Our Board's Early Year Key Messages

What are the "must-haves" in Kindergarten?

What does "doing it right" look like?

It was questions like these, and SO MANY MORE, that led me to create the "Early Years Key Messages" (EYKM) poster for our board.  I felt we needed a document to bring us all together.   To give us a common vision that we could all take ownership of.   Not just classroom educators, but school administration as well.  So many of my colleagues would ask me what other schools were doing?  They wondered if their thinking was the same as others.  Did other teams do similar things?

This document was our way of thinking through, and making sense of the messages we are receiving from the Ministry of Education.  It was a way to honour the amazing work of educators in our board, and beyond.  It was a way to bring forward the very best of what we have seen, read about, or heard.

In a presentation I made earlier this year to new Kindergarten educators I shared my thoughts on Kindergarten.  It was just my ramblings that came to mind as I sat down one evening,  yet months later, I still find it rings true for me:

So often I have found myself watching.  I have the opportunity to be in many classrooms with my role, and I often just stand back and watch.  It is such a privilege to be able to do that.  Truly one of my favourite parts of my job.

Before I share the EYKM poster with you, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the hard work of my colleague, Jackie, who laboured with me through this initial process and was a constant sounding board, co-creator and researcher.  It was important to me that this document reflect not only my thinking, but the thinking of others.  Jackie was invaluable during this process.  We would also like to acknowledge our colleagues in the Ottawa Carleton District School Board who shared with us their resource, allowing us to build upon an excellent resource, and let it evolve into something new.  I would also like to acknowledge our kindergarten steering committee (comprised of teachers, an RECE, guidance counsellor, Principal and Vice-principal, Special Education consultant, technology coaches and curriculum consultants).  Each of them worked so diligently to give us feedback, offer suggestions, edit for clarity and offer different view points.  This document is truly a reflection of many minds.

Here it is!

You can download the PDF here.  My hope is that it is a resource that we can all find ourselves within, and yet be able to see a vision for moving forward.  I hope it sparks conversations, inquiries and professional dialogue.  In our board, we see this document as a "living document".  We are always challenging our thinking, refining our new learning and aiming to hear everyone's voice within it.

You will notice that the EYKM is divided into 6 sections.  No one section is intended to be greater than the other, in fact it is hard to talk about one section without touching upon others.  As you look through this poster I hope you continue to enjoy the "dance" that is Kindergarten :)

Talk again soon,
Carly

Does our digital consent really matter?

        I have recently been challenged by this notion of giving consent for photos/videos of my children to be posted online.  I use to feel like I had power and control over that, but in recent days I have been confronting the fact that perhaps I do not.  Is this just a sign of being in the 21st century  Does it even matter what I say?  

     Every school year the form comes home about granting permission for the school to post or share photos of students.  Every year we sign away permission for printed publications (newspaper, school yearbook, newsletters), but we always indicate "no" for online publications.  5 years ago, this was not such a big deal.  We certainly weren't the only family to decline.  However, this year our family almost stands alone in a school of hundreds.

Why is that?  

      Is it because we are "behind the times"?  Are we unnecessarily protective?  Has society gained a better understanding of the internet, and are now more comfortable with sharing images?  I can hear a voice in my head challenging me with "protect from what?  What is it that you are afraid of?" - actually it is the voice of George Couros.  He actually said that to the audience in a recent session I was at.   He has very strong thoughts on this, and it is an opinion that I respect, but find myself disagreeing with, or at least questioning.

       Why do our children need to have a digital footprint?  Why does my 4 year old need to be online?  I understand that people use Facebook to connect with friends and families far away (and even their neighbours next door).  I too use Facebook and share photos.  I am not anti-Facebook.  I am not anti-Twitter.  I have accounts with both, and use them for a variety of purposes.  I am just feeling the pressure as a parent to let go of my child's rights to decline and remain offline.  I understand the idea of opening up our classrooms to let parents have an inside view the happenings.  It is a way to extend the learning to the home, and spark conversations at the dinner table.  I really do see (and value) that.   HOWEVER, does it have to be on a public site?  Schools have Facebook accounts, Twitter accounts and so on.  Although the privacy setting are "private", do we really understand what that means?  How private is private?  I know that in our children's' school, the Facebook account is monitored by the Principal and he "approves" all the members.  But how well does he actually know them?  When they like or comment on a picture, it becomes public to all their friends.  How can the schools control that?  I ask these questions standing on both sides of this fence.  I am thinking like a parent, but I am also thinking like an educator who uses social media and blogs.

       Today I am asking the question "Does my consent really matter?"  If a complete stranger can take a picture of my family at the local soccer field, post it online to their Facebook account, or the account of the soccer organization without my knowledge (let alone consent)  and someone recognizes me in said photo, then they can tag me.  At that point, I may become aware of the photo, but otherwise it is out there and I am none the wiser.  This very situation happened to me recently.  I was walking into a school and someone commented to me about my photo that was posted on a Facebook page.   It was in a group that I did not even belong to.  So, I tried to look it up...and couldn't get access to it because I was not a member of the group!  On the one hand, I know that someone is "policing" the group's membership, but on the other hand, I am left having no idea what this image of me is that is out there circulating around.  Does that bother anyone else?  If we think about our children, and we embrace the idea that in 10 years when they are applying for jobs, they will be "googled" even before they get an interview.  Their destiny may be impacted by the digital footprint they don't even know exists.  I have recently been reading about ideas that the traditional resume will no longer exist, and rather our digital footprint will be the new resume.  Have you started your digital portfolio?

       My husband and I have been approached several times in the last month about posting pictures of our children online (through the school).  Even though we have already said "no" on the form, we are still being asked the question.  We are hearing things like, "We have this really great photo that we would like to share with parents, but ____ is in it.  Are you okay if we post it?"  or "We just had this really great thing happen in the class, we took a video and _____ is in.  You can hardly see him, but he is there. Can we post it?"  It puts us in a tough position.  We have come to a crossroads of sorts as parents.  We need to sit down and rethink our stance on internet publications for our children.  Do we still believe the correct answer for our family is "no"?  Or are we just holding on to the way we've always done it without allowing ourselves to grow with the times/technology?

       At the end of the day, I am resolving to the fact that this is just a part of education in the 21st century.  We are using technology to break down the walls of our classroom, and part of that may mean putting our children out there.  It has just struck me as odd.  Why ask for consent if our answer is constantly questioned?  Or if we are always being made to feel like we are holding others back from sharing their learning?  or even worse...making our children feel centred out when they are asked to leave a picture "because their parents didn't sign the permission form".   My husband and I are both educators, so we feel like we have a front row view to the amazing things that posting on social media/internet sites can offer a classroom.  But I am wondering, if we are struggling with this a bit, and we are struggling to have open and honest conversations about our concerns for fear of being dismissed or thoughts of as "stick in the muds", how many other families are we putting in the same position?  Are we pushing through our desire to share our learning too fast?  Our classrooms are changing.  They are no longer just within the 4 safe walls of the classrooms, they are around the world.  Our children are meeting and talking in real time with people all over the world.  They are seeing and interacting with the world in a way that we only imagined while reading the textbooks or encyclopedia.  It is amazing...but if I am being honest...a little uncomfortable too.  It is the unknown that makes me question.

     Circling back to my original question of asking for permission...are we just going through the motions of asking parental consent?  And are we unintentionally pressuring them into giving permission?  Is it necessary to do all of this posting of learning?  Are we taking the time to critically ask "why are we sharing this?  What is the learning goal through sharing?"

Just some ramblings inside my head.  If you made it to the end of this post....thanks for sticking in there ;)

Talk again soon,
Carly