Tuesday SOL: How's it going, two days in?

I am participating in the
Tuesday Slice of Life.
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day.

A big thank you to Two Writing Teachers for providing this unique opportunity

for teacher-writers to share and reflect.

Black Lives Matter Week of Action is underway! Just completed day two...I want to share a few extraordinary, beautiful moments...of which there are many. Let me begin with the "piece de resistance," our whole school banner - 

We worked on this fabulous banner throughout the school. Each floor of our school had one word, painted large on a 6 foot by 30inch piece of black banner paper - and each floor was expected to interact with their one word in developmentally appropriate ways. Everyone had special silver and gold Sharpie markers! The early childhood classrooms (PreK-3 through Kindergarten) worked on the word "Black," and we invited families to to work with their child at morning drop-off or evening pickup; some signed their names, others drew handprints, and some adults left special messages. Our questions were simple - What is Black? What is special about Black? What do we love about Black? Upstairs, on our elementary floor, students in grades 1-4 worked on the word "Lives," thinking about What do we need to live? What makes us feel alive? What is most important to life? Finally, on the third floor, our middle schoolers (5th grade through 8th) reflected on the word "Matter," and wrote messages in response to such questions as What matters to me? How will I matter? How do my actions matter? How do I make change that matters?

This afternoon, my colleague Monisha and I hung the three words together in our Commons, for everyone to see - creating the large vertical message Black Lives Matter.

It is breathtaking. I am so proud of our school!

Also hanging in our Commons are the 13 principles of the Black Lives Matter movement. Over the past several weeks, our middle schoolers prepared beautiful posters focusing on each of these. I am in awe of these students! They are our future.

Of course, preschoolers are not being immersed in these 13 principles...
my classroom has been both ordinary and wonderful these past two days.
As I said, we must be developmentally appropriate.
What have the preschoolers been up to?
Well, yesterday we created skin color handprints of our class community –
using multicultural paints, we worked with children to add their handprints
to a large circle of handprints. We asked, “Which color do you think most closely
matches your skin?” and preschoolers chose the paint that (s)he felt most closely
matched her/his skin, without correction by the teacher.

Skin color discussions are often fraught with tension for adults, something we would
never dare to speak about. Preschoolers are a refreshing change from this, so literal
and clear in their observations, noticing the variations and finding them to be simply
that, variations, nothing more – here are the children’s words:

I’m brown

I’m pink

I’m pinkish

I’m really light beige

I am red

I’m peach

I am brown

I’m tawny

I am silver

I am pink

I’m really light pink

I’m really light brown

It’s just peach

I’m pink, but I want purple

I’m a yellow pink

I am brown.

We've read two special books. Our first was Each Kindness by Jacquelyn Woodson, a story about a new girl coming to school and trying to make friends. This is a very long book for preschoolers and therefore, we began with a quick dramatization of the plot. Drama helps preschoolers get “into” a book, to feel it with their bodies. We had a lot of fun with this! As we acted out the plot, and reflected throughout –

What do we think new student is feeling?

What is her face telling us?
Think of things to say to a classmate when their face looks like that.

Have you ever been to a new school?

Have you ever been somewhere where kids were playing and you were not?

What did it feel like?

Is there anything the new student should say or do?

What are some kind and welcoming things we can say or do?

Then, we read the story…and it turns out, the children in the book were not
nearly as kind as our Big Cats. Jacqueline Woodson writes, “Each kindness makes
the world a better place.” She shared the metaphor of dropping a stone into water
and seeing the ripples it makes - each time you are kind, it sends ripples out
into the world.

Of course, then we had to get out a bowl of water and have the children
drop in pebbles, one by one…I asked the children, What is something kind
you have done, that ripples into the world?:

I play with my brother.

I share with somebody.

The kindness that I share.

I like the new friend.

Kind is being kind.

Play with friends.

Say hello to people when you go to school.

If you share, that’s nice.

Sharing is caring.

You can ask nicely.

I shared my toys with others.

I play with my brother a lot.

Mommy, she kiss me.

I love to hug with my Mommy and Daddy.

Share something with somebody.


The world is in good hands with these sweet preschoolers!

Today's special book was Beautiful Blackbird by Ashley Bryan.

