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

     

Conscious Discipline - What is that?

       Earlier this year I was chatting with some colleagues about the overwhelming feelings they had when it came to behavioural management and their students emotional/social needs.  I could feel their frustration, stress and desire to help their students.  Truthfully, my heart went out to them.  I think it is so common when teaching kindergarten (all grades really) to feel overwhelmed and under prepared for the needs that can walk through our doors.  Do you agree?  I know I have felt this way many times over my career.  The children that walk through our doors, walk right into our lives and take hold of a tiny piece of our heart.  There is nothing we wouldn't do to help them grow and become happy, contributing, wonderful members of society.  But the question always remains...what can we do?  Where do we go when we need help?

       Over the course of the last few months I have had the opportunity to work with a team of educators using the Conscious Discipline program.   I remember hearing about this program over the years.  I can't recall anything specific that I knew about it, but for some reason it just popped into my head one day while I was thinking about this team.  So, I googled it.  And thus began this amazing journey that I would like to share with you.

       Before we begin, I am not an expert.  I am not certified to teach or instruct any courses on Conscious Discipline.  I am an educator who has purchased the book, watched the videos, and tried to support some colleagues as they implement this program.  I am a Mom of 3, and I can relate to all of the things Dr. Becky Bailey talks about in the book.  In fact, if you were to look inside my book you would see things highlighted, circled and starred with words like "WOW!", "That's me!" and "OUCH!" written in the margins.  It is an honest and heart felt tool for examining your own behaviour, your parenting, and in my case my teaching practise.  I am so inspired by my learning that I am compelled to share it with you.  If your interest is peaked, perhaps you will begin your own journey.  My plan is to share snippets with you, short posts highlighting my learning and thoughts.  I will do my best to convey my understandings of Conscious Discipline, but will also add in my own reflections and opinions.  Please note that these posts are not going to go into great detail.  You will need to buy the books and watch the videos for that ;)

       Let's start at the very beginning.

If we think of the brain as having 3 parts/states (not based on actual neuroscience - but just to keep it simple).......we have:

The Survival State

The Emotional State

The Executive State

       The Survival State is the one that we will often react out of.  It is the one where a child will hit, kick or bite.  They may even do the opposite and withdraw (run away, hide or shut down).  This is where our brain will go to when we feel threatened.  If a child is hit, they will respond by hitting back, kicking, etc.  The survival state is not always bad.  For example, if someone throws a rock at your head...you duck...that was your survival state kicking in.  Had you paused to think about the pros/cons of ducking, the other options available to you, etc (Executive State), it would have been too late.  You would have gotten a rock in the head.  Thank goodness for the Survival State!

       The Emotional State is one where we operate with verbal aggression.  For me, this is where I see a lot of students (and adults/parents).  It is a step up from the survival state, but still not ideal.  Behaviours we might see if one is operating from here is attention-seeking, name calling, and so on.  As a parent, if I have asked my child to get into the car 5 times and they are still outside doing cartwheels in the grass (can you tell that this has happened to me?), if I respond by saying "Get your behind into this car immediately or I will leave without you", then I am operating from my Emotional State.  If a child is in this sate and they are hit, they may respond with "I hate you.  You're stupid."

       The Executive State is the optimal learning state.  Dr. Bailey refers to it as the CEO of the brain.  This is where we want to be, and where we want our students to be.  The purpose of Conscious Discipline is get our students into this state for as much time as possible.  It is the state where we can make decisions, take in new learning, and gain understanding.  If a child is in this state and someone hits them, they will respond by saying "I don't like it when you hit me, please stop".

       Throughout the book Dr. Bailey gives examples of what each state might present as.  She also outlines what the person in each states needs in order to be able to move up to the next state, eventually finding themselves in the Executive State - ready for optimal learning.  Isn't that the goal of our day as educators?  Don't we want to know ways to move our students into the optimal state for learning?  Do you feel like you spend your day policing and "putting out fires" rather than teaching?  This is what I am hearing from my colleagues.  This is why I am so curious about Conscious Discipline.

Stay tuned for the next post where we will unpack more about how these states impact student learning, and what we can do help students get to (or stay in) that Executive State.

Please check out www.consciousdiscipline.com for more details and to order the book if interested.

Taking a regular "lesson" and moving it outside...why?

Hi everyone!  This is a continuation of a post I did last week when I visited one of our amazing teams. (You can check out how they start their day here-  you won't regret clicking...it is awesome).

I wanted to share with you what happened after they had their outdoor reading time.  It was fabulous. Check out that photo below.   Doesn't that make you want to sit and join?  What an amazing invitation for learning! The mats can be found at Dollarama.  Each one fit 3-4 students.

Seriously....I'm on my way to buy some (any excuse to shop at Dollarama - ha!).

