There are two days left to the school year at MMO. Yesterday, my first big segment of children said goodbye to me. I held it together, but I really almost cried when the Moms came up to me to say goodbye. I note my children's progress through photographs. It marks the moment they switch from an whole hand grip on paintbrushes and markers to using the three finger pencil hold. I put in their first attempts at tracing their names, when they ask to learn how to write them. I put in photos of them jumping, running, playing with their friends and other developmental milestones.
The first page of the binders is a handprint that I made last September that says, "This is the hand that you held when I was two."
And apparently, when the Moms got back to their cars and opened up the binder and saw the first page they started to cry. They're babies have most certainly become big kids over the last 9 months. It's a big deal that they trusted me to care and educate their children. It meant a lot to me. And I'll treasure them all.
But I know the worst day will be tomorrow. Out of all of the days that I teach, Friday has always been my favorite. I only have six students. They're all the "older" kids and for whatever reason their chemistry is insanely cohesive. They play as a group. They never fight. They're eager to learn. And they're all just -- very kind to each other all the time.
It'll also be the official end of the school year.
And then I go back to only being Mom. But I really loved my school year of being Ms. Loosey to my own class.
Showing posts with label I am a teacher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I am a teacher. Show all posts
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Massive Update
First, this is a cute photo. Luke, our cat who is losing weight like there is no tomorrow, is the one with the white face and white feet. He is 12 years old and blood work will come back today to give us, hopefully, some insight into his condition. In my gut, I think it's IBS or intestinal cancer. He's lost his appetite. The cat behind him is Clawdio, the cat no one ever sees. He's almost 15. He and Luke are usually at odds over the fact that Luke as a 15 lb cat is sometimes too rough with 8.5 lb Clawdio. But now that Luke's weight has come down to 12 lbs. and he's sick. Clawdio has no problems using Luke's butt as a pillow. But I'm feeling pretty helpless about Luke's condition.
This is me with red hair. I didn't mean to get it this red, but I won a free cut and color and this is how it ended up. Thunder McGavin noticed right away at the pool on Sunday. His Mommy, Libbygirl, has the most awesome red hair.
This is the view from the track from inside the YMCA. I got there a little early for Body Attack on Saturday morning, so I walked the track. I found the view kind of funny. In other places big windows usually show some kind of water view -- an ocean or a lake. We have a sea of dirt and baby corn. And ironically, it was nice to look off into the distance and not see -- people. It's one of the things I love about not being in a big city. I can do the same thing behind my house right now. I can just look and think -- no people. That's not going to be true by fall, I think (I've seen lots of trucks and curious cars pulling into the back 40).
It's our last week of school around here. I got several student progress binders done this week. We save the ones for children who are returning to MMO next year so that teachers can add to them. But the ones for students who are leaving get their binders sent home.
I've got to do another 9 binders to get done before Thursday.
Other than that, today is a big day. Work, lunch, podiatry appointment, weigh in, Body Attack (if I'm not casted), T-ball, planting tomatoes, peppers and herbs and binders. I have to remember to call Mrs. Cahill and let her know I won't get to volunteer today because of my doctor's appointment.
MacTroll flew out again at 6 a.m. but we had fun going to dinner at Sun Singer and seeing the Avengers on Saturday night. We also stayed home and watched Morgan Spurlock's film on ComicCon on Friday night as a family. X-man really wants to go -- when he's old enough to wait in line. :-)
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Emotional Attachment
I had to say goodbye to my first student today at her birthday party. It was hard enough on Friday putting all of her classroom items into a bag to send home with Mom. Even though I know the reason why she's leaving the school has nothing to do with me, I'm sad that she's not in my class any more.
I'll still see her and her family when they bring her baby sister to our nursery. And I know at her new school she'll get all the services she needs to grow successfully, but it doesn't make the separation any easier.
She had a wonderful third birthday party and I was so happy to get to enjoy it with her and a few of my other Clownfish friends.
I'll still see her and her family when they bring her baby sister to our nursery. And I know at her new school she'll get all the services she needs to grow successfully, but it doesn't make the separation any easier.
She had a wonderful third birthday party and I was so happy to get to enjoy it with her and a few of my other Clownfish friends.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Teacher on Deck
Tonight was the Open House at MMO. It went fairly well. I think we had 10-12 families come through for the tour. I took four of them on their tours of the pre-school. The old public relations skills just kind of kicked in. :-)
Anyway, one of the things I like about MMO is the drop in program. I knew about MMO when X-man was a baby, but I didn't use it because in the old program before we started using the Creative Curriculum, we were a church program that did things like -- pray before snack. And that isn't inclusive to me, and it's not what I wanted for my child. So I never went.
When I started to sub there, I was only a sub, so I just ignored the Christian-based kids books in the hall and the fact that the toddler room was also the church's toddler room so it had a giant ark painted on the wall.
But then they changed curriculums to one that is inclusive of ALL religions. We don't pray in our classrooms but if a child brings up his or her beliefs (or the beliefs of her family) that is totally cool. At holiday time we talk about ALL the holidays. And it's interesting to see the kids learn about how different people are and what makes us unique.
But I digress.
So the cool thing about the drop in is that you pay a monthly fee to be a part of the program, but then you only pay for the hours you use, and you don't have set days. So if you need to drop your child off on Monday and Thursday one week, and only Friday the next and maybe the entire week the week after... that's okay! There's a lot of flexibility in it. I gained three new students this semester who were enrolled in drop-in, but they were attending pretty consistently so my director talked to them about switching over to pre-school two or three days a week, since they were coming all the time any way. It's cheaper for families to enroll in pre-school overall, and on the days they're not in school -- they're automatically enrolled in drop in. So if you child comes to my room MWF, but you need care on Tuesday, you can take them to drop in on the day, no problem. The drop in program is available for children ages 6 weeks to pre-K. But pre-school starts roughly at 2-2.5 and goes through Pre-K.
I have really enjoyed working there this year. And after the last set of families filtered out, the teachers went out to El Toro. Those of us who have kids have kid stuff to go to, some of us are in school and working, some of us have two other jobs that we do to make ends meet, so it's often very hard for us to get together socially. But tonight, we had nine people at a table at El Toro, and it was lovely to sit down and have a margarita with them.
I really do love my job. And I had to think tonight, is it the age group that I love or am I really just excited about the children that I'm teaching?
Either way, I'm very happy at MMO, and if I'd had this job and a smaller child, X-man would totally have enjoyed going to school there.
Anyway, one of the things I like about MMO is the drop in program. I knew about MMO when X-man was a baby, but I didn't use it because in the old program before we started using the Creative Curriculum, we were a church program that did things like -- pray before snack. And that isn't inclusive to me, and it's not what I wanted for my child. So I never went.
When I started to sub there, I was only a sub, so I just ignored the Christian-based kids books in the hall and the fact that the toddler room was also the church's toddler room so it had a giant ark painted on the wall.
But then they changed curriculums to one that is inclusive of ALL religions. We don't pray in our classrooms but if a child brings up his or her beliefs (or the beliefs of her family) that is totally cool. At holiday time we talk about ALL the holidays. And it's interesting to see the kids learn about how different people are and what makes us unique.
But I digress.
