Tom Drummond's Enterprise Talk

It's the start of a new school year, which always brings lots of changes and boots us out of our comfort zones. Many teachers have a whole new class every year and must take plenty of time at the beginning to get to know each new personality, to build relationships, to figure out how the culture of all those personalities together will develop.

In our school, we have a mixed-age program so about half of the children leave for kindergarten each year, and we start the new school year with our class consisting of half returning 4-year-olds and half new 3-year-olds. This also takes a lot of getting used to, relationship building, and relationship adjusting. The "top dogs" of last year are not there to run the place anymore, and the new "big kids" who used to be the little kids must figure out their new role.

This year we also rearranged the whole school, so that none of the areas are in the same place they used to be. This changes the whole flow that the returning kids were familiar with, so in some ways we are all new kids. Nobody remembers where we keep the scissors because they're not where they used to be.

With all this adjusting and learning and relationship building to do, it's easy for teachers to give directions to try to make everything go smoothly. "Go wash your hands." "Get your water bottle." "Put the cap on the marker." These may sound innocuous enough, but when you look at it a different way,

"when a child is told what to do, he or she has only two choices: (a) do as requested — acquiesce, or (b) not do as requested — rebel."

This quote comes from Tom Drummond in his article "Enterprise Talk" which provides teachers with "a handrail to integrity and authenticity."

He goes on to say, "Neither acquiescence nor rebellion is a value I want to teach. They are not on my list of attributes of good character. I want children in my community to take the initiative to act responsibly for the good of themselves and the good of others. If adults constantly tell children what to do, they eliminate the possibility of initiative."

Because we are a democratic school that helps the children create their own "agreements" or rules of how they want to be together, we agree that we don't value either acquiescence or rebellion. A functioning democratic society requires well-informed citizens capable of making their own choices and using critical thinking to question everything. So, we are working on unlearning the old teacher habits we used to have and retrofitting our toolboxes with Tom Drummond's guidelines:

"No Directions, No Questions, No Praise.
This is an admonition to eliminate doing what doesn’t work....I invite you to stop telling other people what to do....I invite you to stop asking questions about what to do....I invite you to stop praising what children do."

Instead, here's what we are trying to replace old language with. All quotes below are from Tom Drummond, the link to the original article is above, below, and here.

Descriptions

"You have a yellow bolt. Four of you are working together. Clouds of pink fill the page. Those are called quads. The pen dried out. It smells sour. Descriptions convey in language what the child can perceive presently—what the child is now seeing, hearing, feeling, touching, smelling."

Narrations

"You brought the stapler. Jenny is folding the scarves. You are filling it up to the very top. Mark is handing out the cups. Carlos joins us. You hung up your coat. Narrations put the child's actions into words as the child is doing it—like a sports announcer delivering play by play coverage of events as they occur. Most narrations start with “You…” or the child’s name."

Subjective-Talk

"I am watching you. I’ll be right back. I have to go get the lunch. I saw you and Yolanda at the store. My cat keeps eating the butter. I enjoy seeing your paintings. I have towels if you need them. Subjective-talk is about your own actions and thoughts that relate to the child's current situation. Most self-talk statements begin with “I…” "

Non-Verbal Recognition

"Wink. Smile. Send a positive message in the way you hold your body, the expression on your face and the noises you make. Wooo! Zowie! Yeah-yeah-YEAH! Communicate your pleasure in valued behavior by facial expressions and body language."

Intrinsically-Phrased Responses

"ENJOYMENT   “It’s fun to do, isn’t it?”

         pleasure ~ delight ~ happiness ~ thrill ~ joy ~ amusement ~ gratification
good feelings ~ savor that inside ~ pride ~ satisfaction

COMPETENCE     “You did it!”

         success ~ mastery ~ have the know-how ~ expertise ~ accomplishment
achievement ~ attainment ~ have the skill ~ a talent ~ knack

CLEVERNESS    “That’s tricky.”

         a new idea ~ unique ~ brainy ~ smart ~ intelligent ~ bright
~ witty ~ sharp ~ ingenious ~ quick ~ original

GROWTH       “You’re sure getting bigger!”

         ready for new challenges ~ older now ~ something new
~ more grown-up ~ more independent"

This doesn't mean that there are no limits or boundaries. Young children very much need limits and boundaries to feel safe and in control. For example, we obviously can't let children continue hitting or hurting someone else while we stand there figuring out what to say. We can't let children run out in the street or break toys on purpose. But maybe there are some things we can let go of that seem like traditional musts. Yes, we have a culture of washing hands before eating, but if one child doesn't do it one day, is it the end of the world? Usually we don't stand on the table, but if a child needs to reach to build a taller tower, is it okay? Some schools have an unbendable "up the ladder, down the slide" rule. But what creative play, physical challenges and negotiations are lost without the freedom to try to climb up the slide with a rope?

It takes a long time to unlearn old habits and re-train ourselves, but in the couple of years that I've been working on learning this new way I can tell you it is well worth the effort. Where I used to get into battles with children over picking up their belongings, clean up time, saying sorry, coming when I call, etc., I now have let go of the need to control them so tightly. I can give them information and let them come to a choice of action in their own time. "If you leave your blankie on the floor, someone might step on it or trip on it." If it matters to them, they will pick it up and put it somewhere safe. If it only matters to me that the walkway is clear, then I'm the one that should pick it up. But I'll narrate what I'm doing and why, to act as a model. "I'm going to put away this puzzle that no one is using so that the pieces all stay together." Instead of saying "Wash your hands for snack" I now say, "It's snack time. When you're ready you can wash your hands and get some snack."

