More reflections on introducing the equal sign in Kindergarten...

Our learning goal when introducing the equal sign was to dispel the myth of it simply representing an answer to an equation.  We purposely introduced it in conjunction with shapes as variables to make it “friendly” in terms of associating it with something the children already felt comfortable with and to help build the foundation of algebraic reasoning.  What surprised us was how the equal sign and fractions were intrinsically linked.  Representing half NEEDS an equal sign for the students to see how two halves can make a whole.  This concept seem to come naturally to many of our students when we asked them to show us “equal”.  Niko took a cracker and cut it in half and used his grapes to make an equal sign between the two halves.  This reasoning tells us that students are not only capable of deep algebraic reasoning in kindergarten, but much of this mathematical problem solving is naturally occurring around us and we are not paying attention, or naming the learning.  When we name the learning, we can then move the thinking forward and take bigger chances and broader our mathematical problem solving in areas we never thought possible in early learners. 

Pedagogical Documentation

I was fortunate enough to attend today's Pedagogical Leadership meeting with the focus on Pedagogical documentation.  We looked at the Capacity Building Series: Pedagogical Documentation Revisited.  It broke down documentation to 3 phases. 

1.  Observing and Recording Student Experience.  

My own documentation style tends to lean towards this particular phase.  I find that I am pretty factual and to the point when I record the learning happening in the classroom.  I try not to add my own personal inferences or opinions.  I was not doing this because I thought that this was the way I was supposed to do it, but simply because that is a reflection my of personality.  Here is an example of a recent documentation piece I produced:

2.  Interpreting Learning in Service Pedagogy.

This is when teachers interpret the documentation.  I see this part as "naming the learning".  If I was to look at the documentation in the above piece, I could infer that "B" is able to "pose questions and state problems as part of the design process".  "R" was able to "sort and classify groups of living and non-living things in her own way."  and "O" was able to "ask question about and describe natural  occurrances, using her own observations".  

3.  Respond, Share and Build a Culture of Inquiry and Collaboration.  

This is where I see myself reflecting on the documentation with the students and my teaching partners to see where we need to go next with each student.  How can we deepen the learning for the individual and what impact will this have on others?  This is where I see the documentation informing our practice... kind of like a road map of where we need to go next.  If I was to use the above documentation piece, I could say that we need to involve the students in finding the answers to their wonderings by building an environement that has the clues they need to solve their problems. We can put out provocations relating to the growth cycle, books about farm animals in both French and English which speak to what farm animals eat and we can work on sorting and classifying living and non-living things.  By sharing these next steps with my partners, parents and students we are building a culture of moving our thinking forward.  

New inquiry... new changes to our environment

We have a new inquiry... farms.  We could scaffold on this by talking about farm animals, but what I fear is falling back upon familiar and comfortable themes from our past Kindergarten program.  So, Becky and I are choosing to focus on the act of farming.  We are planting herbs and vegtables with the students and asked the students what they wanted to see in our classroom to support this new inquiry.   Some of our students asked for a "farmers market".  

They sorted our fruit and vegetable plasitc food and choose which baskets they wanted to use.  We will ask the students to label their farmers market and we will bring in some real vegtables and fruit to add to it.  We can't wait to see where the learning takes us...

CBC Radio: The Importance of Play!

Today at noon on CBC One, they did a phone-in show (Ontario Today) on the Importance of Play with guest Dr. Stuart Brown from the National Institute of Play in Los Angeles.  

Dr. Brown spoke of the importance of the "state of play" and how this unstructured, spontaneous play unpressured by time can help create important bonds between us, lessen anxiety and even reduce violence.  The 'doing' is more important than the outcome.  Dr. Brown talked about the difference between structured vs. unstructured play.  He pointed out that in unstructured play children get a sense of their own capacity when there is less parental involvement.  

One of the callers (Lisa) pointed out that Joy consists of 4 elements:  singing, laughing, dancing and playing.  She talked about how playing can actually reduce pain in adults and children.  Dr. Brown made the correlation with how this affects us at work.  If we are engaged in playful work environments, we reduce anxiety and see work as our "safe place".  This has a direct impact on sick leave in employees.  He used Google as an example of a playful workplace where employees feel valued and don't feel the need to take excessive sick days.  

Another caller, Katie (a child life specialist) said that play prepared children for an ever-changing world, spontaneous and unexpected.  She also spoke of the importance of improv and how this was a great tool to use with autistic children as it engages eye-contact, visual cues, and listening.  

What Becky, Sarah and I came away from the show with was that play doesn't end when you grow up.  Becky said that as adults, we are waiting for invitations to play.  We wonder if some of us are able to see those opportunities?

http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/podcasts/ontariotoday_20150417_92114.mp3

Reflections on Reggio...documentation

http://bpsearlychildhood.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/1/3/10131776/turnerkrechevsky.pdf

This is a great article on the Reggio Emilia approach and comments on each defining component.  I especially found the decription of how documentation informs practice and makes children aware of their own learning really insightful; how by looking back we are really looking forward!

One person's trash is another one's treasure!

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/06/01/nyregion/0601-TRASH_8.html

An amazing article/slideshow depicting a Reggio-inspired preschool's use of recycled and found objects.  I'm feeling inspired!!!

Reflections on Reggio... Environment

It's funny how after you've worked with someone for almost 3 years how like-minded you become.  I asked my partner Becky this morning how she felt the environment was working in our room and she immediately responded, "it's not!".  She took the words right out of my mouth.  I feel that we have been focused so much on reflecting on inquiry and documentation in the last few months that we have forgotten some of the fundamental elements of the Reggio philosophy.  

How was our "3rd Teacher" working?  

Is our environment filled with natural light, order and beauty?

Does our environment have open spaces and is it free from clutter?

Does everything have a purpose?

Do the spaces encourage collaboration, communication and exploration?

Are there authentic materials and tools ready to encourage discovery and exploration?

After talking to Becky and answering these questions, we answered yes to some but no to more.  Things are beginning to look a bit cluttered in some areas.  There is not enough natural light and some items are getting lost in the chaos.  Some of the materials we have are not authentic or child-created.  I feel that we are not doing enough to "bring the outdoors in".  

This is something that we are going to focus on in the coming weeks.  We will keep you posted on our progress...

What is "self-active" play?

I recently read the book, "From Play to Practice" from NAEYC.  Near the beginning of the book, it talks about "self-active" play.  This is a term I had never heard before, but once reading about it, it seems pretty simple:  "self-active" play refers to spontaneous play in both children and adults.  This spontaneous play is in conjunction with the use of open-ended materials to support the play.  "The environment, the materials, and the children's natural curosity combine to activiate the brain to construct new meaning."  

I had often considered this type of play "open-ended"; we intentionally present the open-ended materials in hopes that it will spark the children's sense of curosity and initiate exploration and discovery.  

One of my personal discoveries is when we can set out a "provocation" with certain intentions or learning goals, and how the play always surprises us and takes us somewhere we had not considered.  That is the beauty of the Kindergarten program.  It gives us the freedom to look back and reflect upon the learning and name the learning.  I am always surprised just how many curriculum goals we achieve; so much more than or original leanring goals and always so much deeper and richer!