3 ways to steal time back

Don't you love being a GUEST ?

It is such a treat to be invited somewhere to do something and to be a GUEST.

My special Guest Appearance happened today over at the ever-amazing Christie's blog Childhood 101. Christie has her energies focused on her newest adorable member of her family and has scheduled many guest bloggers over these weeks with "mom-in-the-hotseat" or "teacher-in-the-hotseat" posts.

How to get time back? GIVE it to the children.

Click Here To Read The Entire Post Over At CHILDHOOD 101. 

Here are few blog-bites from the post all about the Challenge of Time for Teachers:

Time Stealer #1: Teachers focusing on Teacher Agenda

"...a Time Stealer is when teachers are not “present” with the children in the moment to witness learning, scaffold an experience or take photos and/or document an exploration. Teachers instead have the children “busy enough” in class so that the teacher can prep the NEXT thing they want the children to be engaging in or doing. The day is a blur of next, next, next. "

Steal Time Back #1: Leave room IN your agenda for children’s discoveries to guide your teaching.

"...When you sit down nearby a group of children building in the block area, examine the materials they have chosen, listen in to their drama they created around the Cave for Dinosaurs. Your formal or informal collection of this kind of data in turn authentically informs your teaching for the next day or weeks instead of needing to hurry up to prep a butterfly art project that has no connection to what the children are really DOing."

Time Stealer #2: Teachers impose their exact way for children to do something

"...This kind of ‘teaching’ usually has a complimentary “Don’t press the brush” “Don’t dip in two colors” “Don’t use too much paint”. Not a favorite style of mine. This is a Time Stealer because children don’t require our guidance in this way."

Steal Time Back #2: The classroom environment is set for children to USE and EXPLORE materials and tools on their own. 

"...Yet, really, does paint require a How To? What if children surprised you with how they mixed and dabbled and smushed and dotted different colors? Wouldn’t that enrich your understanding about that child’s creativity and exploration with color and tools? Would all the colors being mixed to brown be the worst thing? Would smashed bristles on a paint brush be the worst thing? Would paint dripping off the easel be the worst thing? All of these can be used in a discussion of “Oh, what happened here?”...  If teachers let go of How To, there will be huge amounts of Time given back to exploration in all areas of the classroom. You don’t need to teach children how to play. We need to let children show us how they play."

Time Stealer #3: Teachers need to Prep and Clean all day

"Teachers need to wash, disinfect, sort, stack, prep, organize all day long with food, materials, and children’s items. Teachers allow this part of our job to Become Our Job all day. "

 Steal Time Back #3: Teachers partner with children to care for the classroom.

"...Children who take ownership of the classroom have a much stronger role in the care of the classroom. When children are in an environment where they choose their materials and tools, have extended choice time to play, and have authentic relationships with teachers, they in turn have an awareness of the care that is required for their classroom and desire to be caring members...

Children learn sorting, sequencing, organizing, as well as being a member of a group, helping, and recognizing what a ‘cleaned up’ classroom looks like."

Hmmm. Who would have known that the best way to GET TIME BACK FOR TEACHERS is to GIVE IT TO THE CHILDREN ?

oh, so simple...so very very simple.

what children hear...

Was out shopping today at a gorgeous outdoor shopping center in California.

Was sitting on a bench that had two lovely trees as bookends.

"Look! This tree has an umbrella shaped top!" -- "What? We are going to Jamba Juice?"

Each tree had been specially trimmed to have its branches arranged in a flat top that fanned out, almost like a spider web design, and also was twisted with small lights which turn on at dusk.

As I was sitting having coffee, a mother with two young boys started walking by.

The mother stopped the boys right in front of me and said:

"Boys, look at the top of this tree. When the leaves come in it will look like an umbrella!"

The youngest boy spun around on one foot and looked all around.

The older boy, perhaps five years old, looked straight at his mother and replied:

"What did you say? We are going to Jamba Juice?"

[Jamba Juice is a well known chain of juice stores  - there is one in the background of the photo.]

The mother burst out laughing, as did I. 

The mother said, "No, I didn't say we were going to Jamba Juice. I said, look at this tree and see how it has an umbrella shape at the top."

"Oh," said the older boy. "So, we are not getting juice?"

"Come on, boys, time to keep walking..."

The mother and I smiled at each other.

Off they went.

I am still smiling.

How often do YOU have the experience of the "selective listening" or the "edit to one's advantage" kind of listening by your children or students? It does happen, I know it does.

sugar butter flour: 3 ingredients for best practice in ece

what is your recipe for an enriched, engaged and energetic day at school?