This technique is especially crucial in times of conflict and stress, and with those children who need extra support being successful in the classroom. For children who don't read others' body language, you can narrate and describe what you see happening and what you think it means. "Bryce is putting his hands up and saying no. I think he wants to protect his block structure so it stays standing up." For children who have a hard time joining others' play appropriately, you can notice and wonder. "Sophie and Elliot are making a stew. I wonder what else they need for it?" In fact, "I notice" and "I wonder" are miracle words that work in millions of situations.

I wanted to introduce you to Tom Drummond's Enterprise Talk and I ended up talking about a lot of different things, which is good because now I have a long list of ideas for future blog posts. There's so much to think about, reflect on, talk about and share on this journey of early childhood education. Thank you for joining me on the journey!

freedom and limits

some art materials sit out on the table,
attractively displayed.
glue, brushes, various objects for collage, some round fabric samples donated by a neighbor.
the table is inviting, asking children to come and do, come and make, come and explore.
the teacher has an idea of what the children might do,
what the materials are for.

what is freedom, at this art table?
the children are free to select their materials, glue them together as they see fit.
are they free to dump out the beads, dump out the feathers, take them away to another table,
pour the jewels into a purse and carry them away as treasure?
should the teacher dictate that "these are only for this project" and "they stay at this table?"
should everyone at the table be involved in a dialogue about the limits?
what will happen if someone takes all the jewels away?
what will happen if someone dumps out all the beads?

are they free to glue all the fabric samples together in a tall stack, leaving none for anyone else?
are they free to use as much glue as they like, even if a teacher thinks they are using too much?
a teacher can give information, or wonder:
"if you stack them all up, there won't be any for other children to use."
"i wonder if your piece will dry with all that glue on it."

here are paper, crayons, scissors, a 3-year-old.
what is freedom here?
is he free to cut his paper any way he chooses?
is he free to experiment with how to hold the scissors
even though it's clear to a teacher that he doesn't know how yet?
should a teacher take his hands and show him how, or let him struggle to find his own way?
perhaps a 4-year-old will come along, if not today, then another day.
he will see how the 4-year-old holds the scissors, and he will try it too.

is he free to cut his hair? his clothes? another child's picture?
is he free to color on the table? on the floor?
who makes these decisions, and why?

 

here are some paints, out in the backyard.

there's an easel next to the paints, but somehow the paint can't seem to stay there.

are the children free to paint the fence? the wall? the tree?

what about the places where other children step to climb up?

does freedom end where safety is concerned, and who gets to decide?

does a teacher say, "you can't paint there?"

or, "people step there when they're climbing. 

if you paint there, it could be slippery and people could fall."

what if children still want to paint there?

what if children want to paint on their own bodies?
"i'm making wonder woman bracelets, so i can be wonder woman," she said.
who's the boss of a child's own skin?
the teacher? the evening bath-giver? the skin-wearer herself?
what if she wants to paint her face, legs, and tummy too?
what if other children see her and also want to paint themselves?
is there any harm in it?

we ask ourselves these questions:
out loud in staff meetings,
and subconsciously as we make split-second decisions about how to respond in the moment.
teachers have wisdom, from their years of experience.
children need to live the experience, in order to gain the wisdom.
somewhere in the grey area between freedom and limits
lies the substance of the work we are doing:
empowering children to make educated choices,
treat others with respect and empathy,
speak up for themselves and others if they see an injustice,
and to question the authorities who sometimes say,
"no dumping out all the feathers,"
"this is the right way to hold the scissors,"
and "paint stays at the easel."

IDEC 2013 - part 4 - vision and connections

Monday's theme at IDEC 2013 (the International Democratic Education Conference) was "Vision," and Tuesday's theme was "Connections." In two days I filled 17 pages with notes. How can I coherently convey any of it to anyone?

In reality, looking back through my notes, most of what I've written down are just ideas and questions. Then, ideas that lead to more questions. The most amazing thing about being here is that everyone is here to share and learn with and from each other. Everybody wants to hear each other's stories, ask questions, find out who's got experience in the thing they're stuck on, find out who's doing something radically different and amazing. And everybody accepts everyone else at face value. There's no judging, just an understanding that we're each on our own paths, each seeking the next challenge or adventure.

In boiling down the last 48 hours, I think my takeaway so far is to go back to my school and work the way the conference is working. Ask big questions, wait for answers to come. Work collaboratively on problems. Include everyone in the conversation. Trust the kids and trust the process.

Here are some of the big questions from these first two days that I want to bring back to my school. And I'd love to hear my readers' responses as well. Everybody is invited into the conversation! The last two questions are ones that we've been exploring for the past year already.

- How do you define democratic education?

- What does community participation look like?

- How do you balance your vision for your school with the visions/needs/concerns etc. of the school community?

- How can we build connection with each other for the future of democratic education?

- What are your thoughts on the pros and cons of making decisions by consensus vs. majority voting?

