Teacher Tip Tuesday: Book Hospital

When the adults around them value books, so do children. Here are some ways to help children learn to take care of the books in your classroom or home library:

• In the beginning of the school year (or when new children enroll in your program), openly discuss ways we take care of our books: Turning pages gently, putting them back on the shelf, etc.
• Create a "Book Hugger" bulletin board and when children display behavior that shows that they are taking care of books, write down what they've done and put it on the bulletin board.
• When books get damaged, have children place them in the "Book Hospital" for repairs. Teachers should keep the following items handy for book repairs: packing tape, book repair tape, glue, clear contact paper, a book stapler (one that allows you to staple books at the spine). 

To make your book hospital:

1. Collect a small or medium sturdy box.
2. Paint it white OR cover it with white butcher paper. Draw or paint a hospital on the outside of the box.
3. Write "Book Hospital" one side of the box.
4. Add a blanket and small pillow, just for fun.

When children find a damaged book in the classroom, or if they accidentally damage it themselves, they can place the book in the "hospital" and the teacher (perhaps with help from a child) can help repair the book. Visit this Squidoo link for book repair tips.

BOOK OF THE MONTH: It's Back to School We Go

It's Back To School We Go! By: Ellen Jackson

"In easy-to-read text, describes what the first day of school might be like for a child in Kenya, Kazakhstan, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, Peru, Germany, India, Russia, and the United States."

Related Activities:

• Use a large class map (there is a map in the book) to mark the countries mentioned in the story.
• Invite parents, teachers, and other staff members to bring in pictures of their first day of school. Chidlren will be delighted to see the adults in their life as little children!
• Talk about the similarities and differences in children's experiences.

More Back To School Books, Activities, and Links:

• Back To School Book of the Day: Will I Have A Friend? by Miriam Cohen
• Back To School Book of the Day: Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
• Back To School Book of the Day: Maisy Goes to Preschool by Lucy Cousins
• Back To School Book of the Day: My Teacher Sleeps in School by Leatie Weiss
• Back To School Book of the Day: A School Like Mine by DK Publishing
• Back to School Book of the Day: If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Joffee Numeroff
• Back to School Book of the Day: This is the Way We Go To School by Edith Baer
• Back To School Book of the Day: The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

• Book of the Day Activities: Your Best Behavior
• Book of the Day Activities: The First Day of School

Teaching Kids News by Joyce Grant

Last year, I partnered with my son’s grade-three teacher to talk to the kids in his class about “the news.” Because I’m a journalist, it’s something I know a bit about and I thought the kids might be interested in finding out more about their world.

It turns out we vastly underestimated their interest!

Each week I brought in a stack of newspaper clippings and talked about them with the class. We followed a couple of major breaking stories (the G20 summit, the oil spill) and we also talked about interesting or funny stories that would crop up during the week. It might be anything from the discovery of a new species to a space shuttle launch.

The kids actively participated in the weekly sessions, wanting to share their own knowledge about the news stories and also wanting to know more. Pretty soon, kids’ parents were coming up to us saying, “My son just explained to me what’s happening at the G20!”

That weekly media lesson sparked an idea for a website. What if we brought kids the news in kid-friendly and –appropriate language? It would encourage kids to read, because they desperately want to know what’s going on in the world. It would also encourage parents to read with their children.

My son’s teacher, Jonathan Ophek, added the final, brilliant piece of the puzzle: what if we added “curriculum connections” to each article, so teachers could use each day’s article right in the classroom? Teachers would be covering the curriculum using current news events pulled from today’s headlines.

So Teaching Kids News was born.

The site began in September 2010 and was relaunched in its current form in January 2011. We haven’t done much marketing of the site yet, but already more than 1,000 teachers and parents use the site every day. Some days, particularly when big news is breaking, we get more than twice or three times that number. (Our biggest day has been over 6,000 individual users.)

Our goal is to get kids reading, and we think that by bringing them news that is not only easy for them to read but put into “context” for them, we’re able to do that. At the same time, Teaching Kids News provides instant lesson plans for teachers and parents who are home-schooling their kids.

