SOLSC #23 And that's a wrap!

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.

Thought I'd share a moment from today. I really enjoyed how the children's block play grew organically, with very little input or prompting from me. I was able to sit back, observe, and take notes - the proverbial 'fly on the wall' - my favorite pastime in the preschool classroom. Let me share...

W wanted to make a house with a flat red roof. She worked with O, and continued to add pieces of different shapes and sizes. O decided it was no longer a house, but an apartment building. "A lot of people like this home," O said.

Then the focus was on the area around the house. Shouldn't there be a highway near the apartment building? "It's going to need sidewalks," C announced. More construction ensued. L suggested that the highway should have a bridge, with a road going under the highway. He became very excited at the way it was looking, declaring "We are building the whole world!" 

With this whole world in place, B wandered over and asked "Can I play family with these dollies?" Then the focus became all about the dolls [Duplo figurines]...how many could fit in the apartment building? How many would walk down the sidewalk? Maybe one or two would be on the bridge? M became very excited when she found two Duplo figurines that were identical - "Twins!! Look!!" O did not appreciate M's loud voice and reprimanded everyone with the words, "Everyone is supposed to be in bed right now!"

With preschoolers, it starts with blocks but it ends with family. Always.

This is my last slice of this March challenge...spring break has arrived and I'm off to Costa Rica in the morning, celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary! There are many more things I would have liked to write about, but I will save them for another time. I hope that everyone continues slicing and enjoys this last week of the writing challenge. I'll be back for the Tuesday Slice of Life in April. Enjoy!

SOLSC #22: What is your whimsy?

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.

It's Intersession week at my school, wherein the early childhood students spend an hour a day in mixed age groups doing focused exploration on one thing...I'm working with our wonderful Art teacher Ms. Lane and a group of 10 three, four, and five year olds to create "Whimsical Worlds" in a box.

Every student received a special box. (Our school computers came in these and Ms. Lane had the wisdom to save them!)

Day One - Everyone chose a couple fun paint colors, transforming the box, slowly but surely.

The next day - and the rest of the week - students chose from an array of art supplies and craft materials to make their whimsical worlds come to life...
buttons, pom poms, pipecleaners, clay, yarn, straws, and more....

As the children work, I am hearing about slides, ziplines, candy factories, houses, puppies, bridges, forests, mountains, rivers, clouds, superheroes, bad guys....

Yes, whimsical worlds!! So much fun!!

SOLSC #21: How much should we say?

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.

The March For Our Lives, the national march against gun violence, is this Saturday, March 24, 2018 here in Washington, D.C., and I know many people who are participating. (Tony and I will be headed to Costa Rica for our 30th Anniversary on that same Saturday; I am sad to miss the march and so very excited about our trip.) Many families from my school have connected about this important issue and will be walking together with their children.

There have been so many tough conversations and strong opinions shared about this topic.

One tough conversation topic is about when should we be talking about these hard issues with young children? When is it appropriate to discuss these things with our youngest learners?

I wonder if one's perspective on this correlates with how sheltered one's own life is? Who falls on the side of preparing their children, talking about potential issues, opening their eyes to the cruelness of the world? Do these families have more history of violence or disenfranchisement? I wonder, how privileged are those who believe their children don't know about violence, don't know about racism, don't know about these hard topics, and we should not dare to bring these topics up?

Or is the varied responses to this - when should we be talking about these hard issues with young children? - more indicative of each adult's individual comfort with having these conversations? Do many simply not know how to approach or what to say, and therefore choose to avoid the discussion, deny its need?

In my classroom, I see preschoolers playing about real-world stuff. I hear them playing through real-world problems. I don't think children are escaping the cruelty of this world; I don't believe there is any way that they can. Example - there has been a huge uptick in gun play in my classroom these past few weeks. I believe this is precisely because of the tragedy of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida and our national conversation about guns. Just this past week, three preschoolers were "shooting" a block building that they had built. I saw the same thing after the attacks of September 11, 2001, when children built block towers and flew make-believe planes into these, toppling them to the floor. Children are like sponges, absorbing everything in the world around them - those tittering adult voices, those sad, frightened expressions on faces, that brief snippet on the car radio before a parent turns it off, the headline grabbing voice on the TV in the barber shop, the lunch counter, or car repair store. The cruel world weaves its way into their consciousness.