With intentional thought around the transition from reading time to this activity, they continued walking in their train and went right around the circle.  Each student stood in front of a clipboard (not their own...just whichever one was in front of them).  This allowed for a seamless transition. (LOVE that!  Not always an easy task ;)

Once everyone had a spot, the educators began to deliver an explicit math lesson.  Not gonna lie....I was caught off guard.  I was expecting a group discussion, something specific to nature  - but nope :)  These educators went right into a math lesson.  The students explored concepts of size: shorter, longer, size in relation to another object....it was a beautiful thing.  The first challenge was to take their name stick (a tongue depressor that they use for spacing when writing) and find something that was smaller than it.  When they returned to the circle (with their object) they found their correct spot and recorded their findings (note: the educators also gave the students very little direction for this.  They challenged them by saying "How could you record your findings?" They didn't tell them to write a sentence, draw a picture, use labels.  It was open).  The lesson went on to ask the students to find something longer than their name stick.








  They wrapped up the lesson by provoking the students to think about why student A's object might be longer than the stick, yet shorter than student Bs object.  How can something be "longer than" and "shorter than" at the same time?  GREAT QUESTION :)  I am sure that I could see the wheels spinning and their brains growing as they thought about that!








As I stood there watching I was struck at how reflective and intentional these educators were to use the outdoors as a tool for learning.  This lesson could easily have been done indoors, but by taking it outside the behaviours decreased, and the engagement increased.  As the educators and I had an opportunity to observe and reflect they were struck by one student in particular.  This learner struggled to engage in mathematics learning.  It didn't interest him, and as a result his behaviours often escalated during this time.  But here he was, so engaged in the task that he wasn't distracting by anything around him.  He was laying on his tummy and carefully recording his findings on his paper.  This was a significant learning moment for this child.  Can anyone relate?  Can you think of a student who struggles to engage?  Give it a try...take the lesson outside, and see what happens :)

note: this is not the child mentioned above LOL,
just a great shot of an engaged learner :)

Talk again soon ,

Carly

Starting the day and setting the tone for learning

I had the pleasure of spending the day with a fabulous team that I have not been able to visit yet this year. We had connected last week at a workshop, and we made a plan for me to visit and support inquiry-based learning.  While I was there I had the pleasure of seeing some of the things we learned at the conference in action.

Since the conference was all about inquiry, and specifically inquiry outside, it was great to see that they started their day....you guessed it, outside.

After the students had come inside for announcements, attendance, etc. they headed back outside for some reading time.  (Just my wonderings here: would it work to have the students stay outside right from the bell and meet them outside?  Would this allow for one less transition?) Anywhoo, each student was armed with a bag of "just right" books at their specific level, and the educators used a "train" to drop the students off at designated spots in the yard.

The educator is at the front of the line, walking around and pointing to a spot for each student to sit (under a tree, in a patch of sun, etc.)  The nice thing about this is that there is no running from spot to spot and no arguing about who gets to sit under which tree.  Perhaps this will allow for a gradual release of responsibility, and once the kids get the idea of spreading out and sitting in a variety of spots they can quickly pick their own sometimes.

Spending time in nature with a good book :)

This school is blessed with a wonderful treed area

At the end of the time the educator starts back at the beginning and picks up the students as the train passes by.  It was so funny for me to watch as the students very diligently waited for the train to pass by before jumping on.  When we did it at the conference with adults we were all hopping on the train at any point as soon as it came close to us ("budgging" if you will) - but not these kiddos.  Despite their friends calling out to them, they waited until the caboose had passed.  So cute!

I really liked this strategy for getting kids settled into reading (or whatever task they had been given...it could be many things: journal writing, drawing, etc).  It avoids the running and chaos of 30 kids trying to find a spot, and the inevitable time wasted switching spots.

As I watched this class engage in their morning reading routine a few things struck me:

1) It was quiet, calm and organized as 30 students moved into place
2) This opportunity to be outside in nature was a calming and grounding experience for the students.  We stood and watched the class for several minutes, all engaged in the task of reading, and loving it!  What a great way to instill a love of reading.
3) I believe this really set the tone for the learning that was going to happen immediately after (I          blogged about that here).  I believe that this is directly linked to how successfully the students were
 able to self-regulate and participate in the explicit instruction to follow.

What do you think?  Give it a try!  Amazing things can happen when you take the learning outside and give students a time to reflect and be still in nature.  LOVE it :)

Carly

2 Stars and Wish...using documentation to push student learning

Holy Doodles!!!  I just had an amazing weekend.  I spent my days travelling to visit 2 schools (specifically 3 educator spaces) and then went to a conference in Niagara Falls.  Although it was a lot of driving, it was well worth it!

I had the pleasure of visiting Jocelyn Schmidt and her DECE partner Ashley in York Region District School Board.  If you do not follow Jocelyn's blog you can check it out here.  They are amazing educators who are identified as a "Learning@School" classroom for their Board.  In a nut shell, this means that they are identified and supported by their board as a classroom that is open to visitors.  It is easy to see why as their passion, their partnership and their commitment to student achievement is so evident.

I thought a quick and easy way to sum up my visit would be to share a few of my favourite things.  Similar to an earlier post sharing great ideas from educators that I have visited this year. (You can check it out here)

By far (I think...as I am typing I am flooded by memories of great things...) my favourite "take-away" from my visit was the "2 stars and wish".

