It's Okay to Breathe

The children in my class are in the beginning phases of a study of their hands and what those hands represent to them in terms of their identities. It's a very exciting time, when a new inquiry or study is beginning and the possibilities are looming large on the horizon.

I have reflected before on my own sense of urgency and although I am aware of my tendency to rush, and try to be mindful to slow down, I have been reminded this week that I am often still guilty of barreling through my own agenda and not giving the children time to think, process, and reflect on their questions and curiosities.

I think sometimes I get so excited about all of the amazing things the children are doing that I forget that children experience time very differently than I do. Children need time to think, to process, to walk away from ideas for a bit to gain some perspective. In reality, many times I feel the same way, in many different areas of my life. So here, in a moment of thoughtful reflection, I remind myself that it's okay to breathe. It's okay to take a lengthy pause in the midst of an inquiry to let ideas percolate. It's okay to walk away for a few days and just let ideas hang. If the children are truly curious about whatever it is they are investigating, they will come back to it. And I will be here waiting for them when they do.

I was jarred into this moment of reflection today, as I was wrapping up the first phase in our hand study and I was already thinking about starting the next phase tomorrow. Then A spontaneously traced her hand after finishing her journal today and engaged me in a quiet conversation as she deliberated over just which marker to choose to complete her work. 

"My hand is brown so I need to use a brown [marker]...This [marker] is light brown. I love light brown because my skin is light brown. Can you see my face is brown?"

This was such a powerful moment for me, and a strong reminder of why slowing down definitely has its merits. Sometimes, many times, the most profound statements are made spontaneously, in the spaces between my questioning. They key is learning to abandon my own agenda, quiet down, and listen for them.

"But Where Did It Come From?"

While out in the play yard, the children noticed a perfect, dry circle in the wood chips after a morning of heavy rain. K asked the children around him, "Where did it come from?"

The children took a few moments to ponder the circle.

As K and G observed the circle, E made an exciting discovery: "Hey! There's a tire over here! That's maybe what made the circle over there!"

I posed a question to help the children further their thinking: "Why would the ground in this circle be dry when all the other ground is so wet?"

G: "I know! The tire was here when it was raining before...before we came outside. So that part of the ground didn't even get wet."

E: "Maybe we should move it back over here."

K: "Yeah, then it can stay dry under there!"

E: "It's pretty heavy!"

E: "Hey, we moved it!"

G: "Now the ground will be dry."

Visible Learning - Not Just for the Kids!

Now that the new school year is in full swing, it's time to start implementing all of the ideas that have been collecting over the long summer months. This year one of my teaching goals is to be more intentional in the ways I display my own thinking in regard to the children's interests and inquiries. In our classroom, one of the ways we will accomplish this is with a "We're thinking..." board.

Many factors led to the decision to give this board a try:

          Emphasis on making learning visible - 

          As reflective practitioners in a Reggio-inspired preschool setting, we make it a priority to foster visible learning in our classroom. But it's also also vital to remember that teachers also bring much to the inquiries and discussions we engage in with children. Having an intentional space in the classroom for teachers to record and reflect on their thinking will help foster an environment of learning, reflection, and co-construction of knowledge between children and teachers.

          Transparency, communication, and collaboration - 

          I'm very fortunate to teach and learn alongside three incredible assistant facilitators each day (Jayne, Danon, and Townsley) and the reality of the situation is that it is nearly impossible to sit down together each day to share everything we have observed about the children. We do have a weekly team meeting where we all sit down to discuss our documentation and plan for the following week, but the board helps to ensure that we don't forget anything we've noticed and also helps us notice patterns and directions in the children's thinking, which informs the work we do with them.

Ideas into Action

The really excellent thing about the board is that when the time comes for us to get together as a team to plan for the upcoming week, all of our documentation from the previous week is collected in one place.

This year we are using an adapted version of the emergent curriculum form found in We Are All Explorers: Teaching and Learning with Reggio Principles in Urban Settings (Scheinfeld, Haigh, Scheinfeld 2008).

We altered the form slightly to meet the needs of our center and our classroom. In previous years, I would have been hesitant to display the form with its arrows, scratch outs, additions, and changes but now I feel differently. There is actually a strange beauty in making learning visible - perhaps because it can be such a mess.

