SOLSC #31 To the month!

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.

I thoroughly enjoyed this month of blogging. I am surprised and pleased at how I was able to squeeze in writing a post in the midst of my day... I have become an efficient blogger! My only regret is that I didn't get to comment on as many blogs as I had hoped I would; most days I managed just the three comments that we were each expected to offer. I am amazed at the many participants this year, and awed by the writing about teaching. I feel as if I had the pleasure of visiting many different classrooms (and homes!) this month. I plan to take the time to check out new blogs in the days ahead - even if it is already April and the challenge is behind us!

A big round of kudos to my colleagues and friends Latisha and Laura, who also took the plunge and blogged this month!! It was so, so fabulous to share the experience with you both.

Congrats to one and all on a great month! Thank you, Two Writing Teachers - this was awesome!

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How can I not share something from the preschoolers?
Check out these art pieces by one of my students - left behind, forgotten, not that important to him. I found them at the end of the day. I find them fascinating in their precision, in their similarity. Whether painting or drawing, he is clear about his intentions. I'm pretty sure I know which student is the artist. I am filled with wonder - what is he thinking about? 

SOLSC #30 When a child is invisible

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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For today's slice,
I want to share the heaviness in my heart about
the disappearance of Relisha Rudd,
an eight year old girl who lives here in Washington, D.C.,
resident of a homeless shelter.
I've been thinking and praying about her since March 20th,
when my phone received an Amber Alert.
They believe her to be in the company of a "51-year-old janitor [at the shelter] Kahlik Malik Tatum."
She was last seen alive around March 1st.
The Amber Alert came out on March 20th.
My heart breaks.
What is community, when a child is invisible?
When it takes three weeks to notice she is gone?
What is community, when neither school nor shelter report this child's absence, for many days?
What is community, when there are more than 500 children in our local homeless shelters? In our nation's capital?
What is community, when a child is invisible?
What is community, when I have to search into the depths of the local paper to find any mention of her?
What is community, when I listen to local radio reports on the way to and from work, and her disappearance is mentioned not at all or deep in the broadcast, after
a missing airplane,
missing people in a mudslide across the nation from us,
the local elections,
the rainy weather.
What is community, when a child is invisible?
My heart breaks.

SOLSC #29 Report card race of time

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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Another blur of a week concludes...report cards were due yesterday. For these, I write a personalized narrative for each child, focusing on their social-emotional and academic learning (actually - the nomenclature at our school is four "I's" - Intellect, Imagination, Inquiry, and Integrity). They are not a fast write, but one that each teacher puts a lot of thought into. We also don't have a "form" or set template for these - and we work very hard to make the report cards from each classroom look 'aesthetically' alike. Yesterday afternoon, the "pedal hit the metal," and Melissa and I raced against time to -

- incorporate our Principal's edits for each individual report card,
- "cut and paste" the school's letter head, the trimester summary, and the Art teacher's blurb for each individual report card,
- download the attendance data and add it into each individual report card,
- adjust the font [Book Antiqua, size 12] for each individual report card,
- double-check the final layout before printing,
- add the report cards to Dropbox,
- send them to the printer ... whoops, they all skewed at once - where? to what printer?
- run in different directions to check the printers on different floors of our school,
- retrieve the pre-addressed stamped envelopes
- visually scan, once more, for obvious errors -  name spellings, missing attendance,
- whoops, there are a few discrepancies - Melissa gets to work on correcting these and printing out a revised report card...

I sat at the table, racing against time, and proceeded to
- fold each report card,
- match child's name on report card to address label and stuff these
- seal the envelope,
- repeat: match child's name on report card to address label and stuff these; seal the envelope,
- repeat: match child's name on report card to address label and stuff these; seal the envelope,
- repeat: match child's name on report card to address label and stuff these; seal the envelope,

Oh, no.
All of a sudden, I am holding a child's report card, but the envelope it requires is already sealed.
Oh, no.
Whose report card is in the sealed envelope?

