Thank You!

Christopher Robin to Pooh: Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. 

A. A. Milne

It is Sunday night, December 16th.  Just two days after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I love this quote and wonder if I am sending it out to children everywhere or the teachers who teach them. Tomorrow, I will see 45 parents in three different classes. Tonight, I wonder if I have the emotional strength to deal with their questions, their feelings, and their hopelessness about our world. I do know that I need to be there. 

To you, my classmates, thank you for the work you will do this week to heal, to reassure, and to support young families. I know that you will be there for the children you teach and the colleagues that you teach with. We really are one big community.  No work is more important than teaching. 

Enjoy the time away from your computers to hug your children tight and to celebrate the holiday season. Peace to you.....Katy

If You Can Read, You Can Learn

Assessment, evaluation, labeling, intervention, testing, all have my head spinning. Of course we need to know what kids are learning, right? We want to know if they understood the lesson, right?  A lesson that we teach because it is on the state test, right? I sometimes wonder if we have lost the path on testing and assessment. It feels like we are wandering in the woods trying to figure out who is learning what so we can evaluate the teacher in order to measure effectiveness of teaching and learning.

I am married to a teacher. Matt teaches eighth grade social studies. A subject that has no state standards in Minnesota.  He has been asked to map the common core curriculum for global studies to get into compliance by 2014.  He will need to abandon the curriculum he has loved and is passionate about for one that sparks no flame for him at this point. The best teachers I know are passionate about what they teach.

I teach parents in an early childhood setting. We have no required testing for a state standard, yet. We "test" for learning, behavior, and physical struggles that may get in the way of a child's academic success. I am a very big proponent of early intervention. I have seen our "tests" bring promise to the educational lives of many children.

If I were a policy maker, I would be adamant about testing for reading fluency and comprehension through high school. If you can read, you can learn. What you learn should be driven more by what you are passionate about than what is embedded in our curriculum mapping. I struggle to rally behind standardized tests when I know so many teachers who have accepted that they will not teach from the fire in their belly but by the dictates of a test.

My only global experience in schools was in China this summer.  I was astounded to visit with several middle school students who were already extremely pressured about testing for high school. In China, the high school you choose greatly affects your future. For children in China, it is all about the national test. Each high school student takes it. It determines your college placement, your future profession, and most notably, your families honor. Talk about pressure! Children often times leave their families to live in dorms in high school that resemble factory housing. They suffer greatly, especially in the winter. They do not see their families for months at a time. Children spend up to 20 hours a day immersed in study. It is no wonder that the suicide rate for teens in China has skyrocketed. Remember, all this stress is compounded by the fact that everything rides on the success of ONE child per family in most cases.

I am not sure what the answer is to testing. I am much more concerned about a child's hopes, dreams, and home life than I am about how well they test. I suppose it is one of the reasons that I love my work so much. No academic testing for parents or preschoolers......yet!

Chaos!!

By the time I was in second grade, I had seen my parents divorce and my mother remarry.  I had lived in five different houses and had attended three different schools. My parents were involved in a wild custody fight for me, my three sisters and my brother. My mother's struggle with depression and alcoholism were just two of the many complications in her new, tumultuous marriage.  I use "chaos" often to define my early childhood.

I was the middle child. My older sister and brother were six and seven years older than me.  My younger sisters, eighteen months and four years younger than I. I coped with my chaotic home life by thriving in schools.  I loved the routine and structure offered there and the consistency of teachers and other adults who work in school.  I was a charming, precocious child with an outgoing personality. I coped by creating a village of my own full of teachers and other adults who I knew I could count on. I compensated for the chaotic life that was my home by creating a life outside of it that I could escape to. I always felt connected to my dad, even when I wasn't living with him.

People who have known me my whole life will often tell me that I have always been rigged for optimism and it's true. I think my best attributes are resiliency and optimism.  I think they helped me survive a wild childhood and the death of my mother when I was seven. I will tell you that the journey for me and my siblings has not been easy.  We are connected by trauma and tears.  We work hard as adults to see past our childhood to be the best adults we can be to each other.  Below is a picture of me and my siblings.  I believe it was taken the last Christmas we had with our mom.

