The Reflective Teacher Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Episode Notes:

Truth:

Play creates children who have strong adaptive skills and creativity. 

Inquiry/Prompt:

Closely watch/observe your students’ engage in play today.

Pick one designated open-ended play area (i.e. blocks, kitchen, dress-up area) and observe for a good amount of time.

What are the skills that the children are learning through this play? (Social, emotional, early literacy or math concepts, etc…)

What are some ways the children are adapting? 

What creativity do you see through their play?  

Did you notice any play schemas? (see resources below for a list)

What do you notice about the way they are using the materials? Or not using the materials

Use your observations to document learning or simply to share with parents!

Did this observation spark a study in your class?

Resources:

Play Schemas

Our Sponsors:

Playground

JUF

Show Notes:

The goal of a mentor:

help teacher becomes best/effective new teacher

Be a sounding board for the teacher

Brainstorm and problem solve with the teacher

Allow the teacher to reflect on their classroom by taking a step back

A mentor is a sounding board and active listener.

JNTP (Jewish New Teacher Project) has outlined ways to support teachers as a mentor. They provide a ‘cheat sheet’ for ways to respond and language to use when mentoring teachers! (i.e. “selective scripting” and “entry points”)

You want teachers to feel comfortable and take risks! Make sure the mentor/mentee relationship is not too interwoven outside of the mentorship.

Who can be a mentor at JNTP?

Any effective teacher that has been teaching for at least five years.

How do teachers who want to mentor or need a mentor sign up with JNTP?

Ask your administrator/director if you need a mentor! (govt. funding is available if your program can’t afford)

Tell you administrator/director you’d like to apply as a mentor if qualified and they will sign you up!

All of the skills are helpful in any leadership role. Bottom line: when teachers don’t get the support they need, they leave teaching and we need good teachers.

Resources:

Jewish New Teacher Project

Our Sponsors:

Playground

JUF

Follow Sally and Fairy Dust Teaching on all of her social media platforms!

Website: FairyDustTeaching.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FairyDustTeachingBlog

Instagram: http://instagram.com/fairydustteaching

Pinterest:http://pinterest.com/fairydustteach/

Get a monthly Wonder Box delivered to your inbox; filled with ideas to enhance the learning and exploring in your classroom!

Sally’s Book!

Sally’s Reflective Practices:

“The Big Red Book”

Each child has 20 pages with pictures and notes on them.

Sticky notes

Diary of the children

Personal and deeply meaningful level

List each child in your class before bed at night.

Is there one you always forget? If so, that’s a child you need to make a note to pay attention to.

Sally’s end of the day reflection in a notebook or can mentally just review:

Which students stood out?

Who captured my attention?

What was missing or was needed?

What worked well?

What do I need (to prepare) for tomorrow or next week?

2. Passion and love are what matters to kids and what they remember.

3. Send family reflection form every 6-8 weeks (or whatever intervals work for you) as a check-in!

Some ideas of what to include on the form: “What did your child talk most about this week/month?”, “Any other concerns or celebrations?”

Reflections on Distance Learning:

Distance learning is like learning a new instrument; “Never forget who you are; you’ve just been given a new instrument.” -Sally

Think to self: “I am the expert, I am passionate and my failure doesn’t touch that.” - Sally

It’s OK to fail, make mistakes, and put yourself out there; this is new territory and you’re doing a great job!

Reflect on what worked and what didn’t after each Zoom call with your class.

-Behavior is communication: a child is triggered. 

-What can we do when a child is triggered? Jump in and teach a skill!

-On Sharing: Don’t make kids give up toys and share at that moment.

-Say: “ __ is using that toy now, you can have it when they are done.” 

-Taking something away that is so important to their play is like stopping their learning in its tracks. 

-It’s so important when a child is dysregulated to just be calm. 

-For children, knowing that someone is there and loves them is enough.

-Toddlers’ spectrum is so much smaller- what seems small are big deals to them. 

-Think and teach kids to think. Be there, honor their feelings, and label what they are feeling or what’s happening.

-After you label emotions, teach them strategies for the next steps as this helps with self-regulation.

-Ask: “What’s next?” or “ What can you do?”

-Focus on the child’s wins in a way that matters to them! Point out what you notice about them and their actions.

To find out more about BrookeLynne, check out her website at www.BrookeLynneDukes.com and follow her on Instagram: @BrookeLynneDukes

Show Notes:

every child has a voice and a message that deserves to be heard.

Show up, be present, be responsive as parents/educators/adults. Ask self: What’s my bias?
What are my inner feelings?
What are my triggers?
Asking these questions makes you calmer when you enter these situations bc you know where you stand.

Going from reactive to responsive when helping a child with big emotions.

Don’t talk when kids aren't ready Take yourself out of it, it’s about helping the kid in the moment.

We are a safe space.

Safety Signals: Tone of voice: not too low, too high, or monotone Offer only 1 or 2 words: “I’m here”, “How can I help?”
Movement: how fast or slow are you moving? Mirror body language of the child.
Think: How am I conveying safety? Whats my energy like?

Resources

Alana’s Website

Book for thinking through some root causes of behavior ”Social and Emotional Development in Early Intervention” By Mona Delahooke

Outdoor play is so important for mental health! Aim for at least 2 hrs/day.

Outdoor play allows for Independence, Risk-taking, freedom, a multi-sensory experience.

For risks: have children talk about them and establish boundaries with you before play. Ask: What boundaries are good and important for safety?

Intentionally plan for what’s happening in nature and outside on your playground Suggested materials: Binoculars
Magnifying glass
Buckets (YES, for each child!)