- When children make the rules, what do you do about bottom-line safety concerns that the adults aren't willing to negotiate on, i.e. holding hands crossing the street, sitting up while eating, washing hands after using the bathroom?

- When you value not bossing children around or forcing them to do things that they don't want to do in school, how do kids learn responsibility for materials (taking care of them, not breaking them, cleaning up)?

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas and as always, even more questions.

IDEC 2013 - part 3 - place and migration

Today after a short welcome, the conference participants gathered in small "homebase" groups for the first time. We'll be meeting with these same groups daily for check-in and reflection. Each group had a theme. Ours was "place and migration."

We began by reflecting on what place and migration mean to each of us, then shared with a partner and then with the whole group. The discussion ranged from gentrification and forced migrations to changing schools and geese. A young boy in our group, maybe 8 or 9, was very focused on geese. He and his mom and I were talking in the think-pair-share activity, and he didn't have much to say except "Goose." It became kind of a running gag, until our group began planning our presentation for the opening ceremony later tonight.

For "place," we made a collective human sculpture, with each group member taking a pose that represents what place means to them, each one adding their idea to the whole. Next, to represent migration, we made four small groups and each group had a sculptor who would position the rest of the group into a sculpture representing migration. I was in that young boy's group, and he was the sculptor.

At first, I caught myself thinking something vaguely along the lines of "oh no, the kid won't do it right." Then I couldn't believe I had that thought. Me, a progressive educator dedicated to child-centered learning! I mentally noted my reaction and then evicted it from my mind. Then, the boy himself blew me away. He instantly had a vision of what he would sculpt. "Goose," he said. He put us in a V formation and had us flap our arms. I asked if we could rest if our arms got tired and he said if our arms got tired we would change positions: the person at the front of the V would move to the back and someone else would take the lead. While the other groups' sculptors were working out their creations, the five of us stood there flapping slowly, and now and then changing positions while our sculptor stood back and smiled.

Later, back in the dorm room I reflected on what place and migration could mean in the context of our preschool community, and I wrote this:

Everybody in our immediate community - whoever we're working with or sharing space and time with - comes from a different place and has been on a different journey, but they are all here, together, in the present moment. The diversity inherent in these varied histories makes a community strong because each individual can build on the collective knowledge and experience of the group. Everyone has something to contribute and everyone has something to learn. No one's skills, knowledge or experiences are more important than anyone else's; they all contribute in different ways.

I'm looking forward to participating in this week's migration of thought, following different lead geese and sometimes taking the lead myself. Then I get to take part in another great migration of thought: the 2013-2014 school year, with this year's unique group of teachers, children, parents and extended community. Here we go!

IDEC 2013 - part 2 - anticipation and foms

At the music camp I go to twice a year, WoMaMu, we always have a problem with FOMS, also known as the Fear of Missing Something. This happens when there are three or four workshops scheduled at the same time and you want to go to more than one of them. 

I am having an even bigger problem with FOMS here in Boulder as I prepare for the start of the International Democratic Education Conference. Each workshop time has not three or four but TWELVE fascinating workshops to choose from, and I've spent the evening narrowing my choices DOWN to three or four. How will I possibly choose? Let me give you some examples:

Monday afternoon, I could go to:
- Innovative Learning to Build Strong Community
- Consensus and Participation of Communities in Schools
- Making Learning Visible: Documentation as Democratic Praxis

Tuesday morning, I could choose between:
- So, I want to start a school...
- Mindfulness & Movement in the Classroom
- Inquiry, Dialogue, and Really Big Pictures
- A hike in the gorgeous Flatiron mountains.

Tuesday afternoon it gets even harder:
- Cross-cultural experiential learning
- Community and School Parnerships
- Transformational Storytelling
- Music Making as Democratic Learning

...and so on.

One of the gorgeous buildings at the University of Colorado Boulder

One thing I'm really looking forward to is Monday morning's tour of The Patchwork School in nearby Louisville, CO. I feel a special kinship with The Patchwork School because I like to imagine that I kind of invented it. Here's how: I was driving home from work at the preschool one day a few years ago, thinking of how sad it was that our school didn't include elementary ages. I began to daydream about the kind of school I wanted to expand into, and started thinking of names for schools. I came up with The Patchwork School. When I got home I googled it, and found that it already existed and looked even better than my imaginary school. So, I can't wait to see it in person, in action, and to get to hear all about it from the executive director, Michele Beach.

With so much to learn and see and do, I'd better go get some sleep.

IDEC 2013 - part 1 - inspiration and intention

Inspiration

Our preschool is just finishing our first year of living by the democratic process. We were inspired by our collective years of experience teaching, learning, reading about and toying with the democratic process in classrooms, and one of our big inspirations, Teacher Tom. <---This is a link to one of his many posts about how the kids at his school make their own rules by unanimous consensus, the process on which we modeled our system this year.

Another big inspiration for me has been Summerhill School and its founder A.S. Neill. When I was teaching in London and learned about this amazing school, my mind was blown and changed forever. It's a school where kids can choose whether or not to go to class. They can play outside all day if they want to. They can make choices about their education, learning what they want, when they want. And it works. And one of the major goals behind it is for people to be happy. One of A.S. Neill's famous quotes is, "I would rather Summerhill produced a happy street sweeper than a neurotic prime minister," the idea being that when people are in control of their lives and their education, they are happier and more well-adjusted. Another major aspect of Summerhill is that the kids make the rules, practicing democratic principles in meaningful contexts for their whole childhood. What better way to raise citizens who are prepared to participate in a democracy?

