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Audit Trail Using Technology to Promote Activism Post 14

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Audit Trail Using Technology to Promote Activism Post 14

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As said by ADL in 10 Ways Youth Can Engage in Activism Our country has a long history of youth-led movements that brought about significant social change. Young people have advocated for child labor laws, voting rights, civil rights, school desegregation, immigration reform and LGBT rights. Through their actions, the world has changed. Because young people often have the desire, energy and idealism to do something about the injustice they see in the world, they are powerful agents for change. From this module I have learned that students can utilize technology to be inspired into activism, or learn about real examples of youth activism. From my own research I have discovered there are specific ways students can utilize technology to spread their activist message with others. This can be done through generating awareness, social media, and to educate others through various digital media. The video below is an example of how social media (youtube) can be utilized to spread awareness, and promote activism in young children.

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How little people can make a big difference | Charlie Cooper | TEDxJCUCairns

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My learning from this module has helped me determine that Activism can be taught to young learners. And that 5 and 6 years old is a great time to introduce activism because students are developing their ideas of fairness.  This book provides useful examples of community. It will provide visual for students to help them process their own understanding of the word. And serve as a great engagement for the discussion of the word community. I have learned that developing a strong understanding of the words community/activism/results of activism is just a small part of promoting activism within my classroom. My take away from this module is that to promote activism I must help them to find problems in their own community and guide them in the process of solving them.

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Audit Trail The Importance of Empathy Post 12

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Audit Trail The Importance of Empathy Post 12

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From this module I learned there are many intentional ways that I can promote empathy within my own classroom. I can create discussions around empathy and kindness, provide examples and set clear boundaries and expectations. But I can also model kindness and empathy for my students. And provide them opportunities to practice and role play these skills. Children at a young age learn so many thing through play, and empathy is a skill they can practice during play with puppets. This article has an idea for an activity that will reinforce children's understanding of empathy.

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Photo by She Saw Things Photography

By Rachel Ward
"What's this number, kids?"
Pulling your four-year-old away from Sesame Street and toward the breakfast table as they enthusiastically shout the number "4" is no easy task-and if you happen to have a puppet or two at home, then you really know the appeal they hold for children. Some colorful fabric, googly eyes, and a kooky voice give these simple materials life and result in nonstop smiles and giggles-and they're great for teaching empathy to children.

"Children build empathy from the time they're born-and around the four-year mark, they begin to truly grasp that not everyone will feel the same emotions all the time, meaning their empathy skills begin growing rapidly," says Taunya Banta from KinderCare's Education team.

Empathy isn't always easy to build, but puppets actually make it a lot easier (and a lot more fun). Those quirky voices draw kids in, while guided storylines encourage kids to think about the characters' predicaments and how they would feel if they were in the puppets' positions. Eventually, children start using empathy when it comes to their classmates, siblings, and yes, you too, parents!

We have fun with puppets all the time in our KinderCare centers, but our four-year-olds are in for a real treat this week as they create their own puppet friends!

The Puppet Advantage: Making Their Own Characters Helps Kids Think Big to Build Empathy Skills

This activity goes beyond simply drawing a funny face on a bag-teachers encourage kids to really think about who their puppet is. Is the puppet a grown-up or a child? What is the puppet's favorite and least favorite thing to do?

By thinking up a new character with its own interests and traits, children are reinforcing their understanding that everyone has different likes and dislikes, which leads to the realization that people can have different feelings about things-along with a better grasp on their own power.

"One of those 'a-ha' moments for children is when they realize not only that people experience different emotions, but also that their own actions have the power to make people mad, sad, or glad," explains Banta.

We're keeping the focus on empathy going in our centers, but there's no reason you can't help build your child's empathy and kindness at home, too. Check out our short and sweet how-to ideas below!

Embrace the Sensitive Side: 4 Ways to Build Your Child's Empathy at Home

1. Oh, Yes...There's an App (or Two!) for That

Avokiddo Emotions features a playful cast of animal characters to dress up, feed, and care for, who all have animated facial expressions depending on their emotions. Dr. Panda and Toto's Playhouse is another good pick, featuring a very sweet (and very emotive) little turtle named Toto for your child to take care of.

Photo by She Saw Things Photography

2. Make Your Own Emotion Cards

At our centers, we use feelings magnets to help children learn about and name different emotions, which makes learning empathy much easier-and you can do the same at home! Make photocopies of pictures of your child showing different emotions (happy, sad, mad, etc.) and glue them to index cards, then write the name of the emotion your child is expressing on the card.

3. Check out Some Good Reads

For this one, any book will do (although there are some great books about feelings out there that you can find, too). As you're reading through the story, stop to ask your child how they think the character must be feeling. How would they feel if they were in the character's situation?