The truth of the matter is, learning is often messy and can rarely be placed in tidy little boxes. In reality, there are so many ways to learn (we Reggio folks don't strive to embody the Hundred Languages for nothing!) that thinking of it as only neat and linear is pretty shortsighted. I'm so thrilled to be working toward a more realistic model this year - and creating space for the thought processes of the teachers will certainly support that model. Plus, what an amazing example we are setting for the children, showing them that the process of thinking things through is something we value in our community. What a fine example - that we all have ideas to offer and that we are on this learning journey together.

The Third Teacher - Exploring and Sharing Classroom Spaces

A new school year is upon us and with it comes, at least for me, a revamping of my current classroom environment. The Reggio Emilia philosophy places so much emphasis on the importance of the physical classroom environment that it is often referred to as the "third teacher." In the spirit of inspiration and excitement for the new year, and in the knowledge that there is always room for growth and change, here is a virtual tour of our sacred space - our classroom, our third teacher.

Our Book Nook - an area for gathering, reading, resting, connecting and discussing:

 

Our Job Board - children choose a classroom job each Monday morning and place their picture over the job they want for the duration of the week

Found object alphabet

Our Writing Area:

Mini Studio - An area for creating and exploring:

 Lots of seating and natural light!

 We try to maintain the area by keeping things simple, accessible, and inviting.

 We find and rotate interesting materials to encourage all children to feel comfortable creating representations of their world.

Our Construction Area:

 We incorporate as many real-life building materials as possible, including bricks and roof shingles.

Our Dramatic Play Area:

 

Our Dramatic Play area changes frequently based on the interests of the children, but we like to start the year with a space that is homey and comfortable, without an overwhelming amount of materials.

Our Science Areas:

  Our "Wonder Window": The children are invited to sit and contemplate the world outside of our classroom window. Writing materials are made available for children to draw or write about their observations.

Our Loose Parts Shelf:

So many gorgeous and exciting materials to explore!

 

Around the Classroom - We try to add personal touches around the room to make it a space that is beautiful, comfortable, and inviting.

 

 

  One of the most interesting and exciting aspects of our environment is the fact that it is constantly evolving - both in response to the needs of the community, and in response to the interests and ideas of the children. It is rather a lovely place to spend our days, living and learning from one another.

Where I've Been

"[E]ach child is viewed as infinitely capable, creative, and intelligent..."

-Louise Cadwell

A student independently creates a small world play scene.

A new school year is upon us and as I eagerly anticipate the new group of children that will soon be entering the sacred space of our classroom - a space where play rules and the rights of the children are a priority - I find myself reflecting on these small people and where they've been.

I have the privilege of teaching and learning from four-year-old children each day. When I really stop to think about it, it is amazing that these small people have been on this planet for only four short years. Four years! It's really amazing.

I think it is often easy for teachers to welcome a new group of students and immediately lament how much they "don't know." Let us not forget, the students who just left our community had an entire year to get where they were when they left, and although it is sometimes terribly hard to remember, they entered the classroom in the same place as these who are now gracing our doorway. It is so easy - especially in our society, who places so much emphasis on deficits in children entering the school system, rather than recognizing and capitalizing on all of the knowledge they bring - to forget that four-year-old children are filled to the brim with the wisdom of their experiences. 

Children are so often underestimated because of their age. What's four years? A stint in high school? A college career?

Play dough representations.

How much did I learn in my four years in high school? In college? My first four years as a classroom teacher? Loads! Certainly more than I can quantify here. But here's what I didn't learn in any of those chapters of my life: How to walk. How to speak and comprehend an entire language. How to assess and react in various social situations. How to navigate an environment - multiple environments! - that were totally out of my range of experience on a daily basis. The list could continue on and on.

So why are children so frequently underestimated? In the four years before these children walk through my classroom door, they have accomplished much. So much. They come to us each day possessing so much knowledge, so much experience, so much wisdom. They are learners, researchers, artists, musicians. They are storytellers, collaborators, community members, individuals. 

Remembering and reflecting on this fact also helps me keep in the front of my mind that these children enter our space each day as fully capable - and I owe it to them to consistently remind the world.