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?

one word: brilliant

 

Loved the idea of One Word as a guiding light for 2012.

Christie at Childhood 101 talked about her word: Balance.

Scott at Brick by Brick chose the word: Choose.

My word: Brilliant.

Personally.

I strive to live healthy, offer gestures of kindness, to assume goodwill. 

I value the support of those around me to help me build a brilliantly joyful 2012. 

In the classroom. 

I strive to see all children's efforts with a brilliant lens...a 'that child is offering their best today' lens. 

I want the brilliance of the children's work to be uplifted by my communicating, documenting and photography.

oh, to live a life that is brilliant.

"I thought I heard your voice"

Last week, I arrived at the state university where I am a part-time instructor. I walked into the office of the elementary education department and the Head of the Department greeted me by name. I have only seen her three times since I began working at the university and she greeted me by my first name. Even as an adult, I am caught by that skill - intention - that teachers at all levels try to offer: the idea that each person is recognized and acknowledged, my face and name having been filed away in the Head of Department's memory.

"Hi, Jeanne," said the Head of the Department as she casually glanced up to see me, To See Me.

We spoke for a few minutes, standing in the office doorway, about final grades and next term's courses.

I started making my way down the hallway to the Co-chair of the Department and as I arrived at her open door, she looked up from her desk and said, "Hi...I thought I heard your voice down the hall..." We chatted for a few minutes about the semester, upcoming courses, and her sweet dog Lucy who was in her office.

As I left that day from campus, I thought about Being Greeted By Name and My Voice Being Known.
I thought about how these same ideas are abundantly important in the early childhood classroom.

The most basic LITERACY: Young children know others by face and sound. This is how they "READ" and engage and connect. They see others and hear others, they discriminate details of how things look and how they sound. Young children are making meaning of their world bit by bit, face by face, sound by sound, voice by voice.

Classroom Games & Books:

1. Make class books of close-ups of parts of children's faces (you can take a regular portrait of the child, then crop in editing for Just Eyes, or Just Mouths, etc). Put the book in the Reading Area and children will love identifying their friends by these small clues!

2. If you don't have a tape recorder to make a "Sounds Like" tape/CD to play, you can make a Sounds Like book! Have the children make a drawing of their own favorite sounds and create a class book. Perhaps someone loves Truck Sounds or Wind Sounds or Jingle Bell Sounds! Friends can identify their friends' favorite sounds in their drawings!

3. You can play Sound games at your meeting/circle time. Children can say Good Morning or any other phrase using a different kind of voice - a mouse voice, a booming voice, a high or low voice. They can make up lots of ways to play with their voice!

4. You can play I Spy Describing Games for eyes or hair..."Do you see someone who has long, brown, curly hair? Who could it be?"..."Do you see someone with big green eyes? Who could it be?"

5. You can read Bill Martin Jr & Eric Carle's : Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?

Look around. Listen. Who do YOU see? Who do YOU hear?

anonymous white napkin

Couple weeks ago went to RE 'Wonder of Learning' Exhibit at the Steinbeck Center.

Couple weeks ago had the rich opportunity to be inspired in person by the stories of Dr. Lella Gandini.

what if you explored a napkin? what if you really really looked at it as Special?

Still letting it all sink in.

Letting words, ideas, and images soak in.

Letting the affects really take hold.

That's how it works for me.

Listening, watching, taking notes.

Relying on these experiences to change me as an educator, to make me a better facilitator for children and new teachers, and to afford me a new lens to really see learning in a new way.

Ideally, as well, relying on these experiences to steal away at least one: "Aha! I have not thought about THAT in THAT WAY before..."

My steal away this time, in particular, had to do with part of the Exhibit that showcased the exploration of White and White and White. Children explored different white papers, textures, and properties of white on its own and what happens to white when manipulated. 

The White Napkin.

It was fascinating to think about the Study of Something that usually is a tool in our everyday lives, as though it itself is already known because we use it. Aha! But perhaps it is not really known very well at all...

The Diana Preschool's White and White Project with 3s & 4s suggest to us:

"A paper napkin on a table is an anonymous object camouflaged by daily use and presence. A customary material which when explored reveals many properties. It is white, lightweight, soft and delicate and just slightly rough to the touch. In layers it obscures light but when unfolded it is almost transparent...Hands, mind and material come together to know each other."