4. Practice Empathy Yourself

In your interactions with others throughout the day, try looking at things from their perspective and seeing their viewpoint. Ask yourself why the person is responding with a certain emotion, and work to understand their motivations. When you model empathy yourself and encourage your child to do the same, they're more likely to develop empathy, too.

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All About the Feels: Teaching Children Empathy with Puppet Pals

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With their bright colors and kooky voices, puppets have a way of mesmerizing children-but they also have a lot to teach. Here's how we use puppets to teach empathy to children so they learn to focus on the feelings of others. Plus: 4 fun ways to build your child's empathy at home!

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In my first year of teaching I got upset when a student yelled the f word in frustration at what I was asking of him. At the time my first reaction was anger, and the desire to discipline the student for using that word. I failed to realize the why behind his use of that language. And at the time I was not aware that this type of language was used around the student often. At home he did not get in trouble for using this word. My second year of teaching I worked with a principal that saw students sleeping as a reflection of our teaching. She told our staff that no students should be sleeping in class, and if they are we are required to stop teaching to wake them up. When the day came that a student fell asleep I immediately panicked out of fear she would find out and rushed to wake them up. But then it became a problem almost daily. At the time of this I was unaware that the mom was letting him stay up late because she had just fought off cancer and was trying to spend every moment with him that she could. The article below lists three specific ways teachers can commit racial microaggressions in the classroom. Again this unit is making me realize that I have a great influence on microaggressions within my own classroom. What other ways am I committing microaggressions within my own classroom? And what other ways are members of my school community also committing microaggressions?

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3 racial microaggressions that teachers commit every day - and how to avoid them.

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By practicing culturally responsive teaching, educators are more equipped to teach without committing microaggressions against students of color.

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Audit Trail Post 10- Supporting Resilience in The Classroom

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Audit Trail Post 10- Supporting Resilience in The Classroom

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Over the course of this week I have come to realize that I am the most influential factor in my own classroom. I have the power and the responsibility to help my students develop or strengthen their resiliency muscle. Am I providing enough direct teaching of this word resiliency and it's importance to my students? Am I directly modeling resiliency when we work on academic skills that I know some students struggle with?

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Supporting Student Resilience in the Classroom

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Guest blogger Steve Gardiner, a high school English and journalism teacher, looks at the benefits of a resilient mindset and shows how, through modeling confidence and giving a sense of autonomy, teachers can foster student resilience.

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Over this week I have learned that one tangible practice I can implement in my classroom is books that teach children how to be resilient. Below is an example of such a story that emphasizes making mistakes and being okay with that.

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Audit Trail Post 8- Victims, Bullies, and Bystanders in K-3 Literature

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Audit Trail Post 8- Victims, Bullies, and Bystanders in K-3 Literature

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As said by Entenmen, Murnen, and Hendricks (2006) Teachers can enact strategies other than simply reading a book out loud to students.(p 12) Through role playing in response to situations in the book students can practice how to respond before they are put in that situation. I recognize that this alone will not stop children from experiencing bullying or witnessing it. But can help better prepare them for these situations and show them how to respond.

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As said by Ripp (2018) in The Sound of My Name They should not be forced to give up, to be fine with their name not being pronounced correctly. I think as a teacher it is so easy to be ignorant of the importance of correctly pronouncing a student's name. It can remove a students positive identity when we fail to honor this aspect of themselves. Am I providing an opportunity every year that allows my students to take ownership of their own name? One book that can be used every year is The Name Jar by Julie Graham. It can serves as a strong reminder to my students and myself that names are so important. And it can begin the conversation of honoring students with names that are difficult to pronounce. And instead of trying to brush past the difficult pronunciation taking the time to learn and practice how it should sound. This is not something I currently include in my lesson plans but is a tangible practice I can start including every year.

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Audit Trail Post 6-The Heartbeat of Your Classroom 

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Audit Trail Post 6-The Heartbeat of Your Classroom 

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As said by Minor in The Heartbeat of Your Classroom(2018) When we introduce texts and various activities that are center in equity, we must do so in a way that underscores the heartbeat of our classrooms: the need to belong, to feel safe, to be supported, to connect to matter. When your work becomes about those things, all the content your kids need to learn becomes stronger. Your responsiveness to the way your students learn becomes more fluent, and when you uplift the classroom community into a loveful space, equity holds your students tight.

Specific ways I can plan for positive guidance are creating an interactive morning message. And tailoring these messages to focus on social skills, self control, and important concepts like activism and diversity. Another specific way that I can plan for positive guidance in my classroom is through redirection. When students are experiencing anger and want to hit someone or something I can provide an area in the room for them to use play dough, color, or use puppets. Expecting children to just know how to use these tools and master these skills will not work. Students need appropriate modeling and guidance for mastery and understanding of these skills and concepts. And also for using these tools to be appropriately redirected.

