Hangin' Out with Children

This week's #kinderblog14 challenge is to write about the parts of our job that make us laugh the hardest. Here are a few of my examples from my four years in teaching:

(After finishing a song and dance at circle time, here's what one three year old had to say)
Student (with attitude): My mom has moves like Jaggar!

Student (4 years old): My dad doesn't live with my mom any more.
Me: He doesn't? Where does he live? (Keep in mind that her mom was president of my parent advisory board and a good friend of mine. I knew this child was telling stories.)
Student: In a green house down the street.
Me. Wow. I didn't know that. I'll have to ask them about it tonight at conferences.
Student: ..... Just kidding!

(Scenario: My preschoolers are outside playing during our outside chunk of time. I'm supervising)
Student (4 years old - playing nearby): singing Jesus loves me and my father and my mother and my brother, but sometimes I don't like my brother.... (She continued to sing random thoughts for about 3 minutes.)
Me: Wow, that was a really cool song. Where did you learn it?
Student: Menards!

(Scenario: Morning announcements had just finished up and my kinders were coloring at their tables while I submitted attendance.)
Student: Mrs. Hansen, if you were just a little bit bigger, you could be principal.
(That's what's holding me back - I don't meet the height requirement!)

(Scenario: Same student as above. Her name is Kendra. It's the 100th day of school and my kinders are writing about their favorite memory of kindergarten so far.)
Student: Mrs. Hansen, come look at mine!
Me: Can you read it to me?
Student: Sure: My favorite day of kendragarten was....
(At this point, I lose track of where she is in the reading, because I notice she wrote exactly that - "kendragarden." Her name was Kendra, and she thought she went to "kendragarden." I nearly died.)

(Scenario: I had run into a student and her mother at Target one weekend. We chatted for quite a while in the check-out lane. On Monday, this is what she wrote in her weekend journal, which, by the way, she promptly asked me to read.)
I saw Mrs. Hansen at Target. We got her a gift card, but I didn't say a word!
(Ooops...)

Student (kindergartener): Mrs. Hansen, I have a supervisor!
Me: Really?
Student: Yeah! It's a visor and it's super! Get it?

(Scenario: I went to a 8th grade baseball game with a teacher friend to watch her son play. She had her soon-to-be 4th grader and her one year-old with her.)
4th grader: Do your kids like Frozen?
Me: Well, I don't have any kids.
4th grader: You don't? I thought you did. Does that mean you're going to be pregnant soon?
Me: I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see.
4th grader: Okay, well if you do get pregnant, tell me, okay? Maybe you'll get pregnant with triplets or four triplets or five triplets.
Me: Maybe. How many babies do you want me to have?
4th grader: Like, 5 babies!
(Yikes! That's a lot of babies all at once!)

Hope these made you smile!

What Will My Room Look Like?

The prompt for week 3 of the #kinderblog14 challenge had two options. We could write about where we live or we could write about how we design our classrooms. I'm choosing to write about how I design my classroom.

Here's what my classroom looks like right now:

This is the view from my door.

From the back of the room looking forward

North to south view

South to north view

Last year, I didn't put too much thought into how my classroom was designed. I didn't really have time to. Going into last year, my biggest focus was surviving in an elementary school setting and in a new grade level. I was never very happy with how my classroom looked. It was this weird collage of student art work (I wrote about how I feel about that here) and random teacher store materials. Creating an environment that encouraged collaboration and learning was far from my top priority last year. 

This year, I've been putting much more thought into this. I've been in my classroom about once a week this summer trying to get things organized and visualizing my final product. Also, I've spent a good chunk of time researching how the environment impacts how the brain works. Today, I participated in a webinar with Erin Klein (@kleinerin) which was all about incorporating brain research into classroom design. I think I'm finally at a point where I can jump into actually designing my classroom.

I have three main goals this year. First, I want to create more flexible seating. I didn't offer my students many choices in where they'd like to learn last year. This year I want to go away from a seating chart and not require that my students work at their tables all the time. To help with this, I'm hoping to create a few more areas for students to choose to work. Right now my tables are set up in a u shape. My hope is to find a small coffee table (or some kind of shorter table) to put in the middle of the u with fun floor cushions to go around it. This would offer my students a chance to get away from the hard plastic chairs and find a spot that might be more comfortable to them. I also want to work on my classroom library area. My library is currently located on the loft on the north side of my room. I want to bring it down to the main floor and create a cozy area with a rug and some fun options for sitting (more floor cushions and a fun bowl chair). 