Thoughtful and deliberate exploration of something the children USE daily. 

Have you ever thought of this kind of exploration?

Have you ever given something so simple such focus?

Dr. Lella Gandini: "Young children are not yet attached to their ideas and are willing to test, risk, change and make mistakes."

Let the children explore something we might think is obvious.

Look around your classroom. What might that be?

Look for the anonymous. Look at it Special.

The Diana School: "It is special when we look at it special."

Yep, still letting it all soak in.  Yep.

"Pah-lease!"

Think about the children in your current classroom and from years past.
There are always faces that flash straight to mind due to one reason or another.

I must say, for me, children with some attitude or flair come to mind. Not necessarily the "busy" or "bossy" ones or the "ohhhh, gotta keep an eye on that one" ones. More so, for me, I reflect on children who seamlessly incorporate a certain tone  to deliver a phrase or in their conversation AND have a way they use their eyes and hands to help express their opinion or announcement. Makes me smile just thinking about Leo and Lara and Marina ...

"No more photos, pah-lease"

My blog today is inspired by my friend Laura's daughter "S" and a caption Laura attached to a recent photo of S  on a social networking site:

"Ah, shades of things

to come...I was taking photos of my daughter on a recent flight to LA when she puts her hand up and says

'No more photos, pah-lease'"

Take a moment to appreciate S and her calm yet clear request to her mother.

Take another moment to appreciate the one leg casually crossed, the one hand propped under her chin, the eyes looking upward and - yes - the hand signal STOP to reinforce the "pah-lease" no more photos.

[Couldn't have been a better photo of this request to stop taking photos.]

Laura and her daughter reminded me about ways that adults and children relate together. I appreciate that S has her own personal style to communicate with her mother. I appreciate that S has an opinion about something - photos, in this case - and how she feels at that moment on the airplane to not have photos. I interpret, though, that this was a comfortable request, not demanding, not defiant. S just happened to also have the hand signal and the eyes up, as though she couldn't have put out the request without the eyes and the hands, too. Pah -lease!

Other phrases or words from children who had the pizazz to go with it:

1. "ACTUALLY" : this has been a popular word over the years, used by a number of children to begin their sharing of an opinion or what seemed to them to be a correction of their peers [or me!]. Often, the word would be said slowly to articulate the four syllables AC-TU-AL-LY allowing the child's audience to get ready for something quite brilliant that was forthcoming. Along with the word, the head might be tilted to one side with eyes focused forward and two hands might be offered out like a tray that will deliver the new 'actual' information.

2. "Let Me Tell You Something!" also known as "Did you know?!..." An informative phrase. Might be when children arrive at school, out of breath running up to me, eyes tilted upward with forehead scrunched as they have information bursting out about a trip to the beach, a bug they found, or what they have in their lunch box.

3."Oh, Man...".  Children have used this when blocks fall over, when they hear the recess bell that recess is over, or when they can't find a chair at the snack table. This phrase has the shoulders slumped, the mouth squished, the eyes squinted in. Disappointment shown at its fullest along with "oh, maaannnnn......" dragged out in despair.

personality, pizazz, & flair at their best.

I hope your children have their personal style to share information, to make an announcement, to communicate with adults and peers. 

I can only imagine you can appreciate the flair and pizazz of PEOPLE - who happen to be young - who express themselves both in word and action. 

Do YOU have an example of a phrase or word that children have used with flair? "Pah-lease" feel free to share! [head nodding, eyes extra-wide open, one hand swishing out to the side]
** special thanks to Laura and S for their inspiration of living life with colorful self expression!

the torch you carry

Today is the tenth year to pause and reflect on the tragedies of nine eleven.

It is a big day,

perhaps a quiet day,

perhaps a day to count blessings.

I am remembering the day it happened, going to school early for a meeting that was on my schedule with another faculty member. I had heard about the first plane when still home getting dressed; I heard about the second plane while sitting in the faculty meeting before school even started. Stunned.

