Why isn’t it working?

This reading talked about how the laws and structure of the work force isn’t family value friendly. As I read these chapters, I kept thinking our society is based upon families and there are a lot of families but why aren’t these common practices. I’m sure at one point or another even the people who make laws had to take off work because of a sick child, why can’t they see what our work force is missing? It baffles me that we have to advocate so hard for these values when it seems like common knowledge.

I think one reason why low-income families don’t have many rights in the work force is because their jobs can be replaced. I think at a lot of places, especially companies with many workers will always have people willing to work for them. For example, at Wal-mart, they loose money if someone is out taking care of a sick child or if they are away on an extended maternity leave and it is easier to just find someone else willing to take that place. So why would Wal-mart change their policies to becoming more family-friendly when it could risk potentially losing some money?

The first chapter talked about early education being more universal and how early education should be a right and not a privilege. It is true; I do believe that every child should have the opportunity to attend a preschool. Yet I do see why it is hard for legislation to hear our advocates’ voices. Why would they be interested in starting a public preschool when in our state, they can’t even open schools every Friday. When it boils down to it, it’s always about money. If we had public preschools, it would cost a lot of money. There are more students because it seems that the younger children at schools seem to be the bulk of the enrollment. If there were a lot of preschoolers, you would have to hire more teachers because of ratios, which cost money. It is very pricey to have a preschool and I think that is one of the reasons why public preschool is not in the near future.

Have we really come that far?

The reading opened with children discussing the Brown vs. board of education and how the decision about integrating the classroom made a big impact. The discussion then moves nicely into interracial marriages that lead into same sex marriages. I often think about how far we have come as a society and I want to believe that we have become more open minded and accepting of all people. Yet I see how heated the debate between same sex marriages can get and it makes me think have we really come that far? When it boils down to it, we are arguing about who can marry whom.

One of the basics of early childhood education is to provide an environment where children and families are comfortable and accepted as they are. About a year ago, I receive a phone call from a family. Her first question to me was if our school accepted families with alternative lifestyles. At first, I was blown away and I didn’t think that a family had to ask that question. Once I assured her that we accept all families, it almost seems as if she was relieved. I was intrigued because I thought turning a family down based of sexual orientation is discrimination but I realized since most preschools are private, they can accept whomever they choose for whatever reasons.

But as a preschool teacher I realized how careful we have to be to all types of families and children. It surprised me to realize that 1 out of 10 children will grow up to become gay or lesbian adults. This makes me think that if that is the case I need to be more aware of what I say to these children. If their first experiences and foundations are taught in preschool I have to be conscious of my acceptance of gays and lesbians. I don't believe that being an activist should be for gays and lesbians preaching. I think as a teacher we can be strong activist for many families and children simply by just showing our support and acceptance of people. If we are trying to instill an accepting and loving attitude in the children we teach, we must reflect this attitude as well - even if you don't "agree" with their lifestyle. Being a teacher is not about "agreeing" with families lifestyle or juding it at all. If we are going to change society to become more open-minded and accepting of all people, we need to start in our classrooms and with this generation. I know that we look back at the Brown vs. BOE and can’t believe society use to be that way. But I can’t wait for the day when we can look back and think about the same thing about this issue.

How does a classroom move from a Multicultural curriculum to an anti-bias curriculum differ?

In all of our reading, it talked about the importance of anti-bias curriculum and how it is so important to include everyone and make all cultures feel welcome in the classroom. A NAEYC criterion reiterates the importance of culture in the classroom. When I was reading the examples of multicultural and anti-bias curriculum and reflected back into my classroom, I realized that I do some of both and made me question how do we move away from a multicultural curriculum into an anti-bias curriculum?

This year we were going through our NAEYC accreditation and while reading the criteria we saw how much emphasize NAEYC puts on culture in the classroom. While Hawaii is a very multicultural place, we realized that we (the teachers) are so mixed and most of us raised in Hawaii, that we don’t know much of our own culture. We felt that we were doing a disservice to the children because we didn’t know different songs in different languages, or colors or counting in different languages. What we realized is that we were just trying to find anything cultural and throwing it into our curriculum or classroom that we were really just bombarding our children with it and it really became meaningless. I think that the pressure from NAEYC did the opposite for our anti-bias curriculum. I realized that by trying to jam so many cultures into our curriculum, I would have to leave some cultures out and this made it biases. In the end, there are many activities that families can do with their children that represent the cultures in the classroom. It’s a great way for children and families to get involved but to create an anti-bias curriculum.

