Carissa

        In the very beginning of my letter to myself I wrote, “My personal principles of education revolves around the belief that meaningful teaching and learning experiences can empower young children to be proactive citizens of the world.”  As I revisit and reflect on the posts I have made throughout the semester, I am reminded of this idea of empowerment.  I am still firm in my belief that empowering young children is the foundation of my personal principles. I believe that this can be done through culturally relevant teaching, and hands-on learning opportunities, among other things.  These ideas are reflected on posts on project-based learning, and using books to teach about new perspectives. The Paynee video also highlights how young children were able to impact their community.  I hope that  my students can have the same sort of grit, and hope as they encounter any difficulties.                                                                                              As a pre-kindergarten teacher, I continue to strive to practice what I believe.  Throughout my four years as a pre-k teacher, I have used an emergent, play-based, interdisciplinary, and project-based curriculum.  I do all this while meeting the expectations of the Common Core Standards. I am fortunate enough to be in a school where I have the flexibility to have this wiggle room, to teach in a way that aligns to my philosophy of education.  This brings me to the idea of educators empowering themselves.  Many teachers simply comply with all the demands made my administration.  It is critical for educators to be risk-takers and to advocate for themselves regarding their beliefs and principles of teaching, learning, curriculum and assessment.  Some administrators may be willing to learn and consider how alternate ideas and beliefs are valuable. As a teacher, I am on a journey moving towards trying to empower other teachers to utilize what I believe are more meaningful teaching strategies.  I share ideas with other teachers on how to integrate subject areas, and how to use children’s interest as a starting point to teaching mandated material.                                                         Other themes that carry throughout my posts are related to characteristics of good teaching, such as building positive relationships with students and families.  An urgency to teach for social justice is also highlighted through various videos and article references.  I am committed to doing all these things, and have also realized that as an educator I am a life long learner. I have many biases in terms of what “good teaching” looks like, but I need to consider other perspectives, to welcome challenge and difficulties, and most importantly to continue to as questions.  These experiences will help me to grow and be reflective of my principles of teaching, learning, curriculum and assessment.

-a passion for social justice

There are a series of videos that highlight the power of being/doing things #likeagirl.  Who says being a girl, or a boy, or Christian, or Muslim or anything has to be contained to what society views as that label.  Being who you are, whatever that may be is up to you...however this is easier said than done. How can we support children as they are navigating this journey of figuring our their identities?

Reading about Ranciere's ideas of teaching so that democracy may enter reminded me of The Secret by Rhoda Byrne. It seems a little random, and I'm not exactly sure why I connected the two ideas. Perhaps this idea of assuming equality from the beginning is elusive to me, as I've been so used to always identifying the problem to then consider the solution. The Secret reminds me of the power of thought, and how this shift in mindset of always assuming equality can unleash new impossibilities. It's certainly an interesting thought to consider!

Teachers often feel frustrated and make assumptions about why some parents are not involved. It is crucial for teachers to change their mindset, to be proactive in reaching out to families and to begin collaborating with families to help their children succeed.

Access to quality education should be available to all students. The article shares a parent’s experience of having one child who was in a G&T class and another in a general education class. She noted that the experiences and work in each class was like “night and day” Is it realistic to support a wide range of learners in one inclusive class? Is it necessary to have g&t programs or special education? How can we support all learners in a meaningful and equitable fashion?

How do you think this relates to school culture?

What do you value in school culture?

This article highlights the positive impact schools have when they support the needs of families. 

I think teachers generally highlight  strategies that children use to get a correct answer. This video highlights a teachers thoughtful approach in helping students increase their mathematical thinking by figuring out what went wrong in a question that a student answered incorrectly. She picks her “favorite no” and then facilitates a discussion to encourage children to really think and notice how and why their mistakes led to an incorrect answer. This approach lets children know that its okay to make mistakes, they are not being penalized, instead they are gaining access to really understand the process of solving mathematical problems.

A two-way bilingual education program provides the opportunity for English speaking students, and student’s whose primary language is not English to  become proficient in two languages.

Are you embracing technology in the classroom?

Photos from a project based learning unit from my pre-k classroom (2014-15 school year)  They expressed interest in subway trains and it became the the focus of our unit. Throughout this unit we integrated all subject areas. The children learned about electricity, about counting, addition, multiplication when learning about subway fares, and community workers.  All these aspects of the unit were based off of the children’s interest and emerged authentically.  They created a subway train out of boxes in the classroom and worked together to create a miniature subway station as our culminating project.  All classes in our school, as well as families were invited to see the miniature subway station. Children took turns to give tours and share information about subway trains. We asked visitors to pledge not to litter, as we noticed that was a big problem in the subway system. The children learned a lot, enjoyed the unit, and I was able to meet various standards in the Pre-K Common Core Standards.

Project  Based Learning allows teacher to integrate subject matters under a theme or unit based on the interest of students, all while using the CCSS as a guide.  Subject matters are explored in a progressive manner, which typical involves more hands-on learning opportunities.