Deep breath.
Pause.
Continue more tentatively...not sealing any more envelopes...I match the remaining report cards to envelopes.
All report cards processed, I had 3 empty envelopes and one child's report that matches an already sealed envelope.

I tentatively, cautiously, frustratingly,
open the already sealed envelope for the one child's report that is outstanding.
Voila - it has a child's report for an empty envelope.

Why are there 2 empty envelopes?

Hurriedly, desperately, madly,
Melissa and I begin squishing all the sealed envelopes - are any thicker than the others? Did I stuff two reports into one envelope?

Oh, my.
Who knows?

Finally, time running out,
we reprint the two reports to fill the remaining envelopes.

Then, we turned them in.
Making our deadline - yes, report cards completed by end of day.

Perhaps a couple of families will read their child's report plus that of another?
It is highly possible.
What have I done?
I made a real mess of things, that's what!

But, let's not be so negative -
maybe I just came up with a clever way for families to get to know each other better?

SOLSC #28 Everything matters

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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Naptime, yesterday, I observed one of my sweet students with her hair barrette in her mouth, and I instinctively, robotically, automatically,
stuck out my hand and demanded she give me the barrette -
"I don't want you to choke. I keep you safe," I whispered.
"I don't want you to take it," she cried.
"Just during nap. Then you will have it back," I explained, and I slipped the barrette ... where?
into my pocket?
onto the book shelf?
near the sign out sheet?
No idea. Didn't give it another thought.

There are so many of these motions during my day,
the instinctive, robotic, automatic.
Things I do that I hardly give another thought.

Ah, but she gave it lots more thought.
Not during the school day,
but at home,
in the evening,
with her family,
when she cried about how I had kept her barrette.

Oh my.

First thing this morning,
she came to me in tears,
"Please may I have my barrette back? I am not going to put it in my mouth anymore."

Yes, this matters.
Really, it does.

Everything matters.

However,
the instinctive, robotic, automatic move on my part 
did not result in my remembering where I put that 
very small but important object.

"Yellow is my favorite color," she cried.

We searched together,
the book shelf,
the baskets at the doorway,
the sign-in sheet.
All my usual places for lost, mis-placed, "hold-for-awhile"objects.
To no avail.

Next  - I will go home and check the pants' pockets from yesterday -
may it be there!

"Would you write me a note, so that I remember to look for your yellow barrette?" I asked.

Yes, the teacher in me turned this into a pre-literacy moment!! ;-)

Here's her note!
Everything matters.

SOLSC #27 Abiyoyo meets some engineers!

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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A great day! We explored engineering for Pete Seeger's Abiyoyo...this story is a big hit with the children, and they threw themselves into creating devices that could stand up to this big giant!

(I apologize in advance for not having as many photos as I usually do for this work.)

Here's what I asked them to do -

Problem: Abiyoyo scares everyone away.

How to Solve? Make something that is not afraid of Abiyoyo.

Test: Place device on table.  Have student bang table with hands – see if device falls over.

We had a very busy centers time, with children very engaged at cutting tape, working with recyclables to create their devices. Here's what they made -

Shaan – a magic wand

Lily – a rocking chair with fire on it

Helen – a house for Abiyoyo

Jasmine  - a house with a kitchen and a bedroom

Seymour – a trap

Evan – a magic wand

Bernie – a trap – it looks like a candy store, but these are pills and it puts him in here and it gets covered by a net – it is a trap

Charlie – it’s a truck – it carries Abiyoyo away

Eloise – a cave that traps Abiyoyo

Amelie – this is a monster that scares Abiyoyo

Ashley – a store for Abiyoyo – I don’t know why!

Lavinia – this is a telescope so I can see Abiyoyo

Caroline – I’m making a trap for Abiyoyo – a trap and a sled. I catch him in the net, where the trunk is.

Micaela – It will make Abiyoyo get scared and run away. This rope and tape have super powers and make Abiyoyo smaller and be soft and nice

Ellie – it scares Abiyoyo and makes him disappear

Ian – this is Batman movie. Abiyoyo will be scared.