And whoa to the young child who has begun to read - how can they miss these stories on newspapers, magazines, TVs, computer screens?

If your child goes to school, your child is likely to hear about these hard stories from classmates and other students. Just as in the snippet about the block play above - friends will introduce children to these topics even if families are avoiding the conversation at home, even if families have walled off their child from the news.

Our violent world is the proverbial elephant in the classroom.

I don't see how it is possible to entirely shelter a child from these topics and I believe it is wrong to pretend that we can.

What is better, to have them hear a snippet of something real and violent and frightening, and then try to process it entirely on their own, in their own head? Or to dare to speak truth in a developmentally appropriate way?

We can't ignore violence.
We make a huge mistake when we avoid these hard conversations with our children.

We don't need to immerse them in the details of violent incidents, but we need children to be assured they are safe and we keep them safe. Certainly, we need to assure them that school is a very safe place. We need to honor their questions and concerns with answers, however incomplete or brief those answers might be. ("You are always safe here, I take care of you.")

Adults should intentionally cultivate opportunities for conversations about imprecise social issues, such as -
- arguments and how to have disagreements,
- how best to treat one another when we disagree,
- how to show frustration and anger in appropriate ways,
- how to join into play,
- how to be a helper,
- who is hurting? are you hurting? how to help someone who is hurting,
- what makes us feel safe? what makes us safer?
- what to do if they are scared,
- how to assert yourself when someone has something you want,
- what is fair?
- what to say or do when someone's doing something you don't like,
- how to listen to other perspectives,
- how to believe one thing strongly even while a classmate believes something else - and know that this is okay,
- how to make amends,
- how to give one another space,
-who to go to and what to do when something bad happens,
and so many more thoughtful, unending, ongoing conversations that normalize the work of living and being together. These respectful conversations will help a child feel less anxious, more able, and more hopeful. Through such conversations, we'll move from a stance of fear into one of courage.

We need to get children thinking about nonviolence. Our world needs this, now.

I believe the sad truth is - we must dare to talk about it now.

SOLSC 20: How do you spell 'Hot Diggity Dog'?

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.

As soon as I arrived at school this morning, I changed around the dramatic play area in my classroom. I'm such a pro at these reorganizations that I only needed about twenty minutes to make it happen. Out with the suitcases and the travel theme, in with a restaurant! I set up the kitchen as one long galley against one wall for our many passionate chefs; I moved two small tables to the center of the area, draping them in tablecloths and setting them with dishes, to entice our hungry customers; I transformed the puppet show booth into a hostess stand, right at the entrance, so that we might welcome guests to our charming establishment. 

It may seem strange to change it just four days before spring break, but changing the area was more than overdue. All three of us teachers (my two Teaching Residents and I) felt invigorated by the change - it was like a breath of fresh air to imagine new play and conversation with the children. Also, I feel as if it gives us a chance to see what the children most like to do with the area, and we'll be more informed about the children's interests, as we plan the learning for the remainder of the year. The Teaching Residents are running a unit on Cooking, and this dramatic play area will be a fabulous complement to that unit. 

As students walked into the classroom at this morning's arrival, I met them at the hostess stand and said, "Welcome to the Big Cats' Restaurant, today is our 'soft opening.' Please come in and visit with us." Their eyes grew wide with delight and incredulity - everyone loves a happy surprise! They immediately entered into play, searching for plates, cookware, pretend foods, and taking on various roles. (I was most amused by the two children who honed in on using the broom and dustpan! Every good restaurant needs this kind of teamwork!) Their excitement was palpable...yes, it was more than time to make changes to this area! At our morning gathering, I shared that we will brainstorm ways to grow this  restaurant over the next many weeks, adding in their suggestions of what to name the restaurant, making menus, taking down people's orders, deciding what we should cook, and so much more...we will all work together to have a great time at the restaurant. One student exclaimed, "Hot diggity dog!!" and we all burst out laughing.

The restaurant had an excellent 'soft opening.'

That wasn't the only happy surprise of the day. Fast forward, I am home from school. Unbelievably, just after 7pm, D.C. Public Schools announced that schools are closed tomorrow. Snow day! Wow!! This. Day. Off. Is. So. Needed. It feels as if I have been given an extra day this week...my list of to do's has been bursting at the seam, and now I can be home and focused, with feet up, hot tea at my side, computer on my lap...oh my, oh my, oh my! I feel like a little kid, I am so excited. 

