Heidi here! Just a quick note to tell everyone how excited we are about the article in FORBES! Over the MOON excited!!
Everyone in #Kinderchat has been working so hard! To be an Early Childhood Educator is automatically hard work and then on top of that members of the community of #Kinderchat blog, tweet, create projects, engage in (at least weekly if not daily!) Professional Development all while working to integrate some of the most cutting edge collaboration into their curriculums the world (!) has ever seen! Talk about juggling! And they make it all look easy!
Along w #1stchat and #2ndchat, #Kinderchat was also mentioned in EducationWeek and a post from The Asia Society. #Kinderchat is proud to have inspired the grade level chats and proud to continue to build a community of Early Childhood Educators throughout the world.
Building community was and is our primary goal. When Amy and I started out this adventure in the summer of 2010, we focused on creating a "place" where teachers could be free to share failures, successes, trials and all of the authentic challenges that come with working with Young Children. I don't think either one of us dreamed we'd end up in Forbes magazine or, of equal excitement, tweet with the real RAFFI!
While we value reading and math and subject matter, as a teacher I cannot tell you what a relief it is to not constantly be barraged with "reading" and "math" and to instead focus on our craft as a whole and community and meaningful interaction as a value. The relationships between outstanding educators actively engaged in the process of teaching and learning is incredibly motivating, energizing and infinitely entertaining.
#Kinderchat must specifically Thank: all the teachers who are working or worked with their partner in Amy's Kindergarten Around the World project, Matt Gomez for his incredible Symballo and the Famous Family Facebook, Mr Fines for his songs and wonder, and of course the dynamic and brave Play Project peeps: Mardelle Sauerborn for her stunning #skypeplay project, Patty Johnson for her awesome Google docs, Mr Ben Sheridan for his "Stuck in the Mud" instructions and mad cap movies that teach children 'round the world how to play games and have fun, Nikki Cingiser for creating amazing Voicethreads and beginning work on a Children's Google World Atlas, Gail Poulin for the postcards that just keep on comin', Michelle Heibert for always giving a friendly smile and happy greeting and Our Miss Binney, Erin Rocklewitz and her 28 Kinders. But mostly to each one of YOU KinderSTARS who share your genuine stories, smiles, laughter, fears and knowledge each day.
I am proud to call the #Kinderchat my colleagues. I am proud of the amazing work we are doing together. I am proud of the zeal, zest, exhaustion, frustration and love each one of us feels and pours into our daily work.
With Love and Gratitude,
Heidi
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Yell it from the rooftops!
Hello, friends!
Amy here, asking your help with a surprise! #kinderblog assignment. An old friend of mine is working on a project, and is looking for teachers' responses to the following question:
As a teacher, what do you WISH parents knew?
You can respond in 2 possible ways:
The answers will contribute to a workshop being developed to help parents help teachers - can you think of any better possible cause?
Now, get writing, and don't forget to share a link to your response in the comments!
Smiles and Sunshine;
Amy
Amy here, asking your help with a surprise! #kinderblog assignment. An old friend of mine is working on a project, and is looking for teachers' responses to the following question:
As a teacher, what do you WISH parents knew?
You can respond in 2 possible ways:
- Blog your answer, and share the link in the comments here. You can also tweet the link using the #kinderblog hashtag.
- Contribute your answer anonymously to the shared google document found here.
The answers will contribute to a workshop being developed to help parents help teachers - can you think of any better possible cause?
Now, get writing, and don't forget to share a link to your response in the comments!
Smiles and Sunshine;
Amy
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Keeping up with the Joneses
Boy, can you ever tell when it is a long weekend, and Heidi and I have too much time on our hands! After a flurry (ok, a blizzard) of frantic DM-ing, we have finally caught up with all the cool kids:
#Kinderchat is (finally) on Pinterest!!!
Next step: we would love nothing more than to feature your blog on our boards. The #Kinderchat Pinterest boards will be hand-curated, geographically organized collection of the best of the best of Early Childhood Education (and ECE relevant) blogs out there. The blogs we "pin":
Pinterest has some unique terms of service. All responsibility of copyright remains with you. We strongly recommend you visit the Pinterest terms of service. You can find them here.
Ready to be pinned? CLICK HERE to tell us all about you!
Looking forward to pinning with you!