And as one CBC reporter said, TKN’s politics section is a great place to brush up on what’s happening in the world—for anyone, kid or adult!

Joyce Grant is a journalist and owner of Teaching Kids News, http://www.teachkidsnews.com/. She also blogs at Getting Kids Reading, http://www.gkreading.com/.

Teacher Tip: Avoiding Holiday Burnout in the Classroom - Less is More

Holiday time can be overstimulating even for those of us who have had years of experience navigating the hustle and bustle that comes in December. But imagine you are just 2 years old. Your quiet predicable world is snatched out from under you only to be replaced with loud music, twinkling lights, bright colors, crinkling of paper, giant snowmen on every lawn, lighted reindeer everywhere you look, longer days at day care (while parents work, shop, or both), regular teachers and caregivers are on vacation...it's massive sensory overload at home AND at school. It's often too much for preschoolers. So, sometimes, less is more!



Here are a few tips for helping your little ones survive the holidays:

1. Keep classroom routines the same.
2. Avoid spending the entire month focusing on celebrations and holidays. Limit your holiday-themed activities to the 3-5 days before the holiday.
3. Limit holiday decor in the classroom. The younger the child, the fewer decorations you need. Infants, toddlers, and twos have a limited or no concept of holidays. Preschoolers certainly have a better understanding of holidays but they too can become overwhelmed.
4. Incorporate more calming activities like Yoga Kids: For Ages 3-6 because children may need more relaxation.

What are your tips for maintaining sanity during in your preschool classroom?

Teacher Tip: Turkey Apples for Thanksgiving



I can't take credit for this wonderful little art project, but it was just too cute not to share! A Spanish Teacher who comes to our child care center each week made these awesome little turkeys with the children last week. She also taught them to say turkey in Spanish: el Pavo!

Teacher Tip: Keep the Germs Away...when you can

I still have two more posts to write in my "Boys and Books" series but I've been a bit under the weather. It's that time of year when cold and flu germs are just waiting to tackle innocent bystanders. They are lurking on door knobs, key pads, telephones, pencils, computer key boards, urghh...just everywhere.

So this week, I turn to YOU for teacher tips! How do you reduce the spread of cold and flu germs in your child care center/school/classroom?

There is no fool-proof answer, but here are some of the things I've seen:

• Bleach water solution, when MADE and USED properly, can be sprayed on eating areas, toys, door knobs, etc.
• In infant programs, have a laundry basket placed out of reach of the children. As children put things in their mouths, as soon as they are done, put them in the basket to be sanitized before another baby picks it up.
• Have a mid-day sanitation schedule. Rather than waiting until the end of the day, assign someone to clean and sanitize toilet seats, toilet handles, door knobs, telephone receivers, and other areas.
• Refer to, post, and follow NAEYC's cleaning and sanitation frequency chart.
• Do you serve food family style? Make sure that there is a teacher supervising until children learn not to dip their own spoon into the community bowls! I used to purchase serving utensils that were glaringly different (ex: red, or some other bright color) than the typical utensils to help children remember.
• Teach children (and some adults) to sneeze and cough into their elbows, not their hands!
• Of course, teach proper hand-washing procedures to children and adults.

So, what are your tips for reducing germs in the child care / early childhood environment?

Other Posts:
Germs Make Me...and You...Sick
Should Child Care Employees Be Required to Get the Flu Shot?

Teacher Tip Tuesday: Boys and Books in the Classroom

Research shows that there is a reading and language achievement gap between boys and girls. As early childhood educators, we must take a moment to see what role we play in creating in this gap, and more importantly, how we can help eradicate it. We know that the early years are very valuable in setting the stage for future learning, so we should take our roles seriously. How can we be sure to set boys up with positive literacy experiences? Here are a few tips. Please comment below if you have more tips to share!

