the environment, architecturally and functionally designed and equipped to provide a system of interactions and interconnection; the choice of small-group work as the most effective type of organization for fostering and giving quality to interactions and learning
I feel like pre-covid, we did this.....different classes sharing and interacting in different areas of our school. This is definitely a challenge this year. :(
two coteachers in each classroom
I love that we usually have this organization at our school.
The introduction of the atelier and the figure of the atelierista was another choice decisive for the identity of our experience. The benefits lie not only in the specific aspect of arts education, but in the creative process common to all the expressive languages, fostering the sort of "contamination" that gives rise to an original way of conceiving and developing an educational project.
A dream of mine would be to move into this role!
dialogue with others.
I believe that our staff is good at dialogue with each other. The organization of our school due to Covid has made this difficult this year.
thanks to theorganization of the work schedule so that we share our thoughts with ourcolleagues as well as with the children's families),
How can we accomplish this?
increasing our awareness of what we are learning and also of the dimension of the possible--of that which it is possible to know and to · be. This phenomenon permeates the processes of adults and children alike.
I love this idea of reflective thinking being a part of the process for adults AND children!
being able to reflect on our actions has been crucial to the development of our approach. Revisiting and reflecting on our actions,
I think we do well with reflecting on things at our school and we are willing to change when change is needed.
times and opportunities be established within the work schedule.
This is something that can be challenging, there never seems to enough time in the day. This is also a challenge with some of us only working half day schedules.
so that every person, despite their different roles, can feel that they are included
Recognizing the importance of different roles and strengths is important for inclusion and benefits the whole school.
an openness to change and to discussing diverse points of view.
Having the flexibility to change is something that is so important. This is not always easy, but it is something we must strive to do.
Time and specific working conditions are required t
Giving children the time they need and specific conditions and materials they require are important aspects.
As adults, wehave to be careful not to impose our adult agenda onthe children. We have to discover their intereststhrough conversations with children, by provoking children and asking them questions, and by listening tochildren.
So important and sometimes difficult.
Weread this dialogue back to the children so theyknew we were paying attention to what they said.
reading dialogue back.... a good reminder.
studying the beginningand end of the day,
This is something I might like to possibly explore with my preschoolers. Could expand the idea to beginning and end of the day at home and the beginning and end of each day at school.
we ask the chil-dren about their drawings, which helps us to becomemore familiar with their thinking and intentions. Thispowerful exercise also helps us to make connectionswith what is familiar to the children
Asking about a child's drawing or creation is a very powerful exercise indeed.
surface interest, they may lose the child's attention and engagement because they did not take the time to observe and listen for the child's core interests, ideas, motivations or intentions.
Interested in the difference between a surface interest and a core interest.
Observing and listening to know the child’s feelings,interests, understandings and theories is probably oneof our biggest challenges.
A worthwhile challenge.
We often call this the “holding board” or “workin progress” board. The children re-visit this ongoingdocumentation with their teachers and parents canunderstand what’s happening in the classroomthrough the presence of these holding boards. Thesedisplays of current work eventually contribute to a finished documentation panel
LOVE THIS IDEA of holding boards!!
Teachers have become better listeners to the many“languages” that children use to communicate.
Once again, the importance of teachers as listeners....
Wealso have learning tours when we invite educatorsaround the country into our centers and staff mem-bers participate in these professional development initiatives as well
Interested if they are still doing these.....
We have to be open to moving and changingbecause young children are always growing.
Flexibility is so important when following the children on this journey. How fortunate we are to be a part of it.
I don’tbelieve that educators can know each day where theyare going and where they would like to go. It is a routethat you discover as you travel.
This route is something that can be lead by the children and their interests and ideas!
the school of knowing to find connections with theschool of expressing, opening the door to the hundredlanguages of children.
I LOVE this.....connecting the "school of knowing" with the "school of expressing"!
These images tell us that if we are able to listen to the
listening is so important and something i want to be more intentional with this year. Even if it is just listening to children's free play.
an
This is something that I wish was a part of American societies. I feel like some small towns in our country have a version of this. I love this aspect of Reggio Emilia.
