Re-read Questions and Blog on :
“Difficulties During Diaper Change” and “The Contested Doll”
As I re-read the questions and my blog I noticed that I felt comfortable in my answers, however, it was missing something. My blog was told from my perspective and how I thought the teacher and Laura felt. I went off of my knowledge and what I thought was right. I notice now that it would be important to include, yes, some “big” questions along with my answers.
“Difficulties During Diaper Change”
Since this would be Laura’s 4th day of school it would be important to know some information from Laura’s parents, such as: “How is Laura when she goes home? How does she react when she comes to school? Does Laura have a difficult time when you change her diapers at home? What are some things that you do with Laura during diaper changing? Who usually changes Laura’s diapers? What kind of baby is Laura? What are some of her likes and dislikes? How do you think that we could make Laura feel more comfortable during diaper changing at school? What are some things that we can do for Laura to make her feel more relaxed at school? How do you feel about us? Do you think we could change something that would benefit Laura, what?”
Besides only asking Laura’s parents questions we can also ask ourselves, the teachers, questions, like: “How can we make Laura feel more comfortable at school and during diaper changing? Would it have been better to change Laura’s diaper quickly or was it better to do it the way that it was done? Why? How important is it to have Laura feel comfortable in the school? What is Laura feeling during diaper changing? Is Laura feeling this way at other times during the day, when, why? How can we involve Laura’s parents in her adjusting to school? Should Laura bond with one teacher or all? How is Laura around the other children? Should we be concerned with Laura not be adjusted to school yet? Is it important that Laura always feel comfortable, why or why not? Is what Laura feeling during diaper changing normal?”
“The Contested Doll”
I feel that in this scenario I would also ask questions to get a better understanding of what happened, some of these questions I would ask my colleagues would be, “How important is it that this was Laura’s first time arguing over a toy? How do you thing she handled it? Do you think intervention was a good thing to do or not, why? How is Laura with other children? Does she play with them? How long? Is this type of play important for children her age? What can we do to increase Laura’s play? Would Laura have only reacted this way because of the doll or would another object get the same reaction?”
Also to get input from Laura’s family would be a good idea to get a more rounded understanding of Laura, questions that could be asked are, “Does Laura play with other children her own age, or a different age, what age? (does age even matter?) How is she with them? What kinds of toys does Laura like to play with at home?”
I wouldn’t be surprised if I could come up with even more questions but I think I made my point. I have learned through this course that communication between staff, parents, and child is very important. Not just the kind of communication that we already have and do but to have a deeper type of communication. One that isn’t swept under the rug or put into a file without ever to be looked at again unless a red flag comes up. To me it has become apparent that I need to step up my communication and ask questions.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Final Reflections
I’m surprised at how much one class can change my place of work. Where I work we focused on 10,400 documentations and assessments each year, that is if we just keep it to two observations or pictures per objective (generally I have at least 3 – 9 per page – depending on the objective). And this semester we started a new curriculum – Teaching Strategies, which I have not been trained for (I’m just winging it) that has 65 learning objectives – 15 more than last year. We attempted to be more organized and put on the calendar what objectives we are going to be observing each week, what units we were going to teach for the semester, and what lessens we would do each month. I was extremely overwhelmed and frustrated. I felt like a robot. I really wasn’t enjoying my job and I couldn’t wait to go home. Even when I was at home I was still doing work related jobs. I think I was making myself physically sick just so that I would be forced to rest.
However, things have changed dramatically due to taking this class with my co-worker, Val. Through each reading every week, assignments, and blogging we have learned a different way of learning and our eyes have opened to new ideas. These ideas were brought to our director’s attention and she was and is willing to try out these new ideas we have been learning about. At first each idea that was brought up was something extra for us to do on top of everything we were already doing, such as: group learning, big questions, and look again at child-centered activities, lessons, units and projects (instead of teacher-centered).
Last week there was a break through, our director is willing for us to go back to children-centered activities and projects. We are also beginning to use “big” questions with each other and the children (I’m still learning this one), the weekly assessments went in the trash, group learning is beginning to be a part of our assessments, instead of over loading the children with multiple activities per day for “a higher level of learning” we have gone back to the basics first, and instead of the children learning one concept per day we are going to try one concept per week or however long it might take.
There are a lot of changes going on in our preschool and I believe it is the best for the children and teachers. I could see the frustration in the children when we had to pull them away from what they wanted to do so they could do what we wanted them to do. I was frustrated myself. This week will be the first week we are going to implement all of our learning with full cooperation with all the staff. I’m so excited to go to work today!
