Merry Christmas!
Well hello there! Merry Christmas!
Coaching and Mentoring
I have been posting current course work reflections and have not written any new posts, I stumbled upon this essay from 2011. This is the first half! I am now practicing what I was just coming to realize in 2011. I am surprised by how closely these words ring true today!
Happy reading and reflecting on your own ability to coach.
ECPK 401
Coaching and Mentoring in Early Childhood Programs
Susan Eliason
Bridewater State University
Final reflective essay
June 2, 2011
I have a new and different perspective about facilitating the growth and development of educators. After reading the text book, Mentor Coaching and Leadership in Early Care and Education by Mary Nolan and participating in class and blackboard discussions my perspective has shifted from, “more work to do”, to, “the outcome of this process will far outweigh the work of mentor coaching.”
Coaching others to take on more responsibility and accountability in leadership roles I will engage teachers in ways that make our school a better early education center and take some responsibilities off of myself, the administrator. I can also see that encouraging an educators’ growth and development might improve their motivation and self-esteem, thus providing a structure in which the result outweighs what I thought would be so much work.
I have been engaged in the status quo with my educators for quite some time, allowing the small team that I work with to stay in the same place professionally. I was very intrigued with the five minute mentor coaching activities as a perfect way to start easing into changing this status quo. I now see that mentor coaching is related to leadership in several ways. As one takes on more challenges professionally with the right supportive coach/protégé relationship success will follow. As these successes mount the quality of care for children and families will improve. If we can learn how to manage our professionalism and take care of each other, everyone wins. In a relationship filled with dialogue and respect, the feeling of one’s success as well as successes for the children and families served is deeply satisfying. Everyday feels new and engaging and not stale. Everybody wins.
I had believed that continuing ones professional growth and development by getting a formal education was simply to be expected professional development. I believed that the educators’ was responsible to be motivated and knowledgeable enough to realize that moving to a new level professionally was prudent for job security and staying relevant. Upon reflection I now see that this is why an active role in coaching is important. There is no separation between mentor coaching and professional development. I will try to understand the educator from the place where he/she is instead of being disappointed that they don’t want to advance educationally. I will recognize their value from a point of view of taking on leadership roles and developing professionally even though it may not include higher education at first. I now respect that there is a relationship to be built between mentor coach and protégé where kindness, trust and dialog need to be present. I will be skilled at better evaluating the phase of career the educator is in so as to suggest activities that may move them to a new level. As a mentor coach my role would be to make sure that we had a professional development plan in place that was appropriate for both parties. This plan could include many different leadership roles that might build the educators’ self- esteem and motivate him/her to continue his/her education. I will continue to be a model and a lifelong learner.
Program Director Reflection
This post is a reflection assignment for my Financial Management of Early Childhood Programs class at the University of Alaska.
After reading The National Association of Education for Young Children’s, Program Administrator Definition and Competencies, NAEYC, 2007 https://oldweb.naeyc.org/academy/criteria/core_competencies.html and the article, “Is Your Work a Calling? An interview with Kimberly Cothran” by Margie Carter, EXCHANGE, September/October 2016 Is Your Work a Calling_Kim Cothran.pdf I have summarized my own skills as follows.
Three personal qualities I possess that allow me to be a good director are first, organizational skills, second, interpersonal skills and third, analytical skills.
The first skill, organization, helps to ensure that all certifications and record keeping, and policy and procedure up to date and easily accessible. Organization allows me to prioritize daily duties and make sure that each classroom is staffed and functioning at a high level. Organizational skills help to ensure that the environment is beautiful and safe. At the end of the day, organizational skills assure that another person could fairly easily pick up where I left off. This is important to me to know that operations would continue smoothly if I were absent.
The second set of skills, interpersonal skills, allow me to listen and respond to children, teachers and families to meet their needs with competence and knowledge. These skills include an ability to suspend judgement and value each person individually. Compassion and empathy allow me to communicate with both families and the teachers I work with. Fairness in negotiation and evaluation of teachers is an important interpersonal skill. Meeting people “where they are” and looking for the good in any situation help me to be a good director.
Analytical skills are the third set of skills that allow me to perform as a director. These skills involve the ability to understand the fiscal aspects of the business to be able to respond to cash flow, profitability and budgeting. Remaining current in the field by attending workshops, conferences, enrolling in class and reading and understanding current research and trends in early childhood in important to my success as a director.
Three responsibilities of a director that these qualities allow me to excel in are leadership, mentoring and advocacy.