We had a very successful year implementing the democratic process. There's lots of room for improvement, but isn't that always the case? We've just recently had a big meeting of all the teachers from both schools to reflect and share on our experiences and goals for the future. It's exciting. And now comes...

IDEC 2013

Our director, Kris, and I are heading to Boulder, CO tomorrow for the International Democratic Education Conference, a gathering of people from at least 28 countries who are interested in making real, meaningful change in education. It feels so big I almost don't know what to say about it. Educators, youth, kids, parents, activists, artists, "artivists," social justice workers, and many more categories of people will be there to share their experiences, build community, exchange ideas, and much more.

I've barely started reading the dozens of bios of the "coffee talkers" who are scheduled to help facilitate discussions. What do I want to learn about? How will I decide where to go?

My 7 Intentions for the Conference

1.  I want to find the other people working in the early childhood years. My impression is that most of the emphasis will be on K-12 education, with an even greater emphasis in middle and high school education. But I know we're not the only ones doing democratic education in the preschool years, so I want to find some others and pick their brains.

2.  I want to talk to people who are using democratic principles and freedom in elementary schools, where my teaching career began. I want to find out if there are people giving kids their freedom in the context of the public school system, in this country or beyond, and how they manage it.

3.  I want to meet people who have started their own schools. I love working with preschoolers, and I'm always sad when we send them off to kindergarten because I know that most schools out there are going to make them sit down, stay inside, conform, keep their clothes on, do homework, take tests, and learn what the teacher/district/state says it's time to learn. I dream of having a school that goes from infants to 8th grade (maybe even beyond, who knows?) that is one hundred percent free and democratic.

4.  I want to talk to folks from a wide variety of backgrounds. I work in a small, tuition-based private preschool, so our families tend to be more privileged than many in our city. It's relatively easy for my students' families to find them progressive schools to attend once preschool is over. My partner teaches 2nd grade in a low-income area of the Oakland Unified School District. Her students' families don't have much choice. I want to talk to people who are passionate about closing the gap, about making progressive, democratic education possible for all children regardless of their situation in life.

5.  I want to find out how to empower parents to become activists and change agents. I believe that our education system needs a REALLY BIG overhaul, and I guess organizing is the only way anything big ever happens. I've always been more of a dreamer than a doer, so I'm looking to find some doers who can give me tips to bring back to my community, to do our small part to grow the movement for democracy and freedom!

6.  As a music-maker, I also want to sing and play and learn some new songs and share some songs that I know.  I hear there will be singing every morning, so I'm excited about that.

7.  Lastly, I intend to post every day with the details of what I've learned and explored and wondered about.

So, that's it, not much really!!
Colorado, here we come!!

transformers and math in a commercial-free preschool

Commercially licensed characters. Are. Everywhere. Kids these days are inundated with them from birth. Even adults these days grew up inundated by them, so much that it's hard not to think of some of our favorites as "classics" and make them an exception to the rule. 

What's the rule? Around here, it's "No commercially licensed characters at school." We like our school to be a haven where the bombardment of images from TV and movies stops for a few hours and children are free (or forced) to use their imaginations (and memory) to guide their dramatic play. That means T-shirts, lunch boxes, books, classroom materials, backpacks, costumes, shoes, hats, blankets - everything - must be free of commercially licensed characters.

The kids don't forget about their favorites when they walk through the door, of course. There is still plenty of talk and pretend play from Star Wars to Disney princesses and everything in between. The difference is that the "stuff" isn't there to define the game for the children. They have to rely on their mental recall and language skills to reenact favorite stories. If they want light sabers or crowns, they figure out how to make them from the materials available in the art room, using their creativity and problem solving in the process.

This week I got a glimpse of another great outcome of having the commercial character ban in place. Some of the kids have become interested in Transformers, and spent much of their time outdoors playing Autobots and Decepticons, explaining the characters and game to their friends along the way.  Indoors, they invented a new use for the ever-popular Magna-Tiles: they built a variety of 3-D shapes, named them after their favorite Transformer characters, and then had them transform into flat shapes.

"Watch how it transforms," they told me. "You put the arms up, then the head..." and demonstrated until the flat shape had returned to its original 3-D glory. This reminded me of 4th-6th grade math lessons in which children learn to visualize 3-D shapes from a flat drawing that can be folded up into a shape. These kids will be champs at that, and they don't even know they're learning it. And they might not have had the chance to learn it if store-bought Transformers had been allowed at school. 

For more on the commercial-free movement, go here:
Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood

the most important song

As a singer/songwriter, I often sing with children in preschool, and sometimes we make up songs together, or change lyrics to songs to include all the different ideas the children suggest.

Sometimes when we're singing at circle time, kids get silly and crazy and make weird noises instead of singing or listening.  Over time I've learned to focus that creative energy into making up new verses, or singing the whole tune only on the word "Meow."  More kids tend to sing along when it's time to sing "Meow" or "Blah" instead of the words.  

