The Preschool Test

Remember…Help the children remember

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Mon, 31 May 2010 07:01:00 +0000

School years are coming to an end and a sign of that is this Special Day. Please, teach the children the importance of this day and what it means. It’s important that this day be remembered for what it’s supposed to mean, not for the hot dogs and hamburgers we will be enjoying

God Bless America! And, most of all, God Bless those who gave their lives to protect us!

Monday Memories-The start of a tradition

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Mon, 03 May 2010 07:01:00 +0000

This picture was taken of me October 31, 2000 (forget what the date in the corner says) and it began a long-standing tradition of mine that I look forward to every year:

This is how I celebrate Halloween in preschool classrooms. Pajama-Day!

Yep, on that day I didn’t want to deal with children in costumes and, being in a for-profit company, I had to do something, so I did a pajama day. I had toddlers. There’s no way I was going to have them in costumes all day!

This idea came from another teacher at that center and I have never NOT had pajama day since then.

Every place I have gone to, I have begun the tradition of a pajama day. Even now, at our agency, we have an agency wide pajama day.

There are two things that I really love about this day:

1st, I get to buy new Eeyore pajamas every year. This is the one treat I make sure to do every year. I don’t wear them often, but I buy a brand new set every year.

2nd, it is way more appropriate. Children get messy and it’s okay. They aren’t worried about their costumes. Plus, it’s kind of nice.

That morning parents can roll out of bed in the morning, take their children to school, and not have to worry about anything until they pick them up. Then, when they pick them up it’s real easy to change them into their costumes!

Plus, they sleep like angels at naptime…all warm and snug.

They bring in their favorite bedtime stories and their lovies and it’s just a great fun relaxing day.

I like to leave the hype of the holiday to the parents. That’s their job.

Anyway, even without working in preschools, I still love a day of pajamas for Halloween day.

What traditions have you started?

(Side note: do you see how skinny I am in that picture? Yeah, I will be that one day again!)

Decision Made

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Sat, 01 May 2010 01:36:00 +0000

Well, at least on my part. My opinion does weigh a lot in this and it’s NOT a fun position to be in. I suggested today that we find another program for a child.

Was it because his behaviors are so outrageous that we can’t handle them? No.

Was it because the teachers were beyond their abilities? Absolutely not! As a matter of fact, the child’s behaviors have greatly improved since he has been with these teachers…just not enough.

Was it because he was too much for anyone to handle? Nope, as a matter of fact, I haven’t run into one person at that center who wants to see him go.

So, why, then, do I feel like he should benefit someplace else?

For two reasons:

First, he needs more attention than we can give him. He takes more than 50% of the teaching staff’s time every day. If there were only a 1:2 ratio, this wouldn’t be a bad thing. However, our ratio is 1:8. Anything more than 20% is excessive.

Does it really come down to the math? No…and yes. That leads to the second reason. It’s not fair to all the other children in the program. It’s not that he was getting 50% of the time of ONE teacher…he was getting 50% of the time with ALL the teachers in that particular room AND, while outside, a good chunk of time from all the other staff out there.

The other children are missing out on so much interaction, education, and experiences.

This is NOT a decision I came to lightly. I’ve been struggling with it for quite a while now. I sat down with the Director of that site today and explained my thoughts to her. I think she knew/knows the right thing to do…but no one wants to “give up” on a child.

It’s not giving up. It’s giving him another opportunity, and opportunity that he just isn’t getting with us. It’s also giving every other child in the center an opportunity that has been missing for him.

So, what was my deciding point? I don’t have any one particular point; however I came to an understanding the other day as I was thinking about this situation: the center was becoming defined by what we do for this child…not what we do for children. The center was/is revolving around him and him only…that’s just not right.

Difficult Decisions

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:01:00 +0000

I have been in this field for 20 years. In those 20 years I have only twice, personally, had to terminate child care services for a family and only ONCE knew without a doubt it was the right thing to do.

Notice I said ONCE even though I’ve done it TWICE? Yeah, one of them my supervisor told me to do. I still think we could have helped that child; however one of my employees went over my head and didn’t want to put in the effort.

In the end, since I didn’t have the staff who had the desire and/or ability to work with that one child I know it was ultimately the right decision; I just wish I could have motivated that employee better.

The other time, the child was beyond our abilities. About a year after we had to terminate services for him, he was diagnosed with some serious brain development issues that dealt with aggressiveness towards others. He was physically harming the other children and before we had gone through all the steps we needed to take to help mom get the help she needed, he literally cracked another child’s head open and we had to immediately terminate services. My only regret is that we weren’t able to complete the support for mom to get him on the right path…okay, that and the other children had been injured (that is really a huge regret).

Here’s the thing I want to know: when do you make that decision?

The decision to have a child leave any program is a difficult one…or it should be. Often times I run into teachers who have too easy of a time deciding that children shouldn’t be in a program.

However, we always look at the environment and the adults in the environment before determining that the problem is actually with the child. When we determine that it truly IS with the child; at what point do we say, “It’s more than we can handle.”?

Is it when they are physically injuring other children? Physically injuring the adults?

