sol17-20 Are we listening?

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.

Near the end of a day, when many children had been picked up, and the room was growing quieter and only a few children remained, she came to me and said, "Ms. Ingram, I have a song I want to share." "A song?" I asked, "Oh please do!" She began solemnly, "I have a song about Rapunzel. There's no sorceress, only a bad guy and the bad guy, he..." I realized immediately, this was not a song, certainly not a typical song, but a story, a sharing, an outpouring of words that this little preschooler was simply bursting to offer. I got out my pen and wrote her offering down.

I love that she called it a song. 

I love that she knew I would want to capture it, that I would write it down and read it back to her.

I love that I have created the space for such sharing to happen.

I worry that I am not hearing everyone's stories.

I worry that my days get too busy, that I have too many to do's.

I worry that one day someone will say, "excuse me, that child is not focused on what is in your lesson plan for this part of the day." 

Well, I don't really worry about this happening to me, because I would no longer be teaching if that were the expectation. But, honestly - it is happening in classrooms. Yes, even in the preschool classroom, there is an ever-increasing burden for writing detailed lesson plans, noting each and every standard or objective you will teach. 

I worry about novice, less-experienced teachers who bow to administrations that ask this of them, who faithfully expend hours making the minute and predictive details of curriculum planning and who teach to these plans, but have not the time to observe, or reflect on, or to be truly present with their students. If the expectation is on the paperwork, the forms, the "shell" of teaching, how do teachers learn to focus on the individual student, to create a classroom that builds on children's own interests, and where children are curious, investigating, moving, conversing, trying, questioning, wondering?  

This little girl and her story song - these are opportunities woven like a golden yet invisible thread into the fabric of my planning. You won't find them listed anywhere in my plans. These moments are when I feel my teaching is at its best: children who have been so riveted by books, so engaged by their play, so delighted by dramatizing stories, so lost in their learning, that they must, simply must, tell you all about it. 

We teachers must be there to listen.

Isn't this what children deserve? 

Our kindness parade

This is a 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.

The preschool Big Cats celebrated the completion of their fabulous kindness signs by parading through our school. We shared love with everyone along the way!


Let me share a few photos from today's fun.

 

SOLSC #12 What should our world look like?

During the month of March, I am participating in
the Slice of Life Story Challenge.
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 many more reflections on teaching.

 

A note from a colleague, who lucked into a peer observation in my room on Friday morning, when we were having an absolutely delightful morning:

"Thanks for having me! I love the warm learning environment, and all the wonderful play, magic and love in this classroom."

Building with Magna Tiles

The zoo

Fridays really are the best day of the week, and yesterday's was above and beyond. The children's play has been replicating their city lives, and I watched a virtual city arise in our classroom - with some fantastical, magical, fictional details thrown in the mix. We dragged the cardboard castle and house to the carpet where we build with blocks and I suspect this was the catalyst for the city that grew all around it. Magna Tiles and small cars were used on one table, where focused builders created "lines of houses with parking garages" (rowhouses, to my eye) and a batcave (Batman has to be nearby) and a big store for shopping. There was a fervent attempt to make roads, but these would be broken up and changed into new structures. From the table to the floor, there were ramps leading to "a super highway, where the cars go really really fast and crash and go again." On the carpet, children worked very hard and patiently to create  a large, detailed zoo. In the sensory table, they worked with sand and gems and pronounced it "a cake-making place, I mean a bakery!" Over by the large windows, I found two preschoolers lying on cloths, and they explained they were at the beach. 

Doctors getting ready for work

The piece de resistance of the city - from my perspective - was the veterinarian hospital. Preschoolers collected all of the stuffed animals in the classroom and created the many beds for the sick animals in the shelving of the dramatic play stove, refrigerator, sink. For some reason, this really made me chuckle. They had toy stethoscopes, medicine, and shots to dispense. Preschool writers were employed to make signs, asking me how to spell 'veterinarian.' (I regret that I did not take a photo of the hospital warning sign they dreamed up, with help from teachers on individual words - "Don't take animal before they fix it") There was a great deal of work. One harried doctor exclaimed, "We're having trouble with the animals, they don't like the medicine."

Can you see the animals in this stove hospital?

The entire morning was good medicine for me, as I watched preschoolers immersed in play, working so beautifully with one another, showing flexibility, imagination, and joy.

