Invitation to Learning…Self-Regulation…Provocation…Reggio Emilia…
These are all words that I knew nothing or very little about before I took the Kindergarten Part 1 course with OISE this summer.
Even as an occasional teacher who has seen his share of report cards in LTOs, I recognized self-regulation but I had a very vague understanding of its meaning. It seems that others in the course shared my misunderstanding.
Self-regulation, after all, affects everyone, regardless of age. It reflects how we manage to calm ourselves in a stress-ridden world. We all have our own methods: some people read, some exercise, some hide away in a quiet place, and so on. Learning about self-regulation in this course has caused me to place a little more emphasis on the different nature of children and how I can make their transitions in the classroom easier.
Our instructor, Melissa Seco, brought her wealth of experience and education into the class and showed us the patience and the guidance of the kindergarten teacher we all want to be or continue being. With just a few words, she could alter our ways of thinking. For example, she helped me reconsider my inquiry question when one assignment called upon us to set up a Learning Centre for a kindergarten classroom.
The workload was intense but that was expected, seeing that we had to fit all of our learning into three weeks. I enjoyed every minute of it, especially when we had the opportunity to connect with other teachers. Some were veterans in the kindergarten classroom. Some were rookies. Some hadn’t even seen any action on the front line yet. Still, we all bounced ideas off of each other.
The resources were plentiful, both academic and children’s books. I pride myself on being an avid reader and knowing the titles of countless books, including children’s literature. But 90% of the books that Melissa brought into class were ones that I had never heard of. That is another reason I admire Melissa’s style: the fact that she keeps up to date with her teaching methodologies and resources, always aware of what no longer works in the kindergarten classroom.
As of this writing, I do not have a job in a kindergarten class come September. I am certainly better prepared, though, than I was a month ago.
These are all words that I knew nothing or very little about before I took the Kindergarten Part 1 course with OISE this summer.
Even as an occasional teacher who has seen his share of report cards in LTOs, I recognized self-regulation but I had a very vague understanding of its meaning. It seems that others in the course shared my misunderstanding.
Self-regulation, after all, affects everyone, regardless of age. It reflects how we manage to calm ourselves in a stress-ridden world. We all have our own methods: some people read, some exercise, some hide away in a quiet place, and so on. Learning about self-regulation in this course has caused me to place a little more emphasis on the different nature of children and how I can make their transitions in the classroom easier.
Our instructor, Melissa Seco, brought her wealth of experience and education into the class and showed us the patience and the guidance of the kindergarten teacher we all want to be or continue being. With just a few words, she could alter our ways of thinking. For example, she helped me reconsider my inquiry question when one assignment called upon us to set up a Learning Centre for a kindergarten classroom.
The workload was intense but that was expected, seeing that we had to fit all of our learning into three weeks. I enjoyed every minute of it, especially when we had the opportunity to connect with other teachers. Some were veterans in the kindergarten classroom. Some were rookies. Some hadn’t even seen any action on the front line yet. Still, we all bounced ideas off of each other.
The resources were plentiful, both academic and children’s books. I pride myself on being an avid reader and knowing the titles of countless books, including children’s literature. But 90% of the books that Melissa brought into class were ones that I had never heard of. That is another reason I admire Melissa’s style: the fact that she keeps up to date with her teaching methodologies and resources, always aware of what no longer works in the kindergarten classroom.
As of this writing, I do not have a job in a kindergarten class come September. I am certainly better prepared, though, than I was a month ago.