The Edublog Awards-Nominate by Dec. 8th!

The Edublog Awards are taking nominations
Don't forget to vote for your favorite blog!
Mine is:

Life Skills 411
http://lifeskills411.org/blog/
*Best Group Blog
*Best educational use of a virtual world
*Best student blog
AND

Life Skills 411
http://lifeskills411.org/
*Lifetime Achievement
*Best educational use of a social networking service
*Best educational use of a virtual world
Vote by December 8th!

Unscramble This

 “You can understand and relate to most people better if you look at them -- no matter how old or impressive they may be -- as if they are children. For most of us never really grow up or mature all that much -- we simply grow taller. O, to be sure, we laugh less and play less and wear uncomfortable disguises like adults, but beneath the costume is the child we always are…”
~Leo Rosten:

“My cooking is so bad my kids thought Thanksgiving was to commemorate Pearl Harbor.”
~Phyllis Diller

The kids love the House Keeping Area in the classroom. I often think of it as a private window into what goes in their home life…after all, where do they pick up those plots for their play? I mean Holey Guacamole! Who needs Soap Operas when you can watch the kids? I love how kids introduce a theme to one another for play…it will usually go like this.
“Hi Pricilla, wanna play, ‘Mom-Gets-a-Speeding-Ticket-and-Hides-it-From-Daddy?' Yeah? Good! Now, all we need is a dad, now-let’s find a boy-kid, together!
Huminah, huminah, huminah…some days, I hear no evil-see no evil-and REPEAT no evil.
Then there was a time I had to step in because two children were arguing over how to pray over the pretend scrambled eggs they had just cooked together.
“I’m tellin’ ya, Shelly, ya pray AFTER”
“NO! You pray FIRST- then you eat, Maya!”
“Well,” I offered, “Sounds like there is a problem. Shelly, why do you say you must pray after?”
“My dad says anytime my mom cooks you should pray after you eat…. And she is playing the mom.”
Uh…yeah…like I said, See no evil-speak no evil-REPEAT no evil…

Using Camera's Effectively in Early Childhood Education

“... the mind must be prepared for knowledge as one prepares a field for planting, and a discovery made too soon is no better than a discovery not made at all."
~Louis L'Amour

I love photos. It’s easy to be enthusiastic when you surround yourself with things you love in early childhood education. I am ‘involved’ with the program and curriculum but no longer ‘attached’ to it. It belongs to the kids. The kids must be interested and involved….sometimes that means me keeping my flapping gums shut and letting them figure out things for themselves…other times, well, I have to step in. Teaching isn’t always hovering over hushed cabbage heads-spoon feeding those pearls of wisdom. Sometimes it’s stepping back when you’re fairly aching to speak-but that is when I find out how much the children truly know and understand.
We take pictures of the children thought-out the seasons. Working in different areas, with different friends, or feeling different emotions. After the children have mastered how to use the camera effectively, I let them take their own pictures with disposable cameras and the put them in portfolios they have made. Every now and then we look at them.
“Look how small Hillary was, she doesn’t cry anymore!”
“I bet Ian took that picture, there’s a truck in it-again! Ian, come here!”
“Hey, that tree outside isn’t green anymore, it’s red! Look!”
“Hey my dad has more hair in this picture!”
For their sake I say nothing……I smile and nod…the children buzz with excitement and show one another the pictures. Kids change, seasons change, discoveries mean change, growth means change. It was all caught on camera…I just goes to show, children work and play though change with such a positive mindset, they don’t notice it. Wouldn’t it be nice if we as adults would embrace ‘change’ like that once again?
Picture that….

The Sweetest Compliment of All

"Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I believe that education is all about being excited about something. Seeing passion and enthusiasm helps push an educational message."
~Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter

I was given a compliment today…about my profession…by an engineer…ahem. So what’s the big at deal? Well, glad you asked-I rarely get compliments (let alone comments) about my job. Usually it’s an- ‘oh- how sweet’ or ‘Gee, how about that’…then-you can hear crickets till someone has to tell a joke or something. He went on to tell me how teachers like me create a foundation for kids to be excited about knowledge and learning. How we and all educators were necessary to plant that seed of passion for learning. Then he thanked me. I sat there for a minute…mouth hanging a bit open (oops). Sure, I believe everything he said…it’s just really nice to hear it said back to you.
Then I thought, ‘Wow, I must always be prepared for a battle and never prepared for a compliment’. I thanked him.
That wasn’t really what was so interesting, though. I know- I know- get to the point…
I realize that there is nothing I was given that I didn’t receive. There were so many instrumental people in my life that have been examples to me, led and guided me. I can only do what I do and be the ‘teacher’ he described because I had been properly taught and instructed. After over 20 years of working with families and children and putting up my dukes against burn-out…hey, it’s not all easy-peisy-lemon-squeesy, but it’s worth it.
I am thankful for all the opportunities I have been given to teach, and all those that have taken time to invest in me. That really was my secret all these years to avoiding burn out-being thankful and being positive.
The ones that invest in me the most are the kids; they spend the most time with me. Yes, I thanked the engineer for the compliment – I also believe it would be a compliment the kids would give me(or any of us awesome teachers) if they could formulate it but, they show me in the classroom each day, instead; by the way they play, work, and display acts of friendship with each other, and ultimately, that…..THAT….. is the sweetest compliment of all.

What's Great About Barbra & Intello-Kids

First off Barbra is hilarious. Her ability to transfer practical knowledge to educators with delightful stories always keeps me laughing. She is very real about what she shares and can convey messages that always reach my heart and I am sure her faithful followers will agree.

Barb, thanks so much for all you do and give in writing this blog. Its amazing the effort you give out and the dedication you bring in helping us all to learn how to better educate the future people who will carry on life as we may or may not know it on Earth. LOl

Working With Parents in Early Childhood Education

 "If you promise not to believe everything your child says happens at school, I'll promise not to believe everything she says happens at home."

That was my response when a toddler made an outrageous harmless statement about her before his mother picked him up.
She sighed with relief....
I'll sigh with relief if she remembers this moment.
It won't be long before her child will have an outrageous story to tell about me...
I think it's so important for parents and teachers to work as partners and not divide in the communication and continuity of care for the child. Just like a bridge, the more pillars it has under it the stronger the structure is against the elements-our children are no different....

The Honorable Mention: Team Teaching in Early Childhood Education

Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.

Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
Just walk beside me and be my friend.
~ Albert Camus

Team teaching was challenging to me when I first did it. I never know that moving furniture around the classroom or changing the schedule could turn someone else’s world upside down. I learned certain people have different ways of doing things and it is important to communicate…communicate…communicate. Most of my team teaching experiences have been fabulously successful. We made the best of what materials we had, and our goals were the same…we clearly loved and valued the families and the children. Through our common goals we developed a respect for each other and a friendship at work. What I noticed when this happens, the children’s interactions with one another reflect another level of respect; the laughter, the friendship-perhaps, because they see it so prevalent, it all adds to the pleasantness of the environment. Those school years I didn’t have quite the same relationship with the team (I was with)... I really missed it. If you are fortunate enough to be in a team teaching situation…strive for excellence…it takes time, like all good things. The team works for the greater good…and what could be greater than a pleasant, positive environment for everyone to learn, laugh, and grow in friendship.