1. Don’t compare boys to girls – boys take longer to develop language and literacy skills. And comparing boys to girls is just unfair. What's "on target" for girls is not the same as what's "on target" for girls. Here's an example: if you have a boy that can write the letter A in shaving cream, but is reluctant to pick up a pencil to write, is it really fair to say that this child "can't" writ the letter A. Well he can write it...maybe he needs more fine motor activities to help him with his pencil skills, but it's not fair to say flat-out that this child can't write the letter A.
2. Evaluate your own teaching style – do you expect boys to adapt to you or are you adapting your teaching style to meet their needs? Is your circle time too long to really grasp the attention of the boys AND the girls in your room? Are you providing activities that meet the needs of all kinds of learners (visual, active, auditory, etc)?
3. Do you have books and writing materials in ALL areas of the classroom? If the boys in your room rarely choose to go to the library or writing table, then they are missing potential learning opportunities. In order to overcome this challenge, encourage reading and writing in all areas: in block area, add construction and architecture books as well and pencils and paper for making signs; at the work bench, add paper and pencils for making "blueprints;" in the science area, include encyclopedias, nature books, and science-related diagrams. Be creative, but make sure that reading and writing opportunities are all around.
4. Have male role models read to your class. In most child care programs, men are few and far between. So look to your parents or other members of the community to read stories to the classroom.
5. When you do author studies, purposely ensure to feature as many male authors as you do female authors.
6. Be sure that you have books that cater to the interests of the boys in your classroom.
7. Visit websites such as Getting Boys to Read and Guys Read to learn new and exciting ways to engage the boys in your classroom. Another helpful site is Reading is for the Boys...it's a webquest geared for K-12 teachers but many of the information is helpful and can be adapted to the younger ages.

Books About Boys and Books

Teacher Tip Tuesday: Celebration Time ~ There's a Preschool Party Going On!

Clean up time can be a challenge for preschoolers. After giving children a warning (we will clean up in five minutes), I would put on "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang; you might have to put the song on repeat (depending on the size of your classroom and the size of the mess) in order to give the children time to clean up!

After everyone cleaned up, we would meet on the carpet in our meeting place for Celebration Time. We sit in a circle and each child gets to "celebrate" something that they did during Center Time that day. In the beginning of the year you might get things like, "I played in Block Area." I would probe by asking questions like, "What did you build in block area?" Part of my goal was to get the children away from over-using the word "play" and begin to think of what they really did. Not that there's anything wrong with the word "play" - I am an advocate of play. I just want children to expand their vocabulary and think a little deeper about their actions. A few months into this, children would say things like, "Chris and I worked together to fill the buckets in the sand table and we made moon pies."

Sometimes children would bring papers to the Meeting Area. I would put a basket on the rocking chair and if they had something they wanted us to CELEBRATE, they would put it in the basket. It might be a picture they drew at the art table, a story they wrote, a picture they drew of their block structure (I would keep blank paper, pencils and clipboards in every center in case children wanted to draw pictures of what they were doing).

Here are some advantages to Celebration Time:

1. Children begin to think about what they are doing, WHILE they are doing it. Their learning becomes more self-planned and purposeful.
2. Clean-up time becomes a little easier because children are EXCITED to celebrate with everyone!
3. It encourages children to revisit their learning.
4. When children go home and parents say, "What did you do today?" they just may be able to say a little bit more than, "I played."
5. Children learn to take pride in their accomplishments!
6. Children learn ideas from one another about things that they may want to try the next day.

Teacher Tip Tuesday: Poem of the Week Notebook

Every teacher knows that extending learning at home is an essential part of a quality educational experiences. At the beginning of the year, ask each parent to buy a small vinyl notebook like this. Each week, feature a different poem, nursery rhyme, song, or fingerplay. Make a copy and put it in each child's notebook on Monday and send it home that evening. Each night, the parent and child should read their poem or song together. The families should send the notebook back to school on Friday (so that you can add a new poem on Monday).

The parents and children in my classroom loved this idea because they could go back and re-read their favorite poem and at the end of the year, each child had a nice collection of poems from the entire year.

Whatever poem I would send home would also be featured in our classroom on chart paper. I would laminate the charts so that we could use dry-erase markers to write on them - sometimes we would circle our letter of the week, other times we might find a word that we recognize. Throughout the week the children would share this learning with their families each night.