When
I like this idea of giving documentation titles that represent the children's experiences.
This iswhere tools for observation become essential.
I am hoping to gain insight into how this observation looks in a preschool setting.
the role of the teacher in Reggio Emilia is com-plex, multifaceted, and necessarily fluid, responsive to the changing times and needs of children, families, and society
A teacher needs to strive to be all of these! Fluid and changing are the two we are strengthening at during this time of crisis in our world.
W]e need a teacher who is sometimes the director, sometimes the set designer, sometimes the curtain and the backdrop, and sometimes the prompter. A teacher who is both sweet and stern, who is the electrician, who dispenses the paints, and who is even the audience—the audience who watches, sometimes claps, some-times remains silent, full of emotion, who sometimes judges with skepticism, and at other times applauds with enthusiasm. (Loris Malaguzzi, quoted in Rinaldi, 2006, p. 89
This is such a powerful description of the teacher! I agree Andi, it needs framed and hung in every room and in the hallway! We need to incorporate this quote when we create our history/timeline in the entry way at school!
learning as a social transaction.
So much learning can happen in social interactions between children.
questions are best explored when the children are in a context relevant to the questions at hand: talking about the class pet while in front of its cage, for example, or considering the ethics of sharing while arguments over a toy are fresh in the children's minds
We should always be listening for moments to engage children in meaningful conversation!!
letting children exercise autonomy often requires patience
It does require patience to allow children the time to complete tasks on their own. It seems easier and faster to do things for them, but children lose so many opportunities to learn and grow in their independence because of this.
importance of slowing down
Unfortunately, slowing down is not viewed as popular in our society. Getting families to see this and value a slower lifestyle is difficult to do.
In listening to children's behavior, adults must attend closely to their play.
The teacher as an observer of children"s play.....
listening' to very young children does not necessarily mean taking all their utterances at face value, but it does mean observing the nuances
This is a very good point. Sometimes we have to try and think about what children are saying from their perspective.
If children do indeed speak using 100 languages, then in order to understand what children are saying, adults must lis-ten with all of their creativity.
This is a goal for us as teachers to be able to listen with all of our creativity and to be able to help other teachers to recognize and listen to all of children's languages.
A children's rights movement must be as much about "adult ears" as it is about "children's voices"
Yes to this!! 100%!
innish educator Monika Riihela held that infants as you
I am wondering if the Charter of Children's Rights is something that is done every year? Could this be a yearly, whole school project at the beginning of each school year that is displayed? What do you think Weaver Tribe?
(also, for some reason my annotations are not matching the highlights for some reason...... the words I have highlighted for this annotation are actually..... "How can we give voice to all the children."
Researching the ideas of young children requires indirect methods of inquiry
I believe that we as teachers have to practice listening to children on a daily basis. It is something that we have to work at doing, it doesn't always come easily for everyone. I do think the more you work at it, the easier it becomes. It is sort of getting yourself into a listening mindset.
that young children have important insights into the issue of children's rights and how it pertains to their own
Unfortunately, this is how many adults view children in our culture in the US.
