What is time?

I am participating in the
Tuesday Slice of Life with Two Writing Teachers.
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.

I wrote a lot, this past summer. I wrote in my journal every day. I played around with some 'fiction' writing, for the first time in ages. I reflected on several key memories from earlier in my life and wrote about these. I participated in the weekly SOL challenges as much as possible. I tooled around with a second blog. Anyhow, point being - summer was a delight for my writing.

And then the school year began.

I have not felt as if I had time to sit and write in the morning since this school year began. Every school day is filled to the brim with school things, and no personal writing. Instead, I fill my weekends with 'catch up writing,' binge writing - the writer's version of the weekend athlete. 

Then I went on that silent retreat (10 days ago). The first Monday after the retreat, still under its spell, I lingered in bed for a moment, after the alarm went off. I let my thoughts flow. Then, I got up and made a cup of tea. Without any forethought, I opened my journal and began writing up a few of those flowing thoughts. I wrote for about 20 minutes.

I realized I could hear crickets cheering me on, yes yes yes yes yes yes...affirming the day ahead, affirming my writing. It was still and quiet in my home.

It turned out, I still had ample time to get out the door.

How did this morning move slower than normal?

Then, I thought - wait a minute, maybe I have time every single day?

I think part of my writing problem during this school year was simply posturing: I set myself up to believe the limitation, to think "I do not have time." In the transition from summer to school, my early morning alarm needed to be about work - to get going, with precision and readiness. I loved the leisure of summer and I saw the alarm as the death knoll on that easy routine. I thought - summer's over, and so is my leisure writing.

Also, I am trying to get out of the house fifteen minutes earlier than I did last year. So, to take a bit of time to write in the morning - well, that just seemed an extravagance I could not afford!

But then I did. Yes, I did. It worked just fine. And I have been writing every morning since!

What is time?

What's special about summer?

I am participating in the
Tuesday Slice of Life with Two Writing Teachers.
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.

My 2018-19 journal

Here it is, July 31st. I know what that means: summer break is coming to a much too rapid close. I return to school on August 8th (yikes - next Wednesday!), for two weeks of professional development and then the start of the new school year.

Two small purchases this week cemented this transition for me:

- A school journal for 2018-19! I love selecting a new one of these each summer...imagine all the special snippets that I will write in the months ahead - notes about children, lesson plans, workshops, and more.
- A large wall calendar for my kitchen, where I have begun to enter this year's schedule...all the school holidays and special events, along with all my family celebrations, appointments, and events.






I am having an absolutely fabulous summer...one with so many days of true leisure that I am often unsure what day it is. Is there a better luxury than this? Here are my top ten pleasures of this summer:

1. So much sweet time with my husband, Tony; he's retired, and summer means we both have free, open schedules. We are able to be truly present with one another.
2. Finding time every single day to write...challenging myself to write a couple pages each day, and finding this time so meaningful and well spent, such a joy.
3. Reading novels, devouring novels, enjoying novels - reading for the fun of it!
4. Long, meandering walks with no real time limits - so much more relaxed than the 'must do' exercise squeezed in at the end of a teaching day.
5. Visiting with others, catching up with old friends, traveling to Maine and Georgia to visit family...leisurely meals, excursions, relaxed conversations with family, friends, and neighbors...reconnecting with dear ones is a highlight
6. Weeding...I actually enjoy working in my yard when I am free to start and stop when I like.
7. Tony and I finally figuring out how to turn on Netflix without one of our sons showing us how to do it - and then browsing movies and shows.
8. Indulging in #7 in the middle of a rainy day! 
9. Sitting outside and noticing all the nature around me, especially the birds...whether a plump mourning dove balancing on a stair railing, bright yellow goldfinches darting out of the purple coneflowers, a single hummingbird at the feeder, there is always so much to see.
10. Sleep..waking without an alarm, daring to take a nap in the middle of the day...yes, this is a delirious pleasure.

Oh, summer...please don't disappear on me!

SOLSC #13: What about readiness?

I am participating in the
March 2018 Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC).
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day, every day for thirty-one days.

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

for teacher-writers to share and reflect.

I had another one of those strange collaborative conversations today, where I could feel the "pushing" of children. The meeting included a cross-section of teachers and administrators, to discuss an issue:

Our school has a significant increase in students requiring occupational therapy for writing in first grade.

The question was asked -

What can we do in kindergarten, pre-K4, and pre-K3 that would decrease the referrals?

Readiness. 

Ugh.

This is such a minefield of a word for me, as a preschool teacher.