Or does it always have to be physical? What if it’s not about physical injury, but it takes 50% of the teacher’s attention every day? Does the answer change if the behaviors take 90% of the attention? What about 75%?

What if the behaviors are not at all physically injuring others AND they aren’t taking attention from the teacher, but they are distracting to others? The teacher can do circle, but the child is on the other side of the room yelling, shouting, and being disruptive? What if it’s none of those, but the child is obviously not thriving in that classroom/environment?

At what point do we say, “We just don’t have the ability to serve this child.”?

I do have my opinions on these (are you surprised?), but I want to get your opinion as well. It’s been a hot topic around these parts for a while.

The Other Side

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:46:00 +0000

Often times I run against a wall in my career that I can't argue against because it's completely true; however, I know that I do take it into consideration when I do my work. The wall?

You don't have children!

Can't argue with it. I don't have children. I don't know what it's like to be a parent.

I do know what it's like to put a child first and foremost. I do know what it's like to want to (and do) lay your life down for a child. I do know what it's like to get that protective instinct for a child, so much that you just want to pop the offender standing in front of you...but you don't because that wouldn't be right, right?

I have nieces, nephews, and goddaughters that I would go to the moon and back for. How do I know what it's like to get the vicious protective instinct? Because I have it for them.

Case in point (just one example because it happened last week):

I took my 4 year old nephew to a kid-zone place. You know the kind that has those huge enclosed climbing structure mazes with ball pits, slides, tunnels, tubes, and a whole bunch of other things? Yeah, one of those.

I climbed around in there for over an hour with him as he acclimated to the environment. He is a bit slow to warm to active places, although he does love them. After an hour he reached out to a couple of children (a 5-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl). They began their play when the two other children tried to stop him (in a playful way) from crossing one the area with hanging punching bags.

He laughed, giggled, and played right along.

The two children went running off without him. He went looking for them and, when he found them they were running back from the adult area. They then went off into the structure and my nephew went following after them.

They played for a bit, I watched from a distance (I needed the rest, an hour in there is a HUGE work out if you've never been). However, something inside me told me to keep a CLOSE EYE on the situation.

Then I started noticing that the other two children were starting to "team up" against him. The aunt in me wanted to run over and save him from the "meanies"; but I didn't. I restrained myself because he could handle it. He has before.

He'd run after them, they'd run off. Nothing was said, and occasionally they would let him play with them for a bit before running off. A few times I saw the little girl run out to the adult area and then run back.

Then it happened. The situation that got me running back in there, but I was too late. There was a hammock type platform where children could crawl up on it and bounce around. There's room up there for about 4 children. The two children were up there and my nephew was trying to get up. They kept pushing him back off. He was determined to get up there and they were determined (and NOT in a playful way) to not let him up there.

Before I got there (it's a maze up there, I was on the outside, and I hate that I didn't get there in time), the girl kicked my nephew in the face...completely on purpose...gave him a split lip...I wanted to take her out!

He came to me with tears in his eyes and was a bit confused. I sat and hugged him, we went and got ice from the counter...then it was ON!

The manager happened to be there when I got ice and immediately showed concern for him. I thank her immensly! She immediately wanted to know which child it was. We began walking over to the structure and I spotted the little girl, the boy was nowhere around. The girl's mom happened to be calling her out at that very moment to go home.

The manager stopped that lady and explained what happened. The mom's response? "Well, she came over to my 3 times and told me there was a little boy who kept saying he wanted to fight with her."

Oh, wrong answer. Especially since I was standing there for the majority of there play. Especially since I was there when they first met up and the other two children had been the one's to start the rough play. Especially since I was watching closely the entire time and I know he hadn't said anything those other times they had run off. Especially since he was the one sitting there with a bloody lip. Especially since I wanted to throttle the woman.

First? You're child came to you THREE TIMES and told you someone wanted to fight her? Okay, the first time you might send her back and say, "Well, tell him that's not a nice thing to do and we don't play like that." MAYBE the second time you might send her back and say, "Then just don't play with him." But the THIRD TIME??? You haul your butt off that couch and go find out what is going on!

Second? SO NOT WHAT WAS HAPPENING! Yes, I'm the aunt and I might want to protect him, but seriously? I can take a step back and look at the situation. I have no problem telling my nephew, "Honey, you were playing rough, that's what happens."

Last? There was no sense in standing around talking to that woman because she didn't even show any remorse for the injured child in front of her. SERIOUSLY! Not even an, "I'm sorry you got hurt" or "Wow, your lip is very bloody and even though I think you were fighting with my daughter I'm being told by SEVERAL adults now that it's not how it happened and I hope your lip feels better."

Nope! Not a single thing. I think the manager knew that we weren't getting anywhere either and let the lady leave. She turned to me and said, "Well, they're leaving now, but if they weren't I would have told them to leave."

She also gave us a free ticket for next time.

I don't blame the place at all. It was children playing...one of them completely unsupervised and, obviously, the parent didn't want to supervise anyway.

Did that "mama bear" come out of me? Oh heck yeah!

