Diversity

I want to feel visible, valued and validated.    Theressa Lenear, CCR

The ERS (Environment Rating Scale) looks at the diversity in your classroom.  More importantly, the children in your care want to feel visible, valued and validated as Theressa says. 

Imagine putting on a pair of glasses that allows you to see through the eyes of each child in your classroom.

Do I see:

People who look like me

Things I find in my home

Familiar music

Words from my home language

Familiar foods

Role models who look like me

Books about people who look like me and do the things my family does

I am represented every day, not just on a “special week”

Brain Power

 

An old fashioned image of a preschool teacher helping children get ready for kindergarten might look like this:

The teacher sits in front of the group of children “teaching” them important facts.  The days of the week, the parts of an insect, names of dinosaurs, numbers and the alphabet.  It’s done in a fun, interactive way most of the time, but still focuses on the teacher “teaching” the children.  Free play follows, as a time for them to play.

That was me in the 1980’s, too!  Nothing wrong with these facts, however, today’s knowledge about children’s brain development and effective teaching practices creates a new image of a preschool teacher:

The teachers are actively engaged with the children—being a “challenging customer” in the children’s pretend restaurant, encouraging children in the paint area to experiment with mixing colors, and helping a child brainstorm what to do while waiting for his turn on the computer. The children respond with deep engagement and eagerness to contribute their own ideas, and these everyday activities challenge them to engage in social problem solving, create and test hypotheses about the physical world, and learn to regulate their behavior.

Any time we tell a child something, we rob them of the chance to think for themselves.
Any time we do something for a child, we rob them of the chance to learn for themselves.

When a child asks “Why”, as they so often do – let your reply be “Why do you think?”

At our reflective practice group last week, we watched videos and discussed what the following things might look like for children, and what activities and materials might be the best to elicit these skills:

Critical Thinking
Reasoning Skills
Creative Thinking
The Scientific Method
Technology Skills
Engineering
Math Concepts
Independent Thinking

Developing these skills with young children is a great way to prepare them for success in school and it life.  The days of the weeks, parts of an insect, dinosaur names, alphabet and numbers will come, too, but being able to think for themselves will be an even greater gift you can give to the children.

Challenge yourself:  Each day, notice at least one of these skills in the children.  Write up a little story about it and post it for all to see. 

Just like the psychology behind a gratitude journal (if you know you need to write down 5 things you are grateful at the end of the day, you start looking for them and feeling more grateful),  if you know you need to post a brain moment at the end of the day – you will begin to watch for them, and create activities and experiences the will be more likely to elicit them.

Building Success in Early Achievers

Many of you have gone over the block tower of Early Achievers Level 2 with me.  Now that we have the experience of many programs being rated, I can share some common traits of those that have been successful.

1.        They don’t just count on their already quality program passing.  Even a very good program may need some adjustments to meet the specific items addressed in the ERS and CLASS assessments.

2.       They pay deep attention to the details in the ERS and CLASS assessments.  Counting the numbers of items, labeling containers, including diversity in all areas, etc. are important parts of meeting the thresholds.  Using the scavenger hunts, the ERS books, practice assessments makes a big difference.  This is the all important block tower level of ERS and CLASS.

3.       All levels of staff are involved.  Directors/FCC providers, teachers, aides, and all staff are familiar with the assessments and practice elevating their skills with the teachers on a regular basis.

4.       They take advantage of the help available.  They schedule many practice assessments with their TA specialist (me), they attend Reflective Practice, they read the blog and share with each other, they use staff meetings to talk about Early Achievers.  This is the block level of site visits, email and blog, and reflective practice.

Even great programs need to be very clear about what is in the assessments.   Sometimes just a few adjustments can make a big difference in your score.

Meeting ERS Quantities

Meeting ERS Quantities

The quantities of materials needed to score highly in the Environmental Rating Scale seem astronomical sometimes.  Here are some inexpensive and simple ways to meet the quantities without breaking the bank.   This can get you started, and you’ll think of lots more as you go.