We still had school that day. We didn't really know the magnitude of it all til a bit later, so we just still had school.

I was with my Young Fives class. When families started arriving, there was this 'upper level' conversation among adults with bewildered looks in the eyes and unsettled shoulder shrugs trying to communicate above the children "what just happened?" ...  as in:
WHAT just happened? 
what JUST happened? 
what just HAPPENED?

We mostly had a regular day at school. Yet, at our morning meeting (circle time) with the students, I decided that we had to have an open chat to see what they knew, what they saw on tv, what they were thinking as they surely overheard their guardians speak of some NEWS.

We had a conversation.

We had honest information shared among 5-year-olds.

We made a prayer poster.

This is a copy of what I wrote in our newsletter that week, sharing with families what happened during our morning meeting with their children. The school is a religious-based school so God and prayers are integral for coping, offering support and seeking strength. The text:

"I have tried to speak to each family over the last number of days as we all deal with the tragic events of Tuesday, September, 11. Most of you know that we had a discussion in class that very morning. I wanted to know what the children knew so far and how they were understanding any of it.

Know that my intent in opening a discussion is never to lecture or inform on specifics, but to provide an arena for a young age group to talk together about something they may be trying to understand in their own way.

The sharing was diverse, with different energy from different children, with different pieces of the morning News: "bad guys flew a plane into a building!" "there was smoke and lots of fire!"

We talked about how it WAS bad guys who flew into the big worker buildings in New York, how it was NOT an accident, how it is a big problem and that the fire people and police and the President are working to help solve it. We looked on the globe to see New York and to see California. We talked about how we are safe here [at school] and in our houses.

And then, we really talked about how the people in the worker buildings got hurt and a lot of them probably died, how we could think good thoughts for them and say prayers together. We talked about making art to help have good wishes for anyone who was hurt and we thought about drawing [cheerful ideas like] rainbows, flowers and hearts. We displayed the poster on the blue wall in the block area. Please, come see."  [to note: the poster remained displayed in the classroom until I left the school in 2007].

The students from this class are 15 years old now. They likely do not recall the actual day of the event or our conversation in class or anything. They probably have a newer, current memory made perhaps in an upper elementary grade when studying history; or via a thoughtful discussion with family; or via a course in high school.

But, the children WERE there, in the moment, and had emotions and opinions and prayers.

For today, I offer a memory of the tragic day that included young children with kind hearts and sincere worry for people they didn't know and for a world they didn't comprehend yet.

I hope you have important discussions with your young students - in the moment that they are important - as the memory ends up being the torch you carry for them & for yourself.

This is the irony of this blog based in reflections and narratives: my personal story of this huge historic tragic event is lodged with my experience with these 5-year-old students and the poster of rainbows, neither of which exist any longer.

Yet, I remain the storyteller, to carry the torch, to be their memory.

listen to me!

nathan calls to me about The Tigers!

One of my most powerful memories of Becoming The Teacher I Want To Be was when I first listened -  really really listened - to my 2-year-old friend Nathan. Read the full story of Nathan and the Tigers here.

In the outside play yard one day, Nathan called to me...

"Come, come...come help me look for the tigers in the big tree! Come, come. The tree tigers are calling to us and we need to find them in the tree! Come, come, come!"

This calling to me changed who I was as a teacher, it changed my relationship with Nathan, it changed how I engaged with children for all the years forward in my career.

Nathan's calling to me made me start to deconstruct what he was telling me and understand better where he was in his development. I could start to hear Relationship, Imagination, Sense of Self, Focused Play, Role Play & Socio-Dramatic Scenarios.

listening to children is a treasure.

Last week in the college course I am instructing with a focus on Math/Science, we explored some quotes that I had collected over the years.

All the quotes had the "LISTEN TO ME!" content that teachers could use as base to extend into inquiries and projects.
 
Listen to the children to hear:

some math concepts,

scientific theories,

gaps in logic,

attempts at facts, cause & effect,

articulation of time & age,

explanations of things that change,

complex questions...?

"103 is a lot of fish, not a little. It is like 16." rose, 3yo.

"I am two and a half and my sister is seven pounds for a dollar." kevin, 2yo.

