I think my friend Rachel needs to start a blog. Until that happens, I get to pick her brain and ask her to write guest posts for us here! I say that like I’m going to keep asking. Because I probably will :D. (Rachel, you’ve been warned ;)). A couple months ago, she shared her awesome tips on How Teaching Has Influenced My Parenting. Today, I am sharing her equally thoughtful and practical ideas on How Parenting Will Affect My Teaching. It’s everything I had hoped it would be, and more! I am super excited for you to read it. Teachers, I’d love to hear how parenting has affected you as an educator as well! Please feel free to share in the comments below.
How Parenting Will Affect My Teaching
A guest post by Rachel K.
Being a stay-at-home mom is a gift in many ways: It has allowed me to watch my kids grow up, shape the way they see and interact with the world, take an active role in their education and in helping them develop life skills. All of which, I would consider, standard fare (things you could reasonably expect to experience when you are at home with your children). As an educator on hiatus, however, I have been gifted in unexpected ways too. I have gotten to experience life from the outside of the classroom looking in. I have helped with homework I haven’t assigned, quizzed for tests I wasn’t giving, and attended parent conferences and IEP’s where I got to listen instead of lead. It has been, and continues to be, quite the learning experience. What follows are my top 3 take-aways that I will be implementing when I return to education.
Take Away #1: Less homework. More meaningful homework.
It wasn’t until my son became a kindergartner that my view on homework changed. And I am so glad it did! I used to see real value in homework. I still do, to a degree. But nowhere near what I did before I had school-aged kids.
It started as a lesson to prepare my students for book club discussions. In my early years of teaching, I noticed that kids always seemed so preoccupied with saying what they wanted to say during a discussion that they hardly seemed to pay attention to what others were saying. If I’m honest with myself, I know some adults who are like this. (If I’m really honest with myself, sometimes I’m like this! Hah.)
So I prepared a lesson to teach my fourth graders to be better at these discussions. While my original purpose was to improve book club conversations, our class conversation soon morphed to focusing on the importance of showing courtesy and respect when conversing with anyone, anywhere! In the years following, I made sure to teach conversational skills early on so we could practice all year long. The kids always loved this lesson, because it was real and it was a social skill they could tell was applicable to all of life.
I usually started it off like this:
“Today, we’re going to talk about how to communicate effectively. Usually, we think of communicating as talking, but there are lots of ways to communicate with others. For example, you are always communicating with your body. Think about what your mom looks like when she’s talking with another mom. When she’s listening, she’s usually nodding her head, looking the person in the eye, and says, ‘Uh huh… yeah! Oh, totally…’ and other things to show she is listening, right?”
I can see, as I’m imitating mothers, that my students are envisioning their own moms showing these excellent listening skills.
“It’s not just what she’s saying, but it’s the way she is furrowing her brow, looking intently, nodding, and holding her arms still that shows she is interested and engaged. What if, instead of all those things, she did this?”
I repeat the same words- “Uh huh… yeah… Oh, totally…” but this time while rolling my eyes, sighing in the middle, tilting my head away from the speaker, and using bored inflections in my voice.
The kids laugh.
“It’s funny, right? I mean, I said the same things, but it was clear from my body language and my tone of voice that I was not really listening well. Body language sometimes communicates a lot more than your words, so when we are in conversations, we should be sure to use good body language that says, ‘I’m listening!’ to show respect to the other person. That means you’re sitting up, making eye contact, your mouth is closed and not talking over them, and your hands are still.”
Even as I’m saying it, I see all their backs straighten, their eyes fixed on me, mouths shut, with perfect little snowball hands. How darling.
I introduced playdough to my girl a few months ago, but it wasn’t until she turned two that she really, really got into it.
Playdough is fantastic for imaginative play, fine motor skills and well, keeping your kid occupied while you cook dinner. Look, she might even make you a wrap with arugula and cheese while you’re at it!
Looks tasty, right? 🙂
One annoying thing about playdough is its tendency to dry out quickly. We have a lot of little tubs of Play-doh, and even if we remember to put it back into the tub each time, it still starts getting dry in a matter of days, and that’s not as fun to play with. Of course, half the time we forget and leave it out and come back to an icky, crusty chunk of dough that is not pliable at all. No fun. Also, the tubs of Play-doh are so unsatisfyingly small. You can barely shape a strawberry out of one before you run out!
