Being careful and safe may have its ups and downs, but I wonder how teachers would teach if being safe and careful was not a factor.

When I reread the questions that I answered from week four, I noticed not much of a change. I may look at things a little differently now, since I have learned much about Reggio Emilia, but my thoughts haven't changed very much about my answers to the questions. I chose "Who is Laura?" and "October 2: The Apple in the Kitchen" for the questions to answer. I think there are pictures of the teachers on the pages, because they are together in the process of teaching the children. They collaborate together to make it possible for their children to learn and grow in every way possible. Now that I look back on the first couple of pages, I realize the introduction is called Setting the Scene. This is showing what the environment looks like and who is part of the environment. The people who are in the pictures is probably the teachers who wrote the diary of Laura. I noticed that one thing changed about my answer to one of the questions. I just started working full time in a three year old classroom last week and we have to get to know the children and their families so well so we can build a relationship with them. We need to know everything about their child, because they are only three years old; they are still so young. We are potty training them and teaching them the basics of just holding cups and forks and pouring milk. We need to establish a good relationship with their parents so they are able to trust us with their little one and also so there is consistency at home and school.

There is a picture in my director's office of children walking by a cliff. The picture was taken in the 80's and she was telling me that times were different back then where we could do pretty much everything. Nowadays, everything is about safety and being careful. It's kind of sad actually that we have to shelter children so much that they are not allowed to do certain things. We usually have a little field trip to our kitchen and everything is so regulated that we have to all wear covered shoes and hair nets. Children would never be allowed in the kitchen when the cooks are making our school's food. It's actually too bad, it could be a great experience for the children. I am still not too sure why the teacher left the two children in the kitchen. But it seemed like the children loved the experience of being allowed to be in there. Being careful and safe may have its ups and downs, but I wonder how teachers would teach if being safe and careful was not a factor.

How can I make learning trips and walks in the community meaningful for children who may never get the opportunity to travel to a new place?

When reading the weekly chapter, I found myself reflecting upon this quote from page 339:

"We travel to learn about other places, other people, other ways of doing things. But of course in the end, the ultimate reason - and the the ultimate reward - for travel is to learn more about oneself."

As growing up an "Army Brat" I was able to see the world by the time I was a freshman in high school. I've lived in every part of the United States, Germany, and Africa. By living overseas it gave me endless possibilities to learn about new cultures and explore new countries that people would dream their whole lives to see in person. Growing up I really did love moving to new places and seeing new things, but it was extremely difficult packing up and moving every two years. My dad, mom, brother, and I rarely got to visit our family in Hawaii and it took a lot of strength for us to be away from them for so long. But as I reflect upon my life and being able to experience the things and places I have, I feel that I was very blessed to have been able to go to different countries and study languages and culture. I think it has made me who I am today. From all of the places I have bee to, I feel that Hawaii has the most diversity and culture in one specific place. And it also has been a blessing to finally move here and be closer to all of my family.

Since there is so much diversity and culture in Hawaii, how can I bring the best possible experiences that will help children learn about their community and want to travel within it and to new places? How can I give the children in my classroom experiences that will have a positive effect? How can I make learning trips and walks in the community meaningful for children who may never get the opportunity to travel to a new place? How can I transform my classroom to represent a place where children can to travel to around the world? What can I do to help children learn about themselves by traveling to new places in the community? How can I become an advocate for children to learn about places in our world? How can I bring culture and diversity into my classroom everyday?

When change and unexpected things happen in the classroom, how can we understand children and what they are feeling?

"Being with children offers countless moments and situations that test our understanding of their complex world, of ourselves, and of a broad range of issues related to learning and teaching." page - 330

I found this quote very meaningful when reading the text, because I can relate to it. I feel the same way about children. Each day I learn something new about the children and myself. One thing that I noticed when working with children is that they are very unpredictable. I have noticed this the past couple of years since I have been working in the same classroom. It kind of throws me off a little bit, because when I reflect upon each day I do notice that each day is different and unexpected things happen all the time. How can we be ready for unexpected things that happen in the classroom? Is it part of learning about sustainability in early childhood education? How can we help the children to understand that change and spontaneity can be a good thing? One thing a teacher must be good at is change and dealing with unexpected things that happen in the classroom. I feel that is a good way to observe children and really get to know their personalities. But when change and unexpected things happen, how do we really understand children and what they are feeling? What can I do as a teacher to support my children when change happens? Change can be a good thing and open up moments that can be treasured by children and teachers.