But there's one exception.

A long time ago I heard a song called "My Mommy Comes Back" by Hap Palmer.  The chorus stuck in my head:

"My mommy comes back, she always comes back

She always comes back to get me

My mommy comes back, she always comes back

She never would forget me."

I had forgotten that there were verses to the song until I looked it up to link it to this post.  When I started teaching preschool I began singing the chorus to kids who were missing their mommies. Then I started personalizing the song with the child and parent's names.  So for a child named Andrew whose mommy was Jennifer, for example, I would sing:

"Jennifer comes back, she always comes back

She always comes back to get Andrew

Jennifer comes back, she always comes back

She never would forget Andrew."

Always, when singing this song, there is no silliness.  There are no "Blah" or "Moo" sounds.  The child I'm singing to stares into my eyes, and the other children nearby fall absolutely silent, listening.  As soon as the song is over, the chatter begins:  "Now do MY mommy!  My mommy's name is Claire."  "Sing my dad now."  "My daddy's name is Mark."  "Now my Nana."  "Now my Grandpa."  Then everyone listens quietly again as the song is sung, over and over, each child contemplating that most important piece of knowledge in their lives: that a loving adult will always come back to get them. 

Sometimes I sing songs to lighten the mood, to practice phonemic awareness, to play a game, to get to know each other's names, to wait for our friends, to learn a concept, or just for fun.  But "My Mommy Comes Back" is the most important song I've ever sung to kids, and it's an honor every time I do it.

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Here's the link to Hap Palmer's video:

My Mommy Comes Back

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gradual departure

Over the years I've seen a lot of kids dropped off at preschool, and a lot of kids picked up from preschool.  These may seem like basic everyday events, but they are huge. 

Most parents quickly get drop-off nailed.  At our school we have a built-in part of the day we call "Gradual Arrival."  It's the first hour of the day and we invite parents to come in with children, read a book, play a game, hang out a little bit while kids get settled in, have a quick check-in with a teacher about any information relevant to the day, etc.  It's gentle, it's relaxed, it's cozy.  Many children are ready to separate with a quick hug and sometimes forget to say goodbye.  Others need a specific routine before they can say goodbye: one book, five hugs and kisses at the door, and Mommy does a silly dance outside the window.  The routine varies for each child, of course, and the silly dance is not always required!

More difficult to navigate sometimes is pick-up time.  Your child had a hard time saying goodbye in the morning, so you think they'll be glad to go home at the end of the day, but they have just as hard a time leaving school as they had leaving you.  Or, you had a long day at work and you still have to pick up baby brother and get some groceries before you can go home to make dinner.  It's time to go and you're ready now.  Why is your child not ready to leave?

At our school, kids go home at all different times from 1:00 to 6:00, so there's no way to put "Gradual Departure" into the schedule, but I've come to the realization that it's just as important, and something that parents should consider putting into their daily routine.

Imagine that your spouse is going to pick you up from work.  You don't know exactly when, you just have a general idea that it will be late afternoon.  Just as you get on a roll in a project you've been struggling with, your spouse arrives and wants to leave immediately.  It would be a little unsettling.  Wouldn't you want to share the breakthrough in your work and let them know that you need a few minutes to wrap up what you're doing?

Alternatively, what if your spouse came to pick you up in the middle of a recreational activity with your friends, and demanded to leave right away?  Since play is children's work, both of these scenarios are true for them.  Just as they need time to adjust into school, they need time to adjust out.

Some parents come and hang out, chatting with each other or the teachers, while the kids finish playing and then get ready to go.  This is good community building time, but it could be even better.

The idea of "Gradual Departure" came to me from a parent whose child told her he didn't like it when she came to pick him up and didn't play with him.  He was up in the clubhouse (kind of a treeless treehouse in the backyard, which is too small for adults to stand upright in), and she went right up there and got into his game.  This child, who often resists every step of the way toward going home, packed up and left without any fuss after his mom played with him for a little while.

Another time I was involved in a dramatic play game of "The Three Bears" with two other children in the backyard.  We were just discussing how we needed someone to come out and be Goldilocks when one of their moms arrived to pick up, and without even thinking I said, "Oh good, you're just in time to be Goldilocks." She graciously took it in stride!

Kids love it when adults pretend play with them.  They delight in it.  So jumping into their game is a great way to respect the work they've been doing all day, to show them that you see them, appreciate their process, and value their ideas. 

Then, when it's time to go, just as you reassure them in the morning that you'll be back to pick them up later, you can reassure them that the school and the teachers and the friends and the materials they're using will still be here tomorrow, or next week, and they can play this game again next time.  Some kids even like to save a favorite school material in a special place where they can find it again tomorrow. 