What if we played basketball?

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

Check out their website for many more reflections on teaching.


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My slice is basically two photos from today at school....

Our outdoor playtime was filled with cries of  "I'm too cold, Ms. Ingram!" and I decided to cut short our adventures outside. However, I knew the children needed more movement. Yes, we have entered the time of year when I am searching for ways to have gross motor play indoors.

I wondered if we could engineer a basketball hoop out of a cardboard box? I knew that we could use all the soft, small balls that we already have on hand for our balls and ramps exploration as our "basketballs." 

The children and I went to look for scrap cardboard in the Art room, and our wonderful Art teacher Ms. McNeil had the "insides" of a box that was just perfect. It had a large perforated circle design, because it once held something round (a new globe? a new saucepan? a ball?). 

There wasn't much to engineer. We simply taped around the edges and then duct-taped the box to the wall! So simple, so fast, so perfect. 

Children played 'basketball' throughout centers, getting so much exercise! Indoors! Back and forth they went, shooting baskets, running after balls, visiting another center to explore something different, racing back to play more basketball. Around and around and around.

My laugh of the morning - one little girl coming over to join me at the block center, throwing herself on the floor, and gasping the words, "Oh, I am just so tired from all that basketball!" A few minutes later, she was back shooting baskets.

Fun times!

What about play?

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

Check out their website for many more reflections on teaching.


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In many ways, it was a release, a letting up of the brakes. 

A new gift from a family,

a bin of cloths,

large fabric pieces,

varied colors, textures, sizes.

Four boys wanted to dress up. Make me a hat! Can I have a cape? I need this part on my body! Can you tie this here? I am ninja! I am fast! I am superhero!

Let's forget that I am

one small part of  an elementary and middle school,
primed and ready for surprise observations from district officials and other supervisors, looking for rigor and visible learning,

providing family conferences about student progress, with families craving insight about pre-literacy, early mathematics, academic skills, their child's future success,

readying for the Learning Showcase evening event, documenting all the children's work for families and community, with children owning their work and detailing it for families, all work labelled with clear objectives, 

supporting a resident teacher, immersed in graduate school details of early reading, collecting data, leveled readers, guided reading, reading progress,

adhering to specific and separate times for art, music, Spanish, physical education, recess,
keeping unit plans updated, lesson plans current and detailed,
making sure I am following the posted schedule with impunity,
consumed by data tracking, writing trimester summaries and report cards

Let's forget the tension of

specify, specify, specify,

faster, faster, faster,

more, more, more

Four boys wanted to dress up.

And I began to play, too.

And then they began to run, 

in the classroom,

their excitement impossible to contain,

to which I led them outdoors,
to the field,

where we ran and ran and ran

on a rainy day.

I wonder

are we making time for make-believe?

are we preserving possibility for the unexpected?

are we remembering what it is to be a child?

are we along for their ride?

are we losing sight of the three year old?

the preschooler?

the child?

are we losing our minds or their minds?

what is really needed?

Children need play and its infinite possibilities,

surrounded by adults who nourish the fun.

And so,

we played.

What about those clouds?

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

Check out their website for many more reflections on teaching.


______________________________

I wrote recently about our neighborhood walks, noting how we have been observing the clouds in the sky. 

Truly, a "cloud study" is emerging in our class.

Behind our school is a large field, providing a large expanse from which to see the sky. This leads to some breathtaking views. We see storms forming, airplanes and helicopters crossing, winds blowing, rain pelting down, and bright sun shining.  Honestly, I've been surprised by how varied the sky can look. 

The clouds are captivating. I encourage the children to observe them more closely. 

The view is lovely from our classroom windows.  

"Look, Ms. Ingram, the clouds are moving!," one student called to me during centers the other day.

At least once a week, we head out the back door of our school to the field, to sit and draw the clouds in the sky. The children are honing their fine motor skills while becoming scientist - observers.

One day, we went out to draw the clouds but there was nothing but gorgeous blue sky, as far as the eye could see. I asked, Where are the clouds? and thoroughly enjoyed the children's responses:

"The clouds are in the sun." (H)

"Because my dad said 'if there is no clouds, you can play.' 

And if you see the clouds, you can draw the clouds." (D)

"Unless the sun take the clouds away." (B)

In the art corner, we have created clouds of our own, in several different ways. 