Would children feel like they are on the path of opportunity by learning a new language at a younger age?

"Many young people wonder why they are in school. To learn, of course, they are told. But why and to what end, they rightfully ask. To become productive members of society; education is your portal and path to opportunity, they are reminded. But that is in the future, they protest. What does school have to do with now, today, this moment in life?" page 312.


This quote stood out to me while reading this weeks readings. It made me wonder if all children really believe that their path to opportunity will start as they get older. I wonder if they feel this way because they don't believe in themselves and think that they can't succeed in school. Have we made school too hard for Americans? I don't think so, I actually feel that were are very behind in our education. I lived in Germany when I was in middle school and my younger brother was able to go to a German kindergarten off-base. We did live off-base, but I was required to go to an American school on-base.  While hanging out with my neighbors, we would converse in English and German. I was taking German and my neighbors were taking English in their school. So we would try to help each other with our homework. It was amazing to hear that all German children were to learn English. Wow! They valued their education and made it a priority to learn new things. My brother was even learning German in his kindergarten. He would speak it fluently with us and his friends in the neighborhood. I wonder how American schools would be if we were required to learn a language and I'm not just talking about taking two classes in high school, but really learning a language and speak it fluently. When we just take those two language courses in high school, does it really stay in our brains? No it diminishes over time. But what if we were to start at a younger age, such as four and five? I wonder if children would feel like that they are on the path of opportunity by learning a new language at younger age. That is the time when learning is at its best, so why not take advantage of that time. By making learning a new language a priority, it could boost social, emotional, language, writing, and cognitive skills up. Children will feel more confident and will be able to succeed in school and in the community. The school I work for has a Japanese teacher who is also an aid. She goes to each class once a week and teaches the children Japanese. It would be amazing to have these children learn Japanese in elementary, middle, and high school so they are able to speak it, write it, and think it. I wonder what The United States would be different if every American knew another language fluently? Would America's education be different?

How can teachers make group learning time more meaningful and memorable for young children?

Why do American's shy away from group time? On page 280 the author states, "While most Americans see the value of children explaining their work to classmates, many American educators are surprised that the report of just three children would occupy the majority of such a sharing time. They see the apparent domination of a meeting by a few children as unfair." So American educators shy away from group time, because it takes a long time to have a quality conversation and discussion with children?

I feel that having a quality discussion on a topic with children is more important than worrying about how long it will take. Large group time should allow time for children to sing songs, do finger plays, and read books. Small group time should allow for discussion, conversation, problem-solving, chart making, analyzing, generalizing, hypothesizing, and discovering. Doing these things with a small group of children from 6-10 children or less can have a better effect than doing it during large group discussion. The reason I say 6-10 children is because my classroom has 22 children with a teacher and an assistant. I am the aid in the classroom, so I help out wherever I am needed. During our afternoon discussion before lunch time, we split the children into two small groups (which consist of around 6-11 children). Each teacher discusses a topic with the children or has the children come up with a topic. They have more meaningful conversations with the children during this time and allow all the children to speak more than once. I feel that just making an effort to split the children up into two groups ensures that children have time to speak and give their opinions and ideas. When children grow older and go into higher grades, they will be working in small groups for projects and classwork, so it is important they get opportunities now as children to learn how to work in small groups.