Black is beautiful mural in process

This book led to a "black is beautiful" mural...the preschoolers love a process art project, especially one that involves glue! We have a white banner paper mural that students have painted with watercolors and oil pastels. Today, we began to cover it with all sorts of beautiful black materials, using glue – black construction paper, felt, sequins, pipe cleaners, tissue paper, fabric, pom poms...yes, a zillion different materials and textures for the children to explore. They are loving this!

Only two days in, we are off to an amazing start on our Black Lives Matter Week of Action.

Tuesday SOL: What if we talk about race?

I am participating in the
Tuesday Slice of Life.
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day.

A big thank you to Two Writing Teachers for providing this unique opportunity

for teacher-writers to share and reflect.

What happens when teachers talk about race with one another?

courage
respect
dialogue
grief
honesty
empathy
fear
tension and uncertainty
questions
a feeling of being ill-equipped
listening
patience
time and space
messiness
stamina
gentleness
love

An outpouring of so many feelings,
all at once.

Finding yourself in a mixed-up intersection of
what you know,
what you think you know,
what your gut says,
what you are ignorant about,
what your family taught you,
what you want to believe,
what you are surprised by,
what you need to learn,
what you hope for,
what you imagine.

Talking about race with my colleagues reminds me of the children's song "Going on a Bear Hunt" -

You can't go over it
You can't go under it
You can't go around it
Oh no
You have to go through it.

Looks like we have to go through it.

sol17-24 What makes our community better?

I am participating in the
Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC).
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day, every day of March 2017. 

A big thank you to Two Writing Teachers for providing this unique opportunity

for teacher-writers to share and reflect.

As I was exiting the metro train this morning, a young man endearingly called out to me, "Ladyglove." There was a brief mental delay on my part before I realized he had noticed that I left my gloves on the seat - and I thanked him profusely, with an embarrassed giggle. Not a morning to walk without gloves. A huge smile filled my face as I walked on, pulling on my gloves, and I repeated, affectionately, "Ladyglove, Ladyglove, Ladyglove." Funny that my first thought was that he was just being pleasant.

Little things are so important.

Somehow, this got me thinking about the small steps my preschoolers have taken, making our community better - 

- she often uses a regular voice now, rather than that high-pitched screech
- similarly, he often uses a regular voice now, rather than that whine
- he no longer needs our assistance in the bathroom
- she is helping with clean up
- he worked on that activity for a good long while, very focused
- she stroked his back when she saw that he was crying
- yes, he's still dumping things out, but he enjoys picking them back up
- he plays with his classmates, not just alongside
- she is eager to share her things with others
- he can come to school in a dress and no one bats an eye

- she invited others to play with her

- he lies quietly on his cot during nap

These are not big things, but they make the day so much smoother - like gloves on a cold day.

What if we got together for learning?

This is a Tuesday
Slice of Life.
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day. 

Check out the Two Writing Teachers website for many more reflections on teaching.

wa·ter·shed

ˈwôdərˌSHed,ˈwädərˌSHed/

noun

1. 1.

   an area or ridge of land that separates waters flowing to different rivers, basins, or seas.

The Preschool Big Cats were getting ready to visit Ms. Ash's seventh-grade science class, to learn about watersheds. How to explain this phenomenon to preschoolers before heading out on our in-house field trip? Let's hand the problem back to the preschoolers and ask them if they knew the meaning. It never ceases to amaze us how fearless our preschoolers are with their explanations and wonders. Here's what the first five volunteers discerned, simply by hearing the word watershed:
  “It means water floating.” (Jada)
  “It’s floating in the street.” (Esther)
  “Spraying on your clothes and get wet.” (Asanda) 
 “Water is stuck up a tree.” (Fhinn)  
 “When water is in a museum.” (Audrey)

We were on to something...but what?

To help clarify our understanding of watershed, we read a book that was recommended to us by the middle schoolers: All the Way to the Ocean by Joel Harper. In this book, two young friends are headed home from school when one tosses his candy wrapper down a storm drain, leading his friend to tell the harrowing story of what happens to our oceans when we toss trash on the ground. 

The preschoolers were excited to hear that we would see working models of watersheds in the middle school science lab. Now we were ready to head upstairs for the demonstration!