I’m so over that. Now I can use a few simple pantry ingredients to make a HUGE ball of playdough that she can make a grand feast with! Now she has huge hunks of “bread” that she can really cut through with a plastic knife, and lots of pasta “dough” to extrude noodles with. It is so satisfying to have a huge hunk of dough :). I also like that we can make it whatever color we want (although our purple one pictured above came out kind of muddy looking).
She helped me make it last time, and she learned so many fun things through the process! Some examples:
- scooping and leveling flour
- stirring
- pouring water carefully
- red and blue mix together to make… PURPLE!!! PUR-PO MAMA, PUR-PO!!!
- heat causes chemical reactions (okay she might not totally grasp this concept yet, but it was a great introduction to it!)
- how to knead dough
It was a great morning activity and we still have a moist blob of playdough to show for it. I also feel like mom of the year, so that counts for something, too. If it’s your first time, I’d suggest starting the the quarter recipe and making more in the future if you like. Enjoy!!
Wendy is not only one of my best friends, but she is one of the most passionate and hard-working educators I know. I’ve known her for nearly two decades, and I can’t believe I didn’t pick her brain on one of the topics closest to her heart until now! Now, you all get to hear her perspective and learn from her experience as a special education teacher. Whether you are a teacher or a parent, there’s a lot we can learn about this population and how to love and serve them better!
We decided to go with a question-and-answer style for this post, where I posed the questions. I know she put a lot of thought and time into sharing this information with you and I believe you will benefit SO MUCH from reading it! Please leave your encouraging comments below and share what you learned! ~JoEllen
Inclusive Education
This post originally appeared on http://www.cfah.org/
Please tell us about why you decided to go into special education
I knew I wanted to be a teacher from the time I was in high school. Back, then, I thought I would be an elementary school classroom teacher. During my senior year of high school, I volunteered at a class geared towards kids with Down syndrome. I fell in love with those kids! It was my first experience interacting with children with disabilities and it helped me to see that in so many ways, people with disabilities are just like the rest of us. They, too, need love, respect, meaningful relationships, and a good education. Then, in my time at Cal, I took some classes on Disability Studies. I started to learn more about the social justice aspects of inclusive education and how, as recently as the early 1970s, people with disabilities were often stuck in institutions and denied enrollment in public schools. Since the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), children with disabilities are now educated in our public school system. I felt called to be the best teacher I could be for students with disabilities. I wanted to help find ways to facilitate students with disabilities participating in their general education classes, help them reach their academic and social potential, and be full members of a school community. I have stayed in this field because I feel that it has really allowed me to think about and teach each of my students as individuals.
What is inclusion all about? Why do it?
Inclusion in a very general sense is when children and people with disabilities are full members of our society. In the education context, inclusion means that all students with and without disabilities are full, valued members of the class and larger school community. Students with disabilities participate in the general curriculum and in class/school-wide activities alongside their non-disabled peers. Services and supports are given to students with disabilities in the general education setting so that these students can access the general curriculum and make progress towards their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goals.
Hello Readers! It is my pleasure to introduce my friend Rosalie Yu, a good friend and fellow educator! Rosalie worked at a childcare center for multiple years, then taught 4th-6th grade before moving on to her Project Specialist role that has turned into her current Curriculum Support Specialist position, where she spends a lot of time coaching teachers. She absolutely loves organizing closets/styling wardrobes, photography, and cooking, and also tries to host a meal for a friend at least once a week in her home! You can see more of her work here at www.blushingroseinc.com.
I have always appreciated and admired Rosalie’s heart to love, serve, and mentor others. It’s been wonderful to see her grow as a wife and mother, and to see how she is applying her skills as an educator to her parenting. She has an amazing eye for beauty, which shows in her photography, home design, fashion, and most of all her appreciation for people. I’ve learned a lot from her over the years, and I am so glad she can share some of her wisdom with us today!