 

Although I have used this approach with providing feedback to students, this was a new way of using it for me.  I LOVED how Jocelyn and Ashley used it to review the previous day's learning, and inspire further learning the next day.

At the end of every day (it only takes about 5 minutes) one of the educators prepares a PicCollage of the days learning.  If you do not know about this app, check it out.  It is free and super user-friendly.  They title it "Our Learning Collage" with the date underneath.  The educator puts in about 5-8 photos of different happenings from the day (a child writing a book, students exploring caterpillars, students outside noticing their shadows, building a structure, etc.) and she writes a sentence of explanation with each one.  The following day they show this to the whole class during a group meeting.  They asks the students involved to explain their learning and what was happening in each photo.  Some students may actually read the note she has written on the page, but many just orally retell what was happening in the picture.  Side note:  the educators also upload this PicCollage to their class website at the end of the day so parents can be involved in the learning.  They can ask their child questions about specific things that are happening in the classroom. LOVE that!  If you do not have a class website or blog, consider making an email list with parent emails.  It would be one click of the button :)  I have found a website that has similar "Learning collages"  check them out here for a visual :)

We saw this practice being used in 2 different classrooms.  One classroom had the stars up on the board without sentences starters.  Each day the children would look at the documentation of the previous day and come up with 2 things they did well (the stars) and identify one wish (the magic wand) for what they wanted to work on or do better that day.  I thought this was a great way to involve students in the documentation, focus them on the importance of learning while at "centres", as well as develop oral language.  In the other classroom, the 2 stars had a sentence starter with them.  The first star said "We worked hard..." and the second star said "We practised..." and the magic wand said "We can learn more about.."  The students used these prompts to frame their thinking.

As you might be able to see, the students then found words from their word wall and circled them :)

If you'd like to give this a try I have provided links to images of stars and magic wands for you to use.  As always, check copyrights of images and so before use :)

Have fun!  Let me know how it goes :)

This blog post has been edited:  I was just surfing around on Jocelyn's website and found a post she did about this very activity.  I referenced her blog earlier, but here is a direct link to the post talking about it :) http://ljpskindergartenteam.blogspot.ca

Ideas for Early Years Classrooms (part 1)

In my new role I am fortunate enough to see a lot of classrooms, chat with hundreds of educators, and have amazing resources come across my desk (so to speak of course...my desk is now the trunk of my car).  I find myself trying to remember so many of the ideas and materials that I am seeing, but I worry that when I return to the classroom I will forget it all  (and be kicking myself for the next 10 years).  So my solution was to write a list.  I bought a cute little notebook - in the colour turquoise of course :) and began to write.  The other day I was mentioning my "ideas book" to some DECEs in our board.  They immediately asked if I would share it with them.  And this got me to thinking...I should share it!  I would love to see a collection of ideas that have been tried and tested or have sparked the interest of other educators.  So here is part 1, of what will likely be a big collection over the years.

I will try my best to elaborate, but if you have any questions about any items please leave me a comment and I will try to get back to you.

My list of AWESOME-NESS from my journey:

1.  "Wilderness Fridays" or "Forest Fridays".  Spend day outside - covering all subjects through nature and environment.  Use the natural curiosity website as a resource.  I posted about this idea here

2.  Put scissors and post-it notes at block centre.  Encourages labelling, fine motor, creativity.  I had done pencils and paper...but not scissors!  Love the idea of using this off and on to keep interest alive.

3.  Designate an area in the classroom for snacks - "The cafe".  In the beginning you may need to have a sign-in to keep track of who has visited the snack area.  As the students begin to be able to self-regulate their hunger you may no longer need it - but I recommend tracking it so that you know every child has eaten :)

4.  Provocation activity:  Put a box on each table filled with open-ended materials (random really).  give groups a few minutes to play.  Have them explain to other groups what they did with materials.  compare thinking and creativity.

5.  Put documentation out in community.  For example, if Students did an inquiry on bikes, put it out on community bike path.  If students explored baking, display at local bakery.

6.  Use overhead transparencies to put documentation on students work without writing right on it.

7.  Pass along project work or collaborative projects to next year's teachers.  For example, grade 1 teacher could display the number line the Kinder class made last year.  Creates a sense of connection and familiarity for September.

8.  During an inquiry of colour, have student name paint colours.  (ex. fire engine red, banana yellow).  You could use the crayons with names to provoke thinking.

9.  Hidden alphabet.  Go on a letter hunt for hidden letters.  Corner of bulletin board is letter L, lines in the bricks make letter H.  Extension: as gifts for families, print our the letters for child's last name and frame.  There a lot of books that you can use to spark this inquiry.

10.  Create a space for each child to show their development over the year.  Could have a hand print, several self-portrait drawings throughout the year, evolution of name printing, etc.

So many more to share...but baby steps lol.  I have to keep my mind organized...not an easy task ;)

Chat again soon,
Carly