Books of interest

Currently, I am reading (and rereading) two books of interest in my current Walden class.  The first, Tinkering Toward Utopia, is written by David Tyack and Larry Cuban.  This particular book examines the history of education reform, politics role in the reform process, the "grammar of schooling," and why some reforms don't stick.  I'm currently on my second reading of the book and I look forward to discussing it more with my classmates.  The second book, Experience and Education, was written by John Dewey.   I am in the process of my first reading of this text and I am enjoying it.  I find John Dewey's contribution to education interesting and this book was written in response to how some of his prior work was being interpreted.

What I have found most intersting between the two books are the concepts about what "real school" looks like.  This was something that I definitely struggled with as a preschool teacher.  I was given a certain idea about about was a "real" preschool classroom should look like and how the day should run.  Yet, that preconceived notion did not work for my students.  It felt strange to break the mold and do something innovative in my classroom, yet, it was exactly what they needed.   Do you do anything in your classroom that is innovative?  What does "real" school look like to you?

Speaking engagements and Developmental Milestones.

Life has definitely gotten busy over the past few months in regards to my roles with  Head Start and Early Head Start, in addition to teaching at NTC.  I have been in the interview process for an instructor position at another college and still continue to try and push ahead with my doctoral program.  Personally, I'm going through some changes, including a recent engagement.    I'll be honest, it has been hard to balance everything this summer!

With the new school year fast approaching, I wanted to make you all aware of some upcoming trainings I'll be doing either through NTC or various conferences in Wisconsin.  I also wanted to post some links to pages that pertain to developmental milestones.  I hope your first day of class goes well (or if you've been in class all summer, it continues to go well)!  Remember that play is a child's work and don't forget to:

Keep playing,

Rachael

2010 Speaking Engagements

• September 25, 2010--Literacy with Preschoolers
• October 5, 2010--Autism #1
• October 12, 2010--Autism #2
• October 14, 2010--NTC ECE book club
• November 2, 2010--Autism #3
• November 9, 2010--Autism #4
• March 17, 2010--Facing the Challenge (Challenging Behavior Training)  

Developmental Milestones

Understanding typical development is an important skill to have in the Early Childhood field.   Here are a few great resources to support you in understanding what typical development looks like.  Remember that all children develope at different rates, however. :-)

Your Child
CDC
Baby Center
The Whole Child

When Parents & Teachers Disagree About What Is Developmentally Appropriate

When Parents & Teachers Disagree About What Is Developmentally Appropriate

We did it!

We did it! My agency was notified earlier this month that we've received Early Head Start funding! We will be providing services to pregnant women and children under the age of three. This is an exciting time for my employer and I am proud to be a part of the excitement. I am including some resources below that pertain to Early Head Start, IDEA part C, Resources for pregnant women, and Infant/Toddler Mental Health. Enjoy!

Early Head Start
EHS NRC
Early Head Start Benefits for Children and Families
Special Quest B-5

Idea Part C
Nectac
Wrights Law
Special Education in Plain Language
Wisconsin B-3

Infant/Toddler Mental Health
Zero to Three
WAIMH

Resources for Pregnant Women
Accessing Women's Health Care
Postpartum Depression
Wisconsin Women's Health Foundation
Center for Women's Mental Health


Early Childhood Screening
Children's Health Alliance of Wisconsin
WI Child Find

Did I miss something? If so, leave me a comment and let me know!

Keep Playing,

Rachael

Autism Talks

This has certainly been an exciting year for me on the Adjunct teaching front. I have been picking up more continuing education classes for NTC and I am very excited to be doing a three-part Autism series in the Spring. It will be offered at the Medford, Antigo, and Wausau campuses. I will be covering a number of topics during these talks such as what are Autism Spectrum Disorders, common forms of Autism Treatment, how to seek a diagnosis or make a referral, supporting children on the Autism Spectrum in your classroom, and much more. It should be a fun and educational three days.

Speaking of In-home therapy, I ran into a family that I used to work with this evening. What a treat! It's always to run into families and get updates about how the children I used to support are doing. In this case, the child is doing very well, receiving minimal services. I had a pretty significant weight loss since I worked with that particular family, so I was pretty surprised that the mom recognized me.

This week I am including some resources that are specific to Autism Spectrum Disorders, advocacy, and treatment. I hope you find them helpful and interesting. Have a great weekend!

Keep playing,

Rachael :-)

Autism Society of Wisconsin
Autism Society of America
M-Chat
Polyxo.com
The Gray Center
The Play Project
Floor Time
Natural Environment Teaching
National Institute for Mental Health
Making Visuals
Tony Attwood
Wisconsin Children's Long-Term Support Waiver
Wisconsin Autism Insurance
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Autism Advocacy

Mentoring new teachers

One area of interest I have is the retention of highly qualified Early Childhood teachers. All too often I hear of excellent EC teachers leaving the field to go work for a school district or leave the field all together. I spend a lot of time wondering, "why?" I often get the response that this happens, "because of the money." While that may be true in the short run, I have a hard time believing that this gets to the heart of matter. There is quite a bit of research that indicates that people are really not any more happy because of money, as long as their basic needs are being met. When I think about how to retain teachers in the field, I think about all the reasons why I thought about leaving the field from time to time. . . .

• My work load was too heavy
• I was not receiving enough support at work
• I did not feel valued
• I did not know what I was getting into
• I did not receive adequate training

I propose a method of addressing some of the above concerns might be the mentoring new teachers by experienced teachers. There is some research regarding this topic, however, not as much as I would like to see. Particularly, I have not discovered much for current (within the past four years) research in this area. In Wisconsin, teachers who pursue a DPI license, are paired with a mentor in order to hold their Initial Educator License. However, this is not required of E/C teachers in our state. Other states, such as California, New York, and Montana have mentoring program and could be used as a model for the state of Wisconsin.

Are you an E/C teacher who has been part of a mentoring program? Did you find it beneficial? If yes, why? If no, why?

Below are some links to Mentoring programs within Wisconsin School districts. Again, these are specific to elementary schools, not specific to preschool or childcare centers. However, they could certainly be used as a template if your preschool or child care center wishes to begin a mentoring program.

Keep playing,

Rachael :-)

New Teacher Mentor Handbook
Mentoring Teachers Course at UW-Stout
New Teacher Mentor Check List
New Teacher Center Wisconsin
Wisconsin New Teacher's Academy

Touch and Go (Reprint from Exchange Every Day)

Childcare Exchange has an e-mail newsletter chocked full of interesting tidbits. Below is one of the tidbits I received recently. I found it interesting especially since I recently presented on the topic of attachment, which touch is an important part of.

The following story of Tad Waddington appeared in Psychology Today (November 2009):

"Monkeys go nuts and die if they are not touched. Touch is critical for survival and well being, so we carried 'our little monkey' everywhere and learned that humans have a latent ability to do anything one-handed. Our son, now a teenager, continues to be what Californians call 'centered' and normal people call 'well adjusted.'"