly scripted program with weekly themes and daily activities laid out in extensive detail. Everything from theme-related art activities to the specific questions to ask children during story time was handed to me on Day One.

How closely was I supposed to follow the script?  I distinctly remember an instance when my resource teacher from the Office of Early Childhood first applauded my open-ended and higher-level thinking questions used in a whole group discussion and then instructed me to keep the manual in front of me to make sure I was following along.  Well, I wasn’t following along, but that’s because the direction of my students’ comments diverged from the script, which was written without a true understanding of their interests and backgrounds.  Imagine that!

It turns out my resource teacher was often just as torn as I was about “following suit” and meeting the needs of actual children.  She would say when that door closes, its your classroom, but at the same time ensure I fulfilled all of the curricula’s criteria when supervisors from Curiosity Corner came in. 

We now use Creative Curriculum, an unscripted program focusing on building meaningful relationships between students, teachers, teaching assistants, and family members.  We focus on developing student interest driven activities and a structured but flexible classroom environment responsive to the diverse needs of children.  I, of course, have to plan more, but my ideas come from observations and reflections of my students’ skill deficits, strengths, learning styles, and interests.  Their connections to the material and teaching strategies produce that noticeable growth I mentioned.

For example, this week Kevin and I were in the Dramatic Play area when I showed him an airplane ticket he could use during our topic study on transportation:

Kevin: Wait a second, Ms. Pappas…the airplane can’t go straight up.  It first needs to roll on the ground really fast and then fly up, like the geese in the book.  He had to run real fast and then fly up too! 

Ms. Pappas: Great connection to the book about birds.  We read that book a long time ago.  Give yourself a connection kiss.

The movements we first used to compliment our initial discussions about geese and airplanes were clearly evident in the hand gestures Kevin used as he made his point.  And his interest in both areas helped invest him in the thought process needed to build on prior knowledge to generate new ideas. 

I am curious to hear from other teachers, administrators, and parents about the successes and challenges of various curricula. 

To Teach or to Assess? Is that Really the Question?

David pulled a toy car back and forth and as he released the car said, “Look Tyrique!  The car going down the road fast.  We gonna have a race.”

As I heard David refer to cars and racing, my ears perked up.  I had just completed small group and was preparing to circulate our classroom’s interest areas to collect anecdotes showing the children’s progress and to seize some great teachable moments.  We are currently exploring transportation, and David was incorporating ideas from class discussions and “read alouds” into his play.  While I often have to refer to my individualized student action plans to remember the specific target areas for each child, David has struggled to pick up on this listening skill for some time, so I knew instantly that it was a breakthrough moment.

Last year, when I first started using the performance-based assessment system, I typically spent the first couple weeks of each collection period working with children using their individual plans, rather than taking anecdotes.  As I have become more comfortable with performance-based assessments and familiar with my students’ needs, my approach has become less compartmentalized.  I can now simultaneously assess progress and work with children on other skill areas.  I responded to David with questions leading into an informal one-on-one lesson on print awareness and vocabulary.

Ms. Pappas: Great, David, how can we make it go faster?  Is there something we can use?
David: Uhh, I don’t know.
Ms. Pappas: What if we used a ramp?  Do you know where it is?
David (shrugging his shoulders): No.
Ms. Pappas: You know what, I sometimes forget where it is too.  Is there something we could put on the ramp so we know it is a ramp?
David: I don’t know.
Ms. Pappas: Well, how do you know the hats go here?
David (sweeping his finger from left to right over the label for hats): Because it says “hats.”  Hats, hats, /h/, /h/ hats.  I see the letter h!
Ms. Pappas: So what could we do for the ramp?
David (grabbing a paper and marker): We could write it.
Ms. Pappas: Great idea.  What should we write for ramp?
David (writing the letter “R”): /rr/ R!  Like Ryan!

The next day David came to me briefly after entering blocks and, with a strong sense of urgency in his tone asked, “Ms. Pappas, where’s the ramp for the cars?  I want to make them go fast.”  The other pre-k teacher unfortunately needed to borrow the ramp, but David was able to construct his own ramp using flat boards from memory.

As I prepare for parent-teacher conferences this week, I notice dozens of other instances like this one, where a more efficient and dynamic exchange between teaching and assessing has resulted in more substantial student progress.  That’s not to say that the state or district should inundate teachers with more assessments to maximize teacher quality.  There is a tipping point.  Yet the question I often hear at teacher workshops - “When am I going to have a chance to teach with all these anecdotal assessments?” - presents a false dichotomy between the two.