Leadership to me is the ability to walk away from my job knowing that I have left people empowered to continue where I have left off. It is providing direction and vision to the organization. Leadership includes the ability to motivate and inspire those around you to provide the best customer service in a positive environment. Leadership also means surrounding myself with people smarter than me and being humble to them.
The second responsibility of a director is to be a mentor as well as a mentee. It is important to be a continual learner, learning from each other in this role. Being a mentor involves elevating people in their own journey and allowing them to do the same for you. It is a way to identify for yourself and your teachers individual and collective goals and objectives.
Lastly, being a director means advocating for children, families and the child care provider on a daily basis both at the local, state and national level. Advocacy happens in the center every day, we need to see ourselves as advocates and help teachers take it to the next level whether it be community, state or national.
In conclusion the director must wear many hats all the while being cognoscente of his/her own well-being and taking care to replenish his/her energy.
A Learning Community
What is a learning community? How do you fit in? Community is defined as the experience of belonging to a group including a feeling of unity with those in the group and a commitment to the functioning of the group. How is an adult community the same as a children’s’ classroom community?
I belong to many different communities of adult learners. The community that best meets my emotional, social, intellectual, and physical needs are simultaneously the groups I am comfortable in and I learn and enjoy myself. Many of my communities overlap. There are some groups that I belong to that only partially meet my needs and my commitment to these groups is less strong.
I reflect about the need for community as follows as I compare the groups I belong to and the classrooms I see daily.
As an adult in a community, I want to feel a sense of belonging to meet my emotional needs. This unifying sense is what has me coming back again and again. This can be accomplished by the way I am greeted and addressed and if I am given a name tag and offered a place for my things. Being offered food and drink and a place to sit would go a long way in making me feel welcome in the community. A familiar face helps me feel secure. This translates to the children’s environment as well.
In a learning community the children and parents are pleasantly greeted by someone familiar and the children have a labeled space for their things in a defined classroom. Around the classrooms, posted in various locations are family photographs and photographs of the children. In several classrooms these photographs are in frames the children can carry around with them. Some play objects such as boxes and blocks are adorned with the children’s photographs. The children are ushered into a favorite spot or into a familiar ritual with their caregiver as the parent leaves. Each classroom is equipped with an appropriate sized place for an adult and child to sit. In the perfect learning community teacher turn over would be very minimal and many personalized objects would be in each classroom. Lowered ceilings and soft elements would add additional emotional security in the environment.
My social needs as an adult are met by having someone introduce me to a person with interests similar to mine within a community. I want to be heard and respected for my view even if it is in opposition to another’s point of view. In the children’s classroom, the teachers encourage children with similar interests to play together. Social interventions are modeled and practiced.
In an intellectual community I want to be challenged to learn something new. I want to believe I can fail and still be supported. Ideally, I commit to working collaboratively and cooperatively within the group. This requires a commitment to a common goal. In children’s learning communities the teachers support the children in actively exploring the environment indoors and outdoors. The teacher allows for risk and failure. The teacher scaffolds the children’s learning in the classroom.
I feel part of a community when my basic physical needs are met. The community meets my need for shelter, a comfortable temperature, rest and activity, a bathroom and food. In the classroom community teachers allow for meeting these basic physical needs as well as the need for physical activity. Children are dressed in appropriate clothing for indoor and outdoor temperatures. The teachers provide for active and quite activities. The children have their diapers changed and they are fed regularly and often fed on demand! Teachers allow children to take physical risks within the confines of comfort. I encourage teachers to trust that the children know their abilities and limitations.
In conclusion in comparing adult communities with early learning classrooms in the most successful communities our emotional, social, intellectual, and physical needs are the same throughout and met in a similar way!
Inquiry and Reflection
Inquiry and Reflection in Constructivist Curriculum
What is inquiry? Inquiry is the action of asking for information.
In our classroom we support your children in their learning by allowing them to make discoveries for themselves rather than to try to fill them with information.
Take a look around the classroom the next time you come in and observe the following.
A two year old child is taking different sized balls and attempting to put them into various sized containers and tubes. He experiences that some successfully drop into the container and that others sit on top of the container while others flow through a tube.
As a teacher I stay close to this activity. During this inquiry IF the child engages me visually or verbally, I might describe what is happening with the size of ball and container expanding the child’s vocabulary and knowledge. I will remain close to the activity allowing the child to discover on his/her own only adding information to his play when asked. I might make an inquiry of our own by wondering “what happened here?” and then we flow into reflection.