So the cool thing about the drop in is that you pay a monthly fee to be a part of the program, but then you only pay for the hours you use, and you don't have set days. So if you need to drop your child off on Monday and Thursday one week, and only Friday the next and maybe the entire week the week after... that's okay! There's a lot of flexibility in it. I gained three new students this semester who were enrolled in drop-in, but they were attending pretty consistently so my director talked to them about switching over to pre-school two or three days a week, since they were coming all the time any way. It's cheaper for families to enroll in pre-school overall, and on the days they're not in school -- they're automatically enrolled in drop in. So if you child comes to my room MWF, but you need care on Tuesday, you can take them to drop in on the day, no problem. The drop in program is available for children ages 6 weeks to pre-K. But pre-school starts roughly at 2-2.5 and goes through Pre-K.
I have really enjoyed working there this year. And after the last set of families filtered out, the teachers went out to El Toro. Those of us who have kids have kid stuff to go to, some of us are in school and working, some of us have two other jobs that we do to make ends meet, so it's often very hard for us to get together socially. But tonight, we had nine people at a table at El Toro, and it was lovely to sit down and have a margarita with them.
I really do love my job. And I had to think tonight, is it the age group that I love or am I really just excited about the children that I'm teaching?
Either way, I'm very happy at MMO, and if I'd had this job and a smaller child, X-man would totally have enjoyed going to school there.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Jackpot!
There are things I forget about now that I'm a teacher -- like teacher gifts. I purchased them for X-man's teachers, but didn't think I'd be getting any for some reason.
But I did. Right now I'm sitting on a small fortune in Panera gift cards, which is awesome. X-man, MacTroll and I used some for dinner the other night. And helping me open my gifts has kind of kept X-man from jumping out of his pants about the presents that are under the tree for him.
Then in the middle of dinner, I realized that I didn't want to drive all the gifts up to Rockford and then haul them back down. So, we began opening some of the gifts that came from people in the mail. This was a good idea. We had new books to read, new games to play and a new castle toy where the English invade the French. KTDID came over and we did our exchange last night. So, there were new Superhero Squad toys to play with and Imaginext's ONLY girl character -- Catwoman was well received. (Dude, she' like in plastic leather with a whip and on a hot motorcycle... Now -- where the hell is Wonder Woman?)
X-man got to stay up late last night, but I'm nipping that in the bud tonight. He is a mess when he stays up. And I don't want him to be a total loss when we get back to school in January. This morning I dropped him off at the Little Gym at 9 a.m. and I'll pick him up at noon. I got to do a 60-minute workout, and now I'm about to go shower.
I have to admit, that I miss this about the old days, when I'd drop him off at Next Generation, and then go about my day, most days of the week. It kind of gave me time to mellow out, and I have to admit, I was a more patient mother when I wasn't tired from playing with other people's children all day. Things to think about, I know...
X-man's visit to the pediatrician regarding his anxiety went well. She agrees with the school that his symptoms aren't ADHD, but that from the information we gave her and his teacher gave her he's lacking in self-esteem and his anxiety is making it hard for him to socialize in school. Academically though, Mrs. Dramado says he's doing very well.
We started using a fidget with him on Tuesday, as well. He came home with his socks intact for the first time since September! So, we'll keep our fingers crossed that it keeps going well. But it's nice to have some forward positive successes.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Teacher Fight! Teacher Fight!
Yesterday, I drove to Kankakee for an all-day early education training seminar. It was the first one I had gone to that wasn't held at my school. The first session was on Behavior Management in the classroom. There were a wealth of early educators there from a variety of programs (in-home care, which I guess is now called family care, private all day day cares, faith-based care centers and a private kindergarten). Most of them were from the Chicago suburbs and I was the only one from the central part of the state and the only one from a "community organization" pre-school.
Discipline in the classroom varied widely. All the pre-k teachers talked about the individual needs of the child and how to best encourage and support children. The K teachers in that group all talked about needing to have equal standards in the classrooms and how unfair it is to have disciplinary policy based on different standards for different kids.
They were not moved by the pre-k special education speaker's discussion about different learning abilities, the need for some kids to move or her argument that when an altercation happens, you first pay all of the attention to the victim. They also didn't appreciate that she thought their public charting system of behavior was a public form of shaming the child.
Being a pretty low-key early childhood educator who always wonders if I should be more of a hard ass in the classroom and a parent of a kindergartner who literally saw a school room transform to try to meet the individual intellectual and behavior demands of the students who weren't succeeding -- I found it very uncomfortable to sit in between the two sections. I brought up X-man's classroom as an example of a kindergarten teacher who responded to the needs and changed her standards in order to support her students more. The kindergarten teachers who were there kind of huffed at me and said that I was lucky, because that's not how it's going to be once they get in first grade.
And I wanted to say, yes it is, because we have teachers and administrators who want children to succeed and understand that sometimes my way or the high way isn't the way to go. I haven't gotten a negative note home in weeks, and my child has stopped evaluating his days by how many checks he gets (he hasn't lost recess in over a month).
At parent/teacher conferences what impressed me most was his teacher's understanding with my child's intentions. That he wants to be one of the kids who gets awarded for good behavior, he has trouble with self-control, which makes sense because his executive function isn't all the way developed yet. There's still significant pruning going on there... and there will be until he's 20.
I could see both sides of the argument (because it definitely wasn't a discussion), but at the same time, as a teacher, I tended to side with the other pre-k folks.
The afternoon's session was all about nature and education. Research has shown that kids spend less than 1/2 percent of their time having free, unstructured play in the natural outdoors (without a playground). So, the seminar talked about ways to increase interactions with nature at your center. It was a lot of fun, and I really liked the speakers.
So, that was my working Saturday. :-) When we got home we went to the neighbor's for a birthday party and then down the road to drop X-man off at the Savoy Recreation Center for date night, while MacTroll and I came home and did the annual cleaning out of toys in the basement. I tried to do this with X-man last year, but it was a long negotiation, and in the end, he would only give up one thing. Then I went through the house, filled up the back of my car and took it to Goodwill, and in a year, he's only noticed that one thing has gone missing. So, um, this year, I did the shitty parent thing and just didn't ask and started cleaning things out.
Okay, time to run in the stupid wind. At least it's warm outside!
Discipline in the classroom varied widely. All the pre-k teachers talked about the individual needs of the child and how to best encourage and support children. The K teachers in that group all talked about needing to have equal standards in the classrooms and how unfair it is to have disciplinary policy based on different standards for different kids.
They were not moved by the pre-k special education speaker's discussion about different learning abilities, the need for some kids to move or her argument that when an altercation happens, you first pay all of the attention to the victim. They also didn't appreciate that she thought their public charting system of behavior was a public form of shaming the child.
Being a pretty low-key early childhood educator who always wonders if I should be more of a hard ass in the classroom and a parent of a kindergartner who literally saw a school room transform to try to meet the individual intellectual and behavior demands of the students who weren't succeeding -- I found it very uncomfortable to sit in between the two sections. I brought up X-man's classroom as an example of a kindergarten teacher who responded to the needs and changed her standards in order to support her students more. The kindergarten teachers who were there kind of huffed at me and said that I was lucky, because that's not how it's going to be once they get in first grade.
And I wanted to say, yes it is, because we have teachers and administrators who want children to succeed and understand that sometimes my way or the high way isn't the way to go. I haven't gotten a negative note home in weeks, and my child has stopped evaluating his days by how many checks he gets (he hasn't lost recess in over a month).