Do I know what it's like to be a parent? Exactly? No, but I do know what it's like to go into instinctive protective mode. I do it all the time, every day, with ever child in my care...Okay, it comes out a bit more with my nephew, but you know what I mean, right?

Discipline follow up

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 07:01:00 +0000

The other day I wrote this post. It was about a situation with a little girl, Julia, that the teacher, in my humble opinion, handled excellently.

Oh, did I mention that I was that teacher? No? Oh, I wanted to walk through the scenario with you as an observer for two reasons. First, when I review how I handle situations I always like to look at it as an observer because then I can be a bit more objective about what happened and see if I should have done something different. I’m not perfect, I know it, but I am good at my job…that I do know. I have a knack for discipline and challenging children/situations.

The other reason was that I wanted you to be objective in your response as well. Some of you like/trust me and some of you think I have my head up my…well you know (ahem, miss anonymous, ahem). So I know that, love me or hate me, it might sway your opinion.

Now that I’ve cleared that up, I apologize if I led you astray or you feel I betrayed you in anyway.

I also want to add to it my opinion. I don’t think discipline should change just because a child is having a rough time of it. There are consequences (good and bad) for ALL behaviors (good and bad). Sometimes behaviors gets us stickers, high fives, and raises!

Other times, behaviors get us firm words, privileges taken away, and possibly having to hold a teacher’s hand for a while.

Either way, it’s the BEHAVIOR that should drive the discipline.

Just because a serial killer had a horribly abusive childhood, does that mean he shouldn’t go to prison for the rest of his life? No! Did his life suck? Yes. However, there is still a right and wrong.

Now, I would be very careful in HOW I handle a child who may be currently (or very recently) in a physically abusive situation. I probably wouldn’t grab at them so quickly, however I would gently hug/hold them until their body was being safe again.

Knowing that a child is going through some struggles helps us, as teachers/adults, understand WHY the behavior is happening and, at times, gives a direction for the conversation with the child. However, I am not going to look past inappropriate behavior just because s/he is going through a rough time. That isn’t going to help the child in any way learn to live in a social world.

Knowing that a child is going through some struggles may help me have a bit more patience, definitely a bit more understanding, but never does it allow me to over look the behavior.

Sometimes I see teachers look past behaviors. I’ve heard, “Well, yeah she’s pinching children, but her dad was just arrested for domestic violence and she witnessed it.”

I’m response? Well, yeah she’s going through a rough patch, but she needs to be taught, aka disciplined, that pinching is not a way to solve conflicts or get her way. Otherwise she’ll grow up to think this is acceptable behavior.”

Reminder, discipline means TO TEACH. It’s not a bad word. It is simply that: to teach. When we discipline children we TEACH them the appropriate behaviors that they need to have.

Did I thoroughly confuse you all? Did I turn you away? Do you agree? Thoughts?

Sick days?

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:00:00 +0000

There are no sick days in preschool, right? Preschool teachers are one of those breeds that never get sick, right? Preschool teachers are super-humans who never call in sick, even if their head is going to eplode, right?

Yeah, that's why I went to work today. I have a responsibility to the children and the classrooms! They will sink without me! The children will go into a frenzy!

Okay, I'm not in the classroom; however the only reason I showed up today was specifically because I knew someone needed my help with a task that could only be done today and was required to be done today.

However, it got me thinking to when I was in the classroom. I think there was only 2 days that I had a sick day and both of those days I was sent home the day before. At least then I could prepare the children for Miss Jenni being out, right?

The fact of the matter is this: the children are the ones who got us sick and really, if we were home we are such busy people that laying around in bed is NOT an option so, we might as well go in and play for the day, right?

Yes, if you are really sick you should stay home; but the preschool teachers are just people who really don't call in sick very often, right? Am I the only one?

Note: The first time I was sent home/asked to go home I ended up going to the doctor (something I never do) and had a double ear infection and was put on antibiotics. It was a Tuesday before Thanksgiving and it literally took me until that Saturday to begin to feel better. The second time I was sent home I ended up at the doctor again on the way home and, the next morning, I woke up with a 105 temp...they almost put me in the hospital.

All this to say that when I get sick, it's rare, but I know how to do it right! Today is a horrible head cold, but I have a very busy 10 days coming up with family and friend visitors; I just want to be in bed healing...I'm going home early!

Discipline Question

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 07:01:00 +0000

I’m curious. Time for a scenario question with your answers.

Let’s say you have a little girl (let’s call her Julia) who is a typical 4 year old. She has, on occasion, a bit of a defiant side, but who doesn’t, right?

Let’s say one morning you walk out the classroom to go to the playground and Julia, who is having a pretty mildly defiant day. Meaning, she is being somewhat defiant about some rules but nothing really outrageous…until the trip to the playground (which you have to travel to by way of an empty parking lot-no cars ever, but large empty open space). Once the classroom door opens and all the children begin walking the path to the playground, Julia decides that she is going to go away from the group.

When the teacher goes to get her, she runs and laughs turning it into a game for her (not for the teacher). One of the adult helpers (who is very experience with preschool classrooms and positive approaches to discipline-discipline as teachable moments) takes over with Julia.

