Today is National Superhero Day. Gloria wanted to celebrate. She dressed up for the big day. She wanted to be a Superhero.
I had a talk with Gloria. She needed to know that a real superhero doesn’t need a costume. She didn’t understand. Spider-Man and Wonder Woman wear a costume. Yes, but they are pretend. Real superheroes, like a dad, or a teacher, or a neighbor don’t always wear a costume. It’s what they do that makes them a Superhero.
Gloria was shocked. She hadn’t thought about that! We talked about what a real superhero does. Gloria decided just what she wants to do, too. It is touching. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Gloria really is the best.
Jennie
P.S. For my new blog followers, Gloria is perhaps the most important person in my preschool classroom. Over the years she has brought more joy and wisdom to children than I could have ever imagined. She is the ‘real deal’, with the biggest heart of all. Children see her insides, not her outside. There is much I have written about Gloria on my blog, she has really good stories.
Faces. This is ‘Life 101’ with a footnote of humor. John Kraft was one of the first bloggers I followed, as he has a sense of humor that is as brilliant as Barb Taub, wisdom like Charles French, and he writes serials that are as good as Pete Johnson’s. I hope you enjoy his post as much as I did.
Everybody has one with the exception of those people we meet who turn out to have two, but we try to avoid them. As a youth in Pennsylvania there was a character who had been in a horrible accident and was known locally as “No Face Charlie.” That is another story for another day.
What I’ve been thinking about lately is what The Face, my face, your face, everyone’s face, tells us about the person. It’s not a matter of “beauty.” What constitutes beauty changes constantly. A great beauty from the 1890s in America would today be posing for the “Before” picture in an ad for the Weight Watchers diet program.
When we meet somebody for the first time we hear their name but, more often than not, we instantly forget it because we are looking at their face – making a million snap decisions based on what we…
Today we had a drive-by birthday party for a fellow teacher. It was the first time ‘out’ except for occasional trips to the grocery store, which are somber and depressing. The masks and one-way lines and store monitors will one day be a stark reminder to future generations.
But, today was a breath of fresh air. Literally. The birthday party host played live music. People honked and cheered. His big farm sits atop a wide open hill with views for miles. A few people got out of their cars to wave and enjoy the music. I felt like Maria in the opening scene of “The Sound of Music.”
The host took my music request, “Baby Shark.” Anyone with little children knows this song! This was perfect for the birthday party guest of honor, my former fellow teacher. She remembered. She cried. She loved it. I ran around singing the song the way I do with my preschoolers.
Celebrating National Library Week is going to be a little challenging this year, but are we up to it?
What’s that?
I don’t think I heard you.
Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!
While we may not be able to visit our favorite library/librarians in person, CNN has kindly put together a list of 7 digital libraries you can visit without ever leaving your couch. So sit back, click on the link, and enjoy!
In Part 3, I jumped right into what children need most and what I do best, reading aloud. Setting up a YouTube channel gave them stories every day. It was also a constant. Then, we challenged children with art, scavenger hunts, plus math and science activities. We encouraged children to send us photos of what they were doing, and also how they responded to our challenges. They loved it. The pictures flowed, and that opened the door to writing back and forth with children.
Part 4
When there is a pandemic or a crisis of any kind, we all grab onto what is near and dear to us. Routine and familiar events and faces that we take for granted suddenly become incredibly important. For children this is magnified, and perhaps their one and only lifeline.
As a teacher, I know this all too well.
The constant I can give children is chapter reading, picking up where we left off at school and never letting that drop. Never. From page 53 in Little House in the Big Woods, I have continued reading every single school day.
We finished the book, and on Zoom we asked children if they wanted to hear a new book, or the next adventure with Laura and Mary. Hands down, they wanted the next book in the series. I think they needed that, wanted that.
And so, I have started reading aloud Little House on the Prairie. My goodness, in between the two books I pulled out maps to show children the long journey from Wisconsin to Kansas. Rivers played an important part in the book, so my geography lessons with maps were included.