We created clouds with white, gray, and even black paint, using cotton balls and q-tips as tools to apply the paint. The children created these as a 'symmetry' lesson, putting the paint on one side of the paper only and then folding the paper over, resulting in a mirroring image on the other side of the paper.

We created a beautiful blue sky as a group project. The children delighted in working on their hands and knees, right on the floor of the classroom. 

Of course, once the sky was complete, we needed to add clouds. These we created with 'puffy paint,' which I always enjoy mixing with the children. Puffy white paint is easy - shaving cream mixed with glue (more or less equal parts of each) ... a delightfully sensory experience for painting clouds by hand:

Our fabulous art teacher Briana shared a blog with me by an artist and designer named Cristina Moreno, showcasing the most extraordinary cloud and sky work; I simply had to make a large cloud with the children!!

I wasn't totally certain how to create the cloud, but I thought - let's give it a try! Briana helped fashion a base/form for the cloud and even provided me four bags of cotton batting for the project. The children went to work on this large scale model of a cloud!

The children worked and worked on this, all morning long, pulling small pieces of cotton from the bag, stretching it to make it light and fluffy, and applying lots of glue. (I was astonished at how many bottles of glue we went through to create this exciting structure!)

The children were so engaged, with such great language streaming from their lips...the adjectives alone:

pillow-ey

fluffy

puffy

sticky

squishy

enormous

gentle

soft

bubbles

gooey

ooey-gooey

sticky 

wet

The children had so many great questions -

What are clouds made of?

How big are clouds?

Can we make a real cloud?

How long does it take to make a cloud?

What does it feel like to fall into a cloud?

It was such a thrill to stand on chairs as one worked!!

It took several days for the cloud to dry out.

Then, it was time to find an answer to another pressing question from the children:

How will it hang?

In our science corner, of course! Right in front of our window.

"If you want to have a cloud, you have to be a builder." (A)

We are getting our cloud work ready to share with the families for this Thursday's Learning Showcase. However, I'm not sure our cloud study is over - each day brings more curiosity and exploration.

Can't you hear Joni Mitchell singing?

I've looked at clouds from both sides now

From up and down and still somehow

It's cloud illusions I recall

I really don't know clouds at all

What are we wondering about?

Yesterday, I had the best of intentions of writing a "Tuesday Slice of Life for Two Writing Teachers." That didn't happen.

Let me add a post, one day late.

The autumn weather has been so inviting, I have been taking the children on neighborhood walks. I take them out in small groups during our centers time, and there's no end to the possibilities of exploration. We have gone looking for letters and numbers, particularly, reading signs. We have searched for colors - as seen in trees, leaves, flowers, sky, houses, signs, and more. We have searched for shapes, reinforcing our understanding of squares, circles, rectanges, and triangles. We think about maps and directions and which way is right or left. 

I love, love, love walking and talking and observing with children.

We often bring natural finds back to our classroom and add them to our sensory table, which in recent days has been showcasing nature items - seedpods, grass blooms, spent blossoms, leaves, feathers, more.  The children love using the tweezers, tongs, and magnifying glasses, here.

One of our early days out, we noticed the clouds in the sky. Extraordinary! Now, we don't leave school without our clipboards - so that we might sit and draw what we see. 

What did we do for the Phillips this year?

This week, we are celebrating the conclusion of our arts integration project with the Phillips Collection. The children worked very hard throughout the month of February on this effort. I thought I'd share some photos and documentation of their work, so that you might see the fun that they had.

Though in previous years, our work has been displayed for a few weeks at the Phillips (in their basement level educational wing), this year our school's population has grown too large for the Phillips to display all these works. As a result, the preschool classes and several other grades will not be included in this exhibit; however, we will display our work at our school's Learning Showcase later this month. When I first heard this plan (last summer), I was disappointed. I have enjoyed working with the children to create art pieces for the Phillips display - typically, the whole class works together to create 2 or 3 panels. (I've blogged about these efforts in previous years.) Over time, I realized, there are some real benefits to this new plan - hey, I'm not limited to 2 or 3 panels! I can take up as much space as I want…we can create any type of art that we desire!

So, what did we create? Let me share.

First, did a field trip to the Phillips…the big thrill being the ride on the yellow school bus.

At the Phillips, we did a couple of art activities...on the floor, in front of masterpieces of art. I love this. Preschoolers in an art museum! The children's (and my) favorite activity this year was related to George Braque's painting Round Table.  This painting depicted many different objects grouped on a table. 