If you are a teacher of infants/toddlers/twos you can adapt this concept by still asking parents to provide the notebook and sending home poems or songs bi-weekly or monthly. Parents will appreciate being able to sing or recite some of the songs they may hear their toddlers trying to repeat.

Other adaptations:

• If you have parents that speak other languages, ask them to either teach you a song/poem in their language or to translate a familiar song/poem. It's a great way to incorporate various languages into your program.
• For some poems, you may want to type and print them. But for others, I suggest writing them. These days children see a great deal of typed text (computers, books, etc) so seeing handwriting is good for them!
• Allow children to illustrate the poems on Monday before putting them in their notebooks. They will be additionally excited to show their family their illustration in addition to reading the poem.

Some songs/poems I used in the fall include:

• Way Up High in the Apple Tree
• Gray Squirrel
• Autumn Leaves
• Five Little Pumpkins

There are a ton of poems/songs/fingerplays to choose from. What are your favorites?

Happy Reading,

Teacher Tip Tuesday: Quiet Time Boxes

When I taught preschool, I always seemed to have one or two children who wouldn't sleep. My rule was that the first 30-45 minutes was quiet time for everybody. I used that time frame because I knew that in that time period, the children who were going to sleep would be sleep by then. And after 45 minutes or so, the children who were still awake were likely the ones who were not going to nap anyway.For your classroom it may be a different time frame - use your judgement. I kept shoe boxes filled with quiet activities that children could take to their cots. I normally kept 4-5 of these boxes in the closet and I would mix up the contents occasionally. Some items to include:

• Books (consider adding books that are not normally on your bookshelf every day - books that the children have never seen before)
• Magazines (I kept a supply of Your Big Backyards)
• Soft puzzles (like these from S &S)
• A small bag (I used little felt bags because they were more quiet than paper bags and less dangerous than plastic bags) with a few maniplulatives inside (interlocking stars, legos, etc)
• Small notebook and a few crayons
• Flannel "board" (made by attaching a piece of felt to a file folder) and felt pieces.
• Puppets
• Laminated sheets of blank tagboard, tissue, and dry erase markers (to make an individual dry-erase board)
• Lacing Cards or large beads to string
• Peg boards

I would decorate the outside of 4-5 shoe boxes (and add 3-4 activities to each box) and let the non-sleepers take one to their cots. It helps keep the non-sleepers occupied and quiet! The trick is to keep changing up the items inside to keep them busy and happy! 

Teacher Tip Tuesday: Routines Rule!

I might get a bit of flack for this but I always say that teaching preschool and kindergarten aged children is 80% classroom management. I know, it's important to learn letters, numbers, and shapes. But if you have a classroom full of children who are unable to listen or follow directions, you won't be able to teach them anything anyway!

This time of the year is often pretty challenging for preschool children...and their teachers. Lots of crying, new rules to follow, and new routines to learn. My suggestion for this week: scrap the lesson plans, at least for a few weeks.

I know, sounds crazy, right?

When I taught kindergarten, I did not do a traditional lesson plan for the entire month of September. Each day of the month we learned routines and rules. It may not sound like a lot, but trust me, it pays off. My goal as a teacher was to have the children not "need" me so much! We learned how to turn the computers on/off, how to hold the scissors, how to use the art materials, how to take care of our books, where to find the puzzles, and all of the other day-to day tasks. If you are in November and still teaching your children how to clean up the block area, you might want to rethink your strategy!

Don't underestimate the importance of focusing on rules and routines. A well managed classroom is a place where true learning can occur.

Playdough: Where Learning and Rolling Pin Meet

Playdough Fun

What To Do:

1. Find your favorite playdough recipe on-line. When working with young children, I prefer a non-cook version like the "No-Cook Play Dough" recipe on this page. I suggest adding a few drops of food color to the water.
2. Gather ingredients. Your child can help you measure, pour, stir, and knead.
3. Allow children adequate time and space to play with the dough. Adding objects like rolling pins, cookie cutters, mallets, plastic forks/knives will extend children's experience with the dough. Discount School Supply makes some great (and affordable!) play dough tools like pizza cutters and rolling pins.
4. Optional: For scented playdough, add powdered drink mix to the water instead of food coloring!