If we have the answers, why do aren’t we doing it?

From the first class in any Early Childhood Development, we are taught that play is how children learn. We learn the importance of play and everything a child can gain from in a play environment. There is even research to back of this fact. If we have the answers on how children learn, why aren’t we doing it? I understand and especially a 4-year-old teacher will understand the pressure that parents put on the school to make sure the child is “kindergarten ready.” I have a lot of parents who are so concerned that their child can’t retain information. I feel as if I am constantly reminding parents that we are setting a foundation for child on how to learn. We are not bombarding them with writing their name, identifying numbers and letters if it doesn’t make sense but we are teaching the children how to learn and become critical thinkers by asking open-ended questions. This way when the child is developmentally ready these things will click and it will be meaningful for them.

I still question where do we go wrong? I know that not every family will understand the importance of play and there will always that one person that says I only see my child play all day or criticize the school for just fostering the social aspect of the school. We read that in Finland they don’ rush the children to learn how to read and let the children explore through play and they score higher on test. Why can’t our Department of Education, government, administrators, Boards, etc. see the importance of play?

Is there a right or wrong when it comes to our classroom?

The first thoughts that popped into my head when reading about the ban of Legos was how could they do that. Legos provide some many learning experiences and children can learn a lot from those blocks. As I read more and got familiar with the story I realized that the only solution was to ban Legos from the classroom. The follow up story talks about how much heat the classroom got from the media and random people from all over the country. It made me start to think, what is right or wrong? But the more I thought about it, I started to think is there even a right or wrong? In our society and especially growing up everything is either right or wrong. But the more I reflect on teaching and classrooms I keep questions if there is even a right or wrong. Obviously, there are certain behaviors and language that are appropriate and inappropriate and laws and rules that are set but I’m talking about the way we teach children. Is there a right way to teach children? We already know that children learn differently so why are there still so many teachers that only teach one way and can’t change it. I understand that Legos are a vital part of school but the issue went deeper than just the actually material. The teachers didn’t take away a material and deprived the children of that learning experience instead by taking away the material is provided a lot of meaningful conversations and deeper learning experiences that go beyond the classroom but into politics and society. Also it proves the point that what works in one classroom doesn’t work in all classrooms. I can even go as far as saying what works with one child doesn’t work with all children. With that being said, I don’t understand how or why the media got involved. If they don’t know the full story or the lesson they were trying to teach, why must they get involved? They can’t apply the same rules to every school and who are they to say what is right or wrong? I believe that there is no right or wrong when it comes to teaching the most important thing is that the children are learning and they leave the class being more competent and confident.

How do we break the cycle?

All three of our readings talked about gender stereotypes and how the rules for each gender are established at an early age. This has been an ongoing struggle especially for the minorities to try and be seen as equals. In our society gender’s roles have changed. More women are becoming working mom’s and men have taken on more duties within the house and raising a family. Yet children see gender rules as black and white. How do we break that cycle?

The first read notes how gender stereotypes are reinforced in the toys that children play with and the clothes that they wear. I have noticed this in Wal-Mart and Toys r us. You simply need to walk down any aisle and see either pinks and purples or dark colors and know which aisle is for whom. It does upset me to see that girl toys are geared to fake adult things such as high heels, cell phones and make-up. What message are we sending our girls? Are we rushing them into becoming adults? What can they take away from those toys? That article brings up an important fact that the pictures of the children also reinforce the gender stereotype. It’s so easy to put a girl and boy playing with tools or cooking. I am constantly conscious about this in my classroom. In the beginning of the year, I post pictures of children playing in each center. I always make sure that in each center there are pictures of boys and girls exploring in that center. I try to encourage boys to explore dramatic play or girls to explore woodworking table.