This post was inspired by two things:

One is a delicious local bakery with said name Sugar Butter Flour which I try to not frequent for obvious reasons; Two is the Walker's shortbread that I snacked on yesterday with likely those ingredients in larger quantities than I should eat at one time.

Both got me thinking about the simplicity of ingredients to make good things, just like SUGAR BUTTER FLOUR.

The 3 Ingredients got me thinking about Early Childhood and how complicated things seem to have become over time as to what preschools "should" be, what teachers "should" teach, and [the most brutal] what children "should" learn. [sigh].

Got me thinking about 3 Ingredients for Best Practice.

Wouldn't that be great? Three weighty ingredients that could anchor Early Childhood for new teachers and master teachers alike? [yes].

So, here's the thing. I am not saying I have the answers of what the 3 Key Ingredients for Early Childhood "should" be.
Just saying an anchor would be pretty cool so that - for example - when someone starts saying the 3 Ingredients, then people would automatically associate them with Early Childhood Education in a positive, weighty, anchor sort of way.

Here are my suggested KEYS in the early childhood field. 

1. Step Back. The more seasoned I become as a facilitator for young children, the more excited and comfortable I am to completely fade into the background of children's explorations to allow for Their Agenda to thrive instead of mine. Granted, this has been a style of mine since the beginning, but the lens by which I admire the children's work has become more refined. Documentation and photography are my absolute must-have tools.

2. Hands-On. The use of diverse, natural materials are rich (not expensive) resources to enhance your environment for inquiry, exploration and invention. Collections from nature (pinecones, stones, sticks) can go in the Block Area, Science, Art. Taking apart used machines (wires, buttons, nuts/bolts) can contribute to sculptures, block construction, art. Think outside the plastic box.

3. Reflective Teaching. Collaboration with colleagues, bloggers and brand new teachers is vital to keep the dialogue of Best Practice ongoing in your own daily, yearly, and lifelong work. Reflecting on your own work combined with networking can help you determine who you want to be as an educator, what you believe in, how to take risks, and how to best support children's learning.

Sugar Butter Flour.
Good things are so simple.

Do YOU have ingredients for an enriched, engaged and energetic classroom?
Do you include yourself, the environment AND the children in your ingredients?

no rules classroom

New school year is starting for many of us.

Educators create routines, daily schedules, small group experiences.

We plan for wonderful books to read, experiments with new materials, songs to sing.

And, we m-i-g-h-t have a big discussion about RULES and then generate some sort of list with our students.

Here's the thing for me:

I have never liked having RULES in the classroom. Never.

this is not a rule list...this is a child's birthday party list!

I have never made a big list with my students.

I have never posted statements - whether 3 charming rules which might include "Be a Friend" or 102 detailed ones such as "Don't throw the hamster" - on a wall in the classroom.

I prefer having project documentation and photographs of children engaged in school life posted on the walls of the classroom, not a list of RULES.

Ideals I believe in: goodwill, intentional teaching, partnership with children.

I also believe that children are the real owners of the classroom - not me. They are the ones who create the energy and life of that particular school year. I rely on that. I don't try to control it.

breathe. breathe...let me tell you more about my no rules classroom.

No worries, educators and parents. I believe there are other ways to have a group of children work collaboratively and cooperatively in a classroom without having a big list.

I prefer to start the school year diving into relationship building with students  - teachers with students AND students with students. I believe that we all have some initial unsettled feelings and behaviors in a new environment so Wiggles, Distraction, Running ahead, Leaving Circle Time, Pushing Someone Else's Blocks, Missing Dad or Mom, Not Joining In, Expressing Unkind Words...all these things are normal and need time to work themselves out. No "rules" will make the beginning of school extinguish the newness and the unknown. Instead of spending time TALKING ABOUT RULES, we can spend time DOING SCHOOL & PLAYING GAMES & EXPLORING OUR CAMPUS ... working out our unsettled feelings in the moment they are happening and getting used to the routine.

keep breathing...there is more to my theory.

1. ROUTINE MEETS THE CHILDREN. 
I believe that The Role Of The Teacher has to be the changing component to support the adjustment for children, not the children being confined to how they 'should' feel or be. The beginning of the school year, I leave the routine open so that there is plenty of room for teachers to support and connect with students.

For example, instead of guardians needing to drop off their child straightaway for teachers to begin our morning meeting (circle time), we leave the first hour or longer for transitions: Guardians can stay if they want, chat with teachers, look around with their child, and their child gets comfortable in some sort of play/art/books. When guardians leave, we continue supporting the children in their chosen exploration. If/when there are challenges the children are having, we help resolve it with them right then  - perhaps with materials in the classroom, how to include themselves in play, how to open/use something, etc. We might finally have "good morning" hours later. 