(Of course, the power must stay on, if my fantasy day is truly going to be fulfilled ;-)

(I wonder how much shoveling I'll have to do? My husband is in Atlanta...this is going to be all on me...hmmm. Fresh air and exercise is never a bad thing, right?!)

D.C. Public Schools are like the "little engine that could" of this area...all the surrounding counties will cancel school (as they have many times this school year), but D.C. chugs on, "I think I can, I think I can." This storm must be a doozy, to have them announce the closing the evening before. Oh my, it just dawned on me - I don't have to wake up early and search for the announcement! Is a "no alarm clock" morning - woohoo!

This preschool teacher is smiling! Yes, she is! All I can say is, "Hot diggity dog!"

SOLSC #19: How many different voices?

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.

A long, demanding day with so many facets. What teacher hasn't had that strange sensation of being in so many places at once, where you are present with a small group of students but thinking about the upcoming family conference or interrupted by an administrative task or challenged by someone's behavior?

I keep a school journal beside me at all times during the day, to capture data, anecdotes, and important things I've heard and want to remember. It's late in the day and I haven't written a slice, so I thought it might be interesting to capture fragments from today's journal notes... showing how many pivots a teaching day has...how I volley between adults and preschoolers, between coaching, teaching, collaborating, conferencing, connecting...always so much going on. Here are those scraps of notes from my journal -

Can be a toxic emotion in a classroom.
Create chart of student assignments for Intersession
"I painted, and you know what we painted with? Apples!"
"Those go like this, and those turn, and they fall down, and some balls flip...it's going to be the awesome way!"
"It's a rock cross. Step, step, step - and you don't fall in. Come, follow me."
"Can we have a ramp contest and see whose goes down?"
love of learning
Are you just going through the motions? What are you feeling?
Structure creates safety.
Paying attention to the internal state of the teacher.
Professional development - worst ones are ineffective use of time, best ones are stimulating, interactive, thought-provoking
As Fred Rogers says, 'You'll always find someone who's trying to help.'


Yes, this is fragmented. Which is how I feel this Monday evening, fragmented. Wooh. Four more days until spring break!

SOLSC #18: How did I forget this?

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.

Today is my Mom's 89th birthday and somehow I managed to forget it. I remembered it two weeks ago and I remembered it this morning, but I didn't think of it in between. Therefore, my traditional gift of sending flowers and a card could not happen. Sadly, I know it doesn't really matter because my Mom has Alzheimer's and doesn't even know it is her birthday; she certainly has no worries about me missing it.

As I brooded over this, I realized there were some very sweet years when she would get flowers and be so thrilled over them, phone me right away, and mention them yet again on the next week's call. I didn't realize how precious this was, at the time. I only know it in retrospect.

Alzheimer's set in, and that sweet experience disappeared. Now, the flowers come and the caregiver has to draw Mom's attention to them. The memory or understanding of the gift doesn't make any impression at all. However, she loves to look at them and remembers clearly that flowers are pretty - and every time she looks at the bouquet, they are new to her again. "Oh, look at the pretty flowers!" This brief, repetitive joy is enough for me and why I will still send flowers to her, arriving as a belated birthday gift.

Let's get back to this morning...certainly, I had to call her and wish her happy birthday! A simple phonecall would have to do.

I called the house and my Dad called her immediately to the phone - "It's Maureen, to wish you Happy Birthday!"

Mom confusedly says into the phone, "Happy Birthday?"

I said, "No, it's YOUR birthday, Mom!" and immediately launched into song, Happy Birthday to you!

As soon as my singing ended, she gushed with excitement,

"Oh, thank you! I will remember this always!"

Always,
for one moment,
was really beautiful. 

Happy Birthday, Mom!

SOLSC #17 What if I ramble today?

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.

It's mid-month in this blogging challenge and I am so aware of how my slicing ideas are so totally bereft. Time, too, is ridiculously precious - this must be the craziest March since I began participating in the challenge seven years ago. No time and no ideas do not a good slice make! Ha! Yesterday's post was written on the fly, a "place holder" simply posted to ensure I was making a post for the day, and then I quickly squeezed in time to comment on three others. (The good news is...no one commented on my post yesterday - ha, my goal of invisibility for that particular post was achieved!!) My hope is that I am absolutely alone in this sad type of blogging, however I suspect that this rudderless, pointless, 'meh' kind of writing hits everyone at some point, and, goodness knows, writing for 31 days in a row shines a real focused light on the deprivation.