The adult takes Julia’s hand and tells her that she is now going to have to hold her hand out to the yard because she can’t be trusted to walk by herself.

Julia breaks down and, the adult gets down on eye level and explains that she is going to hold her hand because she chose not to listen to the rules. Is she ready to go?

Julia says yes, but attempts to remove her hand from the adult’s hand. She is reminded that she will have to hold her hand until she gets to the yard.

Julia has a meltdown. She jumps up and down, cries loudly, and puts on the entire drama show with her head thrown back and everything.

The adult calmy crouches down again and reminds her that she will have to hold hands until they make it to the yard.

The process continues for half the walk to the yard, taking about 15 minutes. Halfway over Julia asks, “Do I have to hold your hand when we get there?”

The adult explains, “No, when we get there you can go play; but when you aren’t listening and are being unsafe in the parking lot you have to hold a hand.”

They then walk the remainder of the way with tears slowing down. The adult takes Julia into the bathroom to clean her face before going out to the yard. Julia is much calmer and is able to join the group with no problem.

Now, this situation was handled beautifully. No one lost patience with Julia, she was taught the rules consistently and compassionatly. Every step was explained to the child.

Let’s change the scenario up a bit. Let’s say in the first scenario (as you read above) the adult has no clue about Julia’s background. She has no idea if there are life situations that Julia is facing that she might by struggling with.

Now let’s say in scenario two the adult now knows that Julia is going through a very rough time at home. Let’s say that Julia’s parents are recently going through a separation and they are arguing a lot in front of her. In the past week, Julia has several meltdowns and her defiant behavior has reached a peak.

The question I have for you is this: knowing the background, do you change how you handle that situation?

Conferences

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 07:01:00 +0000

I love people watching at conferences. As I mentioned yesterday, I presented at the CAEYC last night (awesome participants and, in my opinion, awesome presentation on Parent Teacher Conferences…even if there was a miscommunication which ended in me NOT having a projector).

I’d just like to take a minute to, not so humbly, say: I ROCKED this one! I loved the interaction and the fact that everyone stayed well past the time was over. It was great! Maybe I should not have a projector more often!

I don’t, generally, go to conferences to attend workshops much anymore. It’s not that I think I can’t benefit from them; it just that I am the type of person that learns by DOING and not HEARING and so, for the most part, I find myself sitting in workshops waiting to get OUT of workshops.

Oh, as a presenter, I know there are people in there just like me sitting there. I don’t mind. I do my best to get people involved and engaged; however when you have a room full of 40 plus (often in the hundreds as well) people, you can’t get everyone involved unless you are doing a music and movement type of presentation.

I don’t do these. Why? Because there are SO many of these types of presentations, and science activities, and just general “activity” and “curriculum” workshops, I like to have topics that you don’t find very often…such as Parent Teacher conferences, Lesson Planning for individuals and classrooms, Discipline, etc…

I do have a couple training modules in my repertoire that include art and outdoor curriculum, and I do have a science and language and literacy and music; but I leave those presentation for non-conferences. They are typically 2-4 hours long and they delve deeper than you can in a short workshop time.

Anyway, the people watching. Most people at the conferences can fit into 3 categories:

The newbies: these are the ones who have NEVER been to a conference before. They walk around in a complete daze with a hilariously goofy grin spanning their face. I LOVE it! I don’t say it to make fun, I say it because these are the attendees who are eating up EVERY single experience!

They are also the ones who get every freebie, every flier, every piece of information even if it doesn’t pertain to the job they do, the center they work in, or to children at all. They eat it up and will spend hours before the first workshop planning out every single workshop they will go and may even map out every single step.

They will furiously write notes and collect every handout possible (even if they didn’t attend that workshop).

They also go back home thinking that they will be able to implement EVERY SINGLE THING they learn and heard and will spend time trying to change their ENTIRE CENTER, not just their classroom, and get frustrated when all those at work who didn’t attend the conference aren’t on board.

(I have BEEN the newbie…I used to have a full suitcase of fliers and handouts and freebies that I just couldn’t get rid of…but I couldn’t tell you what was in there for the life of me.)

The Rookies: These are the ones who have been to a few conferences. They will plan out each workshop time frame with two or three options knowing that, sometimes, you have to have a back up plan when the workshop is full. Often times, they will forgo a workshop time so they can camp out in front of the workshop door they want to attend (or just attend the one before the one they want) just to make sure they don’t miss that workshop that is the top of their list.

They don’t attend every single workshop time and know to schedule in breaks and even pack snacks just in case.

When walking through the exhibit area, they know how to avoid eye contact with some exhibitors so as not to get sucked into something they don’t need.

They will also spend the time, after the conference, THROWING OUT those fliers and handouts they know will never again see the light of day.

They bring rolling carts so that they can stock up on supplies that they need for their classrooms and, if they had to travel far, will bring an empty suitcase to bring it back home.

