The Theory:
I am returning to teaching Kindergarten in a Full Day Kindergarten class (first year for this school) in Ontario, where we are entering year 3 of implementing a full day, every day program. After five years out of the classroom, as a curriculum consultant, with the majority of the time spent leading the Kindergarten charge, I realize I have A LOT to rethink from my previous practices!
If I didn’t already know that I had a lot to reconsider, during the process of moving office and home in the past months, I sorted through some of my previous K practice. What was left out of all those worksheets and copies? Only songs and poems! It is time to really examine my philosophy and build a classroom that is in alignment!
My first ‘rethink’ is about my image of the child. I have been influenced in this regard by readings from Reggio Emilio approaches and especially from the leadership and resources from the Ministry of Education. It is about the children. Looking at the language and the images in the program document, that is abundantly clear.
If I really believe this, and well, ‘duh’… after all didn’t we all go into education to be about children?... then what does that really mean?
I believe that children are brilliant, creative, competent individuals who bring their own knowledge and experiences to the classroom. I know that I never fail to be amazed and delighted by their brilliance. I believe, like Piaget, that “play is a child’s work” and that they learn through play, wonder, discovery and joy. They are eager explorers of their world and can make more choices, construct deeper understandings, deal with more complexity and make stronger connections than I think I have allowed for in my past classrooms. Let’s get real… than I KNOW I have allowed for in the past!
Example of the differentiated rules two K’s have set for a complex game involving numeration they have created at the light table that meet the needs and math proficiency of each.(Source: Mathematics Throughout the Day" videos in Kindergarten section of www.edugains.cc )
The Practical:
So realizing that we need to begin with our philosophy, my teaching partner, Debbie George (RECE) and I have decided that we are going into this classroom with our constant overarching wondering: Children are brilliant. How can we provoke that brilliance?
This will translate to an overarching consideration for all of us in the classroom (posted over our gathering place):
“Thinking is fun. How can we share our thinking?”
We plan to utilize the ‘Think it, say it (hear it), write it, read it’ connection to explicitly link what goes on in our heads to how we can share those ideas. We will allow this to broaden out into any representation (artistic, mathematical…) and inquiry as it evolves in the classroom. Our role as educators will be to provoke the thinking, support its expression and evolution and make the thinking and learning visible. I have no doubt that many more postings will circle around this complex task in the future!
Next posting: Preparing Our Learning Environment! (delay on this one as we haven’t been able to get into the classroom yet due to construction! Aaaahhhh!)