At parent/teacher conferences what impressed me most was his teacher's understanding with my child's intentions. That he wants to be one of the kids who gets awarded for good behavior, he has trouble with self-control, which makes sense because his executive function isn't all the way developed yet. There's still significant pruning going on there... and there will be until he's 20.
I could see both sides of the argument (because it definitely wasn't a discussion), but at the same time, as a teacher, I tended to side with the other pre-k folks.
The afternoon's session was all about nature and education. Research has shown that kids spend less than 1/2 percent of their time having free, unstructured play in the natural outdoors (without a playground). So, the seminar talked about ways to increase interactions with nature at your center. It was a lot of fun, and I really liked the speakers.
So, that was my working Saturday. :-) When we got home we went to the neighbor's for a birthday party and then down the road to drop X-man off at the Savoy Recreation Center for date night, while MacTroll and I came home and did the annual cleaning out of toys in the basement. I tried to do this with X-man last year, but it was a long negotiation, and in the end, he would only give up one thing. Then I went through the house, filled up the back of my car and took it to Goodwill, and in a year, he's only noticed that one thing has gone missing. So, um, this year, I did the shitty parent thing and just didn't ask and started cleaning things out.
Okay, time to run in the stupid wind. At least it's warm outside!
Friday, September 2, 2011
Best Work Day Ever
Thursday was a little crazed in the Clownfish room. We still have children adjusting to the new experience of school, so some tears were shed. But at two, we also have some very empathetic friends, so when one cries, several of them feel sad, too.
Today, was awesome. None of our children were sad. In fact, they were super excited to be there, and Ms. Rachel and I were able to totally excited. First of all, we had two teachers for six children, which is an awesome ratio number. I felt for the first time all week that I could really sit down and observe the children's "know how" rather than just their social interaction. I also really got to play with them one on one. And the potty training/diaper changing was a lot easier.
But today, we also got to meet some fire fighters, go on a walk hunting for the fire truck, have a picnic of berries and popsicles and pretzels and ride bikes. I kept walking around declaring -- I love today. It was wonderful.
Then after I left work, my mood started falling apart. I picked up X-man from school. We were supposed to go home and just pick up MacTroll and leave to go to Family Camp in Wisconsin, but our cat Nyssa ended up in the Animal ER last night because she lost all feeling her her tail. It was just dragging around behind her and the first appointment we could get with our vet today was 1:30 p.m. So, MacTroll took her in for the appointment, and X-man and I are just sitting around on our butts. Car is packed and ready to go. Dog has been walked.
She's always had terrible arthritis, but it looks like she has some spinal disease which will only progressively get worse. Like one day she'll wake up and lose the use of her back legs or her bowels... It's hard to feel like you want to go on vacation, even though your cat is on pain medication and no longer in pain knowing that she might need you and you'll be gone.
Today, was awesome. None of our children were sad. In fact, they were super excited to be there, and Ms. Rachel and I were able to totally excited. First of all, we had two teachers for six children, which is an awesome ratio number. I felt for the first time all week that I could really sit down and observe the children's "know how" rather than just their social interaction. I also really got to play with them one on one. And the potty training/diaper changing was a lot easier.
But today, we also got to meet some fire fighters, go on a walk hunting for the fire truck, have a picnic of berries and popsicles and pretzels and ride bikes. I kept walking around declaring -- I love today. It was wonderful.
Then after I left work, my mood started falling apart. I picked up X-man from school. We were supposed to go home and just pick up MacTroll and leave to go to Family Camp in Wisconsin, but our cat Nyssa ended up in the Animal ER last night because she lost all feeling her her tail. It was just dragging around behind her and the first appointment we could get with our vet today was 1:30 p.m. So, MacTroll took her in for the appointment, and X-man and I are just sitting around on our butts. Car is packed and ready to go. Dog has been walked.
She's always had terrible arthritis, but it looks like she has some spinal disease which will only progressively get worse. Like one day she'll wake up and lose the use of her back legs or her bowels... It's hard to feel like you want to go on vacation, even though your cat is on pain medication and no longer in pain knowing that she might need you and you'll be gone.
Monday, August 29, 2011
I Scream, You Scream... We All Scream for -- Literacy
This summer, X-man started to learn how to read. He's got all the words used in pretty much every Dick and Jane book down pat. And they are a sea of sight words. It's all good, until I show him them out of the Dick and Jane context and then he's like, "I don't know."
Dude, watch. I highlight three words from the sight word list that his kindergarten teacher gave us at the Parent Teacher conference and put them in a sentence using Dick and Jane... He reads them. "Oooohhhh!" He says. "Why do they look different when they're by themselves?"
In a context he appears to be great. And really, it's lovely that he has reading comprehension, that is he can totally understand what he's reading and building. And sometimes, when he's tired, he substitutes synonyms for the words he's reading because he understands what's going on in a story.
In response, I went on the hunt for non-Dick and Jane books to insert in our evening reading. Some nights he's killer and other nights he's so tired, he just stares at the letter "a" in a sentence and repeats, "said" over and over again. I ask, "What's that letter?" He snaps to attention. "A." "Oooohhhhh."
Seriously, Dude, I think we need to read earlier in the day. "Noooooo!"
Anyway, each night X-man brings home a folder from his teacher. Tonight was a "sample" homework night. It really wasn't homework. It was a half sheet of paper where I had to have a conversation with X-man about what he enjoyed about school that day. Since we have that conversation over dinner or after-school snack pretty much every day, it was not out of the ordinary. But I did have to sign my initials that we did it and have him take it back tomorrow. We'll see what he brings home tomorrow for homework.
In addition, he's been getting a lot of reading based fliers lately. One is a reading incentive program through Fazoli's. If he reads 5 books on his own, we write down the titles and turn them into his teacher to sign off on and then she gives him his certificate to take into Fazoli's for a free kid's meal. The catch, of course, is that it has to be with purchase of an adult entree. But since he'd never go by himself, I guess that makes sense. And, as it turns out, Lightning McColin is a fan Fazoli's so we'll be making that dinner playdate soon. :-) Today, he got another coupon for another restaurant -- Texas Roadhouse. But this one, he only had to write down his favorite book and color a sheet and turn it in for his free meal with the purchase of an adult entree. We don't really eat at Texas Roadhouse. I think I had it once in Manassas, Va. But he thought maybe, since they had steaks his Dad could take him there for lunch next week when they have early dismissal on Sept. 9th.
I thought that was a pretty marvelous idea.
In addition to the coupon, we also got a reading log to fill out. I'm not sure if it's just supposed to be books that X-man reads or if it should include books I read to him. The form has "type of reading" so I've just devised "X-man reads to Mom" and "Mom reads to X-man." I figure MacTroll can write in his own name, but since he's not here this week, it works. :-) He gets the form on Mondays and we have to return it on Fridays. It lists all the items we read and when.
X-man also had his first trip to visit Ms. Cahill in the library today. He checked out a book that he looked over on the bus. When he got home, I asked him if he wanted me to read it to him. He said, "I think it's too scary from the pictures." And I have to agree, the illustrations are rather creepy, but I'll read the story tonight and see if he'll be okay. Instead, I handed him his new Lego Club Jr. magazine, and he and I read that and went through the puzzles. Then he insisted on filling out the survey about the redesign of the magazine and putting it in the mailbox, just in case he was one of the three children returning it that might win $50 to the Lego store. He's got his eye on some Ninjago sets...
I am scheduled to shelve books at the Carrie Busey school library from 1-dismissal on Mondays starting on Sept. 19th. I'll be in there when X-man's class has library time. I'm curious to see how that will go.
