#Kinderchat, glue, glitter, gogurt, bringing daily joy to twitter. Find us Mondays, 9 pm EST and 8:30PM London time when we talk all things Early Years!
Hello and welcome to tonight’s #kinderchat! Please introduce yourself: tell us your name, where you are from, what you do, and what’s the weather like in your neck of the woods.
Hi! I’m your moderator tonight. Meg, from snowy Chicago. Preschool director. We will give folks time to settle in and say hi before starting the formal part of the chat. #kinderchat
Kristin, Springfield, VA. I teach kindergarten in Alexandria, VA. It's been in the low 30s today with the remainder of the week being in the high 30s to mid 40s. #kinderchat
Hello! My name is Amy and I am in my final year of Elementary Education at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan! It is freezing over here! ❄️ I am excited to join my first ed chat! #Kinderchat
Hi! #kinderchat my name is Madi Shearer and I’m from Regina SK, i am a pre-service teacher in my last semester. I love to hike and the weather is frosty as always ❄️
Hi Kristin. Welcome to the chat! My friend just move to Virginia and we were talking about the difference in VA’s approach to snow compared to Chicago! #kinderchat
VA is very interesting when it comes to calling snow days. ACPS is a small district but oftentimes our neighboring districts call off for snow/ice quicker than us. #kinderchat
Yep. Then we had flash freezing. And today it rained… But don’t worry! More snow on Wednesday..before it rains on Thursday #notmuchsnowshoeingthisyear#kinderchat
Here’s some context for chat: I am challenging us this year to consider rights of various stakeholders within a school community. In the last 2 social justice themed chats, we discussed the rights of children and families. Tonight we discuss the rights of teachers. #kinderchat
This winter the weather has been the literal worst. however I am impressed with the Farmers Almanac, because they totally called it for this year #kinderchat
Let us know if you need anything. There are a couple of long time #kinderchat folks around the chat tonight. My chats always tilt towards the reflective just as a heads up!
Lol. Well. Here in the U.S. I feel that Ts aren't appreciated enough when it comes to the connection between...I hate to put this angle on it....when it comes to education and politics #KinderChat
No I don’t. I think we are constantly questioned and scrutinized- by the public, by politicians looking for an easy vote, etc. And I think that’s why there’s a teacher shortage in so many areas. Who wants to put themselves in that position any more? #kinderchat
Feel free to put whatever angle you want on it! My chat weeks are the policy and social justice weeks, so we chat about it all! And this is an important consideration. #kinderchat
I don't feel teachers are trusted. But I feel that that comes from non-educators making the rules. Many parents don't understand that and take it out on the teachers. #kinderchat
@teachermeg I also feel that teaching is one of the "forgotten" leader roles that is essential to our daily needs. Just like the other needs like nurses, doctors, police, fire, etc... #KinderChat
I agree. I have to say I feel trusted by my administration, and by my school board. It’s the public and the politicians who seem to question what happens in the classroom #kinderchat
I agree. Then whose responsibility does it become to advocate for this autonomy and trust in teachers? The teachers? The wider school community? #kinderchat
Honestly, I think it has to come from parents and perhaps those outside of the local school. When teachers attempt to speak up/defend/whatever that word I’m looking for is, they sound defensive. We need other people to come to our defence publicly #kinderchat
That’s true. Teaching is unique in that it is one of the only professions that everyone who is not in the profession feels like they can tell the others what to do. And I can’t figure it out! #kinderchat
I agree. I have to say I feel trusted by my administration, and by my school board. It’s the public and the politicians who seem to question what happens in the classroom #kinderchat
Yes; I run into that a bit too as a director defending our program and play. But, I wonder if it is a new responsibility of teachers and other educators to learn how to advocate for ourselves. Maybe others won’t advocate for us until we advocate for selves? #kinderchat
And here’s the million dollar question! How do we document and share our skills and talents to show that teaching is hard and that not everyone can teach. #kinderchat
#kinderchat education is one of those things that we all have some kind of experience with. Unfortunately, it has been years since many have been in a classroom (as a student). Times change, and the classroom of today looks very different than the classroom of 30 years ago pt 1
#kinderchat It’s important for the teaching profession and the early years profession to communicate what good things are happening, because it’s too easy to talk about the bad things pt 2
We need to think of ourselves as professionals - keep growing in our practice, collaborate, share, read, think, and let our LEARNERS be the evidence of great teaching by celebrating their success and growth! #kinderchat#boom
