1. Their physical bodies need it
1.1. Dance, fitness, running, climbing
1.2. daring maneuvers, like jumping from up high
1.3. swinging and spinning
1.3.1. development of vestibular necessary for reading
2. young children need movement
2.1. Their mind needs it
2.1.1. to read, write and understand math
2.2. movement=retention of learning
2.3. Children learn best when allowed time to play, move and have down time.
3. planning is important to guild your learning
3.1. guided learning with a plan can look messy and chaotic but builds memories
3.2. The memories I have of what I learned all have something we did with it.
3.3. Emotional messiness is part of childhood
3.3.1. Children are still learning how to be pro-social and as teachers we need to guide them.
3.3.2. Pro-social behavior should be a priority for young children
3.4. planning is essential
3.4.1. having a curriculum helps guide the teacher and the learning
3.4.2. Creating a plan needs to be collaborative
4. I need collaborative work spaces to continue to grow as a teacher.
4.1. I work best collaboratively
4.1.1. Collaboration in ideas, plans and solutions make me a better teacher.
4.2. creating a class is a team effort
4.3. I work best with equals in education and thought
5. we need to begin to teach for the future
5.1. our schools and the way we are teaching need to change
5.2. The future is changing and uncertain, we need to teach to create creative and forward thinkers.
5.3. Public education policy needs to get with the times about teaching
5.4. Teachers need to follow only good role models
6. Children learn best by doing
6.1. When they practice what is taught they learn better and remember longer
6.1.1. repetition is important
6.1.1.1. it is good to do the same thing over and over, or read the same book over and over.
6.2. Doing something repetitively builds knowledge
6.3. children need to experience through many different senses and modalities
6.3.1. smell, taste, touch, feel, sight, and hearing
6.3.2. kinestetic, sight, sound, music, mathematical, emotional
6.3.2.1. 100 languages of children
7. passionate teachers are easy to find but hard to keep.
7.1. as a teacher I often feel unappreciated by both public sentiment and public policy
7.2. Teachers should be paid a fair wage based on experience of good teaching practices
7.3. the wage difference between administration and teachers and preschool teachers should be more equitable
7.4. teaching is the most important job
8. learning should be exciting, fun and interesting
8.1. my level of interest guides the child's interest
8.2. humans learn when strong emotion is attached, I want positive strong emotions to guide what children learn
9. I use what I know
9.1. research guides my teaching
9.2. great philosophers and researchers are who read
9.3. reflective thinking is important to me
9.4. my beliefs and knowledge are constantly changing
10. professional
10.1. academic standards
10.2. continued education
10.3. professional memberships and groups
10.3.1. NAEYC
10.4. Teachers are advocates
10.4.1. for teaching as a profession
10.4.2. for children and best practices
10.4.3. for families
10.4.4. public policy changes