I was told that there is a very big gap between what is expected in first grade and our developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood.

I was told that after kindergarten, 60% of a student's day is spent writing.

Wow.

I wonder -

how do we know that first grade expectations are reasonable?

why is it that the early childhood curricula should change? should be modified to meet this need?

how do we know this is the right thing to do?

Please don't get me wrong - there are a lot of developmentally appropriate ways to encourage pre-literacy...ways to build fine motor muscles, ways to encourage letter recognition, ways to nurture both reading and writing. There are great ways to do all of this in the midst of a play-based, exploratory curriculum. I am game to think this through, to consider ways to enhance our curriculum.

I simply wonder,

how is it that the increased need for occupational therapy reflects on the early childhood years?

shouldn't we be questioning what is being expected of our elementary students?

I saw this declaration on a sign advertising a local private preschool, 

"Where childhood is cherished, children flourish."

Many days, public school seems far removed from this dreamy description.

SOLSC #1 What will happen?

I am participating in the
March 2018 Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC).
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day, every day for thirty-one days.

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

for teacher-writers to share and reflect.

Here I go again!

I believe this is my seventh year of participating in the March SOLSC. I am so appreciative of Two Writing Teachers for this fun opportunity! Each year, I am surprised to find something new to write about each day (it seems to magically happen), I am astounded by how this simple act of daily writing makes me more present and alert all day long, as I mine every moment for possible material in a slice, and I am awed – absolutely awed - by what I read in and learn from other blogs. It is a fabulous month of writing.

That being said - this is likely to be a year that I don’t quite complete the writing challenge. I am traveling on three special trips, one of which is a 30^th anniversary trip to Costa Rica with my dear husband at the very end of March. So, just sayin’! I’m going to give this year’s March SOLSC a good try,  and I will squeeze out all the joy and learning that I can, but I am also going to forgive myself if I write less than 31 slices.

Here’s to the challenge! Welcome to all the new Slicers!! Happy March!! Write on!!

"I have discovered in life that here are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, 

if you really want to go."

Langston Hughes

Tuesday SOL: How do you make time for what is most important?

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.

How can it be one month since I've posted?
How to describe this November?

Here's another very full day of teaching,
a few more right behind,
a Tuesday comes and go,
no slice of life this week,
and many very full days follow,
and here's another Tuesday,
let's share a slice of life...
no, I have prepared nothing...
and so it goes.

Here are a couple of students in a makeshift hospital bed,
waiting for a preschool doctor to appear on the scene!
Truly, it could be me under there - overwhelmed by to do's ;-)

It is very important to me to be a teacher-writer. I have an on-going school journal, where daily I take notes, giving me rich ideas and suggestions for this blog. Truly, my writing issues are not for lack of ideas. This blog has been coming out on the losing end of my juggle of time. All the daily must-do's. Unlike my daily journaling, for this blog I need to make time to play with language, to find the right words, to polish and consider.

It is a priority that I have not been meeting - which makes me sad.

I reflected about this over the long weekend - Maureen, how can you not do what you like to do best?

So, here I go again.
Diving in.
Trying to share, at least - once a week.
Today, I am back again!
If something has to give, let it be something that I care less about.

How do you make time for what is most important?

Me, I'm going to put pen to paper and figure it out.

sol17-31 What just zoomed by?

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.

I am totally unsure about how to close out this fabulous month of writing. I am so thankful to Two Writing Teachers for hosting this writing challenge! I enjoyed writing daily, I loved reading and commenting on others' posts, and I totally appreciated all the comments I received on my own blog posts.

I think what really surprised me was that - with the exception, perhaps, of today - I was able to think of something new to write about each and every day. What a surprise, in the midst of what felt like a period of drought in my writing! I have learned an important lesson - Keep writing. Just write. Always write.

So, I'm going to keep writing. I'm back in the game. I look forward to the Tuesday Slice of Life, I look forward to writing about my preschoolers, I look forward to reading, commenting, and connecting with this rich writing community. Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! I will end here, because I know there will be more in the days and weeks to come...

sol17-26 Why did I make room for that in my head?

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.

I am really thankful for this year's writing challenge - it seems to have catapulted me out of my writer's block. Although I have sliced with Two Writing Teachers for six years, by this fall I was rarely participating in the weekly slicing. I was not quite sure what to write. My blog had more or less come to a standstill. 

Why did I start having trouble writing posts? 

