ECC and Bribery

Two weeks ago we had Friday off from work so that we could attend an Early Childhood conference on Saturday. The conference went the way conferences go, generally speaking. The keynote speakers were great and some of the classes were a little helpful but it's not what I would have chosen to spend my Saturday doing. Th following week we were studying Creepy Crawlies in the classroom. Butterfly nets were provided for catching all sorts of insects as well as frogs, salamanders, chameleons, and spiders galore. Since we didn't have our usual Friday teacher workday my lead teacher and I hurried to get as much done as possible the Thursday before to clean the room and change out the dramatic play area. Needless to say, it could have been a lot better. Other than the nets and the animals to catch there was really nothing for them to do.

The next Friday I was by myself because my lead was off for CNA training. We were told by our supervisor that the dramatic play area needed to be a little more... well, dramatic. I spent about an hour cleaning the classroom then went to town on the dramatic play area. I brought in a fake tree from the hallway then went to grab six feet of greet butcher paper. I covered one of the walls with the paper and cut the top to look like grass then put the tree in the corner. On the wall of grass I put a large ant hill complete with tunnels and the queen in the corner with all her eggs. I also cut out dozens of tissue paper butterflies to be tossed in the air and caught in the nets. I then took a pom-pom and wrapped it in pipe cleaners to look like legs. creating a large black spider. The spider was then suspended from the tree.

We are specifically working on number recognition with the children so I made ten large ladybird beetles and added a certain number of dots on one side with its corresponding number on the other. I then cut the beetles in half different ways so the children could match up the halves. I bought some large coffee filters and brought them in on Monday to make butterflies. We decorated the coffee filters then wrapped up the middle with a pipe cleaner to draw in the middle and puff out the sides to look like wings. I encouraged the children to make ants on the anthill using the eraser of a pencil for the body parts and a marker to draw the legs and antennae. They were given markers and the opportunity to draw whatever creepy crawlie creatures they wanted to on the grass wall.

Wednesday morning my supervisor came in and told me that my lead had been admitted to the ER last night. She is ok, don't worry. She is pregnant and was experiencing severe pain so they went to the hospital but both she and the baby are just fine.The point is I would be the lead teacher for the next couple days. Well the morning class went fairly well except for three little boys who were terrorizing everyone and everything but we managed to make it through to the afternoon. The afternoon class was pretty good as well, same sort of situation though. The next day I decided to try some positive reinforcement a.k.a. bribery. Before class began I pulled aside the three boys and showed them a couple other pom-pom spiders I had made specifically for them. I told them that if they listened well and were good examples for their friends they could take home the spiders at the end of the day. I only had to give one warning to two of the boys and told them it was their only warning. Other than that they were all very well behaved, I couldn't believe they were the same children. At the end of class I thanked each of them as they were leaving and gave them their prizes.

In the afternoon class their is a kid of Tongan decent who is much bigger than all the other children in the class. He also has a very difficult time keeping his hands to himself which apparently is common in the culture. He pushes, hits and wraps his arms around other children's necks. Before class on Thursday I told him if he could keep his hands to himself he would be able to take home the spider that had been hanging from the tree. Amazingly enough he didn't touch a single student the entire day. Bribery works. I'm interested in seeing what happens over the course of the next couple weeks. Hopefully the good behavior continues.

Tête, épaules, genoux, et pied, genoux et pieds

I know I said I would write more often however I have a couple excuses. First, I got really sick with the flu for about two weeks and things just piled up like dirty laundry (which was something that in fact piled up and overflowed out of my hamper). B, two weeks ago was a major deadline for work when many things were due so I spent a lot of time working. Three, I’ve been distracted by snowboarding, sewing, friends, and games. Lastly, I’ve spent my free time just being lazy.

As I said, a couple weeks ago was a major deadline at work. Head Start is a federally funded program so the government likes to know where their money is going. Therefore we are required to keep portfolios for each of the children and provide evidence of their social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language development. We also need to write anecdotes about how the children fulfill the requirements of a fifty point Creative Curriculum. We also had parent teacher conferences at the same time. I never knew how much paperwork could be involved in teaching preschool.

Every two weeks we switch the theme of the classroom. A few weeks ago our theme was space. We had pictures of planets all around the room, little toy robots and aliens, a cardboard rocket ship, and little spacesuits for the height impaired. We talked about the sun and our position in the solar system. We strung up a paper cone rocket on a string and the children had to figure out how to get it across the room without the use of their hands. I shot off little photo canister alka seltzer rockets. It was a blast.

The next two weeks were focused on the ocean. Water dwelling creatures were posted all along the walls. Fishing poles were given to the children as they fished for fish with fishy numbers on them. I folded paper boats the children colored with markers. The next day we placed the boats in a tub of water to see if they would float. Sure enough, they did… temporarily. With the waves and splashing from the children playing around the boats were soon drenched and sinking to the bottom, the color from the markers melting into the water. At first the water was a beautiful array of colors, then as they mixed it became a murky brown. My friend Mel who works at the aquarium came in to do some activities with the children turning a couple of them into bullfrogs that ate the rest of the children as an example of an endemic species.

Following our ocean theme we are now in the middle of a fantasy/fairy tale setup. A large castle is hanging up on the wall in front of a small puppet theatre. In my best Swedish chef impersonation I took a chef puppet and chased after one of the pigs trying to make bacon. It is a good thing that it was only fantasy as I would never do such a thing in real life. The kids got a kick out of it though. We tell stories like Jack and the Beanstalk which comes complete with a tiny Jack, a tiny giant, and a tiny giant beanstalk.

I have taken my guitar into the class twice now to sing songs like This Little Light of Mine, Puff the Magic Dragon and Down by the Bay. I also introduced the children to Head, Shoulders, Knees and Feet in French. Now they are moving and singing in a second, or for many a third, language. It is pretty cool.

I am really enjoying my job. I can’t think of any other profession I would rather be in. I don’t spend all my time working though, as it might sound. I actually have very active yoga and Buddhist practices. I attend a Power Hour yoga class twice a week and sitting meditation once a week. I am also in the process of sewing a rakasu. A rakasu is a bib-looking thing that hangs around my neck during meditation. I am sewing it so that I might receive jukai in May. Jukai is translated into receiving the precepts. So in May I will officially be considered a Buddhist.

All in all, life is pretty great. I really appreciate that I have so many things to be thankful for. I am healthy, I have a nice place to live in a pretty cool city, I have a great job (especially nice with an economy in such a state), and spring is on its way. Hooray!