"My daddy's car is the color of Nestle's Quik...it is the color when you first put it in the milk." jessica, 4yo.

"Let me tell you something. When it is all gone, that means zero." evan, 3yo.

train your ear to hear children in Their language.

"What if everything in the whole world, even the planets and stars, were made of pink paint?!" shannon, 5yo.

"Here, read this book first. And, after that one, read this one first." andrew, 2yo.

"When I grow up, I want to be a seagull so I can eat garbage." alice, 3yo.

"Is yellow allergic to brown?" haley, 5yo.

"Medium is near lots, right?" matt, 5yo.

"Birds don't go up to Jupiter or Mars. They just go where the blue is." shannon, 4yo.

Start documenting your listening with children during their open play time. Really listen and you'll start to hear important concepts  - real INFORMATION - that you can use to extend and deepen your students' understanding using intentional teaching methods. You can integrate exploration of these concepts into the richest context that is of value to children: their play.

Click here to read more about Starting To Document. 

The children are telling us every day what they KNOW. It just happens to be true that a lot of what they tell us also has what they DON'T KNOW weaved strongly in, as well. It is our job to interpret and deconstruct and support. It is our job, yet really, for me, the partnership with children is what creates such a dynamic learning environment daily, weekly, year after year.

What are ways that you listen to and document what your children are telling you in their play?

whatever is most difficult

 

The night before school begins.

I am thinking wonderful thoughts as I love this time of the year.

 

I am aware, however, that some people don't love this time of the year.

Sometimes the effort, smiles and breathing that is required to Start A New School Year is so deafeningly exhausting. Period. Totally Understandable. 

 

For me, in my times of need - 

times when I NEED SOME PERSPECTIVE - I turn to a Master Artist, Poet, Storyteller and Word Smith ... Brian Andreas, author of all Story People stories & art Click Here to read more, admire, smile, laugh.

 

So, here is one of my most favorite Story People quotes for all who may be Worried about school or Are Freaking Out 

or Are Unsure @anything.

... Maybe you worry about connecting with your students, or your classroom being set up just right, or getting through the lessons you have planned, or meeting the new parents of your students, or or or or or or.

Thank you, Brian Andreas, for writing this thoughtful, powerful quote:

"THIS IS A GIANT BLOCK OF WHATEVER IS MOST DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO CARRY AND TRUST ME ON THIS YOU'LL CARRY IT MORE TIMES THAN YOU CAN COUNT UNTIL YOU DECIDE THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT TO DO MOST AND THEN IT WON'T WEIGH ANYTHING AT ALL."

brilliant.

stunning.

I can read it a million times and keep learning from it each time.

see how children make life so light and joyful and colorful? let go of whatever is most difficult.

Do YOU have a challenge starting a new school year?

How do you cope -  not just "get through it" -  yet actually embrace & celebrate a new school year? Stories? Strategies?

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?

friday thank you notes

who makes YOU a better teacher ?

Late-summer Thank You Notes to some inspiring bloggers... 

1. who have influenced me daily

2. helped me think about education outside of my own four classroom walls, and

3. have jolted me to admire tiny specks of sand and entire outside environments.

BIG HAT TIP TO:

* Jenny @preschoolplay Let The Children Play  Makes me think of a book on classic outdoor children's adventure  - Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran.

* Tom @theteachertom Teacher Tom's Blog Makes me think of a book that has a child using tools, loose parts and recyclable materials to create something fabulous -  Galimoto by Karen Lynn Williams.

* Gill Connell @movingsmartnow Moving Smart Makes me think of a fun movement book with surprising animals that fly and swim -  Caramba by Marie-Louise Gay

* Christie @childhood101 Childhood 101 Makes me think of the gorgeous colors, art and friendship in the book called The Lion & The Little Red Bird by Elisa Kleven

* Sherry and Donna @sherryanddonna Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning Makes me think of a book that is full of children's dreams, ideas and imagination of self - I Want to Be by Thylias Moss

* Lisa Sunbury @lisasunbury Regarding Baby Makes me think of an adventure book that celebrates caretakers of babies - Rainbabies by Laura Krauss Melmed

All these books are listed on my  Favorite Read Aloud page