Awhile ago, an administrator asked me not to publicize my blog with families of my students. Mind you, I began writing this blog about early childhood long before I began working at my current school and, over the years, the families of my students were an ideal place to find readers, leading into conversations about real issues in early childhood. This administrator challenged me about the blog's existence, saying that this blog was not sanctioned by the school and did not represent the school, and that I should be very, very careful about what I write. 

It is true - this is my blog, filled with my thoughts, ideas, opinions, reflections, questions. It is entirely mine. It is not a school blog. It is my outlet, my writing, my pastime.

I don't agree with or understand this administrator's perspective. Why not embrace and welcome teachers to write, think, reflect outside the classroom? 

I took extra steps to make my posts more anonymous. I no longer share with families or colleagues that I write a blog. I went quiet. For awhile, this worked fine - I wrote. Then I started writing less. And less. And less. Even without agreeing to this administrator's perspective, I made space for it in my head. Doubt crept in. I began to question -  

should I be writing?

is there any value?

what is my point?

There you have it -

a negative voice,

leading to

a boundary,

a wall,

a block,

a boulder,

stopping much of my writing,

leaving me

stuck,

blank,

empty.

Then along comes the March writing challenge! The reality of saying yes to this writing challenge: I don't get to wallow, I don't get to be blocked, I simply must write.

All my questions have fallen to the wayside. Now I am wondering, why did I make room for that negative voice in my head? There will always be plenty to write about.

I hope I can hold on to this writing habit after the challenge. 

sol17-18 How do you become a writer?

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.

At a recent early childhood team meeting, we had a terrific discussion about early writing. Our early childhood team is six classrooms - two each of kindergarten, pre-K 4, and preschool (or pre-K 3 - as it is frequently called in our district.) I'm a preschool/pre-K 3 teacher. The kindergarten teachers were sharing about Writer's Workshop, and I was riveted by focus of their teaching - getting students to think about punctuation, space between words, stretching out the words to hear all the sounds.

Writing materials in preschool dramatic play

We talked about how these concepts can be a developmental stretch for many kindergarteners, sharing anecdotes of students who are still not connecting that letters create words, who struggle to hold a pencil, who have very little interest in sitting still and focusing. We saw a video clip of one kindergartener who was reading his own writing aloud and - rather than recognizing or connecting letters he himself had written on the page - closed his eyes and tried to recall his story from memory. 

We wondered, are we pushing children to read and write too soon? How do you know when it is too much to expect? How do you recognize what a student really needs?

We talked about how writing isn't simply a 45 minute workshop block. Students should see themselves as writers, all the time. Early childhood classrooms should have writing tools available throughout the classroom, no matter where a child plays - clipboards at the ready in science centers and in the block corner; pads of paper, notebooks, schedules in dramatic play; sign-ins at arrival; sensory tables that emphasize fine motor skill development through tools such as tweezers, tongs, or hiding small beads and sequins in sand; writing centers stocked with pencils, crayons, alphabet tools, more.

Writing materials in the block center

We shared what we know about writing tools, things we've learned from occupational therapists that have worked with young children with fine motor issues, such as triangular and chunky crayons, short 'golf' pencils that force you to pinch the end of the pencil. It is essential to have a full array of writing tools - and opportunities to build those fine motor muscles.

Of course, writing is language in print. How can you be expected to write if you haven't the words to share? From their earliest days in school, we must give them opportunities to share, converse, tell stories, to build their oral language - and we should capture and document their words.

Writing materials in the art corner

I walked away from this early childhood meeting really excited about teaching. I was struck by the true art of teaching: 

• knowing each child individually - personality, temperament, family, routines, likes, desires, fears, hopes, more; 
• seeing the big picture (knowing the developmental milestones of writing skills, Common Core standards, curriculum expectations) and able to identify the smaller, personalized goals for students;
• having a keen understanding of development, how large and fine motor, cognitive, oral language, and social emotional skills all play a role in the 'academic' goals;
• having an awareness of those 'zones of proximal development' - knowing when it is good to push, stretch, instigate 
• having time to focus on individual students and their learning struggles, and living with the tension of the disproportionate time and attention you give to certain students (teaching can be so much more efficient with our higher level learners)
• collaborating with our colleagues, learning about their approaches, considering questions together, and continually improving one's own practice. 

I also think - not only is teaching an art, it must be activism. We early childhood teachers must be activists. We must speak up for play and exploration, defend developmentally appropriate practice, and remind our administrators and legislators about the individual children behind the data. 

sol17-17 When do we go home?

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.