The rookies are the ones who enjoy the experience the most, I think. I know when I was a rookie I sure did. It was a busy time, but a relaxing time away from the daily grind of work. My expectations weren’t too high, but I still learned a great deal.

Last is The Oldies: I don’t mean by age, either. I am 32 and consider myself an oldie. The oldies really only go for two things: shopping and one, maybe two, workshops. Actually, most oldies that I see or know are presenters. They attend, for the most part, for free. They use the opportunity to network, shop, and, if a workshop they are interested happens to come across their attention, they will make their way to it.

They get the important freebies (the cloth bags to carry everything they get) and also know which booths to stop by and at what time to get the best deals.

IF they have a need, they will bring in an extra suitcase; but that’s not too often because, especially if they traveled far, it’s worth the shipping cost.

They are EXPERTS at avoiding the salesmen in the booths. They’ll glance through the program and see if there is anyone they know presenting and might look for a few people they know; but in general, this is a relaxing time away from work and they enjoy every minute of it.

I am an oldie…I love presenting. I love strolling through the exhibits, but I know what I’m looking for. This year, I was looking for photographers. We are in the midst of changing it up a bit at our centers and I figured here was a great place to find some great deals for our parents…I was successful.

I network and I love running into people I know. I never really know who I will find, but it’s always fun to meet up with people from past jobs and to catch up.

As a presenter, it’s always a pleasure to run into people attending “another” of my workshops because they enjoyed my last one so much.

All this to say, no matter what type of conference attendee you are, I think it’s fabulous! I’ve been through them all and I will continue to attend. Don’t be ashamed! Enjoy the entire experience!

So, what kind of attendee are you?

Who’s there?

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 07:01:00 +0000

Is anyone going (or at) the CAEYC?

I will be presenting there this afternoon at 4. Stop by and say hi!

A Child Alone

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 07:01:00 +0000

A while back I asked you if there was a difference between leaving a child alone for 5 minutes or 45 minutes in a classroom.

On anonymous commenter felt the question was vague. I left it vague intentionally because I wanted to hear what your thoughts might be.

Am I perfect in teaching? No. Have I ever had a child out of my area of supervision and not been aware of it? Yes. How long? Couldn’t have been more than 1 minute and I knew it immediately.

My story: I was in a classroom that had two doors on either side of the classroom that also had a loft running down the middle of the classroom. When we were bringing children into the classroom for lunch we came in one door; apparently, on little girl decided she wanted to go BACK out. I count heads as we go in and I had every child.

When we sat down at the tables, I immediately knew she was not there and immediately knew where she was. It was no longer than a minute, two tops. THAT is a verifiable and explainable reason.

Have I had to take teachers to task as a supervisor for not knowing where the children are? Yes. Do I take circumstances into consideration? Yes. However, I also hold them accountable for their actions. You must learn from these situations so that they never occur again.

After that one girl left my room, I have NEVER lost a child again. I learned a big lesson.

I was talking to someone the other day who was defending herself because she had been let go for leaving a child in the classroom.

Her story: A child, let’s call him Danny, was having trouble listening and so she told him to hold her pocket; he was going to have to walk with her a bit. (This is something that I’ve done on occasion as well when a child needs to have some time with the teacher and refuses to hold my hand, works like a charm; I also use to do this with the child I nannyed when walking in a parking lot with my arms full.)

So this teacher says that Danny was holding her pocket as she brought the children outside and then walked around the playground to see how many the joining classrooms had. According to her, when she finished so noticed that Danny wasn’t holding her pocket anymore and then asked if anyone saw him.

When she didn’t find him on the yard, she let someone know she was going to look in the classroom…he was there. “It was only 5 minutes, no more than 10. I talked to mom about it and she was perfectly fine with it.”

Now, she claims that her coworkers set her up and said that it was 45 minutes and that’s why she was let go.

I can tell you, she did not learn from this situation and I, as a supervisor, would have probably at least written her up if not suspended or fired; it would depend on the history I had with her…she had a history with this supervisor.

I have a few problems with the story as SHE tells it; and it’s only her side that I have heard.

First, I have had children hold my pocket. I know when they stop walking, I know when they use their other hand to pick their nose, how did she NOT know he had let go?

Second, a mom may be understanding the first time, especially if she knows her child has a tendancy to run off, but I bet she wouldn’t be so understanding the next time.

Next, she is blaming the other teachers for getting her fired rather than saying, “Yeah, I screwed up. It wasn’t as long as they said, but I will never make that mistake again.” She is saying, “It was only 5 minutes. Everyone set me up.”

Finally, what really bothers me is the blase attitude that it was only 5 minutes, but she doesn’t know when he let go of her pocket. Did he even go outside with her? When did he go back into the classroom?

Like I said, if she showed some remorse, she would still be in trouble; but probably not let go. However, I get the idea that her supervisor didn’t trust that it wouldn’t happen again with her history or her attitude.

For me, there is no difference between 5 minutes or 45 minutes; there is a difference as to whether a teacher makes actions to make sure it never happens again…THAT’S the difference.

Kristos Anesti!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 07:01:00 +0000

Or, in English, Christ is Risen!

