Research to Practice

Hello, hello! WOW! I cannot believe it is already the end of the crazy semester and it is time to say goodbye to my kindergartners, cooperating teacher, and professors. I have learned so much these past 3 months, not only in teaching but about my blogging abilities.

To think, I started my first blog post only 2 months ago and my writing technique differed significantly. In my first blog post, I wrote as if I was writing a long thesis paper with little emotions, no pictures, and all facts. As my last post was published only a week ago, I have grown in creativity and allowed myself to write in my own style. I have learned to put my own personality into my posts and for it to be something I could read in a conversational tone.

Being able to take meaningful and observable notes was a struggle for me to say the least. I just wanted to write everything down, “jimmy tied his shoe, jimmy talked to a friend, jimmy did this, jimmy did that.” This became tedious as my placement continued and it honestly left me clueless for my blog posts. I started to realize that I should write down observations that would help me out in the long run or that would help me to pose questions. If I could make a question from that observation, it was a good observation. This led me to my questions.

AH! As a pre-service teacher there are a million questions running around my mind but none that have enough substance to write about. I also have questions that don’t seem to relate to each other. I think this made it harder as the blogging continued. As I continue to blog about my Professional Development School (PDS) placement and student teaching in the future, I would love to find a topic that can have many questions branch off from it. I think it would have made my writing more cohesive and flowed from one post to another.

Research… my worst nightmare. Just after you think you have the perfect question; you can’t find an exact article with the exact thoughts you were having. BINGO! That was my problem when I first began. I wanted my articles to be perfect and believe me, the first thing us teachers learn is that we need to be flexible and things aren’t going to be perfect rays of sunshine. I wasn’t good at finding articles that related to my questions and would often have to “settle for less.” Thank gosh I found a better system to my researching process. Let’s just say you don’t need to find 3 identical articles that have all the information you need in each. Instead, break it down into different parts of your question and find articles that will all piece together to give you a solid answer or at the very least advice.

Blogging has become a great stress reliever for me. I am now in the midst of finals week, exam after exam but am finding myself typing my cares away. Not literally… However, I feel that I can express how I feel about a topic while writing with my own twist. It is pretty relieving to know that I have gotten better at relaying information in my blogs and it has been so beneficial to learn answers to my questions. Posing questions and answering them only makes me a stronger teacher. By forming this process into a blog, I am helping myself and those around reading. Hello readers, I hope I have some by now!

If I were to go through this process from the very beginning again, I would give the following advice to myself and other students taking this bloc after me (ERCH 496):

• DO NOT procrastinate on the blog posts each week. Don’t stress about them because they actually quite entertaining. It may even be beneficial to write a quick draft after your field experience so that you can remember the information as it is fresh in your mind!
• Take meaningful observations and notes in the field. If you do this, asking questions about your day will be a breeze which equals less stress.
• Bring your own personal touches to it! Be yourself, it’s the best form of you and the readers will love seeing you shine.
• Challenge yourself. You will find yourself going out of your comfort zone during this Research to Practice process, but it’s okay because that means your growing as an individual and as a teacher. Don’t be nervous to try something new. I wish that I tried to mix blogging and podcasting more.
• You are doing great, don’t forget that this is meant to help you, not bring you down!

As a future teacher of little minds, I want to continue to make blog posts and even try podcasts. I think that it benefits all teachers so that they can reflect on their journey and have an outlet to express their feelings towards topics. They also further their knowledge with research and continue to improve for their students. I love being a teacher and I cannot wait to have my own blog once I become one! Signing off for now… ?

If you loved this blog post…please feel free to read my previous ones from this semester:

• Kindergarten Transitions
• Are Gender Roles Evident in Preschoolers
• Germs Germs Go Away!
• Parent Involvement and Student Engagement: Are They Related?

Hello fellow educators! Welcome back to my blog. As I hope you enjoyed my last blog, Are Gender Role Stereotypes Evident in Preschoolers? Last week’s blog was from observations taken place at my work in a Discovery Preschool room. I wanted to switch things up a bit and divert this blog to my Kindergarten placement. My story of young “Penny” may shock some readers and oh boy did it drop my jaw.

Imagine coloring with some kindergartners (I believe I was drawing mermaids so that they could cut up and play with, they put me to work in the 4 hours I’m there) when a little girl asks if my mommy and daddy like to color with me. As I laugh at the idea of my mom and dad coloring with me at age 20, I tell her that sometimes but a lot more when I was her age. As my answer rolls off my tongue, she begins to frown. I am worried I offended her and quickly ask what the problem is. She says that mommy never does anything with her at home. I inquire what she means by that as her mom often will drop her off in the morning. She tells me that as soon as they arrive at home, her mother is watching TV shows on her phone and does not pay attention to Penny. Something in my stomach turns as my smile fades. I reassure her by saying, “mommy may have a really hard day at work, but you know what could be fun?” I tell her that she could make coupons for her mom that she can use. For example, “cash this coupon in for story time.” I also encourage her to watch tv with mom after she is done her homework. She automatically lights up again as she says she loves to watch a couple shows with mom.