Ways to Bring the outdoors inside: Planting (Teaches empathy)
Microgreens! (Grow fast and kids can cut and eat or explore).
Seasonal items from outdoor. (Leaves, flowers, branches, rocks, bugs!)

Margie’s Nature/Outdoor Play Recommendations:

https://www.insideoutside.org/

https://www.massaudubon.org/

http://www.greenheartsinc.org/

Closed Loop Farms

Books:

Spirit in Nature: Teaching Judaism and Ecology on the Trail by Matt Biers Ariel and Deborah Newbrun

Wild City Book by Jo Schofield and Fiona Danks.

Lots of ideas for in the City:

Wild Things by Jo Schofield and Fiona Danks

Growing Up Wild:Â Exploring Nature with Young Children from Project Wild. (This is a workbook with about 30 ideas for lesson plans involving all curriculum areas and lots of great tips/resources)

-Create space condusive to action in your classroom.

-If kids aren’t using the space, change it up! Think of school as a second home, a home-away-from-home. What can you do to make your classroom more home-like?

-How are the kids trafficking that area? What kind of play is happening there?

-Notice and enhance the environment (change things, rearrange things). You don’t always have to tell the kids about it. If changing environment with them, say, “What if we added… “ or “I notice that ____.” Don’t get caught up on materials but instead aim to create a healthy, serene vibe that can be adapted.

-Fewer choices promotes deeper play.

-No “no” just because.

Resources:

Julianne Wurm’s Website

Be OK with fauilure and open to trying new things! We expect our children to learn new things; learn with them!
Experiment with all the features that the platform of your choice has to offer.

Pick one platform that you’re comfortable with and stick with it.

Connection: Daily morning meeting Offers consistency and sets the tone.
Follow the same flow that you’d offer in your classroom.
Offer small group and one-on-one time. This allows for more children to have time to connect with eachother, the teacher and time to share out.

Consistency: Offerings should be daily and at same time, if possible,
Make offerings/lessons/group-times predictable and fun.

Content: Use the children’s home environment as part of the learning! Pictures and videos of thier home, surrondings, and items within enhances the learning.
Name your lessons and get the children excited for the content: Mystery Mondays: Give children a prompt to take a picture of. Example) Children take a picture of an item or a group of one item and the class estimates how many of that item thier are. It’s math and fun!
Lunch and Learn, offered once a week at the same time, for parents that have questions or need support.
Take virtual filed trips with the kids.

Be proactive: If in-person now, offer a “Zoom PJ Party” to get the kids comfortable with Zoom— just in case!

Revise things daily: distance learning requires a lot of reflection.

Be senstive to what’s going on at home. Allow eveyone to show up in a way that’s the most comfortable to them. This can mean: camera on or off, quiet room for working, room for using chat functions only and room for talking while working. Allowing for all of these offerings appeals to different learning styles and different moods; very responsive!

Resources:

For Theresa Wills templates, PD Recordings, Math Routines and more, click HERE.

Sign up for Seesaw (for free)!

Seesaw is a wonderful resource for both in-person learning and at-home learning as well. We use it in our classroom as well and LOVE it. Feel free to reach out to us with any questions!

Canva

Canva is a graphic design platform, very user-friendly with so many templates to choose from!

Take-Aways:

Screen time approach: you must think about so many factors other than just time spent. The idea of technology as a ‘place’, think about:  

When

Quality

Who (is around)

Relationships

Mood

 If there is too much (screen time) that gets in the way of things like connection, relationships, and play, then we see a negative outcome.

When families use technology together (i.e. Zoom for school!) to connect and learn, then it’s not a toxic subject but rather a useful tool. 

Technology should be thought of as one ‘tool’ of many!

General time limit recommendation: 1 hr./day for 2-5-year-olds (Entertainment media DOES NOT include learning media in this limit).

Moods and kids: pay attention to temperament when using screens and after.

Kids get the most out of technology when engaging with others, like a peer or adult.

Ask yourself: is it helping or getting in the way? Is it one of many things? Are children just passively consuming? Does it introduce new experiences? 

Give yourself grace and look for patterns.

Resources:

Family Time With Apps: http://joanganzcooneycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/jgcc_familytimewithapps_brochure_eng.pdf

Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award: http://www.ala.org/alsc/excellence-early-learning-digital-media-award-2019-winners

Using Technology To Support Learning at Home: https://www.edc.org/sites/default/files/uploads/Young-Children-Home-Tech-Use.pdf

E-AIMS Model for Choosing Media Content: https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/2533-choosing-media-content-for-young-children-using-the-e-aims-model

A few blogs on Erin’s site:

Sesame Street Town Hall on Racism

When We Outsource Talking to Toys

Three Ways to Get the Most Out of Screen Time With Young Children

Get Creative With Kids and Technology

Toddlers and TV: Zombies, Distracted or Engaged?

Latest on the blog:

Practicing Anti-Racism in Parenting https://sparkandstitchinstitute.com/practicing-anti-racism-in-parenting/

Want blogs, tips, and tools right to your inbox? Subscribe at sparkandstitchinstitute.com/subscribe

Our Guest, Amelia Troutman, is the Manager of Education at the Kohl Children’s Museum in Illinois and has years of experience implementing and teaching the Project Approach, first based off of Judy Harris Helm and Lilian Katz, “Young Investigators: The Project Approach In The Early Years” book and method. Amelia is so knowledgable, warm, and eager to help others learn and teach through this hands-on, project-based approach.

For more information about the Kohl Children’s Museum and the Project Approach please check out our blog www.thereflectiveteacherpodcast.com

*Please be aware that application deadlines, programs, and museum hours may be affected due to COVID-19