Secondly, I want to work on my decor. In the webinar today, Erin talked about the importance of color choice, especially in the primary grades. I'm hoping to replace the teacher store materials with homemade materials in warm browns and cream colors. Since most of my furniture and the cupboards are red, I'm going to try to work a little red in too; however, I want that to just be a highlight color. Erin also talked about the importance of including plants, so my goal is to find a couple of house plants to go on my windowsills. Just for elements of home, I've been contemplating adding a few fake flower arrangements here and there and maybe some fun picture frames.

Lastly (and this is the one that might not happen this year), I'd like to work on the lighting in my room. The two big windows on the east side of my room let in a lot of sunlight, so there were times when my students could work without the overhead lights last year. It's still a little dark though, so I'd like to pull in a couple of lamps here and there. Throughout my research, I found numerous studies that showed that natural and incandescent lighting is less distracting. Why not try to create the least distracting environment I can?

I don't know how much of this will actually happen this year. The whole process is not going to be easy on my wallet. My ultimate goal, however, is to create an environment that is brain-pleasing and allows my students to collaborate and grow. As I continue working on this, I'll try to update my blog to show pictures of this process. Nothing gets me more fired up than a good challenge for my students!

The Cute-ness Factor: Is It Worth It?

The #kinderblog14 week 2 challenge is more difficult than the first challenge, that's for sure! This week, we are supposed to write about an article that "pushes our buttons." I didn't find a specific article that fit this purpose because there are far too many about this topic to narrow it down to just one, and I didn't want to pick on a specific person. Also, confrontation is hard for me (what if I offend someone who has worked hard to create something for their students?), and I have a difficult time believing my opinions are worth being heard (what if I really know nothing about what I'm talking about?). Challenge is the perfect word to describe this post.

I've been in so many early childhood classrooms that revolve around cute. Every worksheet (ugh...), project, writing paper, and center is cute. There is cute clip art everywhere, and cute "art" projects hang all over the place. Teachers make all kinds of money selling their cute "art" projects and worksheets on Teachers Pay Teachers; they use their cute blogs to promote their cute products. I am certain you all know exactly what I'm talking about - those cute bumblebees the students created by cutting out the pieces and gluing them all together just so. They all look the same, with the exception of a few crooked stripes or wings here and there. Cute is everywhere in the early childhood realm. Last year, my classroom fit this mold. All year long, I asked myself, "Why am I asking my kids to do this "art" project?" (Is it really art if the artist is recreating something someone already created in exactly the same way?) Rarely could I actually answer that question, and that bothered me. I think what got me to fall into this pattern was the pressure to appear like the other classes; I didn't want to be the one classroom that looked less put-together or not kid-friendly. I had a deeply ingrained fear that parents and outsiders would notice how un-cute my classroom was and think I was less of a teacher because of that. I thought the best way to ensure I avoided all of that was to make project after project to hang all over my classroom.

To say I was conflicted is an understatement. I taught preschool for three years. In those three years I never did a prefab craft with my kiddos. My students created art. They used paint in all kinds of interesting ways. They built 3D structures with clay, pipe cleaners, and craft sticks (and whatever else they could get their hands on). They cut and glued and wrote and colored and explored art in meaningful ways. It was messy, fun, and open-ended. I believed in the process; I believed in the importance of allowing children to manipulate their environment and to use their imagination to create something. When I found myself in a kindergarten classroom in an actual elementary school , I lost that piece of me and I'm sad about that. As a rough estimation, I think my students did three prefab craft projects each week last year. They took so much time, and they stressed me out. By the end of the year, I simply gave the kids the tracers and the paper they would need and showed them an example of what the end project should look like. It was just too much to try to organize 19 5- and 6-year-olds to do the same thing at the same time. (How developmentally appropriate is that anyway?)

I recognize the fine motor practice involved in the cutting and gluing in these projects. I also recognize the power of a brain break; creating a fun something-or-other is a great way to give the brain a break from the academic demands of school. What I'm not sold on is the idea that creating cookie-cutter projects is a valuable use of time. I believe in creating authentic experiences for students. When in real life are my kiddos going to be presented with an example of something and asked to recreate that exact same thing in the exact same way using the exact same materials? Taking it a step further, I wonder if I am I teaching the value of creativity and individuality by asking my students to create the exact same thing? Also, can my students get the fine motor exercise in a more creative way, and can I structure the art project to be more open-ended to ensure students are exploring their creativity while giving their brains a break?

