Becoming a Reflective Teacher

Transcription

1 by Margie Carter, Wendy Cividanes, Deb Curtis, and Debbie Lebo (pages 8 20), 2, 3 This article promotes reflective teaching practices by identifying specific activities and approaches that teachers can use to think through their work. The authors present a Thinking Lens with questions to guide teachers through a process of considering multiple perspectives for planning and responding to children. Notes: Prior to the session,. Read the expanded version of the article online at Ask participants to read and bring a copy of the article to the session. 2. Review the questions from the Thinking Lens. 3. Note that page numbers below refer to the expanded, online version of the article, not the version published in the issue of Teaching Young Children. Key points to reinforce during staff development sessions: Teaching young children is complex work that requires teachers to engage in an ongoing process of closely observing and studying the significance of children s unfolding activities. Taking time to slow down, notice, and reflect on children s activities and ideas allows teachers to make effective, meaningful decisions about how to respond to children while keeping the joy of being with children at the heart of their work. Using a protocol such as the Thinking Lens offers teachers a focused way to engage in reflective teaching practices. Let s Talk. In what ways do you practice reflective thinking in your life? How is such thinking helpful? What benefits come from taking the time to reflect on your interactions, activities, relationships, and so on? 2. In I m Incredible, a Learning Story, on page 2, Deb Curtis describes her worry about how the children s high energy and loud play make her nervous, as well as her enjoyment of their play. What kinds of children s behaviors challenge you or push your buttons? How do you typically respond? 3. What do children do and say that delights you in your work? Why do you think you have these reactions? What do you typically do when you feel these reactions? For Further Thinking. Look and respond. Distribute Handout : Photos of Engaged Learners. Have participants form small groups. Ask them to examine each of the photos, then use the Thinking Lens questions on page 4 to discuss their reactions to what they see in each photo. Ask the groups to present their reactions to the full group. How were the participants reactions alike? How were they different? What might this mean? 2. Listen and discuss. Ask for a few volunteers to take turns reading aloud I m Incredible, a Learning Story on page 2. Lead the full group in using the Thinking Lens questions to discuss their responses to the story. What ideas does Deb present in the story? How does she feel about what has occurred? What else might she do to respond to Jacob? 0

2 by Margie Carter, Wendy Cividanes, Deb Curtis, and Debbie Lebo (pages 8 20) (cont d) 3. Share and learn from others. Ask participants to write a brief description of a situation in their work when the behaviors of one or more children puzzled, challenged, or delighted them. With participants permission, collect the descriptions and randomly choose several to share with the full group. You can ask the participant who wrote the description to read it aloud or you can read the anecdote yourself, allowing the writer to remain anonymous. The two approaches have different benefits. Lead the full group in using the Thinking Lens questions to think through and discuss the situation. What new insights come from the discussion? How do the responses to the questions affect reactions to the behaviors? Repeat this process several times. 4. Summarize and plan next steps. Ask participants: After using the Thinking Lens questions for the above discussions, what new understandings do you have about becoming a reflective teacher? What challenges do these ideas pose for your work? What next steps might you take in becoming a reflective teacher? Have participants write a letter to themselves about what they have learned and how they plan to apply it in their journeys to becoming reflective teachers. In the Classroom. Observe and document. Ask participants to watch and listen for a significant moment of play with a child or group of children that delights them. Encourage them to take photographs to document the details of what occurs and to jot down notes about what the children say and do. Next, they can use the Thinking Lens questions to study and discuss the significance of this play with a colleague. 2. Write about this moment. Ask participants to write a Learning Story using the guidelines on Handout 2: Write and Share a Learning Story. 3. Follow up. At the next session, ask participants to share, discuss, and study their Learning Story with others.

3 Becoming a Reflective Teacher Handout : Photos of Engaged Learners. Examine each photo. 2. Use the Thinking Lens to discuss your reactions to the photos with other members of your group. courtesy of the authors 2 3 courtesy of the authors peg Callaghan / naeyc

4 Handout 2: Write and Share a Learning Story. Write a paragraph directly to the child or children describing the details of the play you saw and why it delighted you. 2. Write a second paragraph describing your reflections on the meaning of this play. 3. Write a third paragraph describing your thoughts about the opportunities you think this play provides. 4. Share your story with the child s/children s family(ies) and add their response(s) to the story. 5. Read the Learning Story to the child/children. Write down and study what they say. What perspectives do the children have about the story? After you have shared the Learning Story, what changes do you see in the children s play?

5 TYC V3N3 cover.indd /3/200 :3:52 AM Are you responsible for staff development? Do you already receive Teaching Young Children? Subscribe to NEXT: The Teaching Young Children Staff Development Guide What s inside NEXT? Discussion questions Workshop activities Ways to apply the content in the classroom Handouts How can you use NEXT? Plan staff meetings Design workshops Engage ECE students Who is NEXT for? Center directors Staff development specialists Teacher educators teaching young children/preschool Vol 3 no 3 Puppets 6 Dramatic Play 6 Books and Math 22 The TEACHING YOUNG CHILDREN STAFF DEVELOPMENT GUIDE Derry Koralek, Editor in Chief FEBRUARY/MARCH 200 NAEYC s magazine Teaching Young Children (TYC) is designed especially for preschool educators. Articles in Teaching Young Children reinforce the accreditation criteria for NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards. (Go to for more information on the standards.) Welcome to the second digital NEXT. The issue is color-coded to match the cover of Teaching Young Children (TYC). All of the NEXT handouts appear at the end. We are eager to increase the involvement of preschool educators in the Teachers Lounge area of TYC. Please encourage staff, students, and participants in staff development workshops to respond to the question in Teachers Lounge and to submit their own questions. Every issue of TYC features a cover photo of an exemplary preschool educator, accompanied by a profile within the magazine. To nominate an outstanding preschool teacher or family child care provider for this feature, please complete the form at NEXT contributors 2 Playdough: What s Standard about It? Holly Reardon 4 Block Building and Make-Believe for Every Child Meredith MacMillan 6 Revisiting Learning Centers. Dramatic Play Derry Koralek 8 Picturing Good Practice. Our Pizza Project: Following the Children s Lead Holly Reardon 0 Monkey Math: Using Children s Books to Explore Math Susan Friedman Using this guide NEXT: The Teaching Young Children Staff Development Guide suggests ways to build on the content of selected TYC articles. In the training outlines for these articles you will find a brief summary of the main ideas; an indication of which NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards are most closely related to the content (check the tab at the top of each outline); key points to reinforce; discussion prompts in Let s Talk; workshop activities in For Further Thinking; and ways to apply content in In the Classroom. Center directors can use NEXT to plan staff meetings or training sessions, staff development specialists can use it to design workshops, and teacher educators might incorporate some of the ideas in their classes. A few notes All page numbers refer to Teaching Young Children, Volume 3, Number 3, unless otherwise noted. No permission is needed to make copies of NAEYCcopyrighted articles in Teaching Young Children as long as they bear a credit line and are distributed at no cost. Depending on the setting in which you meet, you can ask participants to do activities in pairs or small groups or as classroom teams. Ask volunteers to type and disseminate the ideas generated in the sessions. Teachers and NEXT users can share their ideas, read articles, and find other useful resources at VOL 3 NO 3 Ready-to-use training from NAEYC Available online, by subscription To learn more and subscribe: Accompanies each issue of TYC Practical and ready to use