But I was also surprised when Ms. Cahill remembered my name from the Books by the Bushel event last year. It's where librarians and teachers give the Junior League a wish list of books they'd like for their school and people go into Barnes and Noble and purchase the books as donations and get to dedicate their purchases to people.
Tomorrow, I'll be at the Tolono Public Library twice. Once to drop off the book drop books, and once to take X-man to the "Paws to Read" program from 4-5 p.m. He's going to sit down with a dog and read the dog a book. I saved a Dick and Jane for this one, just so he doesn't get nervous. He also usually has me hold the book and move my finger to the words, so we'll have to see if he's ready to do it on his own.
As it turns out, in my own classroom nothing brought my students together more than a teacher sitting on the floor with a book in her hands. They all sat so nicely as Ms. Rachel and I shared stories with them. My favorite part of the day, though, was when we were reading the "You are Brave" book and we got to the part where it talks about how children are brave when they are able to hold insects gently and I busted out my plastic insect collection and handed the insects out. The kids all put them in the palms of their hands like the illustration showed and cooed at them as if they were babies. It was adorable. Then when I finished the book. I got them out magnifying glasses and they all sat around this little bin of bugs and examined all the different kinds.
At that point, of course, a parent showed up, and her child ran up to her beaming with two insects in his hands. It made me smile. Just wait until I can find them some real bugs. :-)
Dude, watch. I highlight three words from the sight word list that his kindergarten teacher gave us at the Parent Teacher conference and put them in a sentence using Dick and Jane... He reads them. "Oooohhhh!" He says. "Why do they look different when they're by themselves?"
In a context he appears to be great. And really, it's lovely that he has reading comprehension, that is he can totally understand what he's reading and building. And sometimes, when he's tired, he substitutes synonyms for the words he's reading because he understands what's going on in a story.
In response, I went on the hunt for non-Dick and Jane books to insert in our evening reading. Some nights he's killer and other nights he's so tired, he just stares at the letter "a" in a sentence and repeats, "said" over and over again. I ask, "What's that letter?" He snaps to attention. "A." "Oooohhhhh."
Seriously, Dude, I think we need to read earlier in the day. "Noooooo!"
Anyway, each night X-man brings home a folder from his teacher. Tonight was a "sample" homework night. It really wasn't homework. It was a half sheet of paper where I had to have a conversation with X-man about what he enjoyed about school that day. Since we have that conversation over dinner or after-school snack pretty much every day, it was not out of the ordinary. But I did have to sign my initials that we did it and have him take it back tomorrow. We'll see what he brings home tomorrow for homework.
In addition, he's been getting a lot of reading based fliers lately. One is a reading incentive program through Fazoli's. If he reads 5 books on his own, we write down the titles and turn them into his teacher to sign off on and then she gives him his certificate to take into Fazoli's for a free kid's meal. The catch, of course, is that it has to be with purchase of an adult entree. But since he'd never go by himself, I guess that makes sense. And, as it turns out, Lightning McColin is a fan Fazoli's so we'll be making that dinner playdate soon. :-) Today, he got another coupon for another restaurant -- Texas Roadhouse. But this one, he only had to write down his favorite book and color a sheet and turn it in for his free meal with the purchase of an adult entree. We don't really eat at Texas Roadhouse. I think I had it once in Manassas, Va. But he thought maybe, since they had steaks his Dad could take him there for lunch next week when they have early dismissal on Sept. 9th.
I thought that was a pretty marvelous idea.
In addition to the coupon, we also got a reading log to fill out. I'm not sure if it's just supposed to be books that X-man reads or if it should include books I read to him. The form has "type of reading" so I've just devised "X-man reads to Mom" and "Mom reads to X-man." I figure MacTroll can write in his own name, but since he's not here this week, it works. :-) He gets the form on Mondays and we have to return it on Fridays. It lists all the items we read and when.
X-man also had his first trip to visit Ms. Cahill in the library today. He checked out a book that he looked over on the bus. When he got home, I asked him if he wanted me to read it to him. He said, "I think it's too scary from the pictures." And I have to agree, the illustrations are rather creepy, but I'll read the story tonight and see if he'll be okay. Instead, I handed him his new Lego Club Jr. magazine, and he and I read that and went through the puzzles. Then he insisted on filling out the survey about the redesign of the magazine and putting it in the mailbox, just in case he was one of the three children returning it that might win $50 to the Lego store. He's got his eye on some Ninjago sets...
I am scheduled to shelve books at the Carrie Busey school library from 1-dismissal on Mondays starting on Sept. 19th. I'll be in there when X-man's class has library time. I'm curious to see how that will go.
But I was also surprised when Ms. Cahill remembered my name from the Books by the Bushel event last year. It's where librarians and teachers give the Junior League a wish list of books they'd like for their school and people go into Barnes and Noble and purchase the books as donations and get to dedicate their purchases to people.
Tomorrow, I'll be at the Tolono Public Library twice. Once to drop off the book drop books, and once to take X-man to the "Paws to Read" program from 4-5 p.m. He's going to sit down with a dog and read the dog a book. I saved a Dick and Jane for this one, just so he doesn't get nervous. He also usually has me hold the book and move my finger to the words, so we'll have to see if he's ready to do it on his own.
As it turns out, in my own classroom nothing brought my students together more than a teacher sitting on the floor with a book in her hands. They all sat so nicely as Ms. Rachel and I shared stories with them. My favorite part of the day, though, was when we were reading the "You are Brave" book and we got to the part where it talks about how children are brave when they are able to hold insects gently and I busted out my plastic insect collection and handed the insects out. The kids all put them in the palms of their hands like the illustration showed and cooed at them as if they were babies. It was adorable. Then when I finished the book. I got them out magnifying glasses and they all sat around this little bin of bugs and examined all the different kinds.
At that point, of course, a parent showed up, and her child ran up to her beaming with two insects in his hands. It made me smile. Just wait until I can find them some real bugs. :-)
Thursday, August 25, 2011
The Big Day
Tomorrow MMO opens for children and their parents to meet their teachers any time between 8:30 and noon. My co-teacher and I have spent the last three weeks getting ready for class. We have a class plan for next week, but failed to get planning done past that. But that's what e-mail is made for, right? A lot of our planning is actually dependent on the kids right now. The current project approach theme is: All About Us. So, um, we have to find out about them before we can make detailed plans.
On Monday, class starts. I've got the welcome/circle time all worked out. And there's going to be a lot of interviewing and picture taking, as well as plenty of time for the kids to get acquainted with the room. My students are all turning 3 between September and July of next year. So we don't get to go on field trips, but I'll be seeing how many folks I can have come to the classroom to make up for the fact that we can't travel.
I am so excited to meet all of my students and their parents!
By the way, if you're interested in checking out MMO, we're having an open house on Tuesday, Sept. 20th from 5-6 p.m. You can drop by and check us out. I'm in the clownfish room on the second floor in the middle of the hallway on the left.
On Monday, class starts. I've got the welcome/circle time all worked out. And there's going to be a lot of interviewing and picture taking, as well as plenty of time for the kids to get acquainted with the room. My students are all turning 3 between September and July of next year. So we don't get to go on field trips, but I'll be seeing how many folks I can have come to the classroom to make up for the fact that we can't travel.
I am so excited to meet all of my students and their parents!