I'm not exactly sure what the perfect answer is. What I do know is I want to be the type of teacher who encourages students to share what they know with those around them in meaningful ways. I'm not convinced I am doing this when I ask my students to recreate something I've already created. What if I provided them with the materials and let them decide how they presented their knowledge? Let's say I'm doing a unit on zoo animals with my kiddos. Instead of giving them tracers and paper to create a giraffe from an example I have already created, what if I asked them to choose their favorite animal and use whatever materials I had available (paper, paint, pipe-cleaners, cardboard, etc.) to create a 2D or 3D representation of their animal? This way, I would be giving them creative control over their learning while still providing them with the fine motor practice they need and a brain break from the academic demands.

Next year will be different for me - that much I know. I want to get back to the core of who I am as a teacher and see where it takes me. I hope to say goodbye to prefab crafts and work to cultivate my kiddos' imaginations in more creative ways.

I Don't Have Kids. I'm Still a Good Teacher.

I'm coming a little bit late in the game to the #kinderblog14 challenge. I have a good excuse though! The topic for week one was to write the post that has been sitting in your draft folder or brewing in your mind for some time. There have been many topics I've wanted to write about, so I took some extra time to think about which post most needed to be said. Here goes nothing!

Unfortunately I was confronted by an upset parent about an incident on the playground at the beginning of last year. The parent was in tears when she came to me, and I honestly didn't even know anything about the incident other than that it had happened. (I wasn't on duty that day.) During this confrontation, she spoke words that hurt me to the core and that I haven't been able to get out of my mind. First she asked, "Am I remembering right that you don't have any kids?" When I replied in the positive, she said, "Okay, then you just don't understand."

Ouch!

This isn't the first time someone has said something like that to me, but it was the first time it was directed at me in a negative way. Many of my cooperating teachers for various practica and student teaching told me they became better teachers when they became parents, and that that would likely happen for me to. In those situations, though, their intent was never that I was a lesser teacher because I wasn't a parent, just that I would become even better because of that. When the comment was directed at me in a way that implied I wasn't as good or qualified to be a teacher because of the fact that I am not a parent, it hurt.

Of course, in the moment, I remained calm. I remained calm while discussing the incident immediately afterwards with my fellow kindergarten teachers and my principal too. The second I got to my car that afternoon, though, I broke down into tears. How dare she say that to me! She didn't know a thing about my life, and since it was the beginning of the year and I was new to the district she didn't really know much about me as a teacher. I felt torn down and deeply disrespected.

I wish I could have said this:

Here's what I know about my ability to teach and care for children:

1. I have been trained in child development, effective teaching strategies, and differentiation, and I understand what to expect from my children I work with.
2. I have cared for hundreds of children in many different capacities for 11 years including: babysitting, before/after school care, daycare, and teaching.
3. I know how to keep kids safe, and I go out of my way to do so. (I was that teacher at the end of the year school picnic who was spraying down children with sunscreen as they ran past.)

Here's what I know about what it means to be a teacher and not a parent:

1. Because I do not have children of my own, I have a ton of time to devote to my classroom. I spend nights and weekends researching and planning for ways to make my classroom better fit the needs of my students. I can do this, because I don't have to put my own children first.
2. Because I do not have children, my heart is completely open to love my students. After God, my husband, and my family (who all live far away and who I wish were much closer in spirit), come my students. I've got a whole lot of heart left for them, and they quickly fill it up. At night, I think about my students; they often keep me up at night (out of excitement just as much as worry). I plan for my students constantly and think of them frequently when I'm out and about. I pray for them every day. I spend a good chunk of my paycheck on them, because I want what is best for them. (I am not saying teachers who are parents don't do this. I'm simply saying I can do more of this since I don't have children of my own to think of first.)
3. As a teacher who is not a parent, my students become my children. I talk about "my kids" all the time, because that is how I think of them. For the year I have them, they are mine. My kiddos last year occasionally referred to me as their school mom. I take my job seriously, and "my kids" mean the world to me. At the end of the year, I am more sad than happy because it means "my kids" are no longer mine. All summer long, I can't wait to meet "my new kids," and I love nothing more than getting to know "my kids" throughout the year.

I am not in any way saying that I am a better teacher by not being a parent than those who are parents. I want to be very clear about that. In fact, I want with every fiber of my being to be a parent, and that is a daily heartbreak for me. I am 100% certain that becoming a parent would make me a better teacher and I would understand on a deeper level, and I have a profound respect for the teachers who do such a beautiful job of balancing being teachers and moms/dads; however, I am not a bad teacher because I am not a parent.

I didn't have a chance to say any of that to this parent (nor would it have been very professional for me to do so), but I've wanted to say those words since that day. I am certain I am not the only person fighting that perception, and I am more than happy to be a voice for those in this battle with me.