ERS Area And specific requirements	Homemade  or around the house ideas	Thrift Shop Ideas	Dollar Store Ideas
Books Fantasy Nature/Science Factual Race/Culture People Abilities Animals	Make homemade books with the children.  Cut out pictures from magazines and catalogs, print from the internet, use photos, etc.  Make a book about grandmas and grandpas;  a book about animals; a book about jobs using gender diversity…  They don’t have to be a story – using just pictures will make them great ways to have conversations and ask open ended questions
Fine Motor 3-5 of each: Small building materials Art items Manipulatives Puzzles	Make lacing cards.  Cut shapes from thick paper or plastic.  Punch holes around the edges and attach a shoestring. Save large pieces of  Styrofoam form packaging to stick golf tees of craft sticks  into		Beads for stringing.  Shoelaces Small kitchen tongs or tweezers for transferring objects Small pitchers for pouring
Art 3-5 of each Drawing Paints 3D Collage Tools	Always have lots of paper available so children can make their own individualized creations Look online for homemade dough recipes Save paper tubes, egg cartons, pieces of wood  and boxes to glue sculptures Save a “scrap box” with old wrapping paper, ribbons, greeting cards, and any other items		Craft area may have craft sticks, pipe cleaners, and other 3D items. Inexpensive crayons, markers, glue sticks, watercolor paints , etc. Collage materials
Music/Movement Instruments Music to listen to Dance props	Make homemade instruments.  See if families can make copies of music from their culture on a CD for you Do you use Pandora or Spotify?  Find multicultural music there to play	Scarves for dancing	Crepe paper cut into streamers for dancing Plastic eggs or other shapes that can be made into shakers
Blocks 2-3 kinds of blocks(2 inches or larger, Leggos and other linking items do not count) Transportation toys People Animals	Homemade stuffed milk carton blocks		Cars and plastic animals
Sand/Water	Use dish tub or low storage bin as container for water or sand/dirt Bath towels under table/bins		Funnels, measuring cups, basters, cups Plastic table cloth or shower curtain for under water table
Dramatic Play Male and female dress ups Multicultural items 2 or more themes	Grab some male clothing/accessories from the back of the closet for dress ups Empty Food containers, especially from ethnic foods you eat Table cloth, vase, flowers Take out menus, especially from ethnic restaurants Cookbooks, ethnic cookbooks Reusable shopping bags	Men’s shoes, ties, clothing for dress up Female dress up items Pots/pans, kitchen items, dishes, pitchers, etc.	Kitchen items – pot holders, wooden spoons, spatulas, plates, cups, etc. Glasses (take out lenses) Play phones Play money Small broom/dustpan
Make a second dramatic ply theme:  Post Office	Junk mail Pick up free priority mail boxes at the post office	Blue shirts	Calculators, stamps and pads, packing items, pens, stickers, index cards to make post cards
Nature/Science 3-5 of each: Natural objects Living things Books/toys/pictures Activities	Leaves, sticks, pinecones, rocks, other natural items from the yard Plants Pictures from calendars, internet Talk and learn  about plants in your yard/garden		Craft area may have rocks and shells
Math/Number 3-5 of each: Counting Written numbers Measuring Comparing quantities Shapes	Bring out your bathroom scale to measure weights of things Make charts or graphs with the children, such as sunny vs. cloudy days, children’s heights, etc.	Sorting trays (muffin tins, other divided items)	Calculators, play money, rulers, tape measures In floral area – gemstones or rocks to sort or count Craft area – pompoms or other items to count/sort
Diversity In books, pictures and materials: Race Culture Ages Abilities Gender	See books, dramatic play, music  items above Look for photos on the internet If families are visiting their home country, see if they might bring something back for you.