What Children Learn:

• Math - measuring ingredients
• Chemistry - Difference between solid and liquids and what happens when you add liquid to dry ingredients
• Colors - Allow children to choose what color you will add to the water; you can extend this learning by dividing the water in half and make 1/2 red and the other yellow. When children pour the two colors into the mixing bowl, they will observe the color change!
• Fine motor skills - kneading, rolling, pinching, and exploring playdough exercises the muscles in the fingers which children will need to hold a pencil or tie their shoes!
• Literacy - add letter-shaped cookie cutters while children are playing with the play-dough

Sample Questions to Ask or Conversations to Have:

• What will happen if we mix this red water with this yellow water?
• What do you think will happen when we pour the water into this bowl?
• How does the playdough feel? (This is a more open-ended question than, "Is it sticky?" or "Is it soft?")

You Might Want to Avoid:

• Making complicated models as children may become frustrated when they cannot duplicate your model.
• Telling children what to make and how to make it. Let THEM be their own designers, architects, and creative thinkers!

Update: After attending my first #GNO on Twitter, I want to thank @hlkljgk for sharing this link for glow in the dark play dough!

Love, Peace, and Kindess in Preschool

Today we celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday and next month red & pink hearts will remind us to feel all warm and fuzzy for those that we love. So, I thought it was only fitting that this week we turn out attention to books that promote peace, love, and kindness. Children are naturally good-natured; choosing books that support healthy emotional development can help that good nature continue to blossom.

Often, we early childhood teachers turn their focus to the skills that look nice and neat on a checklist - recognizing letters and numbers, assembling a puzzle, pedaling a tricycle. It is often more challenging to assess a child's social and emotional development. Often, parents ask the preschool teacher, "Is my child ready for kindergarten?" And the discussion usually begins, and too often ends, with talking about STUFF the child "knows" - the cognitive aspect of development. But we know that being “ready” for school is so much more that letters, numbers, and shapes! We need to raise children who are NICE human beings – the kind who know how to get along with others. Here are a few books that will turn the classroom spotlight onto behaviors that promote love, peace, and kindness. Go hug somebody!

I Did It, I'm Sorry by Caralyn Buehner: This book has different behavioral scenarios followed by multiple choice answers. It’s a great book to read over time or teachers can read scenarios that relate to things that are happening in the classroom. A preschool teacher I work with reads one scenario each day and the children have the opportunity to discuss and illustrate the best choice. (Thanks to Ms. Renee for sharing this book and idea with me!)




It’s Mine! by Leo Lioni: Three frogs learn the value of sharing. Here’s a spin on “Show and Tell.” Instead of calling it Show and Tell, I called it Sharing Day. Depending on the number of children in your class, you can have Sharing Day 2-5 times a week. I assigned one day of the week to 3-5 children. For example, Billy, Monica, and Susanne might have Sharing Day on Monday; Kayla, Lauren, and David would be assigned to Tuesday, etc (I made a huge chart with the days of the week across the top and children’s names and pictures under each day – this way children and parents would remember their day). During Sharing Time, each child gets to sit in the rocking chair and tell us three things about their item. The rest of the students get to ask questions (learning to ask appropriate and relevant questions is a skill that children can learn in Pre-K and K – I used to tell the students, a question is something that you want to know about your friend’s item). After the children told us about the items, we would sit them on a special shelf for other children to actually play with. Sharing is a skill that children are just learning and sharing something that they brought from home is hard. So keep it short so that the child can return his item to his/her cubby. The other children learn how to be extra careful with an item that belongs to someone else. Of course, in the beginning of the year, I send home a note to parents about the goals and procedures of Sharing Time; this way, parents understand that it’s not wise to send something that is irreplaceable or extremely valuable. You can also visit my previous article for more ideas on It's Mine by Leo Lioni!