Write on.  

Today, Saturday, looms quiet and I thought I'd just ramble onto this page and see what emerges. 

I am thinking about beginning teachers, novice teachers, first year in the classroom public school teachers. Whew. My school is a residency school for a teaching alternative certification program, meaning we have maybe a dozen Teaching Residents working alongside lead teachers; next year, these "emerging teachers" will be the teacher of record in their own classrooms in other schools in the city - i.e., first year public school teachers. I've been working with Teaching Residents for eight years, working alongside them in my preschool classroom. I feel "intellectually" aware and savvy of pretty much all things new early childhood teachers experience.

Two years ago, my son became a Teaching Resident (not at my school!!) and he is now, much to my amazement and delight, a first year teacher in a public school - unbelievably, he is teaching prek-3, just like me.

Some days I just want to pinch myself! How can my life's joy and passion be the same as that of my child's?

It's pretty amazing.

But then, of course, there's the dark side. As I said, I feel "intellectually" aware and savvy of pretty much all things new early childhood teachers experience...now, I am emotionally aware of everything that these teachers experience. I am watching my baby (oh, he would hate that I am writing that - thus, I will not name my son ;-)...I am watching my baby work so very, very hard...practice, practice, try, fail, do-over, try again, practice, success!, strive, dare, practice, practice, mis-step, mis-step, practice, practice, success!, setback, reconsider, practice, practice, practice, triumph!, practice, practice, practice...every day is filled with new stories, many joyful, many stressful, all truly normal in the development of a [dare I say "great"? is it possible to brag about the future?] teacher. Thankfully, he works in a very positive school environment, one that truly cultivates teachers - coaching, mentoring, and leading them into expertise. I see him becoming the reflective, creative, and joyful teacher that I would love children to have...

but, wow, teaching is hard work! 

Teaching as a first year teacher is excruciatingly hard at times. 

Being a parent of a first year teacher is a pretty wild ride.

Honestly, I can feel myself aging this school year!

SOLSC #16: What to do with an ear worm?

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.

In recent weeks, we have had a lot of fun practicing our assertive voice with the folksong "Jump Shamador" at our morning gathering:

Class - Good morning to you  ____

Child - Good morning to you, Big Cats.

Class - What is your intention?

Child - I want to be a  _____.

Class - You can’t be a  _____.

Child - I must be a ____. (Stomp feet)

Something about this song has moved even my quietest students to the center of the carpet, for their chance to insist on what they want. Maybe it's the foot stomping that is so freeing? It is a joy to see these preschoolers find their voice. What do they most want to be? Well, we have princesses, Spidermen, Batmen, police officers, puppies, excavators, flowers, butterflies, frogs...if you think it, you can be it! 

My only complaint, why must I wake up singing this at 4 a.m.? 

Jump Shamador me darling,

Jump Shamador me dear...

Jump Shamador, Jump Shamador, Jump Shamador...

SOLSC #15: What if you could take it back?

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.

There is a sad, bluesy song by John Hiatt called "Slip of the Tongue," which I have always been haunted by:

Some words flew out
And made a crash landin'
No love survived
Not a trace could be found

I broke your heart
With the back of my mind
From the tip of my tongue
To the end of the line

When I listen to his heartbreak, I wonder - What exactly did he say? How come he couldn't make amends? What causes us to be thoughtless? 

These 'slips of the tongue' are so ordinary, so human, and so horrid. We're living through one right now. A colleague received a text that was intended for another colleague, and - here's the heartbreak - not only was it written ABOUT the colleague who inadvertently received it, it was offensive and hurtful. 

How will they ever make amends? How will the beautiful and important work of teaching resume?

Ugh.

Teaching is hard work...you team with people that often are not your favorite folks and you have to make it work. I often joke that working on a teaching team is like being in an arranged marriage, one where even your children are chosen for you! It's not like you are sitting at a computer terminal with your back to the other person, hopeful that your one meeting together is over quickly. No, teachers spend their daily life so close together, mired in lots of social-emotional issues, communication problems, family discussions, thought-provoking strategizing, planning, planning, planning...working together as teachers in intense. Truly, intense.

We plan to have a restorative circle about this. We will now put into practice what we try to teach children - how to care for one another, how to be respectful, how to make amends.

Ugh.