This was a draining day at the end of a long, mixed-up, irregular week. If routine and predictability are the best thing for preschoolers, then no wonder this week was so hard. We had the wacky snow/no snow day. We had two days of two hour delays. We had piercing cold temperatures, making outdoor play near impossible. We had one of my teaching team (my Teaching Resident) get chosen for a jury, meaning we had two days of subs and we will have more subs next week. Oh please please please, let it be Friday!

The day was long. L - O - O - O - N - N - N - G - G - G!

Then, during naptime, I got to slip out of my room and down the hall to the kindergarten classrooms, which were having a Young Author's Celebration. Their students had written "How To" books. Oh, this was fabulous! I got to sit and have stories read to me, by students that were - so very recently - preschoolers! How can it be that they are writing and reading? So fabulous. 

Here are the titles of a few of the books that were read to me: 

How to Draw a Tiger

How to Swim in a Pool

How to Play Mario Brothers

How to Make a Salad
How to Read a Book
How to Write a How To Book

I returned to my classroom with just one hour of the school day left, full of energy. I could write a book -

How to Re-Energize

and it would include being read to by former students.

sol17-6 What is blossoming?

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.

I don't know why I find them so adorable. For the third day, I've taken a picture of the little yellow miniature narcissus flowers that are blooming alongside my driveway. I don't remember planting these. I know they were not there last year. My husband, Tony, who retired last June, has spent a lot of time working in the yard. We think all his hard work included moving something in a new, unplanned, and oh so right way that we received the blessing of new blooms. They make me smile. They catch my eye every time I return home from work. They remind me how happy my husband is to be retired. Their very surprise delights me. It is a little bit of magic in our yard, a tiny gift.

What are the parallels in my classroom? Were there any miniature narcissus today? 

Oh, yes, Cindy. She decided to write a book about the alphabet - she persisted until she had written every letter! Then she helped Mary write her name. Their collaboration was adorable. When did they fall in love with letters? When did they start noticing? When did they decide they could write?

Then there was Michael. He followed every routine. He didn't cry. He listened to our book. He sat for lunch. He ate his sandwich! He settled on his cot without needing one of us teachers alongside, rubbing his back. What happened? Why today? What was so right, finally?

It is March. Things are blossoming.

sol17-4 How do I know for sure?

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.

I like to follow routines.

I like "programs."

I like to compare my results from one day and build on them for the next.

I find these to be motivational, 

'a shot in the arm,' 

a way to reorganize my brain from 'no, I have no time' into

'of course, I can make that happen.'

Which is why I am writing every day in March for this Slice of Life Story Challenge.

Which is why I have a Fitbit, tracking my daily 10,000 steps.

Which is why I said yes to my niece to participate in a Facebook "Secret Group" Fitness Challenge, doing insane exercises every day for one month (15 February through 15 March).

I have only had a very few days of all these 'systems' overlapping and I realize I have turned into a bit of a robot:

Wake up, 

get out journal and write draft ideas for slice(s); 

check time for getting out the door for school; 

check Facebook for today's new exercise routine and make plan for when it will fit into the day (before school or after school?);

attach Fitbit to clothes so that all walking steps are recorded; 

go through work day; 

when you return home, check - 

have you entered blog post? take time to write.

have you walked enough? take time to walk.

did you do new exercise routine? take time to exercise.

It's actually a little amazing how everything is fitting into place, how everything is getting done...even in the midst of a week that included two evenings at school and all the extra duties and preparation for these. Check! still following all routines!

I will admit to living for the weekend - today! yes, it is here! - and having time to process and reflect, to re-organize, regroup, and get ready for another crazy week ahead.

So, it is both ironic and funny that I discovered two technology fails today. Just in time for reflection.

One, my three-year old Fitbit is dead, dead, dead. Yes, I attached it to my clothes every day and I walked, walked, walked, but there is no evidence of this anywhere. Wait a minute, did I walk enough this week? Yikes, how do I know for sure?

Two, my scale. 18 days into this insane exercise challenge and I wondered, have I lost a pound or two? Anything? In 18 days? Let's see! And I jump on the scale - and the screen stays totally blank. Yes, really, my scale is dead, dead, dead.  Wait a minute, is this increased exercise making any difference? Yikes, how do I know for sure?

Maybe I have these new routines taking up too big a space in my head. Why should seeing a number on a device bring me peace? Doesn't the act of walking do this? Doesn't a sweaty workout do this? Does writing about it do this?

There. Blogpost #4. See! I know for sure!

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.

 

New year, renewed expectations

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.