By the way, if you're interested in checking out MMO, we're having an open house on Tuesday, Sept. 20th from 5-6 p.m. You can drop by and check us out. I'm in the clownfish room on the second floor in the middle of the hallway on the left.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Preparing for My School
On August 8th, I should be able to get in to MMO to start setting up my classroom for the fall. I'm very excited about this. I'd like to make the room cozier for my little people than I remember it being. But I also need to get an idea of the bulletin boards in the space, the toys that are available, etc.
I'm teaching 2 1/2-3 year olds this year five mornings a week, and I have between 8 and 12 students every day from the list I was given. I want to make sure to chart their growth and development from the time they enter my room until the time they're ready to progress to the next level. Today, I purchased some binders and some fun foam letters to design progress books for them that I will hand back to the parents at the end of the year of everything their child explored, learned and discovered while in my care.
I ran into a parent the other day who started to talk about how parents trust teachers with their most precious cargo, and that it's a big thing for parents to let go. As a parent, I totally understand this. As a teacher, I feel honored and I do not take that responsibility lightly.
But what I really like about my job is that I get to provide an environment that is different from home. Kids aren't force fed anything at my school and they don't just sit in front of a TV all day. They're introduced to different concepts through exploration and what they get out of it is a secure sense of who they are, the community they're a part of and how the world works. In short, they get a sense of wonder that goes along with the desire to want to learn.
I know that in my short time doing observations in other schools and in-home care centers that folks often have issues implementing the Creative Curriculum. It takes the old idea of lesson planning for kindergarten prep and turns it on its head. But on the other hand, research in early childhood education has shown time and time again that a child-centered method where they explore the world through play helps develop inquisitiveness and social skills needed to be successful in elementary classrooms. At the same time, personally, I think the success regarding all curriculums really depends on the responsiveness of the teacher. If I have a child that excels at verbals and word skills, I want to hep develop experiences for them to help them get to the next level. If I have a child that can climb a mountain, I make sure we get enough gross motor. It's a giant balancing act to make sure that everyone gets chances at not only using their strengths but being able to get the confidence to try and work on things they might not excel at. X-man has been a wonderful example of how to encourage the willingness to try -- and not be good at something.
This week he is at Lego camp. My child loves to build, but he likes to play with his creations in an imaginary based Lego City kind of world. The stories he comes up with are highly detailed and the characters develop over time. Some bad guys become good guys. Some get married. Some always fight -- "because they're brothers." He's working out things in his head.(And he's very sad that some of the Lego people at the Rec Center are missing faces because they've been played with so much.)
But at Lego camp they've introduced something new to him that hasn't been part of his early childhood experience -- "timed events." You now have 20 minutes to build "insert building idea here."
X-man doesn't just dig into Legos and start building. He wants to talk about it. He wants to come up with a story line that would require an idea. And I can see that the idea of a timed build is a good introduction for what is likely to come in the next few years -- timed test taking.
But he started crying about it when he got in the car today, when I asked him how his day was. He said he tried not to get upset about it, but often times he feels nervous about the timed build challenges. When we got home, we played the Carnival Games Wii game that we got from the library for a bit. And every time there was a timed "practice" he'd ask me to play a different carnival game.
I said no, and kept playing. And there were a few games that I was terrible at, a few I was excellent at and a ton that I was mediocre at and needed practice. "It's okay that you lost?"
"Yes, because I had fun trying, and I want to try again and get better. If I practice I will likely improve, but I still may never be the best, and that's okay. I feel good about myself for trying."
I'm hoping it sinks in. Just like I'm hoping that I'm able to help all my students be able to navigate that change from playing side by side to interactive play this year. It's a big development, and some will come to the idea of group play much better than others. I guess I'm just more sensitive to it after watching X-man.
At bedtime last night we read, "A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever" about two friends who stay at one boy's grandparents house to go to nature camp. The grandpa is a huge fan of Antarctica and tries to get the boys to go to a museum with him to see the penguin exhibit before camp, but they refuse -- instead playing with the air mattress they sleep on, rough housing, playing video games, watching TV and eating banana waffles whenever they're not in camp (which they refer to a lot as "stand around camp"). It's a very cute book, especially the ending, where all of the ideas of Antarctica that the grandfather would try to introduce to them, but that they wouldn't actually play with are suddenly of interest their last night. And as the grandparents snooze on the couch, the boys create a model of Antarctica using materials around them -- and you should see the grandfather's face in the morning when he realizes how smart these boys were using driftwood, rocks and seashells. :-)
X-man and I agreed that it's a very awesome book and it made us both want to go to the beach. Lucky for him a week from today, that's exactly where we'll be headed.
I'm teaching 2 1/2-3 year olds this year five mornings a week, and I have between 8 and 12 students every day from the list I was given. I want to make sure to chart their growth and development from the time they enter my room until the time they're ready to progress to the next level. Today, I purchased some binders and some fun foam letters to design progress books for them that I will hand back to the parents at the end of the year of everything their child explored, learned and discovered while in my care.
I ran into a parent the other day who started to talk about how parents trust teachers with their most precious cargo, and that it's a big thing for parents to let go. As a parent, I totally understand this. As a teacher, I feel honored and I do not take that responsibility lightly.
But what I really like about my job is that I get to provide an environment that is different from home. Kids aren't force fed anything at my school and they don't just sit in front of a TV all day. They're introduced to different concepts through exploration and what they get out of it is a secure sense of who they are, the community they're a part of and how the world works. In short, they get a sense of wonder that goes along with the desire to want to learn.
I know that in my short time doing observations in other schools and in-home care centers that folks often have issues implementing the Creative Curriculum. It takes the old idea of lesson planning for kindergarten prep and turns it on its head. But on the other hand, research in early childhood education has shown time and time again that a child-centered method where they explore the world through play helps develop inquisitiveness and social skills needed to be successful in elementary classrooms. At the same time, personally, I think the success regarding all curriculums really depends on the responsiveness of the teacher. If I have a child that excels at verbals and word skills, I want to hep develop experiences for them to help them get to the next level. If I have a child that can climb a mountain, I make sure we get enough gross motor. It's a giant balancing act to make sure that everyone gets chances at not only using their strengths but being able to get the confidence to try and work on things they might not excel at. X-man has been a wonderful example of how to encourage the willingness to try -- and not be good at something.
This week he is at Lego camp. My child loves to build, but he likes to play with his creations in an imaginary based Lego City kind of world. The stories he comes up with are highly detailed and the characters develop over time. Some bad guys become good guys. Some get married. Some always fight -- "because they're brothers." He's working out things in his head.(And he's very sad that some of the Lego people at the Rec Center are missing faces because they've been played with so much.)
But at Lego camp they've introduced something new to him that hasn't been part of his early childhood experience -- "timed events." You now have 20 minutes to build "insert building idea here."
X-man doesn't just dig into Legos and start building. He wants to talk about it. He wants to come up with a story line that would require an idea. And I can see that the idea of a timed build is a good introduction for what is likely to come in the next few years -- timed test taking.
But he started crying about it when he got in the car today, when I asked him how his day was. He said he tried not to get upset about it, but often times he feels nervous about the timed build challenges. When we got home, we played the Carnival Games Wii game that we got from the library for a bit. And every time there was a timed "practice" he'd ask me to play a different carnival game.
I said no, and kept playing. And there were a few games that I was terrible at, a few I was excellent at and a ton that I was mediocre at and needed practice. "It's okay that you lost?"
