One of the main things that attracted me to blogging was the incredible sharing of knowledge and ideas. This summer I have been trying to expand my knowledge and networking even further by using twitter for educational purposes (before I was simply following silly stuff like Big Brother updates - which I still do on a separate twitter account - my what a season this one will be) Anyways, while surfing around on twitter I stumbled across #kinderchat and their #kinderblog13 challenge. The challenge is just beginning, but you can join in at anytime. You can find the details here. You can also follow me on twitter by clicking here. I added some beautiful social media buttons to the top of my blog yesterday but I don't believe you can see them on mobile devices.
The first task of the challenge is to sum up myself in 250 words or less. Yikes, well here goes nothing.
I teach full day kindergarten in Eastern Ontario where I teach a mixture of Junior and Senior students. Ontario rolled out a brand new kinder program three years ago where a Designated Early Childhood Educator and a teacher form a partnership and together we deliver a play-based program with an incredible emphasis on child led inquiry. As educators we have been encouraged to really look in depth at our practices and rethink/replace things that aren't working or aren't developmentally appropriate. This past year we discontinued calendar time, ditched my big bulky classroom teacher desk and increased the amount of time given to student directed play. We are encouraged to get rid of our theme based units, ditch our worksheets/prescribed crafts and let kids lead their own learning. Overall, I feel that its an exciting time to be a Kindergarten teacher here in Ontario. I love the new program and as each year passes (this will be my third year teaching the new program) I become better at "letting go" of the control. There are still areas that I need to improve upon - like how to better document student learning and progress. I also hope to gather some more ways to further integrate technology into our program. I believe that I'm working with my students in a way that is the best way for them and I'm having a blast learning and discovering with them.
I love this reflection and am so glad you found the Kinderchat community! We would love to hear more about your struggles and successes in this new program! As a side note, we will be talking more frequently about the process of documenting coming up this fall!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your learning and adventures in teaching- and we will be sure to add you to our Blog Directory on Pinterest! Thanks again!
That's really neat how you're focusing on child-led inquiry. I am hoping to start moving away from worksheets more this school year and really start working on hands-on learning. Calendar is another part of the day that I'm rethinking. I will probably shorten it quite a bit this next year! I'm excited to see what else you will post on this blog. =)
ReplyDeleteWOW! Thanks for sharing.... It sounds like your adventures are full of lots of new things. I'm interested to learn more and read more about how your child-led inquiry based program works. Our school ditched worksheets years ago, but we have also moved far away from a play based free thinking child centered early childhood program. My old school was very focused on rigor and a pre-set slightly scripted program.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Stephanie
MaMa Goose’s Kindergarten
I love this partnership between teachers that is happening in your program. I'm on the child development/early childhood side of life and would love to participate in a partnership like this. Can't wait to read more of your posts. :)
ReplyDeleteHere in BC we are hearing about the wonderful changes in the kindergarten program in Ontario. Looking forward to reading about your classroom.
ReplyDeletesandi
rubberboots and elf shoes
I have been very excited about the changes in Ontario. I have taught Kindergarten in Alberta for many years. Last summer I was able to hear one of your colleagues share at a research conference in Victoria. While there may be some challenges in having an ECE and a Early Childhood teacher in a room - the possibilities for amazing programming is evident. It is so encouraging to hear that your province is moving forward and transforming their educational programs for young children. I look forward to hearing more about your work in the coming months.
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