Change is hard, and going home at the end of the day is change.  It takes time to think about it, time to reconnect with parents, and transition out of a hardworking day at school.  Giving your child time and attention at pick-up can set you up for a whole evening of positive interactions. 

watching

Often brand new threes and not-yet-threes seem hesitant to get into the mix of the busy preschool experience.  I know how they feel... this year I'm the new kid on the block, getting to know my new school, new colleagues, new kids and families.  It takes time to get into a new routine, and sometimes you just have to watch for a while until it starts to feel familiar. 

watching

at the window
i am new
to this place
and these people

some of them seem to dive right in
how do they already know who they are, and where they want to be?
i will watch for a while,
gathering information,
storing it all away for future use.

there are friendly faces,
busy bodies,
loud, LOUD voices!
sometimes it's hard enough work
just to be there,

watching.

watching

everybody together over there...
they're all bigger than me
i'm over here, busy
but i'm listening... i turn
when i hear something interesting... i look
when they shout and laugh

i will watch the big kids at their play
then do some of my own,
and before you know it
i'll jump in with them.
i'll tell them my ideas
and they will say, "yes!  let's play that."

but i don't know who they are yet
or how they will respond
i'll find out soon enough,
but for now i'll keep on

watching

seasons go round

summer

"Life's a Beach" by Teachers GK, WH, and WR

summer comes to the bay area in fits and starts -

a day or two in may

followed by a foggy june,

a three-day heat wave in july,

a few sunny days at the beach in august.

the heat only ever lasts a few days

before it gives in, and sucks up the fog from the pacific

like it, too, needed an ice cream cone

 that's when the summer tourists at fisherman's wharf

buy up all those hooded sweatshirts.

"sunny california," they guffaw,

as they marvel at the speed of the fog rolling in.

they blink, 

and the golden gate bridge has disappeared. 

autumn

"Untitled" by Teachers MB & JB

school starts in september;

some places are beginning to feel

that autumn is almost here,

but this is the time, for us,

that summer decides to stay awhile.

there are signs of autumn -   

in the cooler morning air

my bare feet almost want slippers,

bare arms almost want a long-sleeve shirt.

stores are decked out in autumn colors,

halloween's monsters get their own aisle

before labor day

we can't start the school year with autumn leaves as most curriculum guides suggest -

they won't show up until late october,

when stores are stocking aisles with christmas decorations

and images of children playing with sleds on white-blanketed hills.

we have hills

but they will be brown,

and the children have never seen snow falling on their homes.

winter

"Exposed Death" by Teachers MD & AL

what is winter, 

when you have no snow?

when your lemon trees and rose bushes blossom and bear fruit

all year long?

when warm and cold days still alternate at will?

i struggled with this question as a california teacher

for many years

until a four-year-old gave me the answer:

"winter is when it gets dark while we're still at school."

that's how some plants know it's winter around here, too -

by the hours and angle of the sunlight,

the occasional morning frost,

the smell of smoke from fireplaces

on dark and cozy evenings

under the softest blanket.

spring

"A Bouquet of Flowers" by Teachers AT & ST

so, what is spring,

if not the melting of the snow?

daffodils pop out and show their sunny faces

in february,

sometimes before the coldest weather.

spring is when the rain comes

(it also comes in winter)

(sometimes it's hard to tell the difference)

and the morning frosts are gone.

the sun seems brighter,

warmer,

stays up longer,

clearer

spring is when the hills turn green

and the flowers just go crazy.

bugs, and birds, and butterflies

wake up and do their springtime dance.

sometimes there are summer days

in spring

and how do we tell the difference then?

"summer is when it's my bedtime and the sun is still up.  

isn't that silly?"

and we are back around again.

--------------------------------------



 

Last year there was an amazing natural materials project at our Oakland school.  Kids were arranging leaves, sticks, rocks, shells, feathers, flowers, etc. and photographing and naming their creations.  At open house night, the materials were out for families to use, and some beautiful arrangements were created by parents and children together.  

Inspired by this project, we decided to have "seasons" as an overarching theme for both schools this coming school year.  To kick off the theme, the teachers participated in a seasonal natural materials project on the first day of our professional development week.  We set out a variety of natural materials in the art room.  Pairs of teachers (one from each school, who don't normally work together) were assigned one of the four seasons and created natural arrangements to represent their season (photos above).

Throughout the year, we plan to go for regular walks around our schools' neighborhoods, making note of the changes and consistencies, following the children's curiosity and interest.  It will be interesting to see what comes up from being out in the seasons this time around!

look what i can do

look!
look at me!
look what i can do!
watch this!

did you see me jump so far?
did you see me climb so high?

see, i wrote my name.
i can write it backwards, watch.
i'll show you how i did it.

look what i made!
i made it myself.
i put it together and then it broke, but i tried again and it broke again
but then i tried a different way and this is what i made, see?
watch what it can do.
this part turns around and this part shoots lasers.
this is how it flies, watch this!

come and see what we made -
we did it together.  
i built the house and my friend made the garage.
this is where the animals live, and this is where they go potty.
if you want to come and visit, you have to knock on the door.

come and see what we are doing -
we are putting on a show.
you are the audience, you sit over there.
watch us dance, see what we can do.

this is what we're learning
this is what we're building
this is how we're growing
watch us and see

don't go away yet,
take a second look
take a closer look, lean it and examine
ask me some questions about how it works
ask me why i put that piece over there.

don't ask me what it is, because it's obvious to me -
ask me to tell you everything about it.
ask me to tell you what i was thinking about
ask me to explain the parts you don't understand

let me tell you all i have to tell
listen to my thinking, my reasoning
don't say "that's nice," and don't say "i love it,"
unless you want me to learn to only work for your approval.
tell me it looks like i worked very hard
tell me you think i must be proud of myself
tell me you notice how i kept at it, even when it was difficult,
and i figured out a way to make it work
i practiced and practiced until i learned how to do it
tell me, "remember when you didn't know how to do that?"
i will smile and say, "when i was little."
tell me you wonder what i'll learn to do next
tell me you can't wait to see

i'm making my learning visible every day
all you have to do is open your eyes
and look,
look at me.

reggio 101

So, what is this Reggio Emilia, anyway?