#Kinderchat is (finally) on Pinterest!!!
Next step: we would love nothing more than to feature your blog on our boards. The #Kinderchat Pinterest boards will be hand-curated, geographically organized collection of the best of the best of Early Childhood Education (and ECE relevant) blogs out there. The blogs we "pin":
- Are written and maintained by real live teachers, for the purpose of communication, collaboration, and community-building (in other words, we don't pin blogs whose primary purpose is (or appears to be) financial or material gain).
- Reflect current best practices in pedagogy and early childhood education.
- Are kept current, with regular additions of new content.
- Are respectful of students', parents' and colleagues' dignity and privacy.
Pinterest has some unique terms of service. All responsibility of copyright remains with you. We strongly recommend you visit the Pinterest terms of service. You can find them here.
Ready to be pinned? CLICK HERE to tell us all about you!
Looking forward to pinning with you!
Friday, February 17, 2012
So You Want To Tweet in Kindergarten
Congratulations to @MauiMickey on a fabulous presentation today! And so #kinderchat-ty community wonderful to have live tweet support from @namesescapeme Check it out! DM @MauiMickey to check out her blog!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Effect of Family Income on Learning in Early Childhood
Hi Everyone,
Well, if you told me two years ago I would be blog posting on the topic of Socio-Economic Status in relation to Early Childhood education to Kindergarten teachers the world over, I would have said you were crazy! But well, here I am and so here goes:
First off, I have to say one of the very best things I love about #Kinderchat is the opportunity for mixture between the educational community: teachers, consultants, government agencies, writers, specialists, speakers. Pots of rich and poor, religious and not religious, US, Canadian, SAmerican; all those working with children the world over mix and mingle to get glimpses of what its like to walk in another classroom.
Being in the moment of this post it all feels so big and so important, and yet so extremely humbling when you think of how much love, effort, knowledge, patience, care, tears, laughter and fun goes into the life and work of an Early Childhood educator each and every day. Truly, these are some of the world's most talented teachers and can never be hailed enough IMHO.
So here is this mixing pot of little miracles that happens each day in classrooms around the world, this culture of Kindergarten filled with snowflakes and decomposing food buckets, 100 days of school celebrations, stories and shapes and play and fighting and reading and writing and the teachers who balance it all.
Some of our students come into Kindergarten reading on a 3rd grade level, some come to us not knowing the alphabet. Some come to us fresh from their summer house on the beach, others come homeless and hungry.
The current idea among US policymakers is that this teacher - this mix master of reading, play mathematics, sparkly shiny things, social studies, frustration, joy and science- can, on a grand scale and if done with perfect precision, vault those pocked with poverty out from under the burden of not knowing where the next just jelly sandwich will come from and into six figure beachfront property.
Can buckets of strong Kindergarten teachers pull Haitian children up to the levels of those on the Upper East Side of Manhattan?
Phew! If this is the new lot in our lives, we are going to need some help! Are teachers who are expected to pull children out of poverty enjoying small 1:7? 1:10? 1:15? teacher to student ratios? Computers and art? Music, a foreign language, ample recesses and playtime in the classroom? Extra planning time with colleagues and support staff during the rich curricular day of the low income school?
As strong a teacher I feel I am, I'm not sure where to begin to pull homeless Charlotte up to the level of beachfront summer house Charlotte and with 1/8 of the tools, 1/4 the support and 3xs the tiredness, all while being micro measured on my performance to insure precision.
Beachfront Charlotte may not know her alphabet, but she has a warm bed, healthcare and a predictable meal schedule. That alone is enough to make a large difference in a small child's life. It's horribly wrong so many young children die each year from lack of those three small, yet incredibly monumental factors.
No matter which group of young children you work with or for, we are really looking forward to hearing everyone's voice on this topic tonight. We encourage everyone to continue to add their resources to our resources wiki as we continue to work together in tandem for the children entrusted to us each day!
Love,
Heidi
Well, if you told me two years ago I would be blog posting on the topic of Socio-Economic Status in relation to Early Childhood education to Kindergarten teachers the world over, I would have said you were crazy! But well, here I am and so here goes:
First off, I have to say one of the very best things I love about #Kinderchat is the opportunity for mixture between the educational community: teachers, consultants, government agencies, writers, specialists, speakers. Pots of rich and poor, religious and not religious, US, Canadian, SAmerican; all those working with children the world over mix and mingle to get glimpses of what its like to walk in another classroom.
