Can Someone Please Start a Movement?

Can someone please start a movement? I would, but as it may seem a little self-serving on my part, it might not be such a good idea. But can someone else PLEASE start a movement?
I even know what the buttons and bumper stickers could say: I am a PROUD parent of a public school student! Because I am a proud parent of three children who went to public schools. And guess what? They aren't illiterate! I know, you might think they are if you live in Canada or the United States. Because lately, anything that has been said about public school and its teachers has been negative. Unless a teacher is literally sacrificing his or her own life for their students, when was the last time you read anything positive about teachers these days? A little harsh, yes I know.
But, as I said, they aren't illiterate. Quite the opposite as a matter of fact. The two older ones are in college (or University, depends on if you're an American or a Canadian). The oldest is a Mechanical Engineer major, and the middle is an English major. My youngest is in grade 11 (or a Junior if you are an American). But, just because they are in school doesn't mean they are literate. However the two older ones on the Dean's List at their respective universities just might prove they aren't illiterate. My youngest makes quite nice grades as well.

Before you may have any misunderstandings, let me clarify a few things for you:

1. My children did not grow up with wealth. We are a typical middle class family. Granted, my husband and I are both in the education field- he is a professor at a small Bible college and I teach Kindergarten (yes, in a public school- thus the reason I can't start the movement). I will say though, that I have only taught in the public system for 4 years, before that I taught in a private day care setting.

2. My children did not go to the "best" schools in the "best" neighbourhood. We live in the country and my children rode the school bus every day of their public school career.

3. They had regular classes at their high school. They did not even have the benefit of going to a school that offered the International Baccalaureate program, or even Advanced Placement courses. They had common, regular, old academic classes.

4. They would not test into the gifted category. If you took their IQ, it may be a bit above average, but still in the average zone. No Mensa members in this family!

5. My children did/do more then just go to school. They were involved in youth groups, jobs, sports, had friends.

Why am I saying all of this? Because I believe in Public Education. I believe Public Education not only works, but it is what keeps Canada and the United States going. Yes, our "test scores" are "behind the rest of the world"--but we have two countries who are dedicated to educating ALL of its children, not just the smart ones, the typical ones, the right ones. I once read that there are three types of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics. We can manipulate numbers to say pretty much what we want them to say.
Is Public Education perfect? Far from it. We have too many people spouting off too many opinions who have not spent too many hours in the classroom. We have increased needs and decreased resources. We have children coming to school hungry, cold, tired. We have too much of a disparity in how we fund public education, so the rich get the goods and the poor, underserved communities continue to be underserved. There is a lot wrong with education right now. But stop laying the blame on the teachers!
In every job there are good and bad employees. I know teaching is no exception, but I am still looking for that teacher that comes in at the last minute and leaves as soon as the bell rings. I am still looking for that teacher that doesn't worry about their students, doesn't do extra work at night preparing for the next day. Teachers care. Teachers show up to work every day knowing that someone else is sitting at home complaining that teachers have it easy. They also know that someone may be going on social media slandering them personally- it happens! And what do teachers do in response? They show up the next day ready to teach. They love their students and truly want what's best for them.
So can someone PLEASE start that movement?
Thanks.

I REALLY like science.

Last post was a bit of a downer. It certainly wasn't a good week that week, but I am glad to say that the next week made up for it. It seems like, as a class, we have all come so far- almost overnight! One more reason to love kindergarten. One week you are at the bottom of the garbage can emotionally, and the next week BOOM! you are noticing all of the wonderful things that are going on all around you.

This past Thursday, I was privileged to be a part of a group of like-minded educators concerned with environmental education in our classrooms. The educators in this group ranged from early childhood all the way through university. There were ECE's, kindergarten teachers, student teachers, high school teachers, alternative education teachers, and a university professor. We ran the gamut for education, and it was exciting to be there.
At the beginning of the meeting we were asked to bring in one "environmental artifact". As I thought about this, I realized how important science is to me in my classroom. I probably put more effort into my science area than many other areas. I truly enjoy the look of concentration on the students faces when they are working and investigating in the science area. I love the feeling of accomplishment they have when they are able to create designs in the sandbox just like an Andy Goldsworthy. I also love that much of our literacy outcomes can be met through science, technology, 'engineering', math, art (STEM, or STEAM)- because, you know, all that matters is literacy, right? (she says sarcastically...)

I wanted to share a few pictures with you, I hope you enjoy!

It's not a huge area, and you can't see it, but the block area is right next to the science centre, and art is adjacent as well. My goal was to have it all seemlessly flow into each other (except the art shelf goes up against the sand box).  

I want the science area to be one of personal and individual discovery. It is small, because I want it to be intimate. Too many people and we tend to lose the discovery feeling.

Because we live on an island, I wanted my sandbox to reflect our local beaches, so I have added sand from the beach, driftwood, local sandstone, shells, starfish, etc. to the area. I wanted them to be able to create in the classroom what they could create on the beach. I put up pictures from Andy Goldsworthy, some Stonehenge pictures as inspiration, as well as some pictures of their own creations. 

I am looking forward to the rest of the year as we will be moving into an Earth day/Environment/Farm (because not only do we live on an island, but farming is a large part of our economy) investigation. 

Did I say I really like science?

It wasn't a good day...

Most of the time, being a kindergarten teacher is awesome. So much excitement happens during the day, you see so much growth in your students throughout the year. When you get down to it, it's a lot of fun hanging out with the 4-6 year old crowd.

Most of the time it's fun, that is. Yesterday was not one of those fun days. Oh, a lot of good things happened, but one bad thing happened, and it was enough to make me re-think any of the good things: were they really good? were they really instructional? were they really fun? I don't know anymore.

Here is a sample of my day:

Choice time

Music

Morning Meeting

Writers Workshop

Recess

Snack

Shared Reading

Learning Centres

Recess

STUDENT HAS MAJOR MELT DOWN

other students left to read alone while I deal with major melt down

student taken to office (in order to calm down privately)

Measurement activity about Diplodocus

Get ready, Go home. 

See, lots of fun stuff happened. But what stands out the most for me (and I am sure the rest of my class): 

A major melt down. I mean a roll on the floor, sobbing, crying, screaming, kicking melt down. Why? Because she hasn't been getting along with another student in the class and I wanted to talk about it with her before she sat down to lunch. There are so many things in this situation I should have done differently. So many incidents leading up to this should have been handled differently. But, hindsight is 20/20 we all know that.

Because in this day and age of 'educational reform', where the microscope is on the teacher at all times, it sure doesn't help one feel better about the missed and mishandled situations. When you look for inspiration and you read how important the classroom teacher is, it sure appears that we must be super-human and never make mistakes. When you compare yourself to your colleagues and they never have students who melt down like this, boy you sure feel like a failure. And since it happened on a Friday afternoon, that is what I am left to think of all weekend.

So, Monday, I will get up and start my week. I will put a smile on my face and try to move past this situation. But it will not be easy to get the vision out of my mind, out of my thoughts. Because I don't ever want this to happen again. Ever. I have been teaching for over 20 years, I am not new to the profession. I think that's what is making this so hard for me to move on. I'm not a rookie. I should know/do better. I hope I do.

Thanks for letting me tell the story of my day. Thanks for not judging me (because you're not...right?). Thanks for letting me be honest. And thanks for allowing me to start new on Monday.