The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister: The most beautiful fish in the ocean won’t share his shiny scales which leaves him lonely. As a follow up art activity, give each child a few pre-cut fish scales (finger-paint paper works well since it’s shiny and flexible). Allow them to paint them various colors (“marbling” works well too) and sprinkle with glitter. When they are all dry, attach them to one big Rainbow Fish to hang in the classroom. Looking for more, fishy ideas?



Because of You by B.G. Hennessy: Children learn that they have can have a positive impact in the world. Even young children can learn the value of volunteer service. Children can (with the help of parents) collect hats/mittens for a local shelter, paint a mural for a local senior citizen’s building, sing songs at a nursing home, or help students in a younger classroom.

Swimmy by Leo Lioni: Swimmy and his friends learn that teamwork works! Make a bulletin board display entitled “Fishing for Teamwork” and post photographs (with captions) of children engaged in everyday teamwork activities. Examples: cleaning up block area together, carrying a tub of sand, sharing play-dough, etc. You’ll find that as you start to highlight teamwork, the children will bring instances of teamwork to your attention so that you can put it on the bulletin board.

Can You Say Peace? By Karen Katz and The Peace Book by Todd Parr are both books that help make an abstract concept, such as peace, meaningful to young children. Make a peace mobile or learn about the kindness campaign by visiting Celebrating Peace. SOMETHING TO CONSIDER: During this time of war, we have to be considerate and respectful of our troops. Be mindful if children begin to talk about war and/or soldiers. Regardless of our grown-up opinions of the war, we don’t want to suggest to children that our troops are not peaceful. It is hard for children to understand that soldiers, who children may associate with weapons, are peaceful. It is most important that you tread these waters carefully since some of your students may have family members who are in the Armed Forces.


Teaching Peace by Red Grammer OK, OK, OK.... so this one isn't really a book. But the songs on this CD will encourage and inspire! With songs such as Teaching Peace, Say Hi, and I Think You're Wonderful, you and your children will be singing these catchy lyrics in no time.

Join In and Play by Cheri Meiners: This book is part of a series that includes Talk and Work it Out, Share and Take Turns, Be Polite and Kind, and Understand and Care. They make a great addition to a classroom library since they can help children discuss real-case scenarios, feelings, and possible solutions. Of course, real-life situations are often the best teachable moments but these books can help children begin to think about their feelings and the feelings of others.

Technology Literate Early Childhood Educators

Remember the old Jetson cartoons where George would call home and his image would appear on the “telephone” screen? And Elroy had a computerized homework helper? We may not be living in apartments in outer space and we certainly aren't flying around in space cars (yet), but some of that Jetson technology has become closer to realty than science fiction. These days most people and many businesses are Skyping, Tweeting, Blogging, Instant Messaging, and connecting through Facebook; these words didn’t even exist a few short years ago!

For a variety of reasons, the early childhood community has been slower to catch when it comes to technology. A recent survey of early childhood professionals by Child Care Information Exchange revealed that among child care centers, most that use technology only do so for administrative purposes such as accounting or record-keeping; and classroom use is often limited to educational software. But technology has the potential to positively impact three areas of our profession: 1) classroom practices and curriculum; and 2) communication and marketing; and 3) networking and professional development.

Not only can teachers use the web to find endless lesson plan ideas, recipes, and classroom themes, but technology can also be used in the classroom even by preschool students! We must first get away from the concept that “educational software” is the only way to use technology with our youngest students. Frankly, some of this "educational" software is nothing more than electronic dittos. Some educators use the term "edutainment" to describe things that are promoted as educational, but really are more entertainment than educational. When using educational software, we must choose carefully!

We also have to open our eyes to the fact that there are many other ways of using technology in our classrooms. Children can use photographs that they (or a teacher) have taken and create slideshows or stories. Websites such as Slideshare and Voicethread can be used to enhance literacy in the early childhood classroom. There are e-pal sites where classrooms can communicate with other classrooms across the state, across the country, or even across the world! Teachers can also scan student artwork or work samples and create electronic portfolios. Word-processing and desktop publishing software can be used with students to creates student books, classroom labels, signs, and much more! My kindergartners were able to type "Do not touch" signs, print them out, and label their block creations. They could also type and print "Wet paint" signs to put near their art projects. While traditional methods should not be abandoned, technology can be used to enhance teaching strategies that we already know are effective.