The correct response is Alitos Anesti! Or, Truly He has risen!

I wish you and you family a fabulous, blessed, Pascha day!

I’ll be back with regular posts starting tomorrow…oh, and one more surprise tomorrow as well…no, it’s not at ALL what you think.

Question

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 07:01:00 +0000

Is there a difference in severity of a teacher losing a child (who was left alone in the classroom) and not having a clue where he is for 5 minutes versus 45 minutes?

Story behind it is to come after I hear some responses :)

Flexibility

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 07:01:00 +0000

I had an interesting discussion with a teacher the other day after observing in her classroom for three days straight. Why three days? Because there is something drastically going wrong in her classroom with children’s behaviors and we, myself included, have never been able to figure out exactly what is wrong in there.

Why? Because when you go in there for one day you see some FABULOUS teaching skills, GREAT activities, GOOD discipline techniques, and some standard transition/clean up/circle activities; so it’s been VERY DIFFICULT to figure out why there is CONSISTENTLY 5-6 challenging children in the classroom all the time even when some of those 5-6 children leave the program and new ones are introduced.

Come on, those of you who are in this field, what are the chances of having SIX very challenging children in one classroom of a great (or even mediocre) teacher?

The answer is: VERY SLIM!

So we KNOW it has to be the environment and the adults in the environment, but between THREE of us administrators and TWO counselors, we have never been able to put our finger on it because we each go in for one day at a time.

It was requested that I go spend THREE DAYS a week until further notice to help her out and figure out what is going wrong with the first week spent only doing observations.

It wasn’t until the third day that I FINALLY put my finger on it…NO TWO DAYS WERE EVER THE SAME!

Heck, no two TRANSITIONS were ever the same. No two days of DISCIPLINE were ever the same! When there is no routine the children don’t know what to expect and they go insane!

Want examples? Well, one morning the children gathered in front of the cubbies (no I don’t know why that location) to sing songs until it was time to wash hands for breakfast; the next day there was NO gathering before going to wash hands; and the next they gathered at the circle area.

One day I heard her say, “I used my ‘P’ word” ever time she asked a child to do something and they didn’t do it (so many times I wanted to run from the room screaming and smack that phrase right out of her); another day she got down on their level and worked with them; and another she said their name, counted to 3, and gave up.

One day they had circle after breakfast, one day they had circle just before lunch, and one day they didn’t have circle at all!

IN ONE DAY one transition was to walk around and warn the children about clean up approaching, one transition was to turn off the lights to let the children know it was clean up, one transition was to blow a whistle (and yes, I wanted to shove that whistle down her throat).

So do you see? There was NO consistency. I flat out told her I don’t care WHICH you choose, just choose ONE…well, except the whistle, I won’t allow her to choose the whistle.

The thing about my job that I love is when I have a teacher who is an open book and is so willing to listen and really head my words and advice; someone who recognizes that I know what I’m doing and is so willing to learn…luckily that is her!

The one thing that struck me, however, was when I commented about her inconsistency she replied, “I’m flexible. I change something when it isn’t working.”

My response? “Yes, it’s GREAT to be flexible. But flexible isn’t ‘Circle didn’t work yesterday so we aren’t going to try it again’; flexible is ‘We’re at circle right now, the children are wiggly and need to move, so instead of reading this book we are going to get up and dance.’ This way they KNOW it’s gathering time every day at this time. It’s routine.”

I go back in next week to work closely with her in implementing these things…I think it will be good!

What’s your definition of flexible? What’s your clean-up routine? Am I completely wrong for wanting to shove that whistle down her throat?

Cleaning House

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 07:01:00 +0000

I have been stuck in a conundrum for a bit and I know it’s the same one that every one of the preschool teachers reading this (and parents and other teachers as well) has.

I have been in this field for close to 20 years…do you know how many special paintings, drawings, and pictures that is?!? TOO many!

Plus, I don’t have children of my own yet…do you know how many I am going to have to add to that collection?

Well, I have, over the last few months, gotten rid of a whole bunch…unfortunately that means my trash can has been filled many times over, as has the recycling bin. The first 10 I felt a whole heck of a lot of guilt…from 11 on, though, I realized that many of those paintings I couldn’t even tell you who gave them to me!

When I had an office, I would hang the pictures from the children up around the office, many of them even got framed. However, I don’t have an office anymore and don’t have a place to store them.

Then I got to thinking, “If I were to suddenly die tomorrow, what would happen to all these pictures?” The truthful answer is that they would go right where I’ve been putting them.

The other day I got a fabulous picture from a child just for me. I thanked her profusely and gushed over it…about an hour later I was out of the room and handed it to her teacher requesting her to put it in the child’s portfolio…a place the child would never know that I gave it back; and when she DOES realize I gave it back, she’ll probably be a teenager and won’t even remember who I was.

I have a question for all of you: what do YOU do with those precious pictures the children give to you? Anyone else feel the guilt I do at times? Or am I totally cold-hearted for tossing these treasures?

Sunday Community-Favorite Books

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 07:01:00 +0000

Yesterday I talked about a book that shocked me, today I am wondering what is your absolute favorite book?