I know that teachers are doing their part to create a gender-neutral environment. We set up a classroom and provide a safe environment for children to explore everything. As a teacher, I also make sure to explain to children when they make comments like “I can’t like that it’s for (whatever gender).” Yet we try so hard and it can be taken away from the parents. I know many of my parents that come in and say to their child that they can’t do whatever because it’s for the opposite gender. Mostly it’s dad’s telling sons that they can’t play with whatever because it’s for girls. I think if we are going to break the gender stereotype cycle we have to explain to parents and families what are goals are and hopefully they can work with us and support our ideals.

What makes classroom experiences valuable?

As teachers, we always want to be prepared for the day. We want to have our lesson plans set up; activities ready and have the routine mapped out in our head. Being Early Childhood teachers we also know how important it is to have a back up plan when the original plan needs to be thrown out the window. It makes me think that maybe there are times when we are too quick to throw something out or too quick to move onto the next topic. What factors makes classroom experiences valuable?

In Rethinking ECE, the story was about exploring the ecology around your school. This year because of budget cuts has numbered our field trips, another teacher suggested taking her class on weekly walks around the neighborhood. It was a great idea that I soon adapted that as well. I can relate to the author about the anxiety of the first walk. I was so cautious about the children’s safety. I was constantly aware of who’s out of line and making sure everyone was safe and counted for that I missed most of walk. After a couple more walks, I thought that the children were going to find this boring and I stopped doing it. It wasn’t until the children requested to go on the walks again that it made me think about experience that they were getting from these walks. It made me question my teaching, I am moving on too quick because I am afraid that the children will get bored? I try hard not to have bored children because that usually ends in chaos but I had to reevaluate my teaching. The author talks about revisiting the same sites and examining each detail. That is how you keep the activity intriguing by exploring every aspect; look at the trees, dig in the dirt, see how many modes of transportation there are, do an activity involving their five senses etc. While the children explore their environment it can tie into themes, or the interest of the children at that time. It’s the same activity but different way of exploring it.

In New Possibility, it was the students that shared in their own opinion what makes classroom experiences valuable. It goes to show with each activity or lesson plan that each student will come away with something different that they learned. At another university, they tried to put ECE majors into the Department of Education. I remember working with other Elementary Ed majors and looking at their detailed lesson plans. At the end of the lesson plan it asked for goals or objectives, as in what do you want the children to learn. I thought how would one go about doing that? As evident from this chapter, even in college, each student learned different things. Students have different obstacles and are so unique that accomplishments vary from student to student. So what makes classroom experiences valuable varies from student to student but I think what’s most important is that each student finds each classroom experience valuable.

How do we prepare for the unexpected?

As a teacher, everyday is different, different student, families and circumstances that are out of our control. I think what defines a teacher is the way they deal with the unexpected. We already know that we must prepare for the unexpected, to become flexible and to adapt to the change. Every moment can be viewed as a teachable moment if capitalized the right way and some of the best learning comes from things that were never planned or just scratching the lesson plan and going with the unexpected.

In Staying past Wednesday, a teacher must deal with uncomfortable feelings and how to deal with death. In our culture, we try not to talk about death and it has become a hush hush topic of conversation. The teacher in the story does the opposite and deals with these uncomfortable feelings head on. She allows students to talk about their feelings and let them feel all the different types of feelings they have. I know when our class pet guinea pig died last year I was also faced with this dilemma. I didn’t know how to approach this topic, are the children to young for such a heavy topic? I decided that we needed to have a conversation about it and to talk the children through whatever they were feeling. We are constantly talking about feelings and allowing the children to accept all feelings. In the end, the children could work through all of the steps of grieving and to really understand the whole process. As I shared this process with the families, I actually had one parent ask me why I didn’t just buy a new guinea pig because the children would have never known. I had to explain that this a natural part of life that they will have to face sooner or later and I wanted to provide an open opportunity for each child to deal with their feelings in a healthy manner.