8 Seen and Heard FIGURE 1.2. Boulder Journey School Charter on Children's Rights.© Boulder Journey School, 2010. •Children have a right to plant flowers and plants with other people •Children have a right to grow taller•Children have a right to run or walk, to choose which one, if it's safe •Children have a right to have friends •Children have a right to touch everything, but gently, but not birds because that can scare them very much •Children have a right to pretend thatthere's a beach anywhere •Children have a right to pretend everything•Children have a right to pretend withglass, but not a right to drop it 'cause that's not safe •Children have a right to climb mountains, ski on the mountains(when there is snow), and play on the mountains (because the mountains are there for all of us to use) •Children have a right to take off theirclothes when they are hot, but not their socks •Children have a right to have fun •Children have a right to read books when they are crying (so they don'thave to talk about it right away) •Children have a right to sing, and to sing to other people •Children have a right to help otherpeople and even birds with broken wings (so it's okay for people to touch them) •Children have a right to play all day •Children have a right to twist theirown ears, but not a right to twistother people's ears (a child must ask the other person first) •Children have a right to be asked ifsomeone wants to twist their ears •Children have a right to guess how things work•Children have a right to be in love and love each other•Children have a right to eat grapes whichever way they choose, like peeling them first, if they want •Children have a right to make ideas with other people •Children have a right to be safe from fires and have firefighters ready tohelp them if there is a fire •Children have a right to fall down when they feel like being crazy •Children have a right to sleep when they are tired, or not to sleep when they are not tired, like just resting •Children have a right to have their hair look like they want, but not a rightto cut it unless they ask first •Children have a right to choose theirown clothes (and parents have aright to buy clothes for children if they want, but parents do not have a right to steal clothes) •Children have a right to never, never go to jail•Children have a right to pretend being dead and think about what it means to be dead •Children have a right to eat some cheese or an apple when they are hungry •Children have a right to good stuff thatmakes them happy •Children have a right to clean air •Children have a right to clean, fresh food to eat and if the food is dirty,they can say, 'NO!' •Children have a right to clean, cold water or clean, hot water or clean, warm water •Children have a right to chew soft gum, especially if it's the kind that cleans your teeth, but not a right to hard gum, like one might find at Copper Mountain's gumball machine •Children have a right to talk, as long as they do not interrupt someone else who is talking first, but children have a right to wait for their turn to talk
I love each and every one of these! I believe that many adults in our culture don't take the time to listen to the ideas of children. Each of these statements gives such an insight into the minds of the children!
Children have a right to a good school — a goodbuilding, good teachers, right time, good activities.This is the right of ALL children.
I love this.........
We don’t want to teach childrensomething that they can learn by themselves. Wedon’t want to give them thoughts that they can comeup with by themselves. What we want to do isactivate within children the desire and will and greatpleasure that comes from being the authors of theirown learning
I love this.......
The important aspect is not just to promotethe education of the child but the health and happi-ness of the child as well.
Unfortunately, in many educational settings, the happiness of the children is not considered.
Overactivity on the part of the adult is a risk factor.The adult does too much because he cares about thechild; but this creates a passive role for the child inher own learning.
I see this in many of our parents. They do many things for the children out of care, but many of these things the children are capable of doing for themselves.
It is also important for the teachers to enjoy beingwith the other teachers,
This is definitely the case at our school. As teachers and as a staff, we love to be together. Our director refers us as a 'tribe". We are there for each other professionally as teachers and in every other way as friends.
The ability to enjoy relationships and work togetheris very important. Children need to enjoy being inschool, they need to love their school and the interac-
This is something that happens at our school. Our children love being at school! We have a sign at the entrance of our room that says "Together is a wonderful place to be." I believe that our children truly love being together in our classroom.
School can never be alwayspredictable. We need to be open to what takes placeand able to change our plans and go with whatmight grow at that very moment both inside thechild and inside ourselves
It is so important to remember to be flexible and follow the children. Being able to change direction according to the children's interests honors the children in our classrooms.
When youenter the school in the morning, you carry with youpieces of your life — your happiness, your sadness,your hopes, your pleasures, the stresses from yourlife. You never come in an isolated way; you alwayscome with pieces of the world attached to you. Sothe meetings that we have are always contaminatedwith the experiences that we bring with us.
Such a good reminder. Students and teachers bring pieces of themselves from home into the school environment.
that child is already tightly connected andlinked to a certain reality of the world — she hasrelationships and experiences. We cannot separatethis child from a particular reality. She brings theseexperiences, feelings, and relationships into schoolwith her.
It is so important to allow the children to share their stories from home. I appreciate the statement about the children bringing experiences, feelings and relationships to school with them.
There’s a difference between the environmentthat you are able to build based on a preconceivedimage of the child and the environment that you canbuild that is based on the child you see in front of you
This is an important reminder. The environment should reflect the children in front of us.