Hughie – this part comes up and saws Abiyoyo and smacks him

Zuren – A monster that can’t be scared of Abiyoyo

Ada – a Stop Sign, so that he doesn’t come by my house

Nico – a house to keep me safe

Alyja – something that is a sled, and I slide away and get to my house

Julian – I made a monster and his feet and his mouth

I will have to let you know how the engineering test goes - we never got to this part of the fun, today! There was too much building and creativity happening with the devices.

Too much creativity was the very best problem of the day!

SOLSC #26 A Reading Moment

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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Is it considered a "post" if one only shares a photo?

This non-stop day has me recognizing one very dear, overheard moment...
a reading moment...
Melissa nestled with a preschooler,
reading his favorite book,
a book so familiar,
so loved,
so dear,
that all Melissa is doing is
beginning the sentence, and
he completes it;
all Melissa is doing is
turning the page, and
he recites the words.
Each page,
each word,
a treasure.
So familiar,
so loved,
so dear.

This is the beauty of reading a book,
over and over and over again
to a little one.

SOLSC #25 A Snowy School Day

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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It snowed all day, today, at school,
from the moment I left the metro station until
the moment I returned home.

The snow fell softly,
dusting my coat and hat, as I arrived at school,
and I thought -

I am so thankful that we have school today!

No cancellations.
No delays.
No disruption to our routines.

I am a little tired of all the snow we have had this year.

For the children, however, it continues to be delightful.

We watched the snow fall as we played in the classroom.
We played Snail's Pace Race,
we painted more of the light tunnel,
we built with blocks and Legos,
we mushed play dough,
we explored at the light table,
we wrote cards and letters at the writing table,
we enjoyed pretend tea and pizza,
and all the while it snowed.

We read The Snowy Day, for the umpteenth time this school year!

We went out for a walk in the snow - oh, how lovely!
[A much nicer walk than yesterday's!]

The shady sidewalk had a slight covering of snow, maybe an inch.

Look, if you open your mouth, you can catch snow and eat! 
Look, we can make footsteps just like Peter in The Snowy Day! 
Look, we can make a snowball! Can I throw a snowball? I can throw it on the ground. 
Look, there is a lot of snow coming from the sky! 
Look, there is a lot of snow on the cars! On the construction! On the backhoe!
Look, there is snow falling on my face!
Look, there is snow on my mittens!
Look, I am slipping in my boots! Ha!
Snow! Snow! Snow!

We peeked at the snow falling as we settled in for our nap.
It's still snowing!

We watched the snow as we ate snack and had our closing.
Snow! Snow! Snow!

Throughout all this snow,
the sidewalks and streets remained mostly snow-free,
though an inch or two rests on shady spots, on bushes, on grass, on cars.

It's not much of a snow.
But it was the very best of snows.
Just what we needed!

No cancellations.
No delays.
No disruption to our routines.
We spent a very nice, normal day together,
while it snowed.

It appears that we may have our first five day school week in who knows how long.

I am so thankful that we had school today!

SOLSC #24 Not the mantras I want repeated

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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Our walk today was only two blocks long,
on a bright, sunny, though somewhat crispy, cold day.
(40 degrees, I think? Not much wind...
not too bad from my perspective...
I thought the fresh air would do us all some good).

But when we got to the furthest point away from school,
I had three preschoolers
who could not be soothed,
who began to repeat the most annoying mantras,
who didn't care how their words and actions affected the rest of us.
Over and over,
all the way back to school,
making the walk feel so, so, so long,
as they repeated,
and repeated
and repeated:

Child One [refusing to zip up his coat or put on his gloves from his pocket] - I am cold. I am cold. I am cold. I am cold. I am cold. I am cold. I am cold. I am cold. I am cold. I am cold.
Child Two [pulling the walking rope to stop the entire line of classmates] - I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to.
Child Three [walking backwards]-Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that?