SOLSC #14: What do you expect?

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.

Today started off with one bad surprise after another.

Getting ready for work, I put on my last pair of clean socks and my heel when right through one of them.

I didn't expect that!

I grabbed my phone from where it had been charging all night and it had no charge whatsoever.

I didn't expect that! 

At the metro station, I scanned my metro card but the turnstile did not unlock...I almost flipped over the outstretched arms of that machine - oh my! 

I didn't expect that!

Sitting on the metro, I hear my stop announced; I stand up to leave my seat, but my seat mate does not budge to let me out - I am confused momentarily, only to look down at him and realize he is sound asleep...I tapped his shoulder, woke him up, and raced out of the train, almost missing my stop entirely. 

I didn't expect that!

I walked to school from the metro station in freezing cold wind...isn't it March 14th? What in the world?!

I didn't expect that!

As I walked along, I found myself thinking about how hard it is for young children to handle changes like this...especially, young children with special needs such as autism spectrum. How do you ready them for the unexpected? Every day is a surprise, really! Every day is filled with the unexpected. And some days, it is just one thing after the other. You do what you can do to have routine, patterns, organization...but the best-laid plans go awry. Perhaps the best thing to do is find a way to respond to these changes in a soothing way. For me, it's laughter. I try to find something funny about the situation, I try not to take myself too seriously...and, honestly, I think my flip over the turnstile would have been so funny!

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 #12 How can it be 30?

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.

Today is our 30th wedding anniversary...Tony and I, unbelievably, are celebrating 30 years together. I feel so blessed, so lucky, so happy. Way back when, when we got married, I'm not sure I imagined 30 years...that sounded outstandingly far away. Yet, here we are, 30 years in and hopeful for another 30 more. May it be so!

We celebrated by doing one of our favorite activities - getting outside in nature and walking! We did a weekend away in the mountains (Berkeley Springs, West Virginia)...here are a few pictures from a walk we did along the Potomac River in western Maryland:












I'm not writing much today - my gift to myself, my gift to us. Just savoring this accomplishment. Love rocks!

SOLSC #11 How to describe aging?

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.

-->

A visit to see my elderly parents last weekend has led to much reflection and this sad poem -

Being 88

Together,

forgetting.

Dad

Silent, distant, foggy

Sitting still, in yesterday's stained T-shirt, slippers, always the same chair, 

Staring at the TV, remote in hand,

The music channel playing, but the TV on mute

Every few minutes, he clicks on the sound,

Then, a minute or so later, he clicks the sound off.

Sitting still, in yesterday's stained T-shirt, slippers, always the same chair,

Silent, removed, foggy.

Mom

Unclear, unsure, confused,

Walking about, in her flannel PJs, with tussled, unbrushed hair

Shuffles about the house, searching,

Not knowing what she is looking for, where to go,

Picks up, puts down, the newspapers, the mail, the magazines,

Glances out the window, stops at the door, pauses at Dad’s chair,

Walking about, in her flannel PJs, with tussled, unbrushed hair

Unclear, unsure, confused.

Forgetting,

together.

SOLSC #10 What about sleeping in?

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.

There is something so sublime, so nourishing, so lovely about sleeping in. My fast-paced, full teaching days have been coupled with busy weekends and I've had this sense of unceasing push and pull. Then, finally, I land with this incredibly soft, luxurious discovery: I open my eyes just barely and I see sunshine peeking around the curtains, and I smile and roll over and close my eyes again, submitting easily into another deep, rich snooze. What power is sleep! Energizing, rejuvenating, delighting. Saturday morning, I love you.

I'm on a classic quest - finding that elusive balance. My dear husband is retired, and I have several more years before that will be true for me, as well. His easy paced days are a sharp contrast to mine. His retirement has eased my life in so many beautiful ways - he takes care of meals, laundry, house repairs, cleaning...he drives me to and from the metro each day. Yet, I continue to look for ways to bring our two lives more in alignment...while teaching. Put me in a room of preschoolers and I have a blast...let me follow their lead, hear their wisdom, watch their problem-solving, feel their love, joy, and energy...let's dance, sing, build, draw, read together.