Okay, you don’t have to pick just once because I know I can’t. Here are my favorites:

Who Hops by Katie Davis

I love this book for toddlers; it is so much fun!

Down By the Station by Wil Hilenbrand

The pictures tell a complete story on their own while the words sing the song!

Tonka Tonka Skunk by Steve Webb

A fabulous book that plays with syllables and sounds of words.

So, what are your must have books for children?

Book of the Week: Spotty

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:40:00 +0000

Title: Spotty

Author: Margret Rey

Illustrator: H.A. Rey

Summary: A spotted bunny is born into an all white bunny and feels like an outcast until he discovers a family that is all spotted.

Review: Probably appropriate to read back in 1945 when the book was written; however, now? Absolutely inappropriate!

This book was brought to my attention by a teacher who had begun to read it to her class and quickly stopped.

While the plot of the book is meant to be good, the book does not do a good job of doing so. Let’s begin with Mommy Bunny in tears over the fact that one of her bunnies has spots and “what will grandpa say?”

Then there is Aunt Eliza who emphatically tells Rosie (a white bunny) that she does “not like spots.”

When Rosie asks what “different” is, she is brushed off and told to go off and play.

Then there is the running away; you know, because running away solves every problem…and in this case it very apparently DOES solve everything. Had Spotty not run away he never would have found Mr. Brown who was spotted and in quite the OPPOSITE quandary: he had all spotted bunnies except for one…Whitey.

Yes, there is actually a bunny in this story named Whitey!

It takes the majority of this book to talk about all the differences and NOT accepting people’s differences until the last two pages where everyone comes together.

It leaves off, however, in a way that I don’t feel it’s all been resolved.

This is a very awkward book in reading and how it’s written.

I usually don’t do reviews of books that I don’t like; however this is one that I feel I must write. This book had been donated to the center and the teacher hadn’t read it before putting it on the shelf in the listening center (it came with a CD reading) and, had she not picked it up to read herself, the children would have been listening to it.

This goes to show it is VERY important to read any book before it goes into your classroom.

Have you ever read this book? What did you think?

Snobbery

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:01:00 +0000

I work in a pretty reputable place that is known for high quality preschool. I have, for all but 1 year of my career, always worked for state or federally funded programs. I have found that there is a certain quality than most for-profit centers.

Please note that I said most, not all. There are some very reputable for-profit centers out there; my husband works for one of them.

However, especially the large chains, there tends to be a lean towards the PROFIT side of things rather than the CHILD side of things…these are centers that I call day-care.

I don’t work in day-care. I have never had to care for a day…they seem to care for themselves. I work in PRESCHOOL, sometimes CHILD care, but NEVER DAY care…you with me?

What I call a day-care are the places that basically have children running around all day with no form of discipline, structure, or quality.

I know that I can easily be called a snob in this realm of thinking…I’m happy to be a snob if it means better quality for our children.

I will also admit, however, that I do have a fault in this snobbery. I really struggle with interviewing people who have spent significant time working at some of these places that I call day-care.

Why do I have this snobbery? Well, history has taught me that there is a reason for my snobbery.

I have, however, also learned to at least take a LOOK past my snobbery. Occasionally I get VERY surprised! Today was one of those days. Having interviewed a person who worked at one of the places I call day-care for more than 10 years, I had an impression that she would have adopted their philosophy with all this time.

It quickly became apparent that she only stayed for one reason which made complete sense to me…I’m glad I can get over my snobbery…I just wish there were places that were better out there for our children.

So, tell me, am I the only snob out there? Are there any other snobs like me out there?

Pro-Active

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:00:00 +0000

That’s what every teacher needs to be: pro-active!

If you have a child that you KNOW gets the class rowdy the second he walks into the classroom, then the second he walks into the classroom get up from whatever you are doing, walk over to him, greet him, take his hand, and get him involved in an activity.

If you don’t LET him get everyone riled up, he can’t get everyone riled up.

It can be difficult at times with some children, but often it really is as simple as it sounds.

Anyone want to comment? Anyone have any questions? Want a suggestion?

Green Day

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:17:00 +0000

I think today is the ONLY day that MOST of the GIRLS were NOT wearing PINK!

Has anyone else noticed that in the last couple years there has been a clear increase in the popularity of pink on girls? I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t walk into a classroom and see a sea of pink. It’s actually ODD to see a girl NOT wearing pink; and then it’s usually purple.

I don’t remember it always being like this. Anyone else make the same observation?

Interviewing

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000

I spent the day interviewing…it was a long day. You would think that spending the day interviewing would mean that we got a ton of interviews done…you would think wrong.

We have the pleasure of having a very knowledgeable and capable Human Resource person. He has worked hard over the course of the last year getting our agency moving in the right direction to get the best for the children and agency. This includes the proper interviewing techniques.

Did you know that an interview should last more than AN HOUR?

I mean, before he trained us on proper interviewing techniques, I would be lucky to get a 30 minute interview.

Today’s interviews? AN HOUR AND A HALF! I kid you not!