Reflection is analyzing one’s actions, decisions or outcomes focusing on the process of achieving the results one wanted. The intention is to get meaning from the experience.
Your child will reflect on the experience by either continuing the same actions or changing how he approaches the balls and containers.
As a teacher I will reflect here on how I can add to the inquiry for the child.
I reflect:
Should I add more materials or provide a similar activity with different objects? Should I add more vocabulary?
Should I interrupt the activity at all?
This last reflection is the hardest of all. Often the inquiry needs no interruption. I might recall with the child later in the day. I will then reflect and select other materials which will challenge the size/shape inquiry for your child thus enhancing his knowledge.
Ask me about inquiry and reflection if you have questions!
Reading and Constructivist Theory
A Reflection on Reading a Story and Constructivist Theory
Definitions
Constructivist Theory: A theory which states that children construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences.
Physical knowledge: Physical knowledge is discovered using one’s senses to explore objects and notice their qualities. It forms the basis of logical-mathematical knowledge.
Logical-Mathematical Knowledge: Logical-Mathematical Knowledge is constructed by each individual, inside his or her own head. It cannot be taught. It cannot be seen, heard, felt or told.
Social Knowledge: Social Knowledge must be told or taught by others.
A second reflection on the construction of knowledge.
In an interaction with two children, age 3.5 year old, one male and one female, the female grabbed a book off the shelf. She brought it to the chair I was sitting in, she thrust it into my lap and hoisted herself into my lap as well. She simply stated, “read this”.
Before I could read the book, she looked at, it opened it up and set it right side up (physical knowledge). She told me what the book was about by naming objects on the cover. I began to read the book. She interrupted with comments and an occasional question.
I continued to read the book adding a little commentary (social knowledge) to which she responded, “no, no not like that”. (logical –mathematical knowledge) I remembered to ask open ended questions and require her to find her own answers to which she did not respond.
I observed that the community culture of how to read a book must be an experience of turning pages then talking about the illustrations on the page and expecting certain answers. It seemed as though she had an expected answer for each page as she turned it. She answered her own questions and asked me for a confirmation from me and then she turned the page.
I occasionally added to her vocabulary (social knowledge). In actuality, she was reading the book, not I. I pictured in my mind what “reading” meant to her at this age and what “reading” means to me. Again, I was reminded to accept the child’s discovery of a book on her own terms. She was constructing a knowledge of reading and I was constructing a new knowledge of “reading a book”.
Upon continued reflection I thought about how many times I stopped learning from happening. My past cultural expectation is that we sit quietly listening to a reader read a book. My former community culture was to “sit quietly” which was a constraint of my mind only. The worry about interruption or “finishing the story” did not allow for authentic interactions and learning. The constraint of listening did not allow for the child’s meaningful, purposeful task.
The idea of not interrupting children’s learning is coming into the forefront of my observations of myself and other educator’s.
I am constructing new knowledge scaffolding on the old and accommodating a new idea into my practice. I accept the challenge of figuring out when to add social knowledge and when it is not necessary to interrupt what he child is constructing.
I recognize that this is an ongoing quandary since we are always imposing our own timeframe, observation, prejudice and bias to create our community culture. How do we know that the moment that we chose to speak or move is the precise moment that the child is on the edge of his/her own assimilation of knowledge. Are we scaffolding or interrupting? This is my current inquiry.
A Leaf in the Hot Tub
A Leaf in the Hot Tub
A Reflection on Constructivist Theory
Definitions
Constructivist Theory: A theory which states that children construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences.
Physical knowledge: Physical knowledge is discovered using one’s senses to explore objects and notice their qualities. It forms the basis of logical-mathematical knowledge.
Logical-Mathematical Knowledge: Logical-Mathematical Knowledge is constructed by each individual, inside his or her own head. It cannot be taught. It cannot be seen, heard, felt or told.
Social Knowledge: Social Knowledge must be told or taught by others.
This weekend, I was watching two 3.5 year old children, one male and one female. They were swimming in the hot tub when the boy grabbed a leaf off of a nearby plant. My first thought was I hope he does not put that in the hot tub, I’ll have to clean it up.
Fortunately, I stopped that thought from coming out of my mouth. For goodness sake it was a small leaf! The leaf was brown and dry. He floated it on the water and watched it for a few minutes (physical knowledge, intrinsically motivated).