Reggio Emilia is not a philosophy that one can be certified in, like Montessori.  Reggio Emilia is a city in northern Italy that has developed its own unique approach to early childhood education over the past fifty years.  It's an approach that cannot be duplicated anywhere else in the world because it's unique to its locale, its people and its culture.  Nevertheless, educators from all over the world have started traveling to Reggio Emilia to study with the teachers*, atelieristas* and pedagogistas* of the preschools and infant-toddler centers there.

According to the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance (NAREA)'s website, "The Reggio educators seek to support early educators around the world in understanding and strengthening the identity of their own school and community, rather than attempting to replicate the experiences of children, teachers and parents in another culture and community...  Reggio educators hope to promote dialogue among educators...  Through this process, educators can then ensure that the learning and relationships of children, teachers and parents within their school community reflect their shared values."

So, to start the dialogue, let's delve into some of the basics.  Lella Gandini, the U.S. liaison for Reggio Children, wrote an article titled, "Values and Principles of the Reggio Emilia Approach."  These are my interpretations of the nine basic tenets she cites (link to Lella's article below).

The Image of the Child.  This is about how we view children, what we think them capable of.  The image of the child shapes everything about the teacher's approach to education.  If we believe that children are intelligent and creative, whole human beings, citizens of today, capable of constructing their own knowledge and understanding of the world, then we design our schools to respect and support them, and they rise to meet their fullest potential.





Children's Relationships and Interactions Within a System.  Children do not learn and grow in isolation.  Their understanding of the world is intertwined with their interactions with family, community, teachers, and peers.  In school, all of these relationships can be examined and strengthened to best support the child.

The Role of Parents.  Parents have a right and responsibility to be involved in their children's education.  In Reggio Emilia, parent participation is encouraged and expected, and varies according to each parent's strengths and interests, just as with the children.

The Role of Space: Amiable Schools.  There is an emphasis on aesthetics in Reggio Emilia: high ceilings, lots of light, natural materials and works of art make the classrooms beautiful to behold.  The environment is known as the "third teacher," and is thoughtfully arranged to support children's learning through materials provocations and social interaction.

Teachers and Children as Partners in learning.  "The Role of the Teacher" is not to instruct or lead the children, but to be "co-researchers," learning alongside the children.  The teachers ask: What are the children thinking?  How is their thinking changing?  What questions can we ask, what materials can we provide, what problem can we present that will take their thinking to the next level?



Not a Pre-Set Curriculum, but a Process of Inviting and Sustaining Learning.  The teachers observe the children to know in which direction to take the learning.  Lella talks about learning as a "spiral progression," in which the teachers and children circle back on a topic, adding layers of understanding with every new experience or interaction.  It's an active process; the teachers have to be on the cutting edge of where the children are going, prepared to present the next step, and also prepared to veer in a completely unexpected direction if that's where the children end up going.


 

The Power of Documentation.  Photos, transcriptions of children's comments and conversations, videos, tape recordings, and samples of children's work are collected all along the way.  The teachers examine the documentation to figure out where to take the project work next, and bring it back to the children to reexamine and rethink.  When documentation is shared with parents it keeps them connected and makes the children's learning visible.  When shared with the community, it can invite the general public's broader engagement with schools, and investment in progressive educational approaches (one would hope).

The Many Languages of Children.  This is the idea that children have infinite ways to express their thoughts, ideas, imaginings, understandings.  The many various materials that are always available in Reggio classrooms and ateliers (art studios) support children in expressing themselves in their own unique ways.  Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of the Reggio Emilia schools, wrote a poem called "The Hundred Languages" that, to me, best explains this idea.  I've included a link to a lovely video of the poem below.

Projects.  Known in Italian as "progettazione" (I like learning a little Italian in this process), the projects are the basis for the children's work, and can last for just a week, or can progress throughout the entire year.  You never know what might become a project - a chance encounter with a worm in the garden can lead to a month's worth of research, artwork and discovery.  The important thing is that the projects are initiated by the children and follow the natural trajectory of the children's interests.


There you have it, the basics of the Reggio Emilia approach.  It fits in one small blog post but, I am beginning to believe, takes a lifetime to understand.  This is just the first time around the spiral.

------------------------

Reggio educator definitions (to the best of my understanding):

*Teacher - each Reggio classroom has two teachers, who collaborate on all of the day-to-day running of the classroom, documentation, project work, etc.
*Atelierista - an art teacher, one at each school, who collaborates with classroom teachers to support the children in representing their ideas in as many ways as possible.
*Pedagogista - a highly educated professional who oversees a handful of Reggio schools, supporting the teachers in interpreting their research and documentation, to make the most of the educational possibilities for the children.

