Sharing Personal Experiences

 It is such a pleasure when our children share their personal experiences with one another. A few weekends ago, one of our children visited "a different Toronto" with his family. His parents were kind enough to take some photos of their trip to share with the class. With our inquiry on skyscrapers still going strong, the picture show was a wonderful success! Some the children's ideas about Toronto, the CN Tower, cities and skyscrapers were validated...and of course, some exciting conversations and questions came about. My favourite part? The sound of 26 little voices saying, "WHOA!" with the switching of the each photo. Thanks for bringing Toronto to us!



-"I was up in the CN Tower...we took it [the picture] in the circle." (at the top of the CN Tower)
- "It's poking through the clouds!"
-"You can see other towers."

Our presenter ran his hand on our brightlinks, up the tower. He mentioned that he took an elevator to the top, but that there were also stairs.The children also discussed what material the CN Tower was made out of. Our presenter thought it might have been cardboard, others thought wood. There were many ideas...
-"It's not wood!"
- "It's big blocks."
-"It's bricks."



"I was walking on the glass floors. I saw the pieces outside" shares our presenter.
"You saw the brick?" asks a friend.
Our presenter nods, yes.
-"Is the glass floor glass?"
-"Ya, when you look down you can see the bottom."
"What if you were scared? Were you scared?"
"I was just okay. I saw the mini cars."
Miss. S: "What are mini cars?"
"When you go in the CN Tower, they are mini cars when you look at them."
One student helped to clarify our presenters thinking:
-"They are big when you are close and little when you are far."

"You can't see all the way up because it's too big."

Miss. S: "How many skyscrapers do you see?"

"That's the zoo!"
"No, that's the dinosaur place."
"It's called a museum."
"The pointy things are pointy that way" (child uses his fingers to point in different directions)

"I see a timer."
"That's the clock for Toronto."

 As an extension to this inquiry we have been busy planning a trip to explore our own city; downtown Cambridge and the School of Architecture to learn how structures truly come to life. We hope to share some photos of this experience with you in the upcoming weeks.
 

Too Soon?

Our children want to write comics...but aren't they too young to even READ a comic?
Our children want to write scripts...but are they ready for such an undertaking?

The fact of the matter is, children are ready to write when they are ready-it's not something we should hurry or rush them into. This is not to say that we do not promote or practise writing/fine motor skills in our program-we certainly do! We just explore and use writing in more authentic ways, through play, during the course of the day. For example, in just one week we've observed children writing scripts for puppet play, writing down others "ideas" during our sharing of learning times, writing comics complete with thought and speech bubbles, using their names in tallies and charts to take a vote and of course, writing orders in a "restaurant". There has been such a great energy in the room-an excitement for writing! And it excites us to no end.

This week I had a chat with Mrs. Clarkson and our wonderful ECE colleague in room 2. It was a brief chat but it really resonated with me. Together we thought that perhaps other educator's ambivalence towards this program may be based on their belief that children are just not "ready" for this type of learning. For example, some educators feel that it's too early to teach young children the musical patterning of  "ta-ta-ti-ta". My thinking is, if students are interested in patterns (like our students) why not explore musical patters? Yes, I know this is a lesson that is traditionally taught in the primary years, but if explored early on just IMAGINE what children could accomplish or produce in the grades to come. It's a wonderful thought, isn't it?

So, my thinking? If children are showing a genuine interest in something allow them to explore it. And use the language that is true to their exploration. If they interested in rocks, call them archaeologists or even scientists. If they want to build towers, call them architects. If they want to write comics, or scripts call them writers, authors or artists. Guide them through the world that they are so curious about; it is never too soon.

Writing our comics during our weekly journal time.  During our reading to self time, some students noticed and wondered about the "white parts" on the pages of our very popular Ninjago comic. We talked about speech bubbles and thought bubbles and looked at their differences. The children were extremely motivated to write their own "comics."
This student illustrated himself going to the beach. He is saying, "Go".

This is page one of a student's journal work. His "comic" extended over two pages. The blue ninja is saying "hiya!"

The second page. The red ninja is responding with "Rrrrr"- notice the r's to the left of the page. When I commented on his work he replied, "I like it because it's my favourite thing."

We even noticed speech and thought bubbles on some clothing.