Technology also provides early childhood teachers with unique opportunities to communicate with parents. Imagine a new parent has just dropped their screaming three year old off at your child care center. Now, imagine how relieved that parent will feel if she is at work and gets an email photo with a digital picture of her smiling child playing with blocks! Sending digital pictures is a great way for child care owners and directors to connect with their families! Creating newsletters, emailing parents, publishing information online (such a menus, calendar of events, etc) are other ways technology can enhance your early childhood program! Having a good website can also help market your program. Providing information about your philosophy, themes, classroom schedules, and photographs can go a long way with potential families.

Social networking sites are new and exciting territories for early childhood educators. Networking is a part of our industry where we often thrive! I’ve been to conferences where I walk in not knowing a soul but you connect with others over your common interests in children and families. Now, you don’t have to leave those conferences with a stack of business cards that you’ve exchanged but may never really use. Instead, you can connect with these same professionals on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo Groups, Ning, and other discussion groups, advocacy organizations, and professional societies.

In addition to networking with professionals, technology can help us improve our professional development. Many colleges, universities, and training agencies offer classes and/or workshop hours online. In our profession, where the last child may not leave your Center until 6:00 p.m., it is sometimes difficult to take a workshop or continue our college education. Technology can help us overcome that roadblock.

I would love to create a blog or website about how early childhood educators use technology in their programs. So please share with me...how do YOU use technology in your preschool, childcare center, or Kindergarten program?

Early Childhood Technology Resources

Early Connections: Technology in Early Childhood Education

Linking Teaching to Technology

Meaningful Technology Integration in Early Learning Environments

NAEYC Position Statement on Technology and Young Children

NAEYC Social Media

NAEYC Technology and Young Children Interest Forum

Technology in Early Childhood Education- Finding the Balance

Training Opportunities*

Care Courses

Directory of Online Degree ECE Programs

Early Childhood Courses at E-Learners (link removed at request of E-Learners)

The Center for Best Practices Online Workshops

Online Workshops

*There are many online training opportunities. Please check your state/local regulations before taking any workshops to be sure that they meet established guidelines for continued training.

Who Says You Get a Reward for Doing What You are SUPPOSED to do?

There has been a lot of talk of providing financial incentives for students who do well in school. Not to toot my own horn...but I was a pretty good student in school...and never had to be paid. So why should we pay kids for doing what they are supposed to do? Going to school and getting decent grades is one of the few things we expect from our children so they should not be compensated financially. We clothe them, feed them, provide shelter...so that is their "payment," right?

Hmmmm...I'm just not sure. Times are different now. When we perform better at work, don't we expect a raise, a promotion, some kind of recognition? Should students have the same opportunity? If paying for grades is the only way to encourage students to do well in school, why not?

As an educator I know about the value of intrinsic (as opposed to extrinsic) motivators. But when I think back to my own childhood...I didn't get "paid"for good grades....but there was always an uncle who gave me $5 for getting As or an aunt who would take me to lunch for a good report card. There was also the proud looks from my parents when they would show my family my report card during family gatherings. Or the times they took certificates and plaques that I earned to work so that they could show off to their friends. So,what if a child doesn't have those parents who show pride in academic achievement? What if there is no uncle with a five dollar bill or an aunt waiting for a lunch date? What if the only reward or pat on the back a child receives is a financial one?

I am still very torn on the issue. I worry about whether such a program will encourage cheating or reduce intrinsic motivation. Is there an age range where these type of rewards work better than others? What about students with unidentified learning disorders that may always lag behind - who will reward them? The research on these type of programs have mixed results so I am not the only one who is still undecided on this issue! There are all kinds of questions still stirring around in my head. Maybe I'll rewrite this blog when I come to a conclusion.... in the meantime, I'd love to hear what you think. Should students be rewarded for good attendance and good grades?