------------------------

Links:

Reggio Emilia's own website:  http://zerosei.comune.re.it/inter/index.htm
North American Reggio Emilia Alliance (NAREA):  http://www.reggioalliance.org/narea.php
NAREA's FAQ page:  http://www.reggioalliance.org/faq.php#approach
Lella Gandini "Values and Principles of the Reggio Emilia Approach" pdf:  www.learningmaterialswork.com/pdfs/ValuesAndPrinciples.pdf
"The Hundred Languages," poem by Loris Malaguzzi, illuminated by Sarah McRoberts:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=174pYUcwn7w

baby steps

I'm always surprised when I talk to people and they've never heard of the Reggio Emilia approach, even other teachers.  I've been immersed in trying to learn about the Reggio way for six years now, and the more I discover, the more I want to understand. 

I started with a vague sense of what Reggio was about: progressive, emergent, project-based... the words floated around in the ether and made me feel good about working in a preschool with these values.  I was coming out of nearly 5 years of teaching in a very tough and under-resourced public elementary school where I had to follow the mandated curriculum, measure each distinct subject area in minutes per week, and administer standardized tests to at least 25 underprivileged 7-year-olds, some with serious problems in their lives creating obstacles to their success.  Yikes!  Almost any other teaching situation would have been a reprieve, but finding a Reggio-inspired preschool to work in was a dream come true.

We started off with some inservice training; a teacher from a well-established school came and showed us images of their project work and talked about what the children had done.  It was wonderfully impressive, but I came away with a lost feeling of "Yes, but how did they do that?" 

Since those tentative beginnings, I have joined NAREA (The North American Reggio Emilia Alliance) and attended two of their conferences featuring professionals from Reggio Emilia, Italy.  We took our whole staff to Salinas to view the Wonder of Learning exhibit, an inspiring display of Reggio children's project work that tours the world. 

These days I feel like I have wondered a lot, learned a lot, and have a much better understanding of what it is that I want to understand better!  My learning comes in baby steps, some bigger than others, some backwards... something like this:

- Visit a school, conference or exhibit, or 
- Read a blog, book or article
- Get inspired
- Change something about how our school looks or how it functions
- Get bogged down in the day-to-day details of a busy classroom and fall short of intended perfection
- Look back and notice what we could have done better
- Repeat

It's a never-ending cycle but definitely a forward-moving one, and that's the kind that's preferable when you're on a journey.

useful

when you are 4
anything is possible
everything is beautiful
disappointments are the worst thing ever
a knocked-over block castle is a disaster
a little blood on your finger makes you wonder
if you are going to die.

when you are 4
everything is original
naptime is unthinkable
under the table is your hiding place
and time is a snail

when you are 4
your stories get longer
your fingers get stronger
you laugh with abandon
when someone says "underwear"

when you are 4
a stick is a sword
     a violin
     a magic wand
     a mixing spoon
     a hairbrush
     a conductor's baton

when you are 4
everything is for climbing on
everything is for painting on
everything is for gluing on
everything is for banging on
everything is useful
if you use your imagination

when you are 4

----------------

One of the teachers got a new mixer for her birthday and brought the box and styrofoam packaging to school for the kids to use.

N. was leaving school with her mom just as I was returning from a parent-teacher conference.  She walked toward the front door with a big smile on her face and a large... something... in her hands, and announced, "Useful."

I looked at it more closely.  She had transformed the mixer's styrofoam packaging into a caddy of sorts, inserting things into its various nooks, crannies, and holes; mostly her artwork made of paper, but also wilted flowers (a.k.a. bells), a hair band, and an extra chunk of styrofoam that she'd colored on with pastels.

Then she noticed that her useful thing still had some vacant space.  There was a round hole on one side, about two inches in diameter.  She looked around and thought about it for mere seconds before she had the solution: on the table next to the fish tank was a small paper cup containing water and some half-wilted flowers that we'd been using in the art room.  She had relocated the flowers to this paper vase herself a day or two earlier, rescuing them from a certain glue-related fate, and decided at this moment that they were going home with her.  She gently and easily fitted the cup into the circular hole in the styrofoam, and giggled with glee.

"Useful," I said, to acknowledge her delight in her creation.

"Useful," she agreed, and off she went with her mom, easily carrying all of her useful things.

back to yesterday

'I could tell you my adventures - beginning from this morning,' said Alice a little timidly: 'but it's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.'

-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

yesterday
i was a dancer
i was an artist
i was a farmer
i was a scientist
i was a baker
i was an acrobat
i was a homemaker
i was a horseback rider
i was a hula girl
i was an explorer 
i was an architect

yesterday
i was a whale
i was a jack-in-the-box
i was an engineer
i was a baby swan
i was a passenger
i was a carpenter
i was a witch
i was a reader
i was a plumber
i was a storyteller
i was a paper airplane pilot

yesterday
i was a magician king
i was a jedi padawan
i was a firefighter
i was a tree spirit
i was a princess
i was a pirate
i was a train conductor
i was a blue crayon
i was a potion maker
i was a photographer

yesterday
i was a builder
i was a painter
i was a clown
i was a ladybug
i was a florist
i was a cartographer
i was a pianist
i was a ballerina
i was a judge
i was a model
i was a traveler






then my parents ask me, "what did you do at school today?"
it is hard work to remember.
i shrug my shoulders and say,

"i played."