"Yes, because I had fun trying, and I want to try again and get better. If I practice I will likely improve, but I still may never be the best, and that's okay. I feel good about myself for trying."
I'm hoping it sinks in. Just like I'm hoping that I'm able to help all my students be able to navigate that change from playing side by side to interactive play this year. It's a big development, and some will come to the idea of group play much better than others. I guess I'm just more sensitive to it after watching X-man.
At bedtime last night we read, "A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever" about two friends who stay at one boy's grandparents house to go to nature camp. The grandpa is a huge fan of Antarctica and tries to get the boys to go to a museum with him to see the penguin exhibit before camp, but they refuse -- instead playing with the air mattress they sleep on, rough housing, playing video games, watching TV and eating banana waffles whenever they're not in camp (which they refer to a lot as "stand around camp"). It's a very cute book, especially the ending, where all of the ideas of Antarctica that the grandfather would try to introduce to them, but that they wouldn't actually play with are suddenly of interest their last night. And as the grandparents snooze on the couch, the boys create a model of Antarctica using materials around them -- and you should see the grandfather's face in the morning when he realizes how smart these boys were using driftwood, rocks and seashells. :-)
X-man and I agreed that it's a very awesome book and it made us both want to go to the beach. Lucky for him a week from today, that's exactly where we'll be headed.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
School of Fishies
I've been throwing around ideas for my classroom at home left and right. I am going to be teaching the 2.5-3 year old classroom (Clownfish) at MMO in the fall. I've got a lot of work to do and things to prepare. Thankfully, we came up with the themes for the fall with our director at our first meeting, so I've got something to go on. I just need to get to the Idea store to make some of them come true... and then there's my classroom.
They've given me the second biggest space, which is great. It means we'll have room for a lot of things, but it also means I'll need to figure out a way to set it up to not have the kids running through the room. I get to go in and see what's there in August, so I'm excited. I'll get to clean and decorate and work on room design and structure.
I love this kind of work. The organization, the implementation, the adaption. It hits all of my strengths. But right now, I'm exhausted. Apparently shopping at the garden center, planting a tree, going to the pool, doing house crap and then going to t-ball exhausts an old lady.
They've given me the second biggest space, which is great. It means we'll have room for a lot of things, but it also means I'll need to figure out a way to set it up to not have the kids running through the room. I get to go in and see what's there in August, so I'm excited. I'll get to clean and decorate and work on room design and structure.
I love this kind of work. The organization, the implementation, the adaption. It hits all of my strengths. But right now, I'm exhausted. Apparently shopping at the garden center, planting a tree, going to the pool, doing house crap and then going to t-ball exhausts an old lady.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Food Allergy Info
Friday night I attended a 40-minute session on Children and Food Allergies in school. The session was focused on what educators need to know.
The speaker was Christine Szychlinski, who manages the Food Allergy Program at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She defined allergy as different from sensitivities or intolerances in that an allergy can kill someone, not just make them sick.
She also explained that there is no predictive testing available to tell someone what they will become allergic to. Skin testing has a 50 percent false positive rating. Blood-based testing can provide a 95 percent confident diagnosis but it's only available with milk, eggs, peanut and walnut allergies.
The biggest issues in schools are when there is a change in the routine of a normal school schedule. Field trips are often when children with allergies have issues. For some reason they think they can be less careful. She mentioned one study that a telephone survey of 132 children indicated that 58 percent of kids had a food allergy reaction in the last two years, 18 percent of those were in the school setting (Sicherer S JACI 2003). The largest issues in the classroom are due to cross-contamination and mislabeled or unlabeled foods (like when outside vendors offer foods to a class on a field trip).
As a teacher, I worry about food allergies a lot. I was worried that I didn't know enough on how to prevent cross contamination, because in a pre-school setting we provide snack, but also some of our exploration is or can be done with food. Szychlinski said she believes that no school really can ever be peanut-free. Not only does she think it's not a reasonable expectation, but it's also not what children will find out in the real world. If a parent demands a peanut-free school, ask them if they take their child to the shopping mall or to Target -- because no one sweeps in those places for peanuts, ever. What she did believe in was that no school should have food used in any part of their curriculum and that all food should be relegated to the cafeteria ONLY. That means, exploration with kids and cooking is out the window unless it's done in a school cafeteria or kitchen. But this is nearly impossible in most early education classrooms as most centers don't have a cafeteria. It's also difficult on some schools who have cafeterias that double as gyms (because the contaminates are always there and then gym class is indeed a dangerous place).
The big issue about curriculum is that classrooms should be safe environments where children learn freely. By keeping food entirely in the cafeteria, it allows the classroom to be a safe environment. It can also lessen the possibility of children with allergies feeling isolated or stigmatized by their allergies. In a larger setting, like the cafeteria, everyone is eating everything differently. No one notices if little Mackenzie never has a peanut butter sandwich. It can also lessen the possibility of bullying by classmates.
You may not think that's a big issue, but it is. In fact, children with food allergies are reportedly at a much higher risk of eating and anxiety disorders, and they often have a much higher rate of depression. She also supported the idea that the child has a "safety person" to go to in a school environment, if she is feeling anxious, is being bullied or is worried about an exposure, so that the child knows that this person will be able to set aside time to help her in privacy rather than in front of everyone else in the classroom.
Food allergies cannot be controlled by things like Benedryl. An epi pen must be used and after using it you must call 911. And when a child has been exposed to what they're allergic to, you want to do that as quickly as possible. Don't put it off. If a child has allergies and asthma and his or her breath starts to slow and become labored after eating, don't reach for the inhaler first, reach for the epipen. The inhaler won't save her life. The epipen will. Get over the fear of calling 9-1-1. It's better to call them and not need them than to not call and really need them.
In terms of preventing cross contamination, I learned that schools should never replace regular hand washing with using anti-bacterial hand sanitizer. It won't remove things like peanut butter from a child's hand. So if you have a child in class with an allergy, and a friend comes to school and only uses sanitizer and then touches something in the classroom that the child with allergy picks up -- you have cross contamination. Or maybe they do something as sweet as hug each other good morning or hold hands on the way to the playground...
However, using infant wipes, liquid or bar soap will all get rid of allergens on hands. Similarly when you wipe tables and chairs, cleaning sprays are perfect for getting rid of germs, but for some reason dish detergent does leave some allergens behind.
It is important for teachers and social workers to teach children of any age that if they think they've come in contact with something they're allergic to to stretch out their hands away from their body. A lot of children get upset when they figure out they've eaten something that could make them sick and tend to cry and rub their eyes or put their hands on their faces, which can make it worse. It's also helpful that if they're too scared to talk (like while you're waiting for the ambulance and a parent) to try and get them to sing. Some children find this easier and comforting. It's also important that during this time HELP COMES TO THE CHILD, the child does not go for help.
As an educator, the highest risk for cross contamination at school usually revolves around things like the drinking fountain. It's impossible to clean it enough.
Another helpful part of the session came regarding reading labels. I love how most things now have words like, "Contains: milk, egg and soy" on the nutrition label to make it easier to find dangerous ingredients. This is not required by law. There is no standard. However, I always wondered, when my own son's school went peanut-free three years ago what the possibility of contamination was with things labeled, "May contain eggs" or "Processed in a facility with wheat." Turns out that testing showed that on average, 10 percent of the foods labeled "May contain" or "Processed in a facility" had those other allergens on them. And seven percent of the foods had enough allergens that it would cause an adverse reaction in a child.