After returning home from placements, I thought back to my experiences with Penny. She is a giggly girl with a bubbly personality. She wants to please her teacher but often struggles to pay attention during lessons. She is always seeking attention and being social with peers around her. A burning question that started to burn a hold right through my head was, is there a relationship between parent involvement and student’s engagement in school?

The article, The Relationship between Parental Involvement to Education of Students and Student’s Engagement to School by Yusuf Celal Erol and Muhammed Turhan, emphasized a need or bridging the gap between school and home. Parents and teachers need to work together to provide consistency for the child and also establish rapport with students and parents. The article states, “families have a primary responsibility for the upbringing of their children and need to make contributions at every stage of their child’s education” (Erol, 2018). This made me reflect on the experiences with Penny. I think that her parents need to make a better effort for contributing to Penny’s life in not only education but her personal life. I do not think a parent can be successful in helping that aspect until they have creating a better bond with their child.

In my second article, “To Get Somewhere in Life”: Family Support and Persistence in School by Nastasia Lawton-Sticklor, it discusses the need of parental and family support for academic achievement. Children will only stay motivated if their parents actively motivate them. Penny’s family is setting the example of watching TV all night and not being involved in Penny’s life.

Penny’s parents can become more involved in her life by simply spending time with their child. By taking her to the local museum for the day, they can encourage an increase in education while spending quality time with her. They should support her in all aspects.

As I may not be fully aware of Penny’s situation, it saddens me to see her reaction to my answer. I truly believe that parents need to take the time to get to know their students and help them to develop into caring, knowledgeable individuals.

I hope that my readers will take this information and apply it to their lives. Giving attention to children will help them to feel wanted and know that they are being supported.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for next week as my crazy kids always do something that makes me think deeper.

Hi future educators! As a pre-service teacher, I am excited to get the ball rolling on this blog. I am new to this blogging world but thought that it would be a great way to share how I feel about being in the education field and working with children. I’ve worked with an array of ages and have found myself questioning when children start forming their own opinions on social issues or develop unconscious biases. These biases and opinions form from the social environment these children grow up in and leads to teachers to having difficult conversations on touchy subjects. As teachers, we need to be aware of these biases in our classroom and learn how to openly address these issues with our students.

Working in an early childhood daycare has helped me grow as a teacher and let me experience “teachable moments” that taught valuable lessons. It was a normal day in the Discovery Preschool classroom and the children were running around chasing each other after filling up on yogurt and granola for snack. After several minutes of trying to herd these little 2-year-olds into centers, I noticed a little boy who had just moved up from the toddler class. He seemed to show interest in the dress up clothes provided in the center, picking up dresses and skirts. I stationed myself in the dramatic play area to careful observe him as many boys did not want to play with “girl” clothes. As I find it intriguing that boys seem to know which toys are masculine and girls seem to know which toys are feminine according to society. The little boy approached me with this yellow dress that he wanted to try on. After helping him fit into the dress, his face lit up when I showed him how dashing he looked in this yellow dress. He had not previously felt comfortable to play with the other children, but the dress gave him a confidence I had never seen before. Within 15 minutes, his mom and sister arrived to pick him up. I vividly remember seeing the mothers face drop as she saw her son in “girl” clothing. She demanded he take it off and his sister said, “dresses are for girls, (name).” After helping him take the dress off, I wished his family a good night and faked a smile. However, inside I was burning with anger as I found this yellow dress to be the only thing that had made him feel comfortable with his peers. After this encounter, the same boy tried on a different dress a couple weeks after and his mom had the exact same reaction. This time she told him, “we have talked about this before, stop trying on dresses. They are for little girls and you and a little boy.” In my head I wanted to tell this parent that she is putting these biases in her child’s head at such a young age. Why does it matter what he wears or how he looks (masculine or feminine)? He should be able to express himself however he likes without fear of his own mom getting upset. However, I held my tongue and swore that I would find a way to make my classroom inclusive to all genders, races, religions, etc. and have open dialogue about these topics.

Although this scenario happened several months before entering the field for my professional bloc 1, a student at this placement had said something that triggered this memory and reignited my fire. While the students were playing, one little girl told a little boy that his favorite color cannot be pink because “that’s a girl color and boys like blue.” I quickly explained to the child that my favorite color was blue and that we can all like any color and that there is not a boy or girl color. I tried to explain that girls and boys can like the same colors or toys and that it was okay. This Kindergarten class did not completely understand what I was saying, and I realized that they had not had these types of activities or conversations with their teacher. I understand that teachers have different teaching styles and that they might not feel comfortable discussing these things with their students. As a future teacher, I was interested to see if there were articles that related to gender choice of toys and if there were suggestions on how to incorporate this topic into the class.

My big question to research was, what gender role stereotypes do children have as early as preschool and do parents have an influence on their child’s biases?

