Teaching

A teacher is a gardener. When I think of teaching and beginning a new school year, I am excited by the possibilities of what my students can grow to be. A teacher, much like a gardener, must consider if the environment is prepared for success. A new seed or plant will not be very successful if the conditions are not right to meet its needs to grow. The same can be said for a student. A student must be in an environment that has been set up to meet his or her needs and has been thoughtfully considered for success. A developmentally appropriate environment for plants is one in which there...Read more

This year, I start most of my mornings in the 6B classroom. If you walked into the room, you would likely notice natural light pouring through the wall of windows. Your eye may then find the rainbow tower of construction paper and a shelf lined with bottles of paint. In a typical year, the 6B classroom is the art room.

Our art teacher, Erica Spangler, starts her day a few doors down in the Extended Day room. Because many specialist classrooms have been repurposed to enable adequate social distancing, the Extended Day room has become a temporary office for teachers. There, “Super...Read more

What children learn does not follow as an automatic result from what is taught, rather, it is in large part due to the children’s own doing, as a consequence of their activities and our resources.

—Loris Malaguzzi, The Hundred Languages of Children

When I think back to when I was in elementary school, I remember my most memorable teacher; you know that teacher. I reflect on what I loved about her, why I was so drawn to her class, and what drove me to work harder and push myself further in her class than I did in others. The...Read more