The second reading talks about how a teacher reacts to a sensitive subject with her coworkers. I think it is important for all children to know that not everyone celebrates the same holidays. It provides an opportunity for children to be less egocentric and to understand and explore the world and different countries. I don’t think that the teacher was trying to offend anyone or his or her culture but it did come off that way. It must be hard to prepare for the unexpected when it is dealing with colleagues. It’s one thing to constantly be on your toes with the students but I’m sure it can throw you off when it comes from your colleagues.

In New possibilities, It discusses different types of obstacles other teachers had to go through. It reminds everyone that life is unexpected. Things never goes as planned. Reading all of these women’s stories goes to show that it doesn’t matter what happens, what matters is how you deal with it. “Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” –George S. Patton

What type of obstacles have teachers overcome?

In all of the reading this week, we read that all teachers had some type of obstacle to overcome. The obstacles ranged from personal experiences, personal fears, and resources in the classroom. Every teacher goes through these obstacles especially working with diverse group of children and we should constantly be pushing the limits and our working outside of our comfort zone to improve the education for the children.

Holding Nyla discusses the teacher’s personal fears about an inclusion classroom. Once she overcame her fears and accepted Nyla not only did her class accept her as well, they would stick up for her. I can relate to this because I do believe that for adults this situation could be fearful. It true that people are fearful of the unknown or things they don’t understand. So to be put in a situation where you don’t know about a student and their limits and special feeding, it can be fearful. I also think that we don’t give the children enough credit. The children not only accepted Nyla, they embraced her and probably treated her with more respect than their other peers.

Talking the talk discusses the teacher’s obstacles of having resources in their school. How they had a need for different aides that could speak the children’s native language and yet how hard it was for them to provide it for them either because of the pay scale or later because of the education requirement. At our school and many schools I know we are always trying to overcome the funding obstacles. We are constantly trying to stretch the dollar and provide the most useful materials, curriculum and activities we can on our budget.

In new possibilities, it talked about all type of women’s stories and how all of their personal experiences they had to overcome to become teachers. The stories I found were very empowering. I am constantly taking advantage of all of the blessings that I have in my life. When I read these stories, and their fighting spirit, I always think would I have the strength to overcome such hardships? It really puts things in perspective.

Does Culture have an affect on education?

The first story out of rethinking ECE talks about how standardized curriculum can be dry and impersonal to the students. I agree with this point, I think what the major downfall about anything standardized is that there is portion of people who can’t relate to the material. With every generation, there are more cultures and children growing up in different regions and experiences. Think about it in Hawaii alone, if there is any stories about seasons especially snow, how can a child who has never experienced that relate? There are ways to teach the curriculum and have it tailored to your class.

The second story was more of how one can create a curriculum centered on the population and still cover all of the standards. We all know that culture has an affect on education but why aren’t we doing more about it? Why don’t we all make a curriculum based off of the cultures in our community?

In New possibilities, it discusses young women and how their lives are vastly different and all of those obstacles they had to overcome. I know that the children of different cultures have an affect on education but more importantly I want to know the outcomes of the children with teachers from different cultural backgrounds. I know that different cultures have different standards and taboos and I wonder if that comes out unconsciously when they are in the classroom. I think I grew up in a pretty liberal family and I sometimes see that when I teach in my classroom. For example, I know that I’m not a stickler when it comes to minor rules, we had 5 children playing in the blocks when the rule is 4. They all were playing within the limits, no one was complaining or getting hurt so I let it slide. Another teacher came in and was shocked that I let another child play in the blocks when there can only be 4. I often question why we have so many rules but I also wonder if it has to do with culture. I know growing up my mom let a lot of things slide – the exceptions, and I wonder if that has had an affect on my teaching style.

When does “providing for the best for our children” go too far?

At some point, each parent will say that they want to provide the best for their child or they want to give their child better opportunities then they had in life. But even with the best intentions, can these expectations go too far?