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As said by Whyte (2008) You Can't Teach a Class You Can't Manage The physical environment of the classroom matters, but the emotional environment is important too. Children need to feel that the adults and other children in the classroom care about them. (p 5) Am I providing enough opportunities within my classroom that let my students build a community? The following artifact is an example of an intentionally planned moment where students were asked to act out part of a folktale. In doing so students were able to work on academic and social skills. I think to answer my previous question, No I am not providing enough. Within my own lesson plans I can provide more academic opportunities within my classroom to let students build community.

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This week I realized that my current job chart can serve more than one purpose. After reading Are Classrooms and Playgrounds serving Boys and Girls Equally I resonated with the idea that "Boys dominate not only classroom space, but also classroom talk.:" (Larremore 2018). It brought me back to the current boys in my class. Typically to begin a classroom discussion on a lesson I ask students to raise their hand, Think Pair Share, or Turn and Talk. I usually stay in the same space to listen to the discussion of whoever I hear or prompt a specific group to answer the question to me while others groups share. Often the boys in my classroom talk more often on what we are discussing than most of the girls even if they are confused about the topic. Many of the girls in my classroom have to be prompted to share their thinking. If they are confused they do not want to share, if they are too shy the result is the same. It can be difficult to make sure I am reaching students equally during this time. But then I read  "Randomly drawing student names using Popsicle sticks will ensure students have an equal opportunity to participate and share their responses." (Larremore 2018) and it made me think back to our classroom job chart. It currently has a list of all my students and could be utilized in picking students names at random to respond to classroom discussion questions. I believe this would allow me to reach those quite girls in my room with consistency. As well it will equalize the amount of time the boys respond.

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This week I also realized that my views of flexible seating in kindergarten were closed minded. My current school has many choices for flex seating including bouncy balls, wiggle stools, clipboards, and common spaces. When I first came to this school in 2017 I put out bouncy balls for meet the teacher. I immediately regretted that choice after watching children completely disregard their parents instructions to continue bouncing. It made me feel anxious about using this tool in the classroom as a new to the school teacher in her second year of education working with a new grade. After that experience I took out all of the flexible seating options in my room and stick with what I felt confident using tables, and sit spots. As the year went on I opened up to the idea of using a common space and started allowing my students to go work out there in small clusters. But I still had reservations about flexible seating. I had many unanswered questions and anxieties that prevented me from wanting to try it my own classroom. I did research to try and find answers to these questions but came up empty handed. Because deep down I still felt it was not appropriate to provide 5 and 6 year old students with that choice. It seemed unnecessary and I believed my classroom would function fine without it. After reading No Reading No Grade Is Too Early for Flexible Seating I related to the quote "I noticed that kindergartners could learn while standing, kneeling, huddling under a table, and even sitting in a wooden cubby." (Thomas 2017) In the last three years of working with 5 and 6 years old students I have seen some of the most engagement and critical thinking occur when students are allowed to move and choose where they learn. Even this year as I walk around the classroom I witness many students who can not sit only on their bottom when they work. Some students choose to stand, some sit on their knees, some even choose to stand with one leg and rest the other in a bent position in their chair. This article has impacted me by forcing me to be more open minded in regards to flexible seating. I would like to open up designated spaces that students are able to use clipboards in. I would like to do so with my students on where to designate these spaces. I still have concerns with managing this. I'm wondering if there is a system that can be created to help manage the number of students using clipboards at one time. I'm also wondering if there is a nonverbal signal that can be created for students to use to the classroom know when they are leaving their flexible seating choice. I'm wondering what can I add to these designated spaces to make it easy for students to access pencils, crayons, glue, and scissors.

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These students work while standing, kneeling-some of them even sit in chairs.

A decade ago, I watched college students break out for small group work on hallway benches, on the floor in the corner, and standing at tables. I noticed that kindergartners could learn while standing, kneeling, huddling under a table, and even sitting in a wooden cubby. I saw my principal take a reading group to the office, where students loved to cram themselves beside the copier, between UPS boxes, and under a table. All this got me thinking: Why do we work at desks? Why stop students from wiggling? Could we purposefully educate students to recognize the locations they work best in?

I began moving my first- and second-grade classroom to flexible seating with an old folding bench for kneeling and a sofa table for standing. These changes were free-I found the furniture in a storage closet. I created work nooks around the room so students could sit or lie on the carpet and work on a clipboard. I worked with our occupational therapist to utilize tools like T-stools and sensory wiggle cushions for all students. Recently, my principal committed to flexible seating with grants for standing desks, mushroom-shaped stools, adjustable-height folding tables, gaming rockers, and more.