The next thing I would like to take on is the portfolios. The portfolios are one thing that our director has not approved of how we want to do it – not yet. If I was able to I would like to be able to make stories for the children’s portfolios instead of impersonal objectives. I asked my co-worker for help because I’ve been doing portfolios for 10 years a certain way where we weren’t able to put in our emotions and thoughts into it. It was just hard core facts based on objectives. I want to be able to tell stories, what I think of each child and add their personalities to it – but I don’t know how. I think one way I can help myself is by writing down observations and concentrate on the children.
This has been an extremely exciting new way of learning and teaching for me. How has this class inspired you in your ways of teaching? Have you been able to make changes where you work, how? Are your co-workers open to new ways of doing things? If not how or what can you do to get them to look at it from your point of view and also the children’s point of view? Out of everything we have read and learned about what are the ones that stand out to you the most, why?
However, things have changed dramatically due to taking this class with my co-worker, Val. Through each reading every week, assignments, and blogging we have learned a different way of learning and our eyes have opened to new ideas. These ideas were brought to our director’s attention and she was and is willing to try out these new ideas we have been learning about. At first each idea that was brought up was something extra for us to do on top of everything we were already doing, such as: group learning, big questions, and look again at child-centered activities, lessons, units and projects (instead of teacher-centered).
Last week there was a break through, our director is willing for us to go back to children-centered activities and projects. We are also beginning to use “big” questions with each other and the children (I’m still learning this one), the weekly assessments went in the trash, group learning is beginning to be a part of our assessments, instead of over loading the children with multiple activities per day for “a higher level of learning” we have gone back to the basics first, and instead of the children learning one concept per day we are going to try one concept per week or however long it might take.
There are a lot of changes going on in our preschool and I believe it is the best for the children and teachers. I could see the frustration in the children when we had to pull them away from what they wanted to do so they could do what we wanted them to do. I was frustrated myself. This week will be the first week we are going to implement all of our learning with full cooperation with all the staff. I’m so excited to go to work today!
The next thing I would like to take on is the portfolios. The portfolios are one thing that our director has not approved of how we want to do it – not yet. If I was able to I would like to be able to make stories for the children’s portfolios instead of impersonal objectives. I asked my co-worker for help because I’ve been doing portfolios for 10 years a certain way where we weren’t able to put in our emotions and thoughts into it. It was just hard core facts based on objectives. I want to be able to tell stories, what I think of each child and add their personalities to it – but I don’t know how. I think one way I can help myself is by writing down observations and concentrate on the children.
This has been an extremely exciting new way of learning and teaching for me. How has this class inspired you in your ways of teaching? Have you been able to make changes where you work, how? Are your co-workers open to new ways of doing things? If not how or what can you do to get them to look at it from your point of view and also the children’s point of view? Out of everything we have read and learned about what are the ones that stand out to you the most, why?
Monday, November 8, 2010
Questions
This week’s readings are about questions. The main purpose of asking questions is to gain information. Asking questions are an important way of communicating with others. All day long we are asking questions or listening to their answers and vice-versa. I don’t think that there is a day that goes by that you don’t ask someone or yourself a question; like: “Is it going to rain? What should I eat for breakfast? What should I wear today? Should I go grocery shopping?”, and so on. I my children also ask me a lot of questions; my favorite one (actually my least favorite one) is “What’s going to be for dinner?” We go through our lives asking and answering questions, and perhaps not even being aware of it. I bet if you had to tally how many times you asked or answered questions it would be very high.
We are also answering many questions throughout the day, such as: “When you go to the store can you pick me up some gum? My child is coughing can I bring him to school? Can you put paper in the Xerox machine? What are you going to do tomorrow? And so on. If you think about it asking questions, listening to responses, and having questions asked of you and you answering them can be more challenging than one might seem. Especially questions that you dread to ask or questions you don’t want to answer and you try to put it off to the very last minute until there are no other excuses until you need to ask or answer it. Those are ones I don’t like.
We are taught as preschool teachers to ask the children “open-ended” questions to encourage the children to give more information than a simple “yes or no” answer. What is also important is to be an active listener when children answer your questions. It can make them feel like you care and believe what they have to say is important. Do you think that you are an active listener to the children, families, co-workers, and your friends and families? Is there a difference to how you listen to “work” related adults, children, and “personal” people? Why is that?
Even in this class we were told to ask questions in our blogs for ourselves and our classmates. Questions can make us have a deeper understanding of what we are thinking about and also what we want to know about. So, what do you think about questions? Do you think that questions are an important means of communicating with others? Why?
We are also answering many questions throughout the day, such as: “When you go to the store can you pick me up some gum? My child is coughing can I bring him to school? Can you put paper in the Xerox machine? What are you going to do tomorrow? And so on. If you think about it asking questions, listening to responses, and having questions asked of you and you answering them can be more challenging than one might seem. Especially questions that you dread to ask or questions you don’t want to answer and you try to put it off to the very last minute until there are no other excuses until you need to ask or answer it. Those are ones I don’t like.
