The First Days of School Matter
Do you remember your first day at school as a student, a teacher candidate during practice teaching and then the first day when you started as a teacher in your first assignment? At every stage, the first days of school are always important. So it is with our students, especially in Kindergarten. This is where it begins. The wonder, the rich connections and the limitless possibilities germinate here.
Here is the tiniest sunflower from all the seeds I planted in the Spring. I smiled when I saw it and I hope you do too.
Collaborations Matter
In your role as a teacher, it may be difficult to gauge who and what else is out there to support. Is it too early to ask for collaborations? How soon can I ask for someone to be a thought partner? How long should I wait to share these wonderful ideas I have?
We Dropped In to Say Hello
For teachers in classrooms, finding whom to contact and emailing them is one more task in your busy day.
As we were wrapping up the 2024-2025 school year I reached out to the Early Years’ Consultant to partner with me so that we could say a quick hello together. Here are some ways we have reached out.
- Since September, we’ve been in many schools and we’ve had some promising opportunities to connect with educator teams – usually through a quick hello individually because we are mindful of not crowding the physical space with two new grown-ups.
- We have offered collaboration support to kindergarten educator teams when they invite us in. This joint approach has allowed each of us and both of us to listen deeply from our professional standpoints and bring in resources to support partnership possibilities based on the needs of students in these classrooms.
- We also have identical lanyard visuals as a Tier 1 good-for-all communication tool. Sometimes, classroom colleagues ask us for these visuals and we share them gladly.
- We have had a great start to our collaborative partnership and for this I am grateful. When we debrief, we have lots to share and smile about. Students benefit when adults collaborate consistently. This we know.
The collaboration above is just one example of how we can support one another. There are many self-directed ways through some helpful resources from ETFO that are created by educators for educators.
Resources for PLEY (Professional Learning in the Early Years ) ETFO PLEY has lots of important links and I have shared them below.
Observation: A Window into Children’s Thinking
I started with this link because that’s the one that fascinated me the most. We know how gratifying it is to hear students communicating their thinking in many ways. When students are multilingual, how wonderful it is to hear them communicate in their home language! The kindness we experience when a student translates their peer conversations for us, and invites the educator to join in, is indeed heartwarming.
When students feel safe and comfortable to bring their whole selves into view is a very rewarding experience for us, isn’t it?
Interested in partnerships? Do check out this link: Building & Enriching Partnerships
PLEY Chats highlights educator teams who share their passion in the early years. There are also some Reflective Questions to consider in this section that you may want to bring to your Professional Learning Circles or planning meetings.
- How does this topic resonate with you and what connections are you making?
- What wonderings does it leave you with?
- What idea(s) would you like to delve into?
- What obstacles or challenges will prevent you from moving forward? How can you problem-solve through these challenges?
- What resources can you access to support you?
- How can you infuse these ideas into your setting?
I hope your Early Years’ educator teams enjoy engaging with ETFO PLEY.
Looking Forward To School
As I was walking towards the door on the first day of school, a student’s parent was leaving with the younger sibling who was asking “Why can’t I go to school?” The parent replied, “You are not old enough yet. Next year, you can go to Kindergarten.”
That made me smile at the hope and joy of this eager learner and for us, as very fortunate ETFO members, who will be able to share first days of school with our students.
With You, In Solidarity
Rashmee Karnad-Jani