That's not my daily reality. There's more to it, always. There are so many things about teaching that seem hard and challenging in ways that shouldn't be - so many constructs that take away the joy. This week alone:

writing report cards in this sterile way, making sure that all of these are aligned across the preschool classrooms, being told that mine were too detailed (me - details personalize, individualize, let parents read about their child and not some formulaic gobbledy-gook that describes any preschooler)

expected to make more and more and more planning details, with increasingly less flexibility or autonomy for individual classrooms...less wiggle room for that special book that suits the conversation or play that organically came up...the goal being to have set plans for the school year - i.e., teaching the same way every year, rather than knowing your kids and running with their interests. 

feeling distance with my colleagues ... an intense planning discussion where no one asked any big 

questions, such as Why should the children study this? What's the larger goal? What are we hoping they'll discover? What are the children wondering?

Yes, it's been a tough week, a tough couple of weeks, a tough school year. But I have Saturdays.

I want, simply, to teach.

SOLSC #9 Can I play with you?

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.

It's time to add a little something new to the block center...time to break out the balls and ramps! Oh, what fun we've had this week!

The ramps are wood boards, pieces of moulding from house construction...they are about two feet long. We have a few cardboard ramps from moving boxes. The balls are lightweight plastic golf balls (no one gets hurt if one gets thrown!)...I have a couple dozen of these, so there are no sharing issues.

Day One, I cycled the children through in small groups, giving them 20 minutes each. This open-ended, loose part play is so seductive for preschoolers - everyone participated, everyone wanted to continue playing when their small group was over, and everyone loves that these new toys will be a part of the block center henceforth.

I love the creativity and inquiry that happens organically, as the children explore these materials:
- using blocks and containers to lift the boards at one end, creating ramps that were high and others that were low, and noticing that the balls seemed to go faster at higher angles,
- creating bins at the base of the ramp to collect the balls,
- trying to figure out ways to connect the boards, so that the balls raced down a longer path,
- creating side walls on the ramps themselves, to keep the balls on the ramp
- using long blocks to tap the ball at the outset of the ramp, making it race down the path,
- building a wall all along the periphery of the carpet, to keep the balls in the block area
- and so much more!

Let me just share some of the children's excited exchanges with one another - such great language happening spontaneously in the play:

"I'm searching more stuff to build it."
"We want these to go down there."
"This is long, long, the longest!"
"Look at all this building stuff."
"I'm blocking the ways because the balls might run off."
"We roll this into this catcher thing and it catches this."
"The balls keep falling off!"
"One ball came off but the ramp was really huge and I didn't want it to fall off."
"I made a slice and stairs it could go on."
"Can I play with you?"

SOLSC #8: What am I grateful for?

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.

This is a school day that was so low, I need to go high...and the best way to do that for me is to write ten gratitudes:

1. I am alive and healthy.

2. I have a husband who I love dearly and who loves me back.

3. The day is basically over.

4. My son Bryce is coming over to hang out (rather late on a school night, but when you are 22, you don't feel these schedule burdens!)

5. Yoga class made me feel so much better, and reminded me to write gratitudes.

6. Tomorrow is Friday.

7. I took Monday off because it is our 30th anniversary.

8. Tony and I are going out of town for the weekend. 

9. I have brownies in the oven.

10. There is ice cream in the freezer.

Bonus: This counts as my slice of life today.

SOLSC #7: What does a new teacher need to learn?

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.

My school is a Teaching Residency school, where most classrooms are led by a lead teacher (or "master teacher," not a term I'm particularly excited about) and a Teaching Resident (a novice teacher). Teaching Residents work alongside their leads for an entire school year, while simultaneously taking evening classes towards their Masters in Teaching, and then they move on to be the "teacher of record" in a classroom of their very own next year. It is an intensive process! A couple times during the school year, we have "Resident swaps," where we assign Residents to work in a different age classroom, so that they might have some exposure to a different grade level. We are a community of teacher learners, so it is good to mix things up and hear everyone's reflections afterwards.

This week, we had a Resident from the kindergarten classroom come to our classroom for the day and my Resident went to the kindergarten classroom. I explained the "teacher swap" to the preschoolers, and I asked them - What should we teach Mr. Smith [the Teaching Resident who was visiting our room for the day]? Without a moment's hesitation, they rattled off the following possibilities:

- karate
- how to make jewelry
- how to stretch
- the song, "Three Little Birds"
- how to do gymnastics
- how to make play dough
- arts and crafts
- how to make gak

It is delightful to me that this is their school world - nothing but fun, fun, fun! We had a great time with Mr. Smith and I think he enjoyed his day with us immensely.