#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!
Welcome to tonight’s #kinderchat! Please introduce yourself by telling us your name, what your current role in early childhood is, where you are from, and something fun you did this weekend.
My name is Megan and I will be tonight’s facilitator. I am currently a preschool director in Chicago. This weekend I practiced self-care by visiting the new exhibit at the Field Museum of Natural History. #kinderchat
Hi all my name is Lashekia. I am a student at the University of Illinois for Elementary ed and this is my first time being involved in a TwitterChat , I'm so exited! 😀😀😀#kinderchat
Carrie- Kindergarten teacher in Prince Edward Island. Where winter finally decided to show up… This weekend was glorious. I finished my latest course on Thursday, so this weekend, I DID WHAT I WANTED!!! No papers, no discussion forums, no readings. #ItWasPerfect#kinderchat
Krissy, k teacher in Alexandria, Va (USA). I started the craft of crocheting back in January so I have been doing that to destress. Hoping to make blankets for a local hospital's newborn babies. #Kinderchat
Joining in my first #kinderchat! Kate, Dir of Academic Tech in MA - had a breakfast date with my 6 year old this weekend! Lots of chocolate chip pancakes
On the one hand, sad the @Cubs opener had to be cancelled. On the other hand- Now I can watch it tomorrow, since I would have missed it today! #kinderchat
Our winter was a travesty. Not enough snow for snowshoeing, but so much ice we couldn’t hike. Didn’t get out nearly enough. NOW it decides to snow??? NOW?? Nope. Winter had its turn, how dare it show up late #kinderchat#IHaveFeelings
In reply to
@krissymbutler, @teachermeg, @happycampergirl, @Cubs
This is the “policy/advocacy” themed week in the chat schedule. For the past chats in this theme this year we focused on discussing rights of children, families, teachers. #kinderchat
We’ve been making our room as springy as we can!! We’ve made kites, read books about spring, even talked about plants. Just need the snow to go away..... #kinderchat
Tonight I thought we would do something a little different, to hopefully build on all of the rights we reflected upon over the course of the chats. Tonight will be a bit of a sharing and brainstorming session. I want to talk about the role we have in ECE advocacy. #kinderchat
Question one will be coming up soon. I’m glad there are some #kinderchat veterans joining in tonight as well as you’re input will be helpful for all of our new colleagues!
A1: I think it's my role to provide support, information, an ear to listen, and ideas to help moving into the more formal setting of school an easier and enjoyable experience #kinderchat
A1: I think as educators we are expected to know everything.. with that being said we should stay informed and be strong enough to standup for our students because so many have nobody who will #Kinderchat
A1b) Advocacy looks like asking lots of questions to admin and support staff to find out how to get Ss needs met. Also communicating/involving Ps #Kinderchat
So many parents won't or simply do not want to advocate for their children thats were we come in. We have to be there to listen and be a helping hand when needed #Kinderchat
In reply to
@CarrieMarshall1, @St006C, @dubioseducator
It is not enough to just work in the bubble of our own classrooms or schools. Kids at my school have EXCELLENT learning conditions, but I continue to advocate that all kids should have access to similar conditions. #Kinderchat
Whoever we need to. Administration, Department Officials, Parents. I think we need to be grounded in Developmentally Appropriate Practice so that when push comes to shove figuratively, we can stand our ground with confidence #personalexperience#probably#kinderchat
A1: I think the most important relationship for a student is the one between school & family. I communicate daily with mine. We are all on the same team! #KinderChat
A1: I believe we have to the power to be a liaison for children, families, and educators within the school system. As educators we would be the perfect individuals to explain what it is that we all are faced with on a day to day basis. #kinderchat
The process is daunting, too. It takes time to get support in place. Also, when Ss is in K for 1st school exp, Ps may not know what they CAN do. #Kinderchat
In reply to
@KelseaThrower, @CarrieMarshall1, @dubioseducator
A1: It is our role to be partners w/ parents, sharing our expertise & listening to theirs. We must be willing to speak up when things are being considered /mandated that are not in the best interest of Ss, parents & educators, even when it is uncomfortable. #kinderchat
Similarly: my teachers and asst tchrs have excellent working conditions: fair pay, paid PD, well equipped classrooms, supportive admin. ALL ECE professionals should have this. #kinderchat
And many times, parents feel they are put on the defensive. A lot of parents had bad experiences in school, they sometimes project that on to their child’s teacher/school. So many layers to issues we probably never realize. #kinderchat
