Thursday, October 9, 2014
How do you integrate community into your classroom?
Is my classroom welcoming not only to the children of the center but also the adults? Does my curriculum allow for parent participation? What are some things that I could change to having my classroom more like the programs from the scenarios presented in the book? This chapter really opened my eyes to how much more I could do to create an environment that supports the aspect of community. When reflecting upon the center that I am currently in I can honestly say that not to much of the making parents feel welcome through larger furniture in specific areas. There are some things that I can see in my center that follows along the lines of what we read in the last chapter such as parents coming in and helping upkeep the play area, seminars for parents, and open invitations for parents to get involve through a kind of PTA thing. All in all there is always room for improvement and I plan on advocating for a change in making our classroom have more of a welcoming community feel to it. How do you integrate community into your classroom?
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Hi Maika
ReplyDeleteSo what strategies would you choose to make a more welcoming community feel to your program? Do you believe that strategies like seminars and PTA meetings are successful ways in getting families involved with the program? We have monthly Parent Committee Meetings that are conducted by our Director. Every month the family attendance varies. Some months we have at least half of the families in attendance and then the next month there is like one family. We have not as a team tried to brainstorm on ideas to try and increase the attendance of our families and neither has our director. I believe that her lack of urgency on the matter trickles down to us teachers and that is why community is not such a huge piece in our classrooms. Our program talks a lot of family participation and community involvement but I don't really observe that happening in our program.
One thing I learned when I was a practicum student and in my first year of working in a preschool is that in order to support your parents and create an environment that includes them, you have to first know them and build relationships with them. Something that I constantly try to do is get past the surface, the fake and shallow interactions, and dig deep to have more meaningful relationships with my families. Those relationships then help me think of ways that I can incorporate what families know and their abilities into our classroom. For instance, this year more than half of my children are ESL (English Second Language) students so since the beginning of the school year I been asking parents to translate numbers, words, and phrases that we can use in our daily routines. I’ve found that acknowledging and celebrating differences among us has opened up different level of our relationships. Like Hawai’i our classroom is a melting pot of different values, cultures, and languages, and when we incorporate them into the classroom a sense of belonging and community develops. Do you incorporate your families’ cultures and/or values into your classroom? If you do, how?
ReplyDeleteHi Maika,
ReplyDeleteHow can considering another center that welcomes parents/families through the environment, policies, and practices help you to rethink your own early childhood settting? You begin to make these connections through your posting, noting the possible limitations and how these might be addressed. As a director, what questions could you constantly ask yourself in order to ensure your site is creating a space for families to become part of the community? Often, I hear/see early childhood sites that proclaim welcoming spaces for families but it is often on the school's terms - for example, a policy where children must be at school by 8:00 and parents/families must leave by 8:15. How might a director consider/review the policies at a center and rethink/revise so the policies reflect the goal of welcoming parents/families? Using the example I give you in my response, how might you as director rethink/revise the policy? How might a director involve the staff and familiies in building a set of policies that are reflective of welcoming families? What might this collaboration look like?
Cheers,
Jeanne
What changes would you be advocating for in your own classrooms? How will it help integrate community into your classroom? I believe that it is very important to create a classroom environment that makes adults feel comfortable and welcomed. I want also want to create that type of environment for the parents that walk through the doors of the classroom that I am in. It is nice to build relationships with the parents and to see the parent interaction with their children. Definitely things to think about when setting up your own classroom.
ReplyDeleteYou ask excellent questions. Yes, I think the classroom I work at is welcoming to everyone, including the children's families. Yes, parent participation plays a big role in how our school operates. As far as making changes that mimic those in the book, I think we are already at that point. We have a wonderful environment that is very natural and home-like. I guess we just need to remember the value in keeping it this way. We need to remember why this environment works so well for everyone and cherish it for what it is. I love that you can see areas which need improvement in your own school and that you want to advocate for change in it. I wish you luck in this! The fight is worth it for all involved. How exactly do you plan on giving your classroom a "more welcoming community feel to it?"
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think you could do to create more of an inviting environment? Do you think your coworkers would agree with this?
ReplyDeleteIt is nice that your parents get involved in the up-keep of the play area. What are some other ways you can get them involved?