Being in the moment of this post it all feels so big and so important, and yet so extremely humbling when you think of how much love, effort, knowledge, patience, care, tears, laughter and fun goes into the life and work of an Early Childhood educator each and every day. Truly, these are some of the world's most talented teachers and can never be hailed enough IMHO.
So here is this mixing pot of little miracles that happens each day in classrooms around the world, this culture of Kindergarten filled with snowflakes and decomposing food buckets, 100 days of school celebrations, stories and shapes and play and fighting and reading and writing and the teachers who balance it all.
Some of our students come into Kindergarten reading on a 3rd grade level, some come to us not knowing the alphabet. Some come to us fresh from their summer house on the beach, others come homeless and hungry.
The current idea among US policymakers is that this teacher - this mix master of reading, play mathematics, sparkly shiny things, social studies, frustration, joy and science- can, on a grand scale and if done with perfect precision, vault those pocked with poverty out from under the burden of not knowing where the next just jelly sandwich will come from and into six figure beachfront property.
Can buckets of strong Kindergarten teachers pull Haitian children up to the levels of those on the Upper East Side of Manhattan?
Phew! If this is the new lot in our lives, we are going to need some help! Are teachers who are expected to pull children out of poverty enjoying small 1:7? 1:10? 1:15? teacher to student ratios? Computers and art? Music, a foreign language, ample recesses and playtime in the classroom? Extra planning time with colleagues and support staff during the rich curricular day of the low income school?
As strong a teacher I feel I am, I'm not sure where to begin to pull homeless Charlotte up to the level of beachfront summer house Charlotte and with 1/8 of the tools, 1/4 the support and 3xs the tiredness, all while being micro measured on my performance to insure precision.
Beachfront Charlotte may not know her alphabet, but she has a warm bed, healthcare and a predictable meal schedule. That alone is enough to make a large difference in a small child's life. It's horribly wrong so many young children die each year from lack of those three small, yet incredibly monumental factors.
No matter which group of young children you work with or for, we are really looking forward to hearing everyone's voice on this topic tonight. We encourage everyone to continue to add their resources to our resources wiki as we continue to work together in tandem for the children entrusted to us each day!
Love,
Heidi
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Even though sometimes we DO tweet about bellybutton lint...
Wow, it has been a while since I posted here! Like many #kinderchatters, my boss (possibly tired of my constant chorus of "I found/learned about\read it on Twitter!" asked me to offer a presentation to my colleagues about how and why teachers should be on Twitter. Being a visual sort of girl, a prezi seemed the logical way to go, so here, for your viewing pleasure:
It's More than Just Bellybutton Lint: Teacher PD in 140 Characters at a Time:
(I highly recommend viewing it full-screen, if you can.)
Enjoy!
Love;
Amy
It's More than Just Bellybutton Lint: Teacher PD in 140 Characters at a Time:
(I highly recommend viewing it full-screen, if you can.)
Enjoy!
Love;
Amy
Sunday, January 1, 2012
New Years Traditions
January, February, March, A-pr~il, May! June, July, August, September, October, November, December, Party! Party! Par-tee!
Love the convo on #Kinderchat re New Years Traditions! Do you eat black-eyed peas? Lentils? Bang pots at midnight led by the darkest haired child? Share yours here!
Love the convo on #Kinderchat re New Years Traditions! Do you eat black-eyed peas? Lentils? Bang pots at midnight led by the darkest haired child? Share yours here!
#Kinderchat in Orlando
L-->R @Mr_Fines @Matt_Gomez @hechternacht @happycampergirl
(photo c/o @Matt_Gomez)
@Matt_Gomez posted his Top Fav photos of '11 and #11 this gang made it in! I love this photo! (and #7 his kids w Chewbacca :D) And after @happycampergirl wishing for a #Kinderchat 2012 get together I am hopeful we can make this happen this year!
Happy New Year to each one of you and many blessings, energy, learning and love to you in
Two oh One too!
How many Kindergarten teachers can fit on a surfboard?
ARE YOU READY TO CATCH THE WAVE #Kinderchat?!
Love,
Heidi
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