In a study by Beverly Fagot and Mary Leinbach at Colby College, 61 preschoolers (28 girls, 33 boys) with different ethnic backgrounds were videotaped in a playroom to see which toys they preferred over another. In the playroom, children had access to a tool set, and a dish set that were either presented neutrally or as gender-typed. At 18 months, the children did not show gender preference on toys. However, by 27 months of age were showing more traditional gender typed biases. By 4 years old, showed higher scores of gender role discrimination. Parents with all three ages reacted to their child’s choices as they preferred their child play with the “correct” gender toy. As children often notice their parents reactions, their choice in toys begins to change. With this data, there is some evidence that parental affective responses to gender-typed behaviors are related to earlier development of gender-typed cognition and behaviors. Twenty-nine parents stated that they thought the tools were for boys, while 32 parents stated that they thought the tools were for both girls and boys. Twenty-one parents stated that they thought the dishes were for girls, while 40 parents stated that they thought the dishes were for both. In no case were tools classified as “girls’ toys” or dishes classified as “boys’ toys”. Preschoolers are aware of the cultural expectations of them and understand the roles of boys and girls in our society.

This research has proved to me that preschoolers feel that they need to fit our cultures desires and play with toys that are gender appropriate. The article, Supporting Gender Expansive Children and Families in the Preschool Classroom, states, “creating a gender supportive environment starts within ourselves as early childhood educators. In order to inspire a safe space, we have to first question our own beliefs to reduce internal biases about gender.” This reminds me of the little boy in my Discovery Preschool class. As he just turned three, he already understands how his mom feels about his choices in dress up. I think that as educators of that class, the lead teachers could be doing a better job at reducing their internal biases about gender and promote this in the class through activities. There was an opportunity to talk to this child about how he felt in the dress and if he liked wearing it. The teachers did not do this and I, myself am guilty of not initiating this conversation. There are so many chances throughout the day to have these simple conversations with children. By just talking about how my favorite color is blue in my one placement, it made the students realize that they don’t have to like a certain color.

As I have expressed my feelings on gender stereotypical toys throughout this post. I still have much to learn about how to make my classroom a gender inclusive classroom. I hope to be given opportunities to read more about this and to find my own way of making my students feel accepted for their gender. I want to turn this back to my readers and ask if you have ever experienced a similar situation as I did and what do you think you could have done different to promote gender equality? These topics are very hard to discuss in the classroom but by doing so at an early age, we can help to break the stereotypes that our society has built and create a more accepting school environment.

Kindergarten is a difficult transition for some students. It is a time where students spend a half or full day in a school setting being taught rules and educational material. They are experiencing social interactions that they can not obtain at home with their families. For some, this is their first social exposure to a group of children their age. In addition, they spend time away from their loved ones whom they have made an attachment with. Being away from them for a longer amount of time can be stress inducing.

While in my kindergarten placement, I observed only a few students difficult transition from parent to classroom. In KinderCare, kindergarten is a certified classroom with a qualified education teacher. However, the students do not take a bus to school and often come to school with their mother, father, and/or siblings. This can make it difficult for students emotionally as they have to part with their caregivers. Although this does not happen often since the students have been in Kindergarten for half a year now, it made me start to wonder how did my co-op successfully transition preschoolers to kindergarten emotionally through classroom management?

As my days followed in the field, I started to think about this burning question more and more. My co-op had his students focused for a big chunk of the day and had limited amount of behavioral problems. They cleaned up after themselves, respected all adults, and were able to complete work. They would sit at center time calmly with their hands in their lap and quiet mouths. It shocked me the control the students had and wondered how the teacher practiced classroom management with these students.

I quickly found myself researching articles on databases trying to understand kindergarten transitions and the effects on students emotionally. In the article, Children’s Daily Routines During Kindergarten Transition, the authors emphasize the important role of daily routines in a child’s life and how it affects their emotional transition to kindergarten. Routines are critical for children because they establish a feeling of predictability which enhances feelings of security, trust, and independence. They regulate child behavior because they are aware of what is expected of them day to day. I believe this is important in kindergarten because both parents and students are putting their trust in the teacher to provide them with necessary components to be successful in life. Whether this be important life skills or educational advancements, they need a set routine to feel safe in the classroom. Comparing this article to my field placement, I could observe that my co-op had built consistent rules, procedures and routines which helped in classroom management. They knew the routine of the day, circle time, writing time, center time, and lunch time. They were able to complete tasks without being given direction to do so. These students were used to the same routine every day that they did not think twice about what to do. The routine was thoroughly explained at the beginning of the year and set a precedence for the remainder. By building routines and procedures for kindergartners, teachers can provide emotional support to students. They can become better equipped to take on the day if they know what is expected.

Although I have only been in the field for a couple weeks, I have gained an understanding of the importance of routines in kindergarten transitions and how they effect students emotionally. I want to further my research on this topic and learn more about classroom management for kindergartners. I would love to know how this classroom was at the beginning of the year to better understand how the class transitioned. For anyone reading this post, I would love to hear your thoughts on routines playing a major role in emotional kindergarten transition. I also want to know what other factors you believe played into the transition.

Source(s):

Wildenger, L. K., McIntyre, L. L., Fiese, B. H., Eckert, T. L. (2008). Children’s daily routines during kindergarten transition. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36(1), 69–74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-008-0255-2

I am researching the effects of public versus private per-kindergarten for children on physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development. There has been a wide gap developing between the rankings of private, public and head start programs for students 3-5 years of age. The location of these types of programs for children vary from location.

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