The children were given paper versions of their own Round Table, and separate pieces representing the objects that they were free to place on their table. This was an ideal lesson for young children, allowing them hands-on work. 

We teachers realized that the children share Braque's fascination and love of  the physicality of objects. We decided to create art with this masterpiece in mind.

It is not enough to make people see the object you paint. You must also make them touch it.—Georges Braque (1882–1963)

In our preschool classroom, we work a lot with found objects and recyclables. We love to imagine and re-purpose small, inconsequential things from our homes in many different projects. The children love touching, exploring, counting, sorting, painting, and creating with these found objects.

Additionally, we are crazy about storytelling. In recent weeks, for our read-alouds, we have been immersed in folktales and fairy tales. I often dramatize parts of the books with children (they love to use their bodies - and I know this movement helps them recall the story), I have many felt board and other story pieces for them to re-tell the tale, and I often use story "containers" with small figures and objects to represent the story. The children have become very interested in "characters" and beginning, middle, end of stories. Of course, I also work with the children on their own stories - "How does your story begin?"

All these curriculum tangents were pouring through my mind as I searched for a Phillips artwork idea. Then, of all things, a friend gave me some coffee cans she had saved...imagine this, she had 21 to share with me! Exactly the right amount for each child to create something special...

So, for our Phillips artwork, the preschoolers created story cans, with clay characters and special found objects from our classroom collection.

We spent several weeks creating a decoupage exterior for the cans... a process that involved a great deal of trial and error. For example, the preschoolers spent several mornings cutting out small pieces and images of scrap book jackets. Then, it was time to glue these onto the cans. It turns out, it was nearly impossible for the children to adhere glossy, heavyweight scraps to a cylindrical metal surface. I stepped in to help them and I couldn't do it myself. I began to wonder if I had imagined the very worst project idea. But, of course, I'm all about modeling persistence....

We used a variety of other special papers - tissue papers, cut up easel paintings, and even created special effects on old newspapers and discarded scraps of paper by dipping them in watercolor paint.

We layered the papers around the sides of the can, over and over, using lots of glue.

Our decoupage work became an on-going center in the classroom for several weeks...children worked on their cans whenever they desired, as much as they liked.

With our cans complete, it was time to think about our individual stories. What objects would represent the stories the best? The preschoolers searched through the found objects, trying to find five treasures that would fit into the can. 

I also introduced Model Magic for the children to create characters - though, in the end, I wasn't excited by the quality of these figures...the 'clay' was not easy for the children to mold (sometimes, it seemed to spring out of the desired shape); the final 'air dried' pieces broke quite easily. But, the children had no complaints...they loved working with this clay.

Ms. Kim worked with each student individually, listening to their story and writing it down. This week, at Storytime, in addition to our daily book read-aloud, we are sharing the children's own stories from their story cans. This has been very special.

To help you imagine the final artwork, here is one story can. This one is made by Ellis. 

And here is Ellis' story:

His name is George (clay). He is a monster. The monster put the girl (blue) in a tank (yellow). He put them into the trap (purple). He trapped him with a rope. Then, then, there was  four monsters coming. Then the mommy didn’t ask because he didn’t have mommy. So, so he just came out. Then he asked his mommy for help. Then, then the monster put him in a trap. Then the monster’s mouth broke. He force him away so he couldn’t get passed. So, so, so he just put the girl out of here. He just put them in a jail. The girl is made out of the glass. So, he, he putted in then. He didn’t get stuck. Um, so, he (blue) just put it in like but he couldn’t because he didn’t fit. So, so it just got away but he couldn’t because he was just made out of the glass. So it was squeezy but he couldn’t get out so he went out so he get passed. Bristick came to help. Then then he smashed in then cut it out. That was a good idea. And he took him to his mom.

I'll share all of the children's work in another post...but, I thought it was important to share one here so that my description of the story cans made sense. I know it is a rather unique "artwork" - a far cry from a painted panel, such as my previous preschool classes have made. But, I love that the children will each go home with their own individual treasure. I think it is exciting that our art is "repurposed," taking something and changing it. The story cans are each so 'robust', so 'sturdy' - I see the children filling and re-filling these cans with special stories for years to come. 

I love how much work they put into these!