As the days go by, we can shorten this transition and also let children know that we'll start having Morning Meeting closer to when they say goodbye to their guardian. This gives the child space to understand the components of the routine and be a part of the minor adjustment as to When we do a certain thing. When children have had TIME to be engaged in the classroom and have had some interactions individually with teachers, they are much much much much much more likely to be able to follow some tweaking to the routine.

2. CLASS PROBLEM-SOLVING DISCUSSIONS. 
After we have had the transition into school and have made connections with the children individually, most unsettled behaviors have disappeared. This doesn't mean challenges don't present themselves in our group.

Here's what happens when I DO interpret  that a child or children's words or behaviors require some  - ummm - modification: I bring the issue to the the class group. Not in a "look what THIS girl or boy did" kind of way. I bring an issue to the group as a QUESTION or as a HERE'S WHAT YOUR FRIENDS DISCOVERED or as an I WAS WONDERING ABOUT THIS. Depending on the issue, it may have have been resolved already with the specific children at the time and "we" thought it would be helpful for other children to "know" about the conclusion.

For example, there was sand being thrown in the outdoor sand & water area. The sand was being thrown AS children were digging a deep hole and shoveling out the sand behind them with a big toss into the eyes of children sitting behind them in the sandbox. In group meeting, we were able to talk about the great hole being dug, the wonderful shovels available to use and the actual kids who did toss the sand in others' eyes. Those kids were the ones who demonstrated the sandbox resolution: how to watch for other people and different ways to stand/squat/kneel so that your shovel doesn't toss sand in people's eyes.

For me, this is what I love. Children learning and sharing how to use materials in safe ways and being respected for their intended work (digging the deep hole). We don't need a DON'T THROW SAND rule. We all learned about the very deep hole, the great shovels, and practiced different ways to position your body to try to keep the sand out of people's eyes when digging. No kids had to label other kids as "the ones who throw sand" because they weren't - they were the kids who were trying to dig a very deep hole.

[Yes, these discussions take some time. Yes, I know we can't have a group discussion about every discovery or resolved issue. Yet, if it is important, we can make time.]

3. I KNOW THERE ARE SAFETY RULES. 
I am aware that there ARE safety rules. There are fire drills, dangerous cement stairs, sharp fences...there are also hammers, wood blocks and delicate science tools.

There are things that require a discussion first in order that choices to use something have boundaries around them. Still, I might offer these 'rules' as part of the 'how' to use or do something.

For example, we might discuss how our classroom front door opens out onto the play yard. We might discuss how IF you are the one opening the door, please open it slowly in case there are students outside walking near our door. The children understand that reasoning, but I don't consider it a 'rule' that needs to be posted on my classroom wall. 

Another example, perhaps children want to use our woodworking bench. We talk about how bits of the wood or dust might fly around when you hammer or nail something, so your eyes need to have the 'safety glasses' on when you use the woodbench. This is part of  USING THE WOODBENCH, yet I don't consider it to be a 'rule'  - I consider it to be a required element of using the woodbench.

In the end, I guess it is sort of ironic. I guess My Rule For Myself is to have no rules for children to adhere to from a bold, posted list staring at them everyday. Pretty good rule, really, to have for myself.

By the way, I get it. I get that teachers want to have a group consensus, something to refer back to as the class agreement so that teachers are not the police or the bad guys or potentially being inconsistent with the reinforcement of the rules. I get it. However, I just don't see the need to establish these before the behavior/challenge presents itself as I find it artificial and presumptuous.

Children's needs for support and adjusting to routine varies every year:

Note: I have had groups of 4s & 5s who needed a couple weeks to get into the routine.

Bigger Note: I have had a group of 4s & 5s who  - literally  - created their own 'morning meeting' on the second day of school and were waiting for me to join them to start the day.

I think rules impact children in ways that make them WALK THE LINE when really they want to dance or skip.

LASTLY, if you NEED to have something posted: What if you had a Motto instead? What if you had a Positive Message instead? What if you had posted quotes in your class that DO set the UPBEAT tone for how everyone - teachers, children, visitors -  can feel in your classroom?

Here are some sample quotes from my classroom:

"Everyone should know the JOY of walking into a room and having people be happy because they are there." (anon)

"Children, like anything else of value, should not be hurried." (anon) (I usually have this posted right below our classroom clock on the wall!)