Unlike the preschoolers, who had read one book and then walked up two flights of stairs for the demonstration, Ms. Ash’s seventh-grade scientists had been focusing on watersheds for many weeks, doing considerable research to create working models of our local Anacostia watershed. Ms. Ash shared with me privately that this scientific process had many setbacks, with students at one point throwing their hands up in defeat, unable to imagine how to effectively create the watershed for demonstration purposes. "This isn't something you can give up on," Ms. Ash explained. "You have preschool visitors coming to see the demonstration. You must persevere."  

And persevere, they did!

The middle-schoolers shared a model of the Anacostia watershed with roads, homes, cars, more. They showed how the rainwater runs off across the land into the river, taking debris and trash with it. Then these middle school scientists invited the children to pour different types of liquids (regular water, “oil,” “chemicals,” other) down onto the model and watch how it moves the debris into the river. It was a real pleasure to see how kind and thought-provoking the middle schoolers were with our young ones – and a real delight to see our children so engaged. The middle schoolers seemed so mature and professional!

This is one of several watershed models created 

There were many powerful moments -

• the children were super eager to participate and investigate, looking at the middle-schoolers with respect and awe. When the middle schoolers asked for six volunteers, ten children jumped up! 
• one preschooler, often off-task, somewhat wild and unexpected in her movements,  had an entirely different spirit in this setting - she was so focused, careful, and controlled as she poured  pouring "oil" onto the watershed, following the guidance of the middle-schoolers. 
• several of my more independent students sat back during this demonstration, clinging to the teaching team, content to observe the older experts...much more cautious in this new setting than in our classroom. 
• one preschooler opened her eyes big and wide when one middle-schooler started conversing in Spanish with her, describing the watershed in her native language. The preschooler had a huge smile, seemingly delighted to fully understand. Another middle-schooler, lamenting being unable to communicate with the preschooler, noted "Gee, I should have worked harder in Spanish!"

Back in our classroom, several preschoolers worked to recreate the watershed model in our block area, recreating where the water and debris had funneled across the land with a series of wood arches turned upside down. Another child reflected - "don't throw trash on the ground."

I happened upon one student at the sink, stuffing paper towels into a cup and letting water run and overflow (thankfully, within the sink). "What are you investigating?," I asked. "I'm making a watershed. See! These paper towels stay stuck here, making a mess, and I need more water, and more water." "What if you also had messy paint in the watershed?", I suggested - and handed him our paintbrushes from the easel, which needed to be clean. "Oh yeah!" He cried and busied himself with the excitement of the dirty brushes along with the paper towels and lots of water. "These are the chemicals!" he said excitedly. "Yes, you are right. We will have to do more of this investigating ...perhaps tomorrow? Unfortunately, we are getting ready for clean up - but your watershed experiment can help with that."

That evening, I received a text from one family, reporting, "We heard a lot about your middle school field trip! Our daughter took the lessons to heart about no trash in the water! Very special day."

Yes, it really was a very special day! 

My school includes preschoolers through eighth grade (ages 3-14).  Something I love about my school is that we see this age range as an asset and we work to find ways for these ages to intersect. We know we have a unique opportunity to blend age groups and learn from one another. 

Which brings us back to the second meaning of watershed:

2. 2.

   an event or period marking a turning point in a course of action or state of affairs.
3. 
   

7th graders as the experts, instigating thought in preschoolers - in and of itself, this is

watershed.

Our first day back

This is a Tuesday Slice of Life for Two Writing Teachers. 

Check out their website for many more reflections on teaching.



______________________________

Happy New Year!
Let me share the things that made me smile on our first day back after winter break (which was yesterday) - how about 16 for 2016?