Last week I read perhaps the most heartfelt chapter, ‘Crossing the Creek’. Did I cry? You bet I did! It is powerful. My favorite blog post, ‘The Boy Who Cried Tears of the Heart’ is all about reading this chapter to children.
The following chapter, ‘Camp on the High Prairie’, is a must to understand what happens next. Yes, I cried. Dog lovers cry.
For those of you who enjoyed hearing me read aloud The Poet’s Dog and asked me to read aloud more, I hope you enjoy these two powerful chapters. Jack the dog in this story is as wonderful as Teddy the dog.
Reading aloud is a warm blanket for children. It is also a source of inspiration, adventure, and escape. As the weeks go by in school with distance learning, we will have great activities for the children. Yet, everything is grounded in what they know and love, chapter reading.
In Part 2, I detailed our annual Art Show over the years, with stories of children and major works of art. I also described how music played a major role in helping children feel inspired to create masterpieces. The magnitude of the Art Show was crucial, and suddenly it was gone.
Part 3 When school shut down I knew I had to do something. Right away. Keeping a connection with children was the most important thing. And, what was it that children loved, their favorite part of the day? Reading stories and chapter reading. I knew if I could still read to children, that would be important.
The first thing I did was to set up a YouTube channel. I read a picture book every day. I also picked up where we left off in chapter reading on page 53 of Little House in the Big Woods. That has been a constant, every day. I started with books the children like. The shock of the first few weeks demanded good books, favorite books. I was nurturing their soul. Continuing with chapter reading was doing the same thing.
Then, my team and I wanted to move forward and bring in teaching. How could we continue with art and the Art Show? I read aloud The Noisy Paint Box, by Barb Rosenstock, the story of Kandinsky.
More than that, I opened the video with stories of Eric Carle and his art (the children love Eric Carle), and how Kandinsky influenced him to become the painter he is today. After the story, I showed them in the video other styles of art that we had started to learn, and I challenged them to create their own masterpieces. It is a wonderful video!
We began to post other videos on YouTube- music, yoga, mindfulness, math activities, rhyming, and science. Every day became a theme for learning. Gloria began to make visits. When my co-teacher hosted a scavenger hunt, Gloria wanted to participate, too.
We emailed families and encouraged children to tell us what they were doing at home. Families sent photos, and we wrote to the children. There’s nothing better for a child than a note from the teacher. We were flooded with photos and opportunities to email and connect with children.
When the writing began, we recommended that children keep a journal of their time at home. They could draw pictures and have their parents write the words. Better yet, they could try to write some of their own words. Parents were thrilled, and so were children.
Can you see how the teaching has developed, and learning is taking shape?
We now do Zoom every Friday. It is fun, and children can see their friends. We sing and talk, and that is important. Social skills are a must for preschoolers. Zoom keeps that essential piece going.
I have to share with you my fun video. The backstory is that every day, right before chapter reading, I recite the classic children’s book, Goodnight Moon. Sometimes I change it up and interject children’s names, such as “and a picture of Jimmy jumping over the moon.” Sometimes I put the story to a beat. The children love that. So, I did a Goodnight Moon rap for the children.
We are learning. We are having fun. We are all in this together. Being there for children is #1. The teaching and learning begin to flow once we are connected. Thank goodness for our Aqua Room YouTube channel. Thank goodness for emailing and photos. Thank goodness for Zoom. We keep adding and doing what is important, even a simple card in the mail.
Stay well and stay safe, and stay tuned for Part 4, a highlight on chapter reading.
To all parents out there, worried about their young child, and trying to keep school and learning going at home – here are my words to a parent who was concerned that her child often wanted to play:
“When you say that Tommy wants to build with blocks and play doctor, and play “emergency” – that is great news! Children’s play is their work. It is how they make sense of their world and how they express themselves and work things out. Play is really, really important. Mister Rogers knew that early on.”
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.”
-Mister Rogers-
Charles French shares excellent quotations with his readers. Today he shared the best of the best, outstanding quotations on empathy. Each one is important and needs to be remembered. There can never be too many reminders about empathy. Thank you, Charles.
“Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and, therefore, the foundation of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared.”
A Teacher's Reflections 