On page 285-286, the author wrote, "In groups we encounter new perspectives, strategies, and ways of thinking that enable us to learn from others. We also learn with others, modifying, extending, clarifying, and enriching our own ideas and those of others." We understand that group learning is important for children and adults, but how do teachers make group learning time more meaningful and memorable for young children? First teachers must understand what group learning is and how it is important for young children and themselves. On page 286, the author states, "The members of learning groups include adults as well as children, documenting children's learning processes helps to make learning visible and shapes the learning that takes place, members of learning groups are engaged in the emotional and aesthetic as well as the intellectual dimensions of learning, and the focus of learning groups extends beyond the learning of individuals to create a collective body of knowledge." Everyone in their lifetime will have to work in groups, but it needs to be an effective learning time to understand what goes on in group learning. Teachers need to observe their children working in groups and with their friends. When teachers do this, then they will understand how their children are able to work in a group, what kinds of things help them work in a group, and how their personalities are during group learning. If a child is shy during group learning, than you can help them by encouraging them to speak about something that interests them. Getting the other members of the group to include them on the conversation might help as well. This can boost their self-confidence and help them to feel better about group learning in the future. There are probably many ways to make group learning meaningful for children, what do you guys think?

How do we create an atmosphere where children are comfortable in discussing ideas in a group?

On page 221 a question is asked, "How can we support them in letting their thoughts emerge?" Then it goes on to say, "One of our tasks as teachers is to be able to relaunch the ideas that emerge from the children's discussions."

I really enjoyed reading the children's discussion about getting their letters to America faster by discovering the fax machine. I can definitely tell times has changed, because if children discussed this topic now, I'm pretty sure they would talk about cell phones, text messaging, and emailing, since most of them have access to technology as such. I was really intrigued by how little the teacher talked. She only talked a few times and it was only when she asked a question or restated what a child said. I believe that one thing a teacher can do to have a quality discussion with children is to step back and let the children do the talking and discovering. When children are allowed to discuss a topic with each other, there can be so many more ideas and new things that can emerge. It also allows children to develop their language and problem solving skills. Even by having them draw a picture of what they were discussing, such as the one they drew on how the fax machine would get the letter to America, allows children to make their own story. I love when teachers write what the children describe their pictures to be, because it opens up their world to you. It helps you to understand what the children are thinking and feeling. The author states on page 225, "In their discussions, the children attempt to develop a provisional new theory that makes use of the contributions of the parts of the individual theories that they see as being significant." This enables children to create what they think is right and converse with other children about what they think. I feel that a good way to document what the children say during discussions is charts (if you can write fast enough). Having a question in the center of the paper and the children's ideas as the branches can help children to understand the concept of a discussion, group work, and what their ideas look like on paper. Group work is important for young children, because it helps them to spark creativity, share ideas and opinions, delegate tasks, learn to comprise, and build relationships with each other. Children are not too young for this, actually I think young children are the best at group work, because they are not afraid to say the wrong thing and they just say what is on their minds at the time, which I think is really interesting. How do we create an atmosphere where children are comfortable in discussing ideas in a group?

How can teachers break the boring ways in making a portfolio and create something that is fun and memorable for the children and that you enjoy doing as well?

Throughout my previous early childhood courses at HCC I have learned how to create activities, plans, running record and anecdotal observations. A lot of the articles and readings I have been doing for the past year or so makes be believe that a simple observation of child can be made into something bigger. On page 156 it states, "The process is ongoing: teachers continue to generate new hypotheses, investigate them in their classrooms, and look for additional examples of group learning." There is so much that can go into an observation of a child. I never really viewed observations as meaningful teaching tools that can be an art form. There are so many new ways of observing a child and making it meaningful. One could create a diary of a child that can have every milestone of the child while in school. I feel that diaries are much more meaningful and memorable than just a regular portfolio. The school I work for is about to get re-accredited in the next couple of weeks or so and I observe teachers just putting whatever inside the children's portfolios. It doesn't seem that the teachers really care about these observations and portfolios, but just as a responsibility and a need to be accredited. Why can't teachers really care about observations of their children and treat them as if they were important (because they are)? Why doesn't teachers just keep up with their portfolios and observations, than maybe it wouldn't be such a hard task later on? I know observations take time to do, but if you do them more and more it becomes a habit and it will be easier to do them. I feel that every teacher has their own way of doing their own observations and portfolios. I think every teacher needs to step back and reflect on what works for them and what doesn't. You can still follow the guidelines and standards of what is expected from the school you work for, but just make it more fun. How can teachers break the boring ways in making a portfolio and create something that is fun and memorable for the children and that you enjoy doing as well?