We are taught as preschool teachers to ask the children “open-ended” questions to encourage the children to give more information than a simple “yes or no” answer. What is also important is to be an active listener when children answer your questions. It can make them feel like you care and believe what they have to say is important. Do you think that you are an active listener to the children, families, co-workers, and your friends and families? Is there a difference to how you listen to “work” related adults, children, and “personal” people? Why is that?
Even in this class we were told to ask questions in our blogs for ourselves and our classmates. Questions can make us have a deeper understanding of what we are thinking about and also what we want to know about. So, what do you think about questions? Do you think that questions are an important means of communicating with others? Why?
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
American vs. Reggio
There are a few things in this week’s reading that popped out to me. The first one is where documentation in Reggio schools is viewed as “assessments” and for American schools documentation is viewed as an evaluation. I’m an American and went to American schools all my life and I can identify with this. American schools are focused on the individual and not the group. When being graded it is all about the individual, even when doing group projects you are still being graded on what you contributed to the group. There have been those rare occasions where I was graded within a group and hated it. I felt that way because I felt I did more and deserved a better grade. I feel that we are taught to do our own work and if anyone would help it would be considered cheating. We do get graded for the work we do and it gets recorded in our individual records. It makes me wonder how Reggio based schools grade their students, if not as individuals but in groups, how? This sounds weird to me.
Another thing that popped out to me is the fascination that Americans have with Reggio based schools. Why is that? I’m one of them. I’m surprised with myself with how I’ve taken to Reggio based schools. No other school has affected me the way that Reggio has. I love everything that we have been learning about. My co-worker and I have also been able to verbalize what we are learning and try to implement it into our school. The only problem is that our director adds it to what the children are already doing which has now become a problem. But I try to look at it as a way of learning and things just need to be ironed out more (however I am also frustrated too). Are you also fascinated with Reggio schools and what we are learning about them? Why? I like the way Reggio schools document learning from a whole group, how the portfolios look, the way the children pick what they want to learn, how the environment is set up, and how the teachers teach the children. We even tried to put it in our assessments but it doesn’t fit with the objectives in our curriculum, just more things to iron out.
The other thing that popped out to me was the way the book outlined the differences of American schools and Reggio based schools. One difference is where American teachers notice, document, and report only on the work of the individual, where Reggio teachers focus on the group and the ways in which individuals move, interact, contribute, and learn from “the ways of learning of others”; and the second is where American’s focus on outcomes, achievement, and measurement of improvement over time, as to where Reggio’s focus on the actions of teaching, learning, playing, thinking, and other epistemological considerations. (p. 311). It’s amazing don’t you think? What’s amazing is this is the American way. Is this the American way you want for our children’s future? When it’s written out this way and placed side by side it makes me wonder why? How did we get to this point? Why didn’t we question it? Why are we continuing to teach this way? But even now knowing the difference and wanting a change, do you really think we would be able to change? A small change? Or a big change? If we were able to learn to teach the Reggio way what would it mean for the children and their future? I would love to see studies done with adults who were raised in Reggio based schools and see how they turned out.
Another thing that popped out to me is the fascination that Americans have with Reggio based schools. Why is that? I’m one of them. I’m surprised with myself with how I’ve taken to Reggio based schools. No other school has affected me the way that Reggio has. I love everything that we have been learning about. My co-worker and I have also been able to verbalize what we are learning and try to implement it into our school. The only problem is that our director adds it to what the children are already doing which has now become a problem. But I try to look at it as a way of learning and things just need to be ironed out more (however I am also frustrated too). Are you also fascinated with Reggio schools and what we are learning about them? Why? I like the way Reggio schools document learning from a whole group, how the portfolios look, the way the children pick what they want to learn, how the environment is set up, and how the teachers teach the children. We even tried to put it in our assessments but it doesn’t fit with the objectives in our curriculum, just more things to iron out.
The other thing that popped out to me was the way the book outlined the differences of American schools and Reggio based schools. One difference is where American teachers notice, document, and report only on the work of the individual, where Reggio teachers focus on the group and the ways in which individuals move, interact, contribute, and learn from “the ways of learning of others”; and the second is where American’s focus on outcomes, achievement, and measurement of improvement over time, as to where Reggio’s focus on the actions of teaching, learning, playing, thinking, and other epistemological considerations. (p. 311). It’s amazing don’t you think? What’s amazing is this is the American way. Is this the American way you want for our children’s future? When it’s written out this way and placed side by side it makes me wonder why? How did we get to this point? Why didn’t we question it? Why are we continuing to teach this way? But even now knowing the difference and wanting a change, do you really think we would be able to change? A small change? Or a big change? If we were able to learn to teach the Reggio way what would it mean for the children and their future? I would love to see studies done with adults who were raised in Reggio based schools and see how they turned out.
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