1. How much I fidgeted all night long, in anticipation, excited and nervous. Oh, how many times I looked at that clock! Why does this still happen to me after all these years of teaching?
2. Seeing the bright sun after two weeks of rain and clouds.
3. Finding uneaten chocolates in my teacher's cabinet at school.
4. My Teaching Resident sharing new pictures books she had found for the children - she was thinking like a teacher over break!
5. Big hugs and smiles from the children, happy to be back at school. 
6. Seeing families so, so, so happy to drop their children off after two weeks of togetherness - everyone with big smiles. Routine is great for all of us, no matter what our ages.
7. Watching individual kids find their friends and start playing. How excited the children were to be back together in their classroom!
8. The children laughing at my improvised "Happy New Year" song to the Happy Birthday tune, squealing "That's not how it goes!"
9. Hearing everyone's favorite memory from winter break (perhaps my favorite - one little boy said 'Mac and Cheese'. Loved it!)
10. Making a big batch of purple gak with delighted children
11. Both the Art teacher and I forgetting who was in each Art group - and me having no recall of where I kept the list. Mush for brains after two weeks away!
12. Building many block homes for toy animals
13. Children creating dress-ups from our cloth collection, making capes, dresses, head coverings, more
14. Reading Peter and the Wolf to a captive audience of preschoolers 
15. The children jumping and running in the leaves alongside the playground. 
16. Children wrestling in the leaves despite the cold!

Wrestling in the leaves

Lots of running and jumping

Happy New Year!

SOLSC 2015 #10: What are we doing together?

Each day during March, I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC). All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day, every day for thirty-one days. My slices will be primarily about teaching preschoolers. Check out the Two Writing Teachers  website for lots more reflections on teaching. Thanks especially to Stacey, Tara, Anna, Beth, Dana, and Betsy for hosting this writing challenge. 

*******

I was scanning my recent school photos, wondering if something would jump out at me. Yes, I was looking for inspiration for a slice! 

What struck me was how much I enjoy the photos of children working together...

They attest to the power and joy of preschool...they could be advertisements (if I hadn't hidden every face) for why preschool is so wonderful an experience. Children, together!

Helping one another,

making friends,
working together towards a common goal,

learning to take turns,

listening to others,

considering another perspective,

making something better,

speaking up for yourself,
cultivating patience,

building something larger,

learning how to share,

discovering what you are good at,

realizing differences are okay,

practicing acceptance,

unearthing new interests,

daring to try new things,

finding the joy of togetherness.

Tuesday SOL How many more walks do I have this year?

 This is a Tuesday "Slice of Life" for Two Writing Teachers. Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.

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Three things immediately excite me when I think about our move to a new, permanent school location next year:

- Playground and green space at our school.
- Bathrooms in close proximity.
- A much larger classroom.

When I see the plans for the new school, it is as if a weight is being lifted from my shoulders. I'm not really sure which of these matters most - their importance varies with each week, day, or hour.

Right now, I find myself obsessing about next year's playground and green space.

Our daily walks on the walking rope have been very difficult.

Won't it be so awesome to throw open a door and let the children play?
To let the children get their wiggles out, at a moment's notice?

Yes, my mind wanders and I begin imagining - things to climb, room to run, places to dig and explore...

however...

the reality is, we still have six more weeks of school.

There are still many more daily walks.
Now.
This year.
With these preschoolers.

This is how we get to the local playground, several blocks away,
this is how we get to the national park,
several blocks away,
this is what we do each day,
after centers,
before story time,
for fresh air.
Twenty-three preschoolers
on a walking rope.

It has been the best solution for a difficult environment.

Keeping them safe,
moving through the city blocks,
all together,
one community.

It is our routine.


Our routine has reached
a painful crescendo.


How to describe the recent walk that did me in?


A blur of shoes, falling off feet,
new summer shoes - "larger, to grow into,"
ballet flats that slip off when you think about them,
big preschool feet stepping on the heels of the child in front of them, forcing that shoe off,
incessant "shoe problems!" (as the children cry out) that
stop the entire process,
forcing the walking rope to a halt,
as we tend to the missing shoe.
How impossible it is for two dozen small beings to walk so closely and precisely together.
A blur of voices, disturbingly loud,
in each other's ears,
singing, "Let It Go!"
calling, "Ms. Ingram! Ms. Ingram! Ms. Ingram!"
shouting, "STOP! That's hurting my ears!"
making our movement together
so painful.
How impossible it is for two dozen small beings to walk so closely and precisely together. 
A blur of hands, full of motion,
pulling on landscaping and flowers,
bending over to pick things up from the ground,
pushing classmates,
jerking the entire rope to a stop.
How impossible it is for two dozen small beings to walk so closely and precisely together.
Shoes, voices, hands
tears, whines, hurt.