 "We have to go to school so that we can love people we didn't know before." (former 4s/5s students)

cheers to a new school year.

cheers to partnering with children in a respectful, thoughtful, patient way.

cheers to uplifting children's intentions as positive and dynamic.

Do you have Rules? Why and How do you use them?

moving at the speed of children

People have often asked me how I can work with young children. 

     "Aren't they wild and busy and on-the-go all the time?

     Don't they go in all different directions?

     Aren't they moody and needy and unpredictable?" 

Ummmm, not really, no, not really.

3-year-olds quietly fascinated by chickens drinking water.

green green green paintings....perhaps this child created ALL these works?

Children are capable and focused.

They are self-directed and have their own interests.

They express their feelings and opinions.

Those are the kind of people I get to work with daily.
They just happen to be 3-, 4- or 5 -years-old.

This post is inspired by a post by Elise Edwards at Yo-Yo Reggio who wrote about 10 Important Things I Am Still Trying to Learn. I latched onto #4 in particular having to do with moving at the speed of children. The other 9 are wonderful, by the way, and definitely things I continue to practice and refine!

The idea of moving at the speed of children caused me to reflect on the value of my teaching days. Ironically, moving at the speed of the children is what I rely on - it informs the content of my teaching, it informs the needs of the moment, it informs me that THEIR AGENDA is most important instead of racing through My Agenda (whatever that might be).

"Children, like anything else of value, should not be hurried." (anon)

Sure, it is not always easy or comfortable moving at the speed of children. The moment  might be S-L-OW-E-R than you are hoping to go - "we are heading to library class and two children are interested in learning to tie their shoes" - or much FASTER than you'd planned "three children who'd like to dance as you are starting to read a book". Hmmm, what would YOU do in both these instances?

Surely, there are ways to support the pacing the children are trying to set and adjust yourself accordingly. Most of the time, for me, I CAN actually move at the child's speed. Only occasionally do I need to suspend their agenda to accommodate my own. I have to stay aware of when I am pushing to have my agenda run because "it is easier."

I am always thinking if the the clock is more important than the moment with the child. 
The clock does not often win.

mud kitchen work takes time and focus to really get the mud cooking just right!

a close up photo of child and teacher together -
a quiet, slow moment.

the careful placement of the block in one simple moment to create a balanced, unusual design.

3 Different Speeds of children:

The Zipper. One boy and a task.

I was thinking about my friend Joshua and the extended time we both spent at his backpack working on THE ZIPPER! I have a strong visual of just me, him and his backpack - that was our world with the task of zippering at hand.

Josh was used to his family and friends opening his backpack for him and then zipping it closed for him. Josh was nearly 5 and really didn't have an idea about How The Zipper Works on his own backpack.

I knew he was capable - he just never had the chance to really try to work it himself. Josh and I spent many minutes at snack time and lunch time for days and days giving attention to his zipper: How to hold one side of the fabric, how to look with your eyes where the zipper-pull is heading, how to yank and zip and open and close. Josh was able to master the zipper after some time together AND other children becoming helpers for him to learn instead of doing it for him.

Moving at Josh's pace to slow down enough for him to work his small motor, hand-eye coordination and understand the concept of how zippers work was important to give him the confidence that he Could do this on his own.

Good Morning.
One boy, the whole class and Patience.

Kyle was a quieter boy. He struggled with group time and speaking in a moment's notice. We never put him on the spot to say Good Morning during our morning meetings, yet we wanted to make sure that he didn't literally get skipped over  - we didn't want Being Skipped Over to be acceptable. We wanted to make sure everyone was a valued member of our class in the way they were comfortable. We had different games for Good Morning and each time when it was Kyle's turn, we would wait to see what he would do or not do. We did stop at his turn to give him time to think if he'd like to participate to say Hello, to say "please pass" , to give a wave or a blink or a thumbs up. I felt it was important that the whole class didn't learn that Kyle was someone to be skipped over. Most of the time, we'd wait a bit and Kyle would give a little hand wave or a head nod - great! I knew our work was successful when one day when we were at Kyle's turn, another child said "oh, it is Kyle's turn...he likes to think about how he wants to say Good Morning" and the other children simply happily agreed. That is being a valued member at its best. Wow.

Fossils in the Dirt.
The whole class unearths a project.

An exploration of "fossils" unearthed in our school yard, in the dirt, under rocks. During outside time one day, the children discovered 'prints' of leaves and bugs left in the hard dirt and dusty rocks. We took photos and explored every day for more "fossils" that lived at our school. The discovery of the fossils happened in an instant by two children: the study of living things, nature, and imprints was a collective exploration by the class of 16 children over a couple weeks. This exploration could not have happened if we didn't follow the children's pace and discoveries. I had not planned this project, yet I did jump at the chance to guide the discovery into being a project.