I am losing sleep over the preschool children in New Jersey. One of my dear friends teaches in NJ and has asked her teacher friends to help children who have been displaced by Hurricane Sandy.  I collected and sent off backpacks and supplies to five children and one teacher last week.  I felt a great need to DO SOMETHING! I have seen the pictures and watched the news as community after community all along the coast out east deals with the aftermath of Sandy.  I just cant imagine.  How will small children cope with storms, wind, rain and water for the rest of their lives after experiencing so much trauma? What happens to a child ability to trust when they have homes and schools one day and nothing the next?

I have also watched people rally in the face of disaster, in this case the disaster is Sandy. The response has been a great lesson in the role of government when great help is needed. I grew up seeing very small interventions in my family to help the children in my family.  New Jersey is seeing huge interventions for a whole state to support children to have food, clothing, shelter, and school in their lives. There is great help to help deal with the geographical harm done to the shores of New Jersey.  I hope there is enough help to minimize the harm to the emotional lives of children who live there.

Depression

I have been curious about depression since I was a small child.  I didn't have a name for it but even as a very small child I knew that something was wrong with my mom.  I know now it was depression.  It eventually was a contributing factor in her death at age 37.  Depression has been a life long curiosity for me, a puzzle I long to solve. The mystery of my mother's depression was a key factor in my career choice.

As a parent educator, I see many women struggle with postpartum depression in particular.  I am trained to recognize it and to make the necessary referrals to keep her and her family safe. One of my teaching units is as a "Baby Connector" in Winona County.  We visit homes of new parents.  We teach them about what to expect, we answer their questions about their new role as parents, and we do what we can to connect them to a parenting community.  It is one of my favorite parts of the week.  I often make more than one visit to a new family and am always taken aback when I see the impact postpartum depression has on a family.

 The latest statistics in the US report that 12% of adult women have been diagnosed with depression.  For adult men, the number falls to 6%. In my work, I see higher numbers and always see the population I work with as "at risk" for depression for several reasons:

~Many of them are stay at home parents.  Staying at home with small children can be very isolating and  repetitious.  Children are unpredictable and often frustrating.
~We live in Minnesota.  I often introduce the concept of "the dark season" as soon as November hits.  I see the effects of fewer daylight hours and colder weather on my population of parents and their children.
~The mother's I work with often have unpredictable hormone changes after birth and during their time nursing their babies. They often do not take care of their own nutritional or emotional needs.

My trip to China this past summer was wonderful.  Some of the "risk factors" that I look for in my population of parents look different in Chinese parents.

~They share parenting responsibilities with two sets of grandparents.  Where Minnesota parents are often isolated, Chinese parents may be overwhelmed with the number of adults sharing parenting responsibilities. Most Chinese families have one child.

~The weather pattern is somewhat similar although winter in China is not as harsh as it is here in Minnesota. Chinese parents in big cities often suffer from lack of sunlight due to the constant presence of smog. In the 12 days I was in China, I saw one sunny day.

~Hormone changes are a universal concern for all women who give birth.  When I spoke with my friend Tong, she talked about women bearing some shame for depression in China.  Clearly, more education is needed there to bring depression out of the closet.  China has a long way to go in understanding and accepting depression as an illness. 

Birth Stories from Minnesota and China!

When asked to recall a birth story, I think most women are drawn to their own. This is a picture of me and my first daughter (of three) taken on February 18th, 1985. It was quite a workout bringing her into the world. She wasn't sure she was ready to meet me and I was over anxious to meet her.  Much of it was a mystery for both of us as first timers! As a parent educator, I am amazed at the power of a birth story and it's capacity to connect parents to one another. In some ways, I am glad that I was young and naive.  I didn't worry too much about the developmental characteristics of my baby.  I just assumed things would turn out alright for all three of us, me, her and her dad.  As it turns out, it did.