Yes, this was the walk that did me in.

Back in the classroom,
as the children settled down for story time,
I explained that we had to talk about today's walk.

First, we did some deep breathing together.

Then, a show of hands,
"Who felt sad on today's walk?"
[Everyone's hands shoot up - and lots of voices, with corroborating stories...]

"What makes us sad on walks?"
This question resulted in four specifics:
- when someone walks on another's heel
- when someone uses a very loud voice
- when someone hurts another with their hands
- when someone keeps singing even when their partner says "Stop!"

[I was struck by how no one mentioned the "individual" wrong-doings, such as - pulling a flower from the landscape, or kicking one's own shoes off...everyone focused on the "injustices" that had been done to them by another classmate. I see this as growth - preschoolers who want friendships. These preschoolers are no longer playing parallel, alongside one another, but desire cooperative togetherness. I decided not to interject my own voice on this list, not to have it include all the challenging behaviors that I noticed. Instead, let's build those friendship skills!]

Me - "What might we do to prevent each of these? Let's take them one at a time and think about them. How can we get along in the community of our walking rope?"


We talked about how physically close everyone is on the walking rope, with
no one able to move to a further location...
how this is different from other parts of our day, when
everyone is allowed to move freely.
Maybe we have to behave differently on the walking rope?


With that, there was a sea change -
preschoolers began thinking about actions they could each do that would help us all.


We made

"Our Walking Rules"

- Watch our feet as we walk
- Use calm voices
- Take deep breaths and keep our hands to ourselves
- "Stop" when asked


The next day,
just before leaving on our walk,
I reviewed their ideas from the day before and
asked each child to sign the rules,
indicating that they would try their very best on our walk.

I love how these preschoolers were able to reflect and suggest changes.

Now, when walking,
the children are noticing helpful behaviors.

We are making the best of it.
Accenting the positive.
Working together.

[But I am still counting...
How many more walks do I have this year?]

SOLSC #13 Our Learning Showcase

I am posting every day during March as part of the annual "Slice of Life" Challenge for Two Writing Teachers.  Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.

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We had a very wonderful Learning Showcase last night! These triumphant events signal the end of another trimester of school (I am amazed that we are two-thirds of the way through the school year), and provide a whirlwind tour of what the children have been learning over the past many weeks. The children are always super excited to visit their classroom in the evening hours - and families are always so pleased to see what their children's work. Imagine, preschoolers creating projects - working on one thing for many minutes, days, weeks! It is a beautiful thing to see.

We transformed our classroom into "a museum," with

• their cityscapes on the entry wall,
  

• children's 3D homes and blueprints on exhibit on tables,
  

• story collages hanging on the sides of cabinetry and other, along the perimeter of the room,
  

• shadow puppets on the whiteboard, and
  

• process art on a wall of windows.
  

Tech-savvy Melissa threw together an amazing "i-movie" about the Big Cats, so that the families could see their dear children at work and play in our classroom. 

Today is a day of professional development (lunch break is for blogging a slice! ;-) ...but the day began in a very special way: we toured the other classrooms, to see the Learning Showcase work throughout the school. Truly, I am amazed and invigorated by what I saw this morning. 

Throughout the school, preschool through fifth grade, the teachers show tremendous respect for what students are saying, doing, thinking, wanting, hoping. There is a profound trust in students' abilities, a belief in the student as initiator of his/her own learning. Each room highlighted individual student voice coupled with a strong sense of community...sprinkled with delightful, beautiful arts integration! 

I see and feel so much joy in my school! 

**************

(A daily share by a preschooler, in their own words)

A Story Collage by Helen

Once upon a time, fish were swimming in a frozen sea. Someone came along. It was a bear. It was a mean bear. It eats stuff. But, a bunny hopped into the ocean and it hopped away. It hopped and hopped and hopped, out of the place where the frozen ocean was. When the bunny came back, there was nothing else but fish and sand. The bunny hopped off to the land of colors. The bunny’s friend came along. What he saw was just colors everywhere. He hopped away and all he saw was colors everywhere! Another one of his friends came hopping along from the other way. They both went off to the beach again. A boat was floating along. And a bunny came, a bear came, and a pig! The End