It is like a treasure map to move at the speed of children - their interests, their discoveries, their search to make meaning of their world.

watching water drip drip drip from the water table - life should be that simple.

What is YOUR speed with children?

Are you able to join in and follow their agenda?

virtual trip to reggio

(this post is dedicated to my friend Pam and colleagues from her school who are on the dream journey to visit the Reggio Schools right now - these exact days right now - amazing)

a boy in florence who dances amid the piazza puppets.

*note: most all of these photos are mine from a previous trip to Italy. a few are directly from Pam's RE trip and are credited as such in the caption.

Many early childhood educators have been inspired by the pedagogy of the schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The competent image of the child, the documentation of short-and long-term studies, the collaboration between teachers and families, the uplifting of rights of all who enter the schools - families, children and teachers.

lions are everywhere throughout italy, like this one Rome.

To learn about the schools - the ideas and ideals of the schools, the environment as beautiful and child accessible, the materials that provoke thinking and inventing - is to learn how to be a different kind of teacher.

simple things can be so beautiful.

To learn about the schools and embrace the message changes who YOU are in your own school. Take the journey, read, read, read, and visit schools (local and far).
Start making changes that make sense to you and your school to allow for beauty, time and natural materials to be gifts to the young children in your care. 
Check out:
North America Reggio Emilia Alliance
Reggio Children
Innovative Teacher Project

birdcage on the outside window sill...how lovely.

colors amid incredible architecture.

Some colleagues of mine are THERE RIGHT NOW. They are in Reggio, studying and exploring and discussing and - ok - probably sharing a few bottles of wine! (refer to NAREA link above for details of their specific trip with the Canadien Study Group).

lion in venice.

This is my virtual trip to Reggio as I am following my colleagues on their journey, following their posts on FB or Twitter or via email.

stunning lion in florence.

I am virtually there as I think of my past visit to Italy - not Reggio, but other cities north and south of Italy - and the incredible architecture, history and beauty of the cities.

details of this lion in venice are incredible.

I am virtually there as I reflect on my own practice with children, my role as facilitator, the materials I offer to children, the time I ensure that children have to explore daily.

photo from colleague Pam in Reggio Emila!

photo from Pam: cobbled street in Reggio... PEACE.

my colleague Pam and her new lion friend in Reggio.

what direction will you take as a teacher? how do YOU want to spend your days?

What a treasure to have colleagues on a remarkable journey that they will, in turn, share and inspire those of us (ME, ME, ME!) who couldn't make the trip. 

Two highly recommended books, yet there are so many fabulous ones:
1. The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach Advanced Reflections, 2nd Ed. 1998. (Edwards, Gandini, Forman).
2. Making Learning Visible: Children as Individual and Group Learners. 2001. (Project Zero, Reggio Children).

Take your OWN journey...
the children are worth it.

let there be tape

Tape.

paper strips, TAPE in place, eyes and nose attached.

There is so much to be said for tape.
[Ideally, schools have tape available for children's use - it is a perfect item to eternally have on your 'wish list' for parents and visitors to donate to your classroom.]


We have lots of name for our different tape: Clear tape, Colored Tape, Skinny Tape, Wide Tape, Double Stick Tape. Once children realize they are allowed to USE the tape, then the creations are fabulous and endless.

paper party hats, yarn, scraps, staples...and TAPE.

Sure, perhaps initially there is over-use as children are fascinated with P-U-L-L-I-N-G the tape off the roll.



Yet, that exploration is the same as the giant puddle of glue on a blank piece of paper as the glue bottle is upside-down and s-q-u-e-e-z-e-d endlessly.

 So, after the big pull of tape (maybe a few times, sure) then there is room for some "oh, I see you are interested in the tape...what were you hoping to do with this long bit of sticky tape?"

marker note, cut and ripped paper, framed, sealed with TAPE.

Then children take the looonnngggggg piece of tape they just pulled...Maybe it'll just be bundled in a ball - ohh, that could be interesting.
Maybe it'll just be stuck to the table - hhmm, that could be interesting.
Maybe something else (artwork, the child's hands, a friend's sleeve) accidentally would get stuck to it - yes, that would be interesting.

butterfly, rhino, elephant, bunny, turtle...crumpled paper and TAPE!

Start the conversation of exploring with tape.

How it feels. What it does. What it can do.

What YOU can invent with IT.

 Tape is a tool.
Let there be tape.