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Celebrating Every Win
A guest post by Rosalie Yu
I’ve known JoEllen since we met at church camp back in high school, but little did we know how our paths would cross time and time again after that. Years later, we found ourselves in the same teaching program when we were pursuing our teaching credential; with her being one cohort ahead of me she always provided sound advice and encouragement. She made things sound less daunting and always gave practical tips. Clearly, her blog has extended her helpful reach to many others. In fact, one of the most memorable things JoEllen did for me was send me a care package during my first week as a teacher. I have never forgotten that gesture of kindness and how meaningful it was. We both ended up marrying gentlemen from the camp we met years ago and went from teaching to becoming wives and mothers. It’s an honor to have been asked to write a guest piece for her blog. In the meantime, I’ll be sharing an important lesson I’ve learned over the years that has worked for my 20-month-old son.
I started working with kids in middle school. I knew I wanted to become a teacher since I was five and in all my years of working with children, I have learned many important lessons, with one that stands out the most. When asked by others what piece of advice I could give to a new teacher or a new mom, I would say it’s to celebrate every win.
We all encounter students, people we’re coaching, teammates, and children who haven’t mastered their craft. It could really be anything, even as simple as learning to cook scrambled eggs for the first time. There are many techniques to everything we’ve learned to do in life, but the thing that I’ve seen over and over as a determining factor in achieving success is the importance of building self-efficacy. We all know that “practice makes perfect” yet the journey to perfection is just as influential in the end result. Teaching children to root for themselves begins with us rooting for them.
Hello Readers! This week, I have a special guest post for you from Ann-Marie, a dear friend and co-worker at the school where I used to work! This all started when I went back to the school to visit with my daughter one morning, and happily bumped into her in the hallway. After catching up a bit, she began sharing passionately about her observations and some frustrations she’d encountered with students who were consumed with technology. I found it fascinating, and asked her to write more about it to share with you, readers! ~JoEllen
How Has Technology Affected Children at School? A Teacher’s Perspective
A Guest post by Ann-Marie
I have been teaching kindergarten for a little over ten years now. I’d give you a specific number, but you start to lose count after a while. I don’t know if I’d call myself a veteran, but I’ve been around the block for quite some time now. A few months back I was asked to write this guest blog post and here I am. Have I ever done anything like this? No. By any means would I call myself an expert? No. Am I parent? No. But I am a woman who has spent a lifetime around children. I babysat, I nannied infant twins for 2 years in college and am a proud “auntie” of two beautiful young ladies in middle and high school. I only tell you this so you know that I know children.
How technology addiction manifested itself at school
The first time I really noticed anything was about five years ago. For the first time in my teaching career I had a new crop of kids that didn’t seem to have the ability to discuss books. Granted I have traditionally taught in schools with a high percentage of English language learners (aka “English as a Second Language”), but it wasn’t just the non-English speakers having difficulty. I would read a book like Goldilocks and the Three Bears and ask questions like, “How do you think baby bear is feeling when his food is gone…when his chair is broken? How do you think Goldilocks feels when she wakes up?” Questions I had asked over and over again for years, but something was different. Instead of a room full of five year olds eagerly raising their hands or shouting out answers, they mostly just sat there. A handful of children wanted to answer, but for the most part I received blank stares. It was the beginning of the school year. I thought…they could be shy…they could be nervous. I came up with a whole host of reasons why this was happening. As I got to know my class in the next month or two and during parent conferences, a common thread appeared: electronics. At the time it was mostly video games and TV.
I had the pleasure of working with Rachel for several years at the same school. Although she taught fifth grade and I was in fourth, I learned a lot from her (including line tag!) and frequently went to her for teaching ideas and advice. As a teacher, I appreciated how she was always meticulous and thoughtful about everything. She did everything with purpose and integrity. As friends, we bonded over our shared love of iced coffee and I especially loved how she was always so unapologetically true to her personal convictions and beliefs.
She is one of the most intentional parents I know, and is often one of the first people I think of when I find myself in a parenting jam. She’s a few years ahead of me on this parenting gig, and when I face mommy problems (“Someone is bullying my child!” or “My child is so clingy I can’t even cook dinner!”) I trust that she will have a well thought-out response to my dilemma. Given my respect for her as both a teacher and a mother, I am delighted that she agreed to write this post on “How Teaching Has Impacted My Parenting.” I know I picked up some great ideas from it, and I’m sure you will, too! -JoEllen
How Teaching Has Influenced My Parenting
A guest post by Rachel K.
