how do you become THAT teacher?

Teachers come in all shapes and forms.  

There are teachers that know children

There are teachers who follow the books

There are teachers that teach in front of a black board

There are teachers that teach through motions

There are teachers afraid of mess

There are teachers that have taught for 20+ years

There are up and coming new teachers 

There are teachers who follow instructions
There are teachers who are instinctual 

There are teachers who teaches instinctually 

There are teachers that teach for money

There are teachers that love children 

But what distinguishes a teacher of worth? of quality? of nurture? of character? 

What distinguishes THAT teacher, from all the rest?  are they truly better?

--Some of the richest countries have the poorest systems.--> Go figure, as you can see in our own country we can have all the wealth but that doesn't necessarily mean that we have the best preschool systems.  And to add the richest countries don't always spend their money, particularly, on the children.


"The quality and effectiveness of programs do not depend entirely on wealth."

You can have a classroom filled with all the wonderful stimulating toys, blocks, colors, aesthetics, books, and so on, but it takes a person, a teacher who understands children, to make learning effective--to have children learn, and love learning.  

--“research shows that didactic classrooms do not support effectively the holistic development of young children, in particular their creative capacities, and their socio-emotional and physical development.”

The entire child is of importance.  To add, the child TODAY is of importance then the child tomorrow, the child next week, the child next month, the child next year, the child 5 years from now, and so on.  The child TODAY is what matters.  

Teaching according to a book, teaching according to tests, teaching according to a teachers preference --> Has no importance to THE CHILD, THE HOLISTIC CHILD, THE CHILD TODAY, the child that is supposed to be taught.  The most meaningful learning is the learning done today, the learning that is connected to the interest of the children, the learning that makes sense to the child.    

Why doesn't our society see children as a whole?  

Why does our society teach according to books?

Why does our society teach with chairs and desks facing the front and teachers teaching at the front on a chalk board?

Why doesn't the rest of the school system, in our society, teach like early childhood educators? 

“experience needs to be present for new information to connect and hold”



--“Teachers often make the mistake of teaching lessons on subjects some children haven’t experienced.”

In recent discussions with colleagues, about elementary tests, we talked about children being tested on animals like squirrels, beavers, skunks, and so on.  These animals are unfamiliar to children.  I would even add dinosaurs to this discussion.  As an example, these animals, are of no interest to children, yet it will in their later schooling years.  So should we still be teaching children about these particular animals?

To add, my husband just took his CDL permit test, but failed on questions about train track crossings, and snow.  This just goes to show that yes he has not experienced these circumstances, yet he needed the knowledge of it.  So if children need to know certain aspects of unknown experiences, what do we do as educators?

Do we present the material to them?  Or no?

--“We learn from the children, from our colleagues and friends and from our whole community as we explore collaboratively, thinking about what the children’s behavior might be telling us. We try many things, hoping that what we try will move us in the direction of helping the children with their intentions, and we will sometimes succeed. We will learn from our errors, and search, not for new certainties, but for new ways of exploring and understanding, leading to new ways of assisting capable, rich, thoughtful children’s explorations.”

I find myself making mistakes as THAT "new teacher."  But i've found that being THAT "new teacher doesn't make me un-knowledgable about children, it doesn't make me a teacher that goes according to the books, it doesn't make a teacher that is not useful, as if children are not learning.

I can say that going through the mistakes, I have definitely grown, and I have a more wider view of teaching in more instances.  So can I be THAT teacher?  rather then be THAT "new teacher?"    

By:  Jadelynn Davis

Excerpt From: Clemens & Gleim. “Seeing Young Children With New Eyes.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/6f7k2.l

Laura

-First of all, I think that any daddy good-byes go smoothly compared to mommy good-byes.  From my experiences with infants, and by personally having to go through drop-offs and good-byes, I can say that majority of the parents who do drop off are mothers.  The bond between a mother and an infant is unbreakable, which causes good-byes to be that much harder between mothers and infants.  On the other hand daddy goodbyes are less dramatic and often times, as I have observed, daddies seem to have an easier time to hand their infants to the caregiver and leave.  

In this instance though, I believe that Laura's good-bye with daddy went smoothly because daddy included Laura in the good-by transition.  Laura was given time to enter into the classroom and engage in the conversation and transition between daddy and her caregiver.  When Laura was given this transition she was able to gage what is going to happen.  And as was mentioned in the passage, it seems as if Laura has gone through the routine, so she was able to predict the good-bye.  

-All the little actions the father acted communicated to his Laura that he was going to leave, and that he is going to give her to her caregiver, whom he trusted to care for her.  He helped Laura transition from daddy to her caregiver, from being, presumably, at home to the classroom.           

When daddy and the caregiver comes into contact, Laura is still in the hands of her dad, and she can see and hear the information being shared, probably about what happened at home.  The passage says that daddy helps Laura take off her jacket and hat, which signifies that Laura is getting herself ready to go in the classroom, and since daddy didn't take anything off it signifies that he is not staying.  More conversations continue and just the fact that Laura is present, in the conversation, it tells Laura and shows Laura the trust that daddy has with the caregiver.  By just saying bye and kissing Laura it tells Laura that he is going to leave.  And by handing her to the caregiver, and not just sitting her on the ground, tells Laura that the caregiver will care for her and be there for her wants and needs.  

-Teacher Ivetta was "surprised" with the good-bye because  "it has only been a few days since Laura has started experiencing the departure of her mom positively, (p.37)."  Since this was dads first time dropping Laura off, it was a positive first drop off.  Laura didn't cry at or fight either daddy or Ivetta.   

Ivetta probably thought that the kiss was significant because Laura initiated the kiss.  Since Laura initiated the kiss, you can tell that she understands the symbol of the kiss.  "I gave the kiss because  I know that my dad is going to go."   

-I don't think that Laura is fully adjusted to the classroom only because it takes more then just a successful drop off for an infant to fully adjust, each routine should be a success, the infant should be able to anticipate what will happen next.  The infant may cry as a fight to not go according to the routine, but if the infant cries because he is not comfortable with the classroom and the caregiver then I would say that he is not adjusted.  

I would say that Laura is adjusted to her caregiver enough that she trusts her with giving her her wants and needs.     

-Laura has recognized parts of herself.  Has she recognized herself?  I would say, no.  I don't think that she has recognized herself as a whole body.  The main part of her body that she has recognized is her hands.  She sees the reflection of what her hands can do, that it extends from her body, that her hands are moving.  She can see that her hand can grab an object, and bring the object to her body.  Laura talks to herself, probably, to assure or reassure herself that, "hey this is mines, this is on my body, this on my body is moving."      

 

**My daughter Lyna at about 6 months.  

 

-Teacher Ivetta and mother, together, might talk about Laura's body in regard to this episode.  They may touch on issues of recognizing parts of her body.  They may talk about body part vocabulary to share with Laura.  Also in this episode Laura seems to enjoy expressing herself through babbling and exclaiming herself.  Teacher and mother could talk about labeling her expressions and guide her through her surprises by talking about what is happening.  Through conversations with Laura teacher and mother can help her build vocabulary to use during her day to day routines.

By:  Jadelynn Davis