To me, at the front of the line, I heard:

I am cold. I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. Why are you saying that? I am cold. Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that?  I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I am cold.  I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I am cold. Why are you saying that? I am cold. I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. Why are you saying that? I am cold. Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that?  I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I am cold.  I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I am cold. Why are you saying that? I am cold. I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. Why are you saying that? I am cold. Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that?  I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I am cold.  I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. I am cold. Why are you saying that? I am cold. I don't want to walk this far and I am not going to. Why are you saying that? I am cold. Why are you saying that? Why are you saying that?  Idon'twanttowalkthisfarandIamnotgoingtoIamcoldIamcoldWhyareyousayingthat
Idon'twanttowalkthisfarandIamnotgoingtoIamcoldIamcoldWhyareyousayingthat

Yes, it was dreadful.

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(A daily share by preschoolers in their own words)

A Story Collage by Zuren

     The Daddy is trying to get out of a cave. And the bear is blocking him. He jumps over him, but the bear is too tall for him to jump over and he keeps blocking him. Then the monster, he was so mean, he just got so tall and he got higher and higher until he touched the sky. The monster is in the cave. But there is a good guy in the cave. He was trying to get the monster out of the cave so Daddy can go and fix his car. The End

SOLSC #23 Thinking about academics

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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To know me is to know that I believe in play, exploration, and social-emotional learning in preschool, opportunities for children to learn and enjoy being together.

Something I often wonder -
Do families realize how much true academic work is happening alongside all this play?
Do they believe that social-emotional learning is emphasized at the expense of academics?

I dare to say that

to emphasize play, exploration, and social-emotional learning 

leads to richer, deeper, stronger early literacy and mathematics learning.

Play is the very best way to teach preschoolers anything and everything!


A moment last week -

a boy, playing with playdough and counting bears, building a large boat for the bears. He calls to me, "Ms. Ingram, look! I have 14 bears on this boat!"

Me - "Fourteen? Wow, that is a lot of bears! How do you know there are 14?"

And he proceeds to count the bears trapped in his playdough boat, one-by-one.

I nudge him further, pointing to index card numerals that I have laid out on the table as a part of this activity,
"Is the numeral 14 here? Which numeral matches how many bears are on your boat?"

He studies these and chooses "10."

I nudge him to count the small dots underneath this numeral -
"Do those dots add up to the same number of bears on your boat? Is it the same total?"

Methodically, slowly, one-by-one, he counts the dots on the 10 card and says,
 "No, that's not right. It is more."
He puts the card down and grabs the "14" - "See, this one, this one is right." Then he counts the dots on the 14 card to be sure.

Me - "Wow. That is a lot of bears! And you are right, that is the numeral 14. You have matched the numeral to your quantity."

"Now I am going to have more bears on my boat!," he declares and begins to throw in additional bears and get back to his play, bears in the boat.

All of this takes a matter of moments.

I have intentionally woven math opportunities into the play. At the beginning of the school year, according to my baseline data, this young child wasn't recognizing any numerals. He was not able to identify quantities for three objects, let alone fourteen.

Math in the preschool classroom is intentional and organic - woven into all we do -
- how many kids are at that table? 
- how many children are absent?
- how many dress ups do we have? who is playing family with you and how many is that?
- what blocks will you use to make that bigger? what can you tell me about your design's shape?
- "let's make a number line for our classroom!"
- what will you do next? what did you do before?
- how can you make a bigger firetruck? how much bigger does it need to be?
- is this the same or different? how is it different? 
- do you see any patterns
- who is first? who is second? 
- how many people are in your picture?
- is she taller or shorter than you?
- will this container hold more sand than your container? or less?
- how many napkins will we need for everyone?

When we allow children the flexibility to choose their own learning,
to play and explore with what interests and excites them, and
have faith in our ability to weave math and literacy into this fun,
I have no doubt that
the academic learning is profuse and genuine.

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(A daily share by preschoolers in their own words)

A Story Collage by Shaan

     This is a story for my Mom. The sun is on top and everyone is warm. Ezra Jack Keats is there and Julian was there and he is jumping on something, a special jump rope. There was a mommy of somebody. The bats fly away and they try to get all the vegetables. When the kids get too sweaty, they go back inside. And they have chocolate milk and Ezra Jack Keats and Julian go to school. Mommy goes to work, she never goes back to school. The End.