In addition, you have to understand what you're reading on the ingredient label. Whey is a milk... If a child has an allergy to tree nuts you need to understand what that means and have a list available to teachers. Restaurants are NOT covered in the labeling law. You can call and ask if items are gluten free and a manager might tell you they are, but he's not required by law to do so.
Mistakes happen all the time. The speaker brought up a story about how a mother who sent her child to school every day with a salami sandwich, but this particular day she accidentally grabbed the lowfat version of her brand and didn't notice. Turns out it had milk in it (why salami had dairy in it is a whole different stupid food issue) and her child had a reaction to the sandwich he ate every day. The cafeteria supervisor was able to call the nurse who brought the epi pen and dialed 911. They treated the symptoms as they saw them and the boy was fine.
As a teacher/school employee, it's important to double check the expiration on all of your students' epi pens and make sure that parents keep them current. It's also important that teachers and administrators know where those pens are (especially when substitutes come in). It's important to have an epi pen drill the same way you have fire drills, where someone in the school walks up to a teacher and says, "Bobby is allergic to peanuts his face is swelling." The timer starts and the teacher has 5 to 7 minutes to get the epipen, use it (or assist/watch the student use it if he/she is old enough to self administor) and dial 9-1-1. If you can't do that in 5-7 minutes, you need to train and retrain. School staff should retrain on how to use epis when they do their CPR/First Aid certification every two years.
I have a lot of children in my life with severe food allergies. I love them dearly and I'm more prone to excluding food from the classroom and making sure that all of my students are eating snacks that the child with allergies can eat (in order to avoid the idea of isolation, special treatment or difference). But I have to admit, I look forward to using food in the classroom as a way to let my students explore. I do know that whatever activity I might use it must be safe for everyone in the classroom. But I do appreciate the reason and concept between the no food in the curriculum rule. I also know that even though my child's pre-school is peanut-free... that most parents don't follow that rule. This year, X-man has often had chocolate candies and such in his eggs at egg hunts or given as Valentine's. In years past, the teachers would check the candy before we brought it in and always check the food labels.
And I do support the idea that no unlabeled food should ever enter the classroom -- that is, no home baked snacks. I'm going to go with the DCFS rules on this one. But I do wish that was the rule at big kid schools, too. I know people like to bake, and as a teacher, I love to eat what you bake, but really, I so don't want to administer an epi pen because a parent forgot she used eggs in a recipe and Jayne ate some and is now on the way to the emergency room scared to death while her parents race across town to meet her ambulance there. That's not a happy birthday for any one.
The surprising statistic of the day--10 years ago, children who were lucky to outgrow their food allergies did so by the time they were five. Now, a majority of children who somehow outgrow their allergies do it by the time they're 18. Know one knows why the instances of food allergies are increasing or how. There are no cures for food allergies.
The only way to prevent negative events is through AVOIDANCE.
And I'm all about avoidance when it comes to something that can kill.
The speaker was Christine Szychlinski, who manages the Food Allergy Program at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She defined allergy as different from sensitivities or intolerances in that an allergy can kill someone, not just make them sick.
She also explained that there is no predictive testing available to tell someone what they will become allergic to. Skin testing has a 50 percent false positive rating. Blood-based testing can provide a 95 percent confident diagnosis but it's only available with milk, eggs, peanut and walnut allergies.
The biggest issues in schools are when there is a change in the routine of a normal school schedule. Field trips are often when children with allergies have issues. For some reason they think they can be less careful. She mentioned one study that a telephone survey of 132 children indicated that 58 percent of kids had a food allergy reaction in the last two years, 18 percent of those were in the school setting (Sicherer S JACI 2003). The largest issues in the classroom are due to cross-contamination and mislabeled or unlabeled foods (like when outside vendors offer foods to a class on a field trip).
As a teacher, I worry about food allergies a lot. I was worried that I didn't know enough on how to prevent cross contamination, because in a pre-school setting we provide snack, but also some of our exploration is or can be done with food. Szychlinski said she believes that no school really can ever be peanut-free. Not only does she think it's not a reasonable expectation, but it's also not what children will find out in the real world. If a parent demands a peanut-free school, ask them if they take their child to the shopping mall or to Target -- because no one sweeps in those places for peanuts, ever. What she did believe in was that no school should have food used in any part of their curriculum and that all food should be relegated to the cafeteria ONLY. That means, exploration with kids and cooking is out the window unless it's done in a school cafeteria or kitchen. But this is nearly impossible in most early education classrooms as most centers don't have a cafeteria. It's also difficult on some schools who have cafeterias that double as gyms (because the contaminates are always there and then gym class is indeed a dangerous place).
The big issue about curriculum is that classrooms should be safe environments where children learn freely. By keeping food entirely in the cafeteria, it allows the classroom to be a safe environment. It can also lessen the possibility of children with allergies feeling isolated or stigmatized by their allergies. In a larger setting, like the cafeteria, everyone is eating everything differently. No one notices if little Mackenzie never has a peanut butter sandwich. It can also lessen the possibility of bullying by classmates.
You may not think that's a big issue, but it is. In fact, children with food allergies are reportedly at a much higher risk of eating and anxiety disorders, and they often have a much higher rate of depression. She also supported the idea that the child has a "safety person" to go to in a school environment, if she is feeling anxious, is being bullied or is worried about an exposure, so that the child knows that this person will be able to set aside time to help her in privacy rather than in front of everyone else in the classroom.
Food allergies cannot be controlled by things like Benedryl. An epi pen must be used and after using it you must call 911. And when a child has been exposed to what they're allergic to, you want to do that as quickly as possible. Don't put it off. If a child has allergies and asthma and his or her breath starts to slow and become labored after eating, don't reach for the inhaler first, reach for the epipen. The inhaler won't save her life. The epipen will. Get over the fear of calling 9-1-1. It's better to call them and not need them than to not call and really need them.
In terms of preventing cross contamination, I learned that schools should never replace regular hand washing with using anti-bacterial hand sanitizer. It won't remove things like peanut butter from a child's hand. So if you have a child in class with an allergy, and a friend comes to school and only uses sanitizer and then touches something in the classroom that the child with allergy picks up -- you have cross contamination. Or maybe they do something as sweet as hug each other good morning or hold hands on the way to the playground...
However, using infant wipes, liquid or bar soap will all get rid of allergens on hands. Similarly when you wipe tables and chairs, cleaning sprays are perfect for getting rid of germs, but for some reason dish detergent does leave some allergens behind.
It is important for teachers and social workers to teach children of any age that if they think they've come in contact with something they're allergic to to stretch out their hands away from their body. A lot of children get upset when they figure out they've eaten something that could make them sick and tend to cry and rub their eyes or put their hands on their faces, which can make it worse. It's also helpful that if they're too scared to talk (like while you're waiting for the ambulance and a parent) to try and get them to sing. Some children find this easier and comforting. It's also important that during this time HELP COMES TO THE CHILD, the child does not go for help.
As an educator, the highest risk for cross contamination at school usually revolves around things like the drinking fountain. It's impossible to clean it enough.