I had the tremendous opportunity to travel to China with 33 other teachers this past summer.  I focused my learning trip on early childhood.  I interviewed several mothers about pregnancy and birth.  There was quite a language barrier so I also consulted Tong, a teacher friend of mine to fill in the missing details. I think the biggest cultural difference between the US and China happens in the months just before and just after birth. A mother is expected to honor many Chinese customs to insure a healthy baby.  She is expected to practice restraint while pregnant. Although a woman is encouraged to continue to move and work while pregnant, strenuous activity is discouraged.  Chinese women are more conscientious about what they eat as many foods are believed to influence the personality of a baby.  What strikes me most is the way a family changes once a child is born into it.  China has a one child policy.  When that one child is born, both sets of grandparents take a very active role in raising that child.  It is common that the woman's parents move in with the new parents as soon as they become grandparents. It was beautiful to see grandparents and their grandchildren in parks, on trains, in plazas playing and learning together.

My Amazing Advocacy Moment

Greetings to my new friends at Walden.  We made it!  We have finished the first leg of our new educational journey together.  I must admit, it was a bumpy road.  I wanted to share my favorite advocacy moment of my professional career with you all.  I had the opportunity to meet with the President in the Blue Room of the White House in April of this year.  I had his hand in mine, his eyes on me, and his ears tuned into what I was saying about the importance of investing in our nations youngest children and supporting their parents in their most important role of their lives.  It was a moment I will never forget and I wanted to share it with you. There is still time to campaign for your favorite candidate whether it be on a phone bank, or a door knock, or by writing out a check.  When you do, make sure they know that you are an early childhood teacher and that you are investing in the campaign in hopes that our elected officials will invest in small children for the future of our country. We have miles to go before we sleep!  Now......FORWARD!!

Week 7 Blogpost

I am drawn to the "Ethical Responsibilities to Families" section in the NAEYC's Code of Ethics.  As a parent educator, I am highly invested in working with and supporting parents for the best possible outcomes for them and their children.  Here are the ideals that spoke to me professionally in that document:

I-2.2 To develop relationships of mutual trust and create partnerships with the families we serve.  I work diligently to build relationships with parents from the first time I meet them.  I want to know them well and understand their hopes and dreams for their families. I work with them in groups in my classroom but I also do lots of parent education away from my classroom as well. Often times, a parent needs support outside of the context of the curriculum I am delivering in class. I need them to know that I am on their side.  Even when we are dealing with very tough topics, my success lies in the fact that parents know I am committed to them and their children.

I-2.3 To welcome all family members and encourage them to participate in the program. I teach 4 terms each school year.  Parents register and we draw attendance randomly.  It is imperative that we create a community of inclusiveness at ECFE.  We are a universal access program that welcomes all learners.  Each parent has a voice in each of my classes. I believe that parents need to know that the class belongs to them and that their voice is important.

I-2.8 To help family members enhance their understanding of their children and support the continuing development of their skills as parents. I think the focus on parents at ECFE is what makes our program unique. We are not a early childhood program with a focus on parent education.  We are a parent education program in an early childhood setting. We believe that by educating parents, we change the forecast for all children. I support parents, a child's first and most important teacher, in their most important role of their lives.

One of my primary responsibilities as a teacher in an early childhood program is to make referrals for early intervention. The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) code of ethics statement speaks to that responsibility in the "Responsive Family Centered Practices" section.

4. We shall empower families with information and resources so that they are informed consumers of services for their children.  This requires me to be aware of a multitude of resources for families.  Because of the relationship I build with families, I can partner with parents as we navigate the sometimes confusing and overwhelming task of making a referral when we suspect that a child is not developing typically.

Inspiring Quotes

Here are some inspiring quotes from the multimedia presentation "The Passion for Early Childhood".

"I had a built in passion that it was important to make a real contribution to the world"

" A passion to create a safer, more just world for all kids is there".

Louise Derman-Sparks

"I think my passion comes from wanting to make a difference".