In reply to
@St006C, @KelseaThrower, @dubioseducator
Advocacy is something that I think is part of our profession. Whether it’s in big or small ways, being an educator also means being an advocate. #kinderchat
I think it’s more we are here to support the families. The children don’t come to us in bubbles, but rather in the context of their families. We do need to educate and inform the wider public about what we do. #kinderchat
In reply to
@KelseaThrower, @St006C, @CarrieMarshall1, @dubioseducator
Where I teach, many parents are immigrants and just don't know/understand our education system. I try to let them know as much as possible. #Kinderchat
In reply to
@KelseaThrower, @St006C, @CarrieMarshall1, @dubioseducator
I’m glad you asked! A few years ago, we started a Pinterest collection of organizations we knew about. You can find it here: https://t.co/o97BcqaXHv. I would love to add to it, so please share your own! #kinderchat
My school belongs to CAIS, which is not strictly ECE, but includes us. I belong to NAEYC, and my after-school coord represents us on 2 diff out of school care orgs. #Kinderchat
It's so important to honour our parents and their school experiences and perspectives. Often these experiences are negative or vastly different and we all need to learn from each other #kinderchat
In reply to
@krissymbutler, @KelseaThrower, @St006C, @CarrieMarshall1, @dubioseducator
I’d love to learn about early childhood organizations that any #kinderchat educators find important to join. Besides my grade level PLC, I have to admit none.
A2: I was a member of NAEYC when I lived in the States, and I was a member of our local Early Childhood Association. But once Kindergarten entered the school system here, all things became fuzzy. So none right now #kinderchat
They have so many great resources on their website and it really helped me when I moved into the primary grades. It's for children from 0 to 8 years. #kinderchat
In reply to
@teachermeg, @St006C, @happycampergirl
If you are in the states, check out @NAEYC as a starting ECE organization. There are state affiliates and several local chapters in each state. Anyone from Chicago? I’m on the leadership board for our new chapter... #kinderchat
Look also to see if your city has other advocacy group. Here, we have Action for Children which supports educators and families. They have events like this day of action: https://t.co/ofz0Q2BIgc#kinderchat
This is another form of advocacy. Making sure that those of us in the field help those of you new to the field to find these areas of support. #kinderchat
We don’t have a board as we are a chapter. We are a leadership team that was honestly kind of thrown together just to build up a chapter from nothing. We are a work in progress here in Chicago! #kinderchat
What’s state are you in? Find your local affiliate and chapter and look for emails asking for nominations for board members or leadership members (depending on their structure). #kinderchat
I also follow/donate to (and therefore receive pubs from) other child/family/women related orgs: @splc; @plannedparenthood, local women's orgs... it all connects to family wellbeing, therefore kids' wellbeing. #Kinderchat
We can't join EVERY cause, but being informed about the diverse issues that face kids & families is our resp: poverty, race, gender, nutrition, housing, etc etc etc. #Kinderchat
Thanks @teachermeg and #kinderchat friends. Will check back on tweets. I’ve recently been interested in #SelfReg chats and #ReggioPLC and follow great people here. Have a nice week
We can't join EVERY cause, but being informed about the diverse issues that face kids & families is our resp: poverty, race, gender, nutrition, housing, etc etc etc. #Kinderchat
We do exist! I also think that administrators need a cohort of other advocacy minded folks to help us support all of our wonderful teachers. #kinderchat
A4: teachers must stay informed! There is no way educator can stay fully involved in everything so we have to work together to stay informed on the all diverse interest of students and families! #Kinderchat
When I was a day care director way back in the dark ages when I still lived in IL and had no children… I was a part of a director’s group. It was an invaluable resource for us to know how to support our staff. Even Admin need a PLC #kinderchat
I think remember that “best practice” also speaks volumes to parents and to the community at large. We need to lead by example as well as by word and speech #kinderchat
Remember that you are not an island and not alone in all that you are doing for and children and parents. Stay connected. Keep learning. Share. #kinderchat
HAHAHA! I know! Because who needs sleep, right? The one I was a part of was in Springfield. I would imagine they are still up and running, but who knows? #kinderchat
Goodnight everyone. Thanks for coming out to chat about advocacy in ECE. If it was your first time here, please make sure to come back; we chat about lots of things each week! #kinderchat