Typically a hesitant writer, this student was observed as being engaged for over 10 mins.

Two friends at the beginning stages of script writing for their The Little Pigs production.

Thinking About Mental Health: Relationships are the Key to Learning

I have been extremely fortunate this year to already have had three wonderful professional development opportunities.  They include:

1. Building Mental Health Literacy in Educators-Sept 20th
Presented by Don Buchanan, Knowledge Mobilization Officer of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board

2. A Framework for Understanding Poverty-Sept 28th
Presented by Michael Whithead, Social Worker for the WCDSB

3. Making Learning Visible-Building Relationships to Know Your Learners-Oct 4th
Presented by Dr. Jean Clinton, Child Psychologist at McMaster University and Children's Hospital

These workshops were equally eye-opening and inspiring! At the end of the day, however, I couldn't help but notice that they all had a common focus, or now that I think about it, a common question; how do we create mentally healthy classrooms? The answer; by building relationships with our students-get to know who they are.

This entry has taken sometime for me to write as I have been reflecting heavily on this topic and ALL the information that I have gathered from these sessions (I am quite the note taker...just ask my ELK team). Here are some things that I have been thinking about and reflecting on.

• 1 in 5 students struggle with a mental health problem and all it takes is one caring adult to make a difference. This fact laid heavy on my heart, not to mention made me that much more motivated to be that ONE person in a child's life.
• I am thinking more about what I attribute children's behaviour to. I find myself having even more casual conversations with our students to gain a deeper understanding of who they truly are. In doing this, I am hoping to learn more about their beliefs, prior experiences, and thinking. I aim to understand what is the intent of their behaviour and guide them (if need be) in a different direction or to take preventative action.
• "Satisfying the social and emotional needs of students does more than prepare them to learn-it actually increases their capacity to learn" (Hawkins et al., 1999; Malecki & Elliot, 2002).
  How do I better teach these skills which include self-awareness, social awareness, self-regulation, relationship skills, decision making skills?! This year, we have started with talking about our feelings. As well, my teaching partner and I always model acceptable social and emotional interactions and reactions. I still feel that I will have to educate myself further on this one.
• How do I consider the different temperaments of children? What strategies will I or, do I use that accommodate to the extroverts and introverts in our class? To the students that are sensitive to different stimuli?
• "The brain is sculpted by experience." Dr. Jean ClintonI felt like I have known this since my days in Psych 101 but something about the way that Dr. Clinton said it just lit the biggest light bulb in my head. If I know that the brain (and behaviour) can actually change, yes CHANGE with positive experiences then I aim to continually provide our students with school experiences that are safe, playful, meaningful and educational.
• It's about "progress, not perfection" when it comes to working with children. I may be a teacher but I am only human. I am not perfect and may make some mistakes and I certainly don't know it all. What I do know is that I am growing in knowledge. What I lack in experience I make up for with enthusiasm. It is safe to say that my passion for early learning is stronger now than it has ever been and I strive to become a more informed and educated professional.

So, in final, when it comes to creating relationships with children I strongly feel that it all comes down to reexamining what my view of the child is. I will fully admit that at the beginning of my teaching career I would have said that children are empty vessels that needed to be filled knowledge. Since then, and since teaching in the ELKP my view of the child, teaching and education has changed DRASTICALLY! I now see children has creative, capable people full of experiences, curiosities, knowledge and questions of their own that they long to share. When interacting with children, I am beginning to look more for their strengths and competencies rather than the things they lack or struggle with. I am enjoying learning how to learn with children; in slowing down, listening to them-to their interests and questions. I enjoy being challenged in planning how to extend their learning in ways that are fun and meaningful to them.

As always, I am extremely grateful for my knowledgeable colleagues the all PD that comes our way. For those of you who are interested in more PD/information about mental health in children and creating relationships I have included a few titles and links below.

Calm, Alert and Learning
A NEW book by Dr. Stuart Shanker
http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/self-regulation-calm-alert-and-learning

Understanding PovertyBy: Ruby K. Payne, Ph. D

C.A.P.E. (Consultants and Coordinators of Primary Education)
Don't be fooled by their title, we are educators and are very welcome at their workshops!
http://www.eventbrite.ca/org/963647643

http://cymhin.offordcentre.com/

Thanks for reading!