The questions I hear about flexible seating most often are: What about classroom management? Do you let students choose? Does it cause arguments? What about kids who can't handle that kind of freedom?

a variety of workspaces

clear expectations for behavior

guidelines for where/how students may work

consequences for abuse of the seating options

Plan your transition to flexible seating with:

Intentionally Teaching Flexible Seating

I use Responsive Classroom's Interactive Modeling to teach students how to use flexible seating. With careful planning and clear expectations, most students will thrive in this type of classroom environment. Ideally, as they get older, elementary children will continue the process of determining what spaces work best for them.
Courtesy of John Thomas
If we want students to succeed in a flexible environment, we need to be clear about expectations. I start the year creating flexible seating expectations with students to help with buy-in. (These are in addition to general classroom expectations.) My students understand that breakout seating is a privilege and must be used safely, respectfully, and responsibly, and-bottom line-must help them learn. If a seating choice distracts, I coach them and they try it again. If the seating still doesn't work, they use traditional seating and try the flexible seating another time.

In my room, students are assigned either a kneeling, sitting, or standing desk. These seating assignments change as needed. I also assign a work nook to each student on a weekly rotating basis. The nooks are places students can cram themselves into to read or work. Assigning spots prevents arguments about who got there first and expedites getting right to work.

Flexibility Throughout the Day

Productivity decreases after 20 minutes no matter the seating option, so students don't typically work in the same option for very long. Sometimes I assign students to work in nooks, in the desk area (kneeling, sitting, or standing), and/or at group tables, depending on the activity. As the year progresses, students earn more freedom to make a preferred seating choice.

clipboards for writing

flat surfaces for word work sorts

comfort for pleasure reading

stability for electronics

When developing your seating options, consider the needs of different activities:

Flexible Seating Isn't a Panacea

Offering just one or two seating options may put your students in the same boat as traditional seating. Just as traditional seating doesn't work for everyone, flexible seating may not either. I have a student who tries all the seating options but still prefers a chair and desk. I have other students that simply can't use some of the options. For example, I have a student who can't use the kneeling desk because it's a bit too much freedom for him. He usually ends up getting hurt by a nearby stool or chair. Teaching students to choose seating is a process.
Courtesy of John Thomas
We work with our occupational therapist to support our students properly (pun intended). We make sure the tools are sized properly and not used for too long. Our OT recommends that students use exercise balls or T-stools for no more than 20 minutes. (Please check with your specialist to best meet the needs of your students.) Sensory wiggle cushions and wobble stools are used for longer, but are more effective if not used all day. Occupational therapy tools require preteaching so students understand that they're tools, not toys, and must be used properly and safely. While some are assigned based on an Individualized Education Program, everyone gets to use them. We use the occupational therapy tools school-wide so everyone is on the same page and has the same expectations in every room, which of course helps with classroom management.

Intentional teaching in how to use flexible seating can create exciting options that work for everyone. Go ahead, give it a try-your students will surprise you with amazing productivity.

More Resources

For more information about flexible environments, check out Laura Bradley's post on flexible seating in middle school, and see these resources that she and I put together:

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No Grade Is Too Early for Flexible Seating

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These students work while standing, kneeling-some of them even sit in chairs. A decade ago, I watched college students break out for small group work on hallway benches, on the floor in the corner, and standing at tables. I noticed that kindergartners could learn while standing, kneeling, huddling under a table, and even sitting in a wooden cubby.

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American-Hispanic-A Piece of My Identity Web Audit Trail Post 2

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American-Hispanic-A Piece of My Identity Web Audit Trail Post 2

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Two more words on my identity web this week were American and Hispanic. As a person who has grown up in American and Hispanic culture it is very easy to assume that my cultural experience is relevant to my students. For example as an American I have always celebrated Christmas by putting up a Christmas tree in my own home. And during the previous holiday season I decided to have my students create a Christmas tree on paper that was hung up to create a giant classroom tree. What I failed to realize at the time was that not all of my students participated in this Christmas tradition at home. Although they were all excited to make their piece of the tree it did not reflect the multiculturalism and diversity within my own classroom. From this experience I have realized that a classroom should focus on the culture of all of my students not just the ones that can relate my cultural experiences.

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Patience-A Piece of My Identity Audit Trail Post 1

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Patience-A Piece of My Identity Audit Trail Post 1

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On my identity web one of the words I wrote was patient. Over the course of this week I have realized that patience is a piece of my identity that can shape the relationships in my classroom and within my school. This can be teacher to student, student to student, and even teacher to teacher. Without being patient I am unable to meet my students emotional needs thus killing the relationship as the TED talk mentions. This creates space for an unsafe space within my own classroom. It is very easy to let the pressures of what needs to be accomplished that day over shadow the needs of my young 5 year old students. When my students do not feel heard by me it is easy for them to longer want to hear their classmates. On days when I am struggling with patience I witness my students bickering and arguing with each other more often. I really can set the example and tone for what is acceptable in our classroom. And it is important to remember this when I am in front of my students.

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The most important leadership quality is patience | Gabe de Jong | TEDxGroningen