I received a very special book this past Christmas: The Book of Joy, wherein the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu share their insights on how to find joy in the midst of adversity. The book is powerfully uplifting, filled with nuggets of wisdom. Here's one from Archbishop Desmond Tutu:

To choose hope is to step firmly forward into the howling wind, baring one's chest to the elements, knowing that, in time, the storm will pass.

This simple blog of mine, focusing primarily on preschoolers, has given me much joy over the past few years. And yet, somehow, over the past few months, I have had a writer's block, an inability to figure out what to say or do with it next.

But I have joyful news! Here, in the new year, after much reflection - in large part, instigated by this sweet Christmas gift -  I am feeling very hopeful about my early childhood blog again. I realize my writing matters to me. I like it, I love it. I want to 'keep on keeping on' about this one small piece of the world, to shine light on our youngest students, and share this joy.

Right now, it is what really matters to me. 

To kick off this new year of feeling inspired in my writing, let me share some sweet photos of our new year in the classroom. The preschoolers have returned from winter break delighted to be together, ravenous for new experiences, and full of joy! Just like me!

We continue to build detailed structures in the block center.

We have added balls and ramps to the block center, and the children are working like engineers to discover all sorts of unique ways to make the balls roll. They are creating tunnels, sharp inclines, flat roads, jumps, and much more.

There is always something different going on in the Art area! Our first day back, we used simple scratchboards to draw and write about our winter break. An on-going project is to create paper puppets, in order to share a story. We are fully immersed in folktales, reading a wonderful variety of books, and we are beginning to create our own stories.

Over in the dramatic play, we have created a new business: Hair by the Big Cats. It is both a beauty parlor and a barbershop. Each day brings more questions, curiosity, and pure fun!

Of course, we are writing in so many different ways. Here is our haircut schedule, prepared by a preschool receptionist. We think of ourselves as writers!

We also write our own original books in the writing center. One of the biggest joys is to share these books aloud at the end of the day, with all our classmates. 

So, there you have it! I am recommitted to writing this early childhood blog in 2017 - and to slice on Tuesdays with Two Writing Teachers! I hope you will wander by to read. 

Tuesday SOL: What are they thinking about?

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.

This school year, invigorated by my awesome summer training about Project Zero (see earlier blogpost), I set a personal goal of observing and documenting children's thinking. What do I notice?

I feel my teaching changing. I find myself wondering - what are they thinking? I have added the expectation that children observe closely all that we are doing. We are recalling and reflecting more together. What do you see? What is the why behind what we are doing? What do you think it means? Have we seen or done this before?

I am trying very hard to make myself pause in the midst of my teaching, to think about their thinking. What are they trying to figure out? What is on their minds? I am noticing things that I have never paid attention to before. 

One recent morning during our centers exploration, two little boys chased each other with puzzle pieces. The puzzle pieces were rescue vehicles - an ambulance, a firetruck, a police car. Vroom! Vroom! Whoo whoo whoo! They raced around the room, acting these out.

What am I thinking at this very moment? No running! Stop that!
Switch gears. What are they thinking?
They are thinking about rescue vehicles! They are excited about these, acting them out.

Honestly, thinking about their thinking changed my reaction. I inserted myself into their play. I began building a large vehicle with blocks - I placed two chairs down first, and I started to create "sides" with blocks.  "What if we built an ambulance? Could we?" I called out to them. Oh, they were so excited. "Yes!" We were immediately swarmed by many other children. Everyone began furiously building - and, telling a story. I wrote down what I overheard. 

At Storytime, I shared the words I overheard and asked if there were any details I had left out.  What is the whole story of our adventure? The children were delighted that I had listened to them and they had lots more to add. I wrote all their thoughts down and repeated them back to them.

By the end of the children's nap, I had created a simple book of the day's adventure, entitled "Big Cats to the Rescue!" 

This is the story of the day's adventure:

One day in the Big Cats, we built a helicopter, police, firefighter, race car truck.

The police come for the bad guys. The firetruck puts out fires. Helicopter goes up and helps people. It was chasing bad guys. Big Cats to the rescue!  

It was going into space because a rocketship was stuck. The planets were sharp where the rocketship got stuck. The police were going to all the planets. The Earth planets were sideways.

We live on Earth. The Big Cats were helping. The Big Cats were saving all the people on the planet. 

The End.

Of course, I had the authors sign the book for me!

Slowly, slowly, slowly,
I am helping them see.

Slowly, slowly, slowly,
I am helping them take ownership. Find their own voice. Feel responsible.

Slowly, slowly, slowly,
I am cultivating independence, curiosity, thinking.


I hope "children's thinking" will become the focus of many blogposts.