Before I became a mom, I was a teacher. And the desire to teach my children and to set them up for success was there even before they officially made their entrance in to this world. I swear I purchased Hooked on Phonics even before my first son was born. And I remember crying (on more than one occasion) because I became overwhelmed just thinking about all of the things I was responsible for teaching them. However, as the weeks stretched into months and the months into years, I began to settle in to routines and put to use best practices from my own classroom. Yes. You read that right. Just like my life experiences shaped who I was (and how I was) as an educator, my life in the classroom helped to make me in to a better mom.
When I consider what to post on my blog, I am always thinking of you, my readers. Though I post on a variety of topics, I think most of you are here for the education-related ones. So I ask myself several questions:
- What unique perspective can I offer as a (former) teacher?
- If I were a parent in a non-education field, what are things I could benefit from hearing from someone who was immersed in elementary education?
- What are some things I learned as a teacher that I will apply as a parent?
I had always wanted to be a stay at home mom (SAHM), and purposely chose a career before that stage in life that would help me do an even better job of SAHM-ing. Teaching seemed like the natural choice, since I would gain experience working with, shaping, teaching, and caring for children. I know this isn’t an option for everyone, or an appealing idea for everyone, but I am so thankful for the choices I made. Teaching for eight years really gave me insight on how to train children well, gave me experience to read and understand them better, and taught me how to teach better. I know every parent wants the best for their child, and one of the goals of my blog is to try to share my “insider experience” as a teacher with my parent friends so they can benefit from the experience that I’ve gained over these years.
When I sit and think about what kind of information I’d like to share with you, I often find myself thinking of my colleagues and other teacher friends. I wonder what they would want to share with other teachers and parents if they had a platform to speak up and share on. Sometimes when I write, I wonder what Hanna would think of my post, or how Ann-Marie might respond, or if Rachel would have any input. I wonder what they would say if they had a blog, and what kind of topics they would find worth sharing.
…So I asked them!
And you know what? They have things to say, yes they do. Most teachers don’t teach just because they need a job. They teach because they are passionate about children and learning and growth. They teach because they are compassionate people and want to make the world a better place. So I have invited some of my respected teacher friends to share something they are passionate about. The topics vary greatly, from special needs issues to technology to everyday parenting. I find them all fascinating, and think you will, too!
Encourage open-ended play and fun with these simple craft sticks and some velcro! I made these for one of my daughter’s busy boxes and I’m pretty sure that as she gets older, she’ll enjoy creating all sorts of fun shapes from it. In addition to simply playing with it, I already have some geometry lessons planned, from teaching basic shapes to regular shapes to congruent shapes to understanding the nuances between the different types of quadrilaterals… all using these sticks! Okay, that may be a few years out, but exploring through play at this early age can only help!
They are great for exploring polygons, enjoying color, and working on fine motor skills with the sticking and un-sticking. Even my husband got into it for a little while, and I’m sure visiting friends will get a kick out of building shapes with these fun little sticks (kind of how they love to find new ways to play with this
A while back, I made five busy boxes for my toddler. One for each weekday:
The boxes are basically clear plastic shoe boxes that have a special set of activities and toys to keep her occupied while she quietly sits on a blanket (aka Blanket Time. If you’ve never tried it, you must. It’s awesome). This allows me to go and DO THINGS. Like lie on the couch and try really hard not to close my eyes. Or cook dinner. Or write something up to share with you here on my blog, like how to keep a toddler busy so I can go write about how I kept her busy. As a bonus, many of the activities help her get some fine motor skill practice, or are otherwise helpful for some aspect of her development. Yay!
So far, she only really seems to love the Monday and Tuesday boxes, so I find myself going back to those even on W, Th, and F. Lately, I’ve only been using them 1-2x a week, so that works out for now, but once baby boy comes, I think I’ll have to up my busy box game to buy some more downtime! For now, I’m glad I have at least two winners. I already shared the Tuesday box with you. It’s a simple upcycled oatmeal container that I punched holes into. She can sit there for nearly thirty minutes pushing pipe cleaners in and out!
The Monday busy box I’m sharing today is actually a very similar concept, but with craft pom poms instead of pipe cleaners. 
It’s a hit with my daughter. I especially like how small and portable this one is, and have brought it along for blanket time on-the-go. Just a few weeks ago, we were at a dinner meeting and she was able to quietly play with this toy for a long time before moving onto something else! Other kids enjoyed pushing the pom poms in, too, so it’s easy and inexpensive entertainment for little kids (not just toddlers), too!
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