Raymond Hernandez

"All education is a civil rights issue".

Renatta M. Cooper

Hillary Rodham Clinton

"Every child needs a champion."

Hillary Rodham Clinton

"Home is a child's first and most important classroom."

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Art Rolnick

I am honored to tell you that Art Rolnick is a colleague of mine in Minnesota.  As an economist, he has elevated the conversation about investing in early childhood from schools to the national level.  Art has given our cause "wings" by tying the work we do with children and families in classrooms to an economic benefit for the nation. Art brings bankers, politicians and policy makers to the table when discussing early childhood programs.  He makes a compelling case for investment. I had the great privilege to meet with him in July to talk about the statewide campaign to heighten the awareness of early childhood programs.

“The best economic development strategy is investment in early childhood.” 
Art Rolnick, retired senior vice president, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Senior Fellow at the Humphrey Institute of Public Policy at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.

Jumpstart "Read for the Record"

Hello Walden classmates, thought I would add this clip as we approach Jumpstart's Read for the Record event on October 4th. Not part of our assignment, but pretty fun.  Enjoy!  ~Katy

Personal Childhood Web

This is the only picture I have of my parents together.  It was taken in 1951 at Fort Collins, Colorado nine years before I was born. I love it because they look so happy. These were the first two people to form my web.  They did their very best to nurture me. I am certain that when I came into their lives they were happy to have another baby in the house.  My sister and brother were seven and six years older than me. I was named Katherine after my mothers grandmother.

This is a picture of my mom and my Grampa Chet O'Toole.  I loved my Grampa very much and he loved me too. I always felt special to my Grampa.  He was a storytelling Irishman and I learned much about crafting a story from him. He lived life in a very big way.  If personality characteristics are genetic, then I feel like I inherited my spunk and the fine art of storytelling from him.

My sister, Janey was born eighteen months after me. She was a wonderful playmate throughout my childhood.  We spent hours playing together and trying to steer clear of our mischievous older brother.  Janey and I have a rich history rooted in childhood. As adults, we often recite poems or songs we made up as children.  If I ever need to fill in the details of some fuzzy childhood memory, Janey is my first call.  It is good to have someone in my life who has known me all my life.

I would complete my web with pictures of teachers who inspired me and nurtured me in so many wonderful ways.  One in particular is my teacher and coach, Jim Whitney or "Whit".  I credit getting through some very tough times to Whits commitment to my success in high school.  He cared radically about me then and he continues to to this day. I have spent my adult life thanking him.

Week 2 Blog Assignment

A current photo of me, circa 2011

A photo of me as a toddler, circa 1961.

"Nothing you do for children is ever wasted."

Garrison Keillor

I have read this book over and over again to children and adults.  It is funny!  It is fun to read in a growly bear voice and fun to act out as I read it.  Although it is hard to pick just one book to share, this one has captured my heart for some time now. 

We started new classes this week and I was touched by Misty's story about how her little girl, Aubrey became verbal this summer. Aubrey was diagnosed with autism last year. Having Misty share Aubrey's success in my parent education class was the highlight of my week.  There wasn't a dry eye in the room.

I have kept this tiny drawing in my recipe box for years.  My daughter drew this critter in 1992 when she was nearly 5.  It makes me smile every time I run across it.  My home is full of my now adult children's art work as it continues to remind me of how great it was to live with little kids.

A Trip of a Lifetime

I had the opportunity to travel to China this summer with 32 teachers as National Education Association's Global Learning Fellows.  It was a thrill to spend a morning on the Great Wall of China.  My trip was guided by my research about early childhood and play in China. I was curious about play experiences in a country with a national one child policy.  I learned so much.

So Stressed Out!

Hello Walden Friends!  Please feel free to give me a standing ovation if you ever see any of my posts in the right place.  I have watched tutorials. I have copied and pasted. I have posted, again and again with no success. "Hang in there", I keep telling myself, it is bound to get easier.  I hope you hang in there with me too!