The time flew by in each one. We were very thorough. We have great people to select from and some difficult decisions to move on with; however, I can say without a doubt that a 90 minute interview is really the best way to find out everything that you should know.

This was an eye-opening experience and I am glad to be continuing on with it.

So, how long do you interview people for? What was the longest interview you ever had?

Interview Questions

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000

We are in the process of creating new interview questions and have come up with some great ones. I might share them with you in a couple days; but I’m wondering what one question you would ask a candidate for a teaching position if you could only ask one.

Also, one for a site supervisor and one for an assistant teacher.

Keep in mind that these people are all at different levels in their development in this field so the questions should be appropriate for that thought…I’m interested to see what you all come up with.

Rookie Mistake

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000

I just have to put this out there because it’s one of those things that I assume every teacher knows by the time they become a teacher. It’s one of those things that I specifically remember, as an assistant teacher, my supervisor coming over to me, quietly whispering to me in my ear a simple correction and explanation, and never forgetting it again…because it makes sense!

I walk into classrooms regularly and see young assistant teachers making the same mistake I made some 20 years ago. I remember that moment and I quietly walk over to the person, whisper to them a simple correction and explanation, and hope they never forget either and, if they do, I chalk it up to a rookie mistake. Someone who doesn’t have much experience and will one day very soon learn the reason for this correction.

Yesterday I went into a classroom that has been struggling and no one has been able to really put a finger on what is wrong. That is a big portion of my job, finding out what is going wrong so that we can fix it and make the classroom run like clockwork once again.

One of the things I noticed was this simple rookie mistake. What was shocking was that it was the TEACHER who has more years experience than I have in working in Child Development! I was taken aback.

Is this something that no one in her 30 plus years of teaching has mentioned to her? Or is this something that is evident of her not critically thinking in the classroom? Really, I think, there are some other underlying causes that are way too complex and more than I can/want to go into here. Needless to say I am fixing this problem along with many others over the course of a few weeks.

Oh, the rookie mistake? Turning your back to the environment (inside or out, she did it multiple times in both places).

What are some things that you see that are common rookie mistakes, but are quickly learned before being a teacher?

Outdoor Environment

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000

We've talked about science and science outdoors. How about the environment?

Here's the thing about outdoor environments in preschool...they are NOT elementary school yards! We are not on "recess"! This is not the time for the teachers to hang out and chit-chat to each other while the children run around like chickens with their heads cut off!

No, the outdoor environment MUST be a place for the children to extend curriculum and learning! As a matter of fact, I am under the impression (from my years of experience, not any research I have read...although there might be some out there, link it to me if you know of any) that children do MORE learning outside than inside.

The outdoor environment must be an extension of the indoor environment. An additional place to learn.

You need to put as much thought into the outdoor space as you put in the indoor space. Wait, scratch that. You need to put as much thought into the outdoor space as you should be putting in the indoor space.

You need to change things up. Will the children play with buckets and shovels in the sandbox everyday? Sure! Because they're there! But what if you put out shovels and sand sifters only and hide treasures in the sand?

Add to that activity and put a poster grid up next to the sand box so when they find a treasure they need to tape the item they found/draw a picture of the item/write the letter of the the item/ etc... on the grid!

I'm telling you, they will eat it up!

The key is to change up what is going on outside. Make it interesting.

Will they play with the same old toys outside the same old way and be happy about it? Of course! They're children and they will always find something to do no matter what. But how much better will it be when we give them something so exciting to do that changes things up?

Science Outdoors

noreply@blogger.com (Jenni) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000

We’ve been talking about science the last couple of days, now let’s transition to the outdoors. The best way to transition on these two topics? Talk about how they correlate together.

The BEST way to involve children with science outdoors is to create a garden. That is entirely science at it’s greatest! In addition, you are teaching children to grow great food AND if they grow it, they’ll eat it!

There are two ways to grantee that children will eat their fruits and vegetables: 1. have them grow them in a classroom garden; 2. have them cook something with them (salads, fruit salad, etc…).

Now it is very important that the CHILDREN are involved in the garden. If you just put out a plot of land and you plant and grow things then bring the children in and say, “wow, look at everything growing” you are not going to get them interested. In addition, you aren’t teaching them much.

No, involve the children from the beginning. Are you going to have starter seeds grow inside in a tray before transferring them into the garden? Have the children plant the seeds and document their growth. Talk about when is a good time to transfer them outside.

While they are growing, teach them to notice the difference between weeds and plants. Just to be on the safe side so you don’t wander over one day and see all your carrots uprooted because they looked like weeds, make a standing rule that they can FIND weeds but only adults are allowed to pull them out so they must get an adult.

As things start to grow (and they do tend to grow very quickly) have them document again and really watch. Count how many flower buds there are and then flowers and then pea pods.

The most important thing is to observe and wonder! Just like every other science project, wonder and awe about what is happening in front of you.

If you have ever gardened before, you know that you won’t have to even act. I’ll never forget the first time I gardened and found how quickly the corn stalks grew. You could almost see it grow before your eyes!

So, what do you grow in your classroom gardens?