Another helpful part of the session came regarding reading labels. I love how most things now have words like, "Contains: milk, egg and soy" on the nutrition label to make it easier to find dangerous ingredients. This is not required by law. There is no standard. However, I always wondered, when my own son's school went peanut-free three years ago what the possibility of contamination was with things labeled, "May contain eggs" or "Processed in a facility with wheat." Turns out that testing showed that on average, 10 percent of the foods labeled "May contain" or "Processed in a facility" had those other allergens on them. And seven percent of the foods had enough allergens that it would cause an adverse reaction in a child.
In addition, you have to understand what you're reading on the ingredient label. Whey is a milk... If a child has an allergy to tree nuts you need to understand what that means and have a list available to teachers. Restaurants are NOT covered in the labeling law. You can call and ask if items are gluten free and a manager might tell you they are, but he's not required by law to do so.
Mistakes happen all the time. The speaker brought up a story about how a mother who sent her child to school every day with a salami sandwich, but this particular day she accidentally grabbed the lowfat version of her brand and didn't notice. Turns out it had milk in it (why salami had dairy in it is a whole different stupid food issue) and her child had a reaction to the sandwich he ate every day. The cafeteria supervisor was able to call the nurse who brought the epi pen and dialed 911. They treated the symptoms as they saw them and the boy was fine.
As a teacher/school employee, it's important to double check the expiration on all of your students' epi pens and make sure that parents keep them current. It's also important that teachers and administrators know where those pens are (especially when substitutes come in). It's important to have an epi pen drill the same way you have fire drills, where someone in the school walks up to a teacher and says, "Bobby is allergic to peanuts his face is swelling." The timer starts and the teacher has 5 to 7 minutes to get the epipen, use it (or assist/watch the student use it if he/she is old enough to self administor) and dial 9-1-1. If you can't do that in 5-7 minutes, you need to train and retrain. School staff should retrain on how to use epis when they do their CPR/First Aid certification every two years.
I have a lot of children in my life with severe food allergies. I love them dearly and I'm more prone to excluding food from the classroom and making sure that all of my students are eating snacks that the child with allergies can eat (in order to avoid the idea of isolation, special treatment or difference). But I have to admit, I look forward to using food in the classroom as a way to let my students explore. I do know that whatever activity I might use it must be safe for everyone in the classroom. But I do appreciate the reason and concept between the no food in the curriculum rule. I also know that even though my child's pre-school is peanut-free... that most parents don't follow that rule. This year, X-man has often had chocolate candies and such in his eggs at egg hunts or given as Valentine's. In years past, the teachers would check the candy before we brought it in and always check the food labels.
And I do support the idea that no unlabeled food should ever enter the classroom -- that is, no home baked snacks. I'm going to go with the DCFS rules on this one. But I do wish that was the rule at big kid schools, too. I know people like to bake, and as a teacher, I love to eat what you bake, but really, I so don't want to administer an epi pen because a parent forgot she used eggs in a recipe and Jayne ate some and is now on the way to the emergency room scared to death while her parents race across town to meet her ambulance there. That's not a happy birthday for any one.
The surprising statistic of the day--10 years ago, children who were lucky to outgrow their food allergies did so by the time they were five. Now, a majority of children who somehow outgrow their allergies do it by the time they're 18. Know one knows why the instances of food allergies are increasing or how. There are no cures for food allergies.
The only way to prevent negative events is through AVOIDANCE.
And I'm all about avoidance when it comes to something that can kill.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
My First Teacher Appreciation Week
X-man picked out orchids from the Bob the Builder store to take to his main teachers on Monday. When I asked him what he wanted to give his Spanish, Music and Art teachers, he sat down to think about it.
He decided that Ms. Mary, his beloved music teacher, needed a new drum and a scrumdiddleyumptious bar for teaching him all about Willy Wonka. Spanish and Art "are fun" but he thought they needed coffee for some reason, so I went with the Starbuck's gift cards. :-)
It didn't occur to me that this year, I might actually have had enough presence at MMO to warrant being considered a regular teacher. I have been there 2-3 mornings a week since September of 2009, but most of the kids forget where or how they know me. They just know I'm around. This is not an unusual case given that most of them had me when they're still in diapers.
But it was nice that on Tuesday when I went into work, one of the toddlers brought me a rose. And it was awesome to be at work on Wednesday for the MMO Teacher Appreciation Potluck.
Parents brought in brunch and then watched our classes so we could each go down and have 15 minutes of food, at a table -- with a table cloth and talk with our colleagues. It was really very special to have a little on-the-job break.
So, today after school X-man and I are picking up a drum from Ten Thousand Villages and then we're headed to Wal-mart for the Willy Wonka candy bar.
Tomorrow will be our last Teacher Appreciation Delivery... and then it's back to the norm.
He decided that Ms. Mary, his beloved music teacher, needed a new drum and a scrumdiddleyumptious bar for teaching him all about Willy Wonka. Spanish and Art "are fun" but he thought they needed coffee for some reason, so I went with the Starbuck's gift cards. :-)
It didn't occur to me that this year, I might actually have had enough presence at MMO to warrant being considered a regular teacher. I have been there 2-3 mornings a week since September of 2009, but most of the kids forget where or how they know me. They just know I'm around. This is not an unusual case given that most of them had me when they're still in diapers.
But it was nice that on Tuesday when I went into work, one of the toddlers brought me a rose. And it was awesome to be at work on Wednesday for the MMO Teacher Appreciation Potluck.
Parents brought in brunch and then watched our classes so we could each go down and have 15 minutes of food, at a table -- with a table cloth and talk with our colleagues. It was really very special to have a little on-the-job break.
So, today after school X-man and I are picking up a drum from Ten Thousand Villages and then we're headed to Wal-mart for the Willy Wonka candy bar.
Tomorrow will be our last Teacher Appreciation Delivery... and then it's back to the norm.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Getting Ready to be Employed
It's looking pretty good that next fall I'll be teaching five mornings a week at Mother's Morning Out in Champaign. I'm very excited about it. I've already started to eye things for my classroom based on the curriculum that they follow. It's hard because they have a new director starting next fall, so as she's learning the ropes (she's been a teacher at MMO the last few years) I'll be learning the ropes, too. The current director is going back into the classroom, which is also awesome. I've been a sub or a floater (teacher that moves classrooms each day) since Fall 2009 when they were at First Presbyterian.
I'm also a little nervous. I know most of the kids in the program because of my floating schedule. But at the same time I worry about not clicking with someone in the class. I also worry about not meeting all of the needs of the students in my care. I tend to be a more nurturing teacher in the classroom. I err on the side of being too communicative as I struggle with how to be a respectful, responsive teacher who has a reciprocal relationship with her students. I find it much more achievable with younger children. I have a special place in my heart for kids ages 15-30 months. I love to watch them develop and use their words and make discoveries. It's also before any of the other kid craziness sets in like cliques or fear of things that are different. So, creating a cohesive community in the classroom is paramount for me.
I hope I get to see some of you around the school next year. :-)
I'm also a little nervous. I know most of the kids in the program because of my floating schedule. But at the same time I worry about not clicking with someone in the class. I also worry about not meeting all of the needs of the students in my care. I tend to be a more nurturing teacher in the classroom. I err on the side of being too communicative as I struggle with how to be a respectful, responsive teacher who has a reciprocal relationship with her students. I find it much more achievable with younger children. I have a special place in my heart for kids ages 15-30 months. I love to watch them develop and use their words and make discoveries. It's also before any of the other kid craziness sets in like cliques or fear of things that are different. So, creating a cohesive community in the classroom is paramount for me.
I hope I get to see some of you around the school next year. :-)
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