He then tried to pick it up at which point it disintegrated in his hand, he looked at it, turned his hand over and tried to shake it off. He finally asked me to help him get it off his hand. At this point I wiped away what was the leaf and put it on the edge of the tub. He briefly looked at it and turned away. I explained that he leaf had disintegrated (social knowledge). I said this at a time where there was no inquiry or curiosity. He was not interested.
He picked another leaf of the bush. He repeated the same process with the same results, until he exclaimed that the leaf had fallen apart when put in the water (logical-mathematical knowledge). I again used the term disintegrated. I mimicked as before that the whole leaf was now in pieces, it fell apart. He said, “disintegrated” and put a few more leaves in the water.
He continued this process of watching the leaves fall apart. He constructed a knowledge about the relationship between the water and the dry leaves (logical-mathematical). He repeated his process exclaiming the same results.
Later I had to take the filter cover off to check it for cleaning. We discovered the leaf debris and started a whole new inquiry about filtering the pool water and keeping debris out (social knowledge). He inquired whether these were the same leaves. It appeared perhaps he assimilated this information. We placed the pile of debris on the table and he briefly poked it and then tossed it. The inquiry ended there for the time. The other child did not have any involvement in this exploration. She was engaged in her own underwater pursuits.
Upon reflection I thought about how many times I stopped learning from happening. My past cultural expectation that we keep the hot tub water free of avoidable debris. I further expose that my former community culture was to quickly clean up “messes” was a constraint of my mind only.
The worry about an accident, injury or extra work did not allow for authentic interactions and learning. The constraint of listening did not allow for the child’s meaningful, purposeful task.
The idea of not interrupting children’s learning is coming into the forefront of my observations of myself and other educator’s. I am constructing new knowledge scaffolding on the old and accommodating a new idea into my practice.
I accept the challenge of figuring out when to add social knowledge and when it is not necessary to interrupt what he child is constructing. I recognize that this is an ongoing quandary since we are always imposing our own timeframe, observation, prejudice and bias to create our community culture. How do we know that the moment that we chose to speak or move is the precise moment that the child is on the edge of his/her own assimilation of knowledge. Are we scaffolding or interrupting? This is my current inquiry.
Play is Learning
I believe play IS the curriculum of early childhood education. The role of the educator is to facilitate the child’s play and take it to new learning levels as dictated by the child.
I have been privileged in my career to have worked with play enthusiasts in all my roles. Currently I have been editing just how much to intervene in a child’s activities and to determine exactly what that interruption might look like. It might be a quiet addition of another material. It could be just sitting near the play as a sign of quiet support, it might be adding language to the child’s activity. It is a difficult self-reflective task to find a balance between interrupting play and letting it carry out. I am looking to notice if play is ever NOT educational.
Families understand the importance of play if we assign it as important. Play is documented as learning and presented in many ways (daily sheets, anecdotal record, verbally, documentation boards) to the parents. At the infant/toddler level this is generally understood.
In the preschool classroom the struggle is more difficult as it appears that families want more documentation of “traditional” learning. Here I define “traditional” as teacher directed activity. This is where I see cultural expectation and perspective is important. Culturally, society lumps play into the category of recreational and not educational. The importance of play is seen as a release or outlet and not a learning mode. Play is important but not as a learning mode. Taking this thought into perspective defines for the educator a more difficult role of making the connection between play and education seamless. It can be done by making learning during play evident to the family.
Early Education Environment
Early Education and Care Environment. Beauty all around.
I have recently begun to think about the eventual end of my “sabbatical” and our return to the East coast. I see the beauty all around me and I look with an eye towards how I can create an early education environment that is beautiful for young children.
Back when I was in school (a long time ago) I remember being taught that a quality early education program could be run in a dismal space. This may be true as we have to work with limited space, even smaller budgets, a time crunch, and possibly push back from Administration but beautiful spaces can and should be created for children.
If your space seems impossible, can you ask for an outside opinion? Others can often see what we cannot!
If you think you have no time, can you ask for help? You might be surprised at how many people would be willing to lend a hand in creating a beautiful early education environment for their children. At the very least ask, don’t assume no one will participate.
If you have no budget, can you fundraise, or look at no cost/low cost improvements?
Have you tried to get Administration on board? If you are committed and enthusiastic, you can move mountains. Set a goal and work on a presentation and go for it with passion.
I have found many ideas on Pinterest. Follow us at Friendship Garden Nursery School. https://www.pinterest.com/funwithfgns/
Happy New Year
Peace, Love, and Happiness!
Robin and Victor Temple
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