And this is the crux of it. Until we as an early childhood field (preschool teachers can have even more self-doubt and public criticism)feel confident with the research & the advocacy piece of our profession, outsiders will continue to think they know better than us. #kinderchat
And this leads into prompt 3 (oh so perfectly!): Prompt 3: Whose responsibility is it to advocate for developmentally appropriate practice? #kinderchat
We start with research, but we have to really build on that. Look at all of the research for play based learning in the early years, and yet we still struggle to prove that it’s the best way for our children to learn. #kinderchat
The public needs to see solid examples- which is where documentation comes in. And good PR. Maybe we need to hire some PR firms? Lol! #kindanotkiddingthough#kinderchat
We start with research, but we have to really build on that. Look at all of the research for play based learning in the early years, and yet we still struggle to prove that it’s the best way for our children to learn. #kinderchat
A3: OURS! I firmly believe that. But how many times do we find ourselves at odds with our colleagues when it comes to DAP? We need to be on the same page in order to give it to the public #kinderchat
I hear ya. I've been teaching for 30+ years and a lot of these issues were in my head way back then. But I'm excited that I am still having these convos. Really. #kinderchat
It’s funny, but it’s also true. We shouldn’t have to advocate to have people see us as professionals, but since we are in that position, we need to get the good PR out there! #kinderchat
Oh me too! It’s amazing how much it comes full circle. One of my favourite courses in university was “Role of Play”. That was over 30 years ago. #kinderchat
So far I have had nothing but positive responses to sharing what we do in the classroom on twitter! Using technology helps build these relationships and collaborations with others, showing education in a way it hasn't been able to be represented before! #kinderchat
We need to think of ourselves as professionals - keep growing in our practice, collaborate, share, read, think, and let our LEARNERS be the evidence of great teaching by celebrating their success and growth! #kinderchat#boom
And, (prompt 4 1/2), how do we engage with these stakeholders to help them advocate for teachers and the early childhood profession in general? #kinderchat
Wouldn’t it be nice if our state and federal education secretaries did? Or our provincial ministers of education? Too many times they have to tow the party line. Wouldn’t it be great to feel like the policy makers had our backs? #kinderchat
Wouldn’t it be nice if our state and federal education secretaries did? Or our provincial ministers of education? Too many times they have to tow the party line. Wouldn’t it be great to feel like the policy makers had our backs? #kinderchat
Absolutely! Bring the people into the schools and show them what happens! Other professions do it all the time. It’s how they get people with money to give them money. #kinderchat
Anytime I hear someone from the province is coming to my school I sign up for them to visit! Come read a book! It’s good for the kids, and important for the adults. #kinderchat
Prompt 5: I want to leave our new, fresh out of college or not even done with college, colleagues a sense of hope; What is 1 realistic way that they can establish themselves as professionals and someone to be trusted? #kinderchat
I was going to say something along the same lines, invite them into the class community in a meaningful way. Perhaps inviting stakeholders to share their knowledge to become connected to the space. #kinderchat
So much more engagement and dialogue needs to be happening. Though I’d venture to say that extends past the early education profession as well. #kinderchat
A5: When you do get your own classroom, be a good communicator with the parents. Make newsletters, call home when there's positive things occurring for students, be willing to listen to parents before giving an answer. #Kinderchat
A4: Providing experiences for the parents to visit the classroom and using the community for inquiry is a start. Using our resources around us to facilitate our learning! These steps can help build positive relationships which will foster advocates. #kinderchat
A5: When you do get your own classroom, be a good communicator with the parents. Make newsletters, call home when there's positive things occurring for students, be willing to listen to parents before giving an answer. #Kinderchat
A5: Find like-minded colleagues and connect. #kinderchat is only one of a number of great chats. Before social media, like before you all were BORN, I'd have dinner meetings with colleagues every couple of months to share and support
Folks, we are going to start to wrap up tonight’s chat. Thank you to all the seasoned and new #kinderchat folks for coming out tonight! Keep on having these difficult conversations. They are the conversations that need to be had. #kinderchat
Communicating with parents in a meaningful way is vital! I make a strong effort to share the positives and success of the students as much as I can! #kinderchat
Thank you all for the warm welcome, as well as the informative and reflective ed chat this week! This has been so encouraging for me as a future educator and I hope to join next week! #kinderchat
