For those of you who are friends, colleagues or follow me on social media then you already know that I am embarking on a new adventure in Kindergarten. This is my third role in three years. I guess you can say that I am not afraid of change!
I recorded a podcast with Stephen Hurley in the summer for VoicEd Radio called Shifts Happen about my shifting roles. I'll add the link when it is available.
I have been interested in the kindergarten program and the play-based pedagogy for a number of years since I started in the school library and worked to incorporate a maker culture and inquiry mindset not only within the library space but that spread throughout the school. This meant fostering a culture of play in the library through provocations, prompts and library planning. When I returned to the classroom last fall, I had a goal of taking that learning with me and working to see how I might incorporate more play, more inquiry and more making within the constraints of the Grade 3 curriculum. Looking back and reflecting on last year, I can proudly say that we played a lot. We made a lot. We tinkered a lot. And we asked a lot of questions.
Was it always intentional?
I can't say that it was... at least not in terms of the Grade 3 curriculum. In terms of social-emotional development and what my students needed last year, yes! Yes, it definitely was. My Grade 3s were SKs when the pandemic started and from the first few weeks, I could see that they craved and needed free play in our Grade 3 classroom. I looked for ways to incorporate that play with our content areas but often I used that time to work with individual students or small groups on specific skills while the remainder of the class worked independently on conflict resolution, sharing, and communication skills- both verbal and non-verbal, and more. While we may not have also found a way to integrate our play into the Social Studies curriculum they grew by leaps and bounds in their "soft skills".
When the opportunity arose to move to Kindergarten I felt that this was an excellent time. While a part of me wished that I could continue to see what could become of incorporating more play into Grade 3 I also couldn't pass up this chance.
All play-based all the time. All inquiries all the time. All maker-ed all the time.
How could I say no?
Throughout this summer I have been reading and learning more about the pedagogy and philosophy behind the Kindergarten program and I am very excited to get started with my teaching partner and our class.
One of my favourite parts of being in the library was setting up a provocation or prompt for students and then watching them completely disregard what I had thought the materials would be used for in order to work, create and tinker in their own way. I feel like this will happen often in Kindergarten.
Here's what my teaching partner and I have set-up for the first week in our room:
Cosy reading nook.
How might children be drawn to interact with texts and with their fellow learners?
Loose parts and potential small world play.
How might these materials be used to create imaginary worlds and environments? What stories will be told and retold?
(I have lots of ideas for more world play, including a fun tree-house inspired based I'd like Mr. Lyons to build for us!)
Name-based literacy materials and books.
How might children share their growing knowledge of letters, sounds and how it connects to their name and identity?
Identity-based texts with paper, mirrors and pencils for drawing/writing.
How might the children use these materials to represent themselves, their families, their grownups or their ideas?
Construction zone- wooden blocks (and I added cars after taking the picture).
How might children start to create and play with these materials to show their understanding and wonderings connected to STEAM, our community and the world they encounter outside of the school?
Kitchen/Home socio-dramatic play area.
(My own girls- ages 12 and almost 10- spent about 2 hours here checking that everything was set-up well, could they actually "cook" with the materials, did the babies have enough clothes, etc! Play was their entire focus. )
How might children play and create social situations that shows their understanding and wonderings about relationships within their homes and their sphere of connections?
Numeracy-based materials.
How might the children sort, pattern, measure or make games with these materials?
Playdough, colouring, and (not pictured) a station with painting, cutting and glue.
How might students self-regulate, self-soothe or demonstrate their creativity with the materials available?
To be honest, setting up stations and choosing materials to start the year was very easy. Once we see what the children are drawn to and what they are interested in we will start to tailor materials and provocations to their interests and curiosity.
It's the flow of the day and deciding when to do community circles, mini-lessons, discussions etc. that is really throwing me for a loop. It almost feels like my first year teaching all over again.
You don't know what you don't know.
So much of this adventure is going to be "wait and see". And as much as my practice with all students in all grades has been student-led and student-centred there is some degree of planning involved as students rotate through to the gym, music, French or other curriculum areas. There's more structure to the day and for any of you that know me, I am really good with structure.
So how might my understanding of the kindergarten program and the pedagogy of play-based learning evolve in the first week? The first month? Over the course of the year?
Time will tell.