Effective Open Ended Questions

Effective Open Ended Questions

So you’ve been practicing your open ended questions (see below for a list to help you).  Now let’s focus on making sure you are using them effectively.

Once you ask an open ended question, are you getting answers from the children?  Or are you leaving the question hanging in the air like Ferris Beuller’s teacher  “Anyone??  Anyone??”

When you ask an open ended question:

·         Leave enough space and time for the children to answer – not answering for them, or moving on to another child right away

·         Give prompts and hints for them to come up with an answer

·         Rephrase you question in a new way

·         Relate your question to something they already know

Open ended questions/starters

What would happen if…

What do you think this book might be about?

Do you need anything else?

What do you need to get started?

How does that work?

How did that happen?

What is another way we could do that?

Can you think of…

How will you start?

What is your plan?

What’s happening?

How could you get that out?

How do you think we could fix that?

Want do you think happens next?

What could we do?

What do you think made this happen?

What should we put in this space?

How do you think…

What do you think about…

What made you think of that?

What are some ways…

How could we…

What else could we…

What else can you think of to…

What is another way to…

What is another way we could…

Do you have any ideas about…

What ideas can you think of for…

I wonder if there are other ways – what do you think?

How could we figure that out?

What would we need to…

Help me figure out…

What are your best ideas about…

I bet you have an idea about…

I need help figuring out…

What would be the best way to…

How many ways could we…

What are some other ideas about this?

How do you think we could…

Why do you think that this…

What do you think?

Three Hour Tour

Three Hour Tour

For the Environment Rating Scale assessment, it is important that children have access to all the materials in the classroom for 3 hours per day.  You can count the early morning, late afternoon and any free play/work time in the daily schedule. 

Make sure ALL areas are open and available during these 3 hours.  Make sure it is clear on your daily schedule that there are 3 hours of access to free play in the classroom.  The data collectors will rely heavily on what you have listed on your daily schedule (posted inside the classroom) to determine if you have the 3 hours of access.  If some centers are closed, you will not get credit for the full access for children.

The 3 hour rule applies to:  music, art, blocks, dramatic play, nature and science, books, fine motor, sand/water play, math/number and diversity.

The ERS assessment greatly values free play and the opportunity it gives for children to make choices about what they do, who they interact with, and time interactions between children with their teachers both 1:1 and in smaller groups.

In free play there is ample time for many of the other items the ERS (and CLASS Assessment) is looking for:

·         Open ended questions

·         Scaffolding

·         Prediction

·         Brainstorming

·         Kids thinking for themselves

·         Using language

·         Informal reading

·         Reasoning skills

·         Critical thinking

·         Peer connections

·         Etc.

Free play also gives teachers more opportunities to work 1:1 with children – individualizing the curriculum to the needs of each child.

How much free play is on your schedule today?

Game Show

At our reflective practice group this month we did a little game show where participants were blindfolded and given large letters of a scrambled word.  Once they were given a clue, they had to feel what letter they had and figure out together what the word was, then unscramble it and hold up the letters to spell the word. 

Here are the clues – can you guess the words?

1.     Having back and forth conversations with children is vital for them to learn communication skills

2.     Get down on the floor, or sit at the table and do this with the children

3.     All ages will benefit from music – do this often

4.     Books and language should be part of every day.  Several times a day, do this with the children

5.     Getting children to talk and think for themselves is how they learn to communicate.  A way to do this is to

6.     As often as you can, relate what you are doing with the children to their real

7.     Show you enjoy being with the children by doing this

8.     This is the kind of behavior you want to give the most attention to

9.     This kind of play will score most highly in the ERS assessment

10. This is a place online where you can review bite sized ideas to elevate your teaching practice

Answers

1.       TALK

2.       PLAY

3.       SING

4.       READ

5.       ASK

6.       LIFE

7.       SMILE

8.       GOOD (really, positive, but it had too many letters!)

9.       FREE

10.   BLOG (you are here !)