In Rethinking ECE, the chapter was dedicated to young children and computers. It brought up numerous points of why computers aren’t appropriate for children under 7 years old. There is a push for children to become tech-savvy at an early age and I believe some people have replaced teaching with a computer. I get confused about this issue as well. On one side I think they are too young to be learning about computers. I wouldn’t want a child to think back on preschool and think I remember playing on the computer. The best part of preschool is getting dirty, exploring hands on and playing with all types of different toys. I enjoyed the quote at the end “Let us not let our adult excitement with what computers can do in the adult workplace deter us from offering to children the squishiness of making mud pies….The adult world of the plastic workplace comes all too soon.” Yet on the other hand, I think it must be important if NAEYC has a criteria about technology in the classroom. Granted, I don’t know what is appropriate technology for this age group. I do see that providing the exposure of a computer could be beneficial, especially for some children who are not fortunate enough to have a computer at home.

In New Possibilities, the narrative about Diane and where she asks the question of what’s more important, financially providing for her family but not being there for them or being there for them but not being about to provide for her family. It is hard especially for an immigrant single mother living in poverty. I have talked many families and co-workers about receiving help to get them out of poverty. From what I gathered from many people, is that there are many obstacles that stand in your way. It seems that once you always get a step ahead, something pops up such as the program losing money and it sets you back two steps back.

Parents do want what’s best for their child and most times that is a positive. Being part of a preschool it can sometimes pose the question, do we do what we believe is appropriate for the children or do we do what the parents want and please our clients? Hopefully the answer is the same on both ends.

Why do we teach?

After reading this week, it makes me reflect on my own personal reasons of why I became a teacher. I think for a teacher it’s important to reflect on the reasons I got into this profession. It’s for the children and for the opportunity to make a positive impact on a child’s life. It’s important because I know how easy it is to get wrapped up in everything around and becoming distracted by the obstacles and small bumps along the road. I tend to lose sight of what I’m doing and why I am doing it.

Rethinking ECE has teachers reflecting on standardized testing and how it’s hurting the children and creating more stress for everyone involved. The tests are taking us away from the children. We are either going to teach to the test or teach concrete lessons but fail at the test. It has teachers ask why are we in this profession? We are moving away from the reasons why we became teachers. Teachers are stressed out and think that these test are a reflection of their abilities. At that point, we have lost our motivation and desire to teach children.

New Possibilities is shows that as teachers, we can find our inspiration in some unique ways. I believe Tanya’s story can be an inspiration to all of us, to help us reconnect with why we teach. Personally, I got into this profession because I wanted to help children reach their full potential as people and not only in an academic setting but overall in their life. It is easy for me to get wrapped up with distractions or the environment I am in and forget what I wanted to do and why I am doing this. I think we all need to take a step back from time to time and reevaluate what we are doing and what we want to be doing.

Week Three

Rethinking ECE talked about creating Universal Prekindergarten. From what I read it is a program created by the government to make low income families have the opportunity to send their child to preschool. I have mixed feeling about these programs. I do believe that all children deserve the right to attend a preschool or some type of institution where they have the chance to nurture their development before attending school. I have noticed how stressful it is on the child and the family about getting everyone “kindergarten ready.” During parent teacher conferences the number one concern parents have is if their child will be ready for kindergarten. I always think about how much pressure the children in our center have to get ready for kindergarten but I could not even imagine children just starting school in Kindergarten. I know there must be children that are so far behind already on the first day of school. If we had UPK that would help those children know what is expected and they could get that solid foundation for the rest of their academic career.

On the other hand, I don’t like the idea of UPK because it only reaches a small portion of the population. There are a lot of resources for low-income families and it seems, which has become more prevalent these past months, that the only children that can attend preschool are the high income and low-income families. The middle class families are having the hardest time adjusting to the high cost of childcare. The other thing that I don’t like is the fact that the government would create UPK. This past year has proved that the government (at least our current government) doesn’t hold education to a high value. I would hate to see a UPK created and then shut down because of funding, or shut down every Friday. I feel that a UPK wouldn’t be allowed to have the creativity or the tools to fully benefit the children.

In the New possibilities for ECE the chapter was a reflection on how much influence a teacher has to their class. I have to remember that each class is different and every year what worked for the last class doesn’t work for the next. I have a habit of reading examples of other preschools and getting really motivated and trying it in my own class and not getting the same results. I have to remember that children are different and I have to adjust my teaching to achieve the most out of them and to build them up.