PLN in Partnership with IPPA of Ireland - Summer 2008
PLN Facilitator: Holly Cohen, School Psychologist:
What stood out for me was the genuine infectious enthusiasm, thoughtful and highly interactive presentations, participant responsiveness, lively and productive discussions and practitioners' realizations that they are incorporating numeracy and are excited to expand their skill level and learning opportunities for the children in their care.The two centers visited presented as happy, stimulating and nurturing. My participation involved addressing those children at risk, what that could look like and how to adapt strategies to provide for their learning. I also participated in small group teacher to teacher discussions.
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PLN Facilitator: Jenny Taylor, Preschool Teacher:
My journey as a teacher has been dotted with pivotal moments that have served to validate and underline the importance of my career choice. The PLN trip to Dublin was such a moment for me. Twenty three years ago I was asked by a friend to help out for a few hours in the morning at the Germantown Friends School Nursery Program. This quickly turned into a full time career! I've had wonderful mentors, creative colleagues and professional development opportunities along the way. I believe I have the knack for it. The PLN teacher-exchange program in Dublin was of great importance for me as a teacher because of the "lenses of learning" framework. Having this essential tool in my pocket will remind me to teach more holistically and enrich the curriculum. The other light bulb or aha moment was the notion of putting intention into our teaching. I will be a better teacher for pairing intuition with intention. Needless to say, this will occur through fun and play as always. Last but not least, collaborating with other teachers/practitioners is extremely meaningful and validating. It is so good to step away for a bit, to make connections and to laugh. We have so much in common. Let's face it; a runny nose is just as unpleasant no matter what the country. We all love our jobs!
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Jack McGovern : Literary Specialist:
"You treated us with respect,not like we were just baby sitters" I wish that I could convey the beauty of her Irish lilt but the power of that final rendering by one of the participants captures so much of the PLN mission. It started with Bernadette's wonderful "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and ended with the educators and children in the Centers . How could we go wrong?
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Dara Barr, PLN Facilitator and Nursery School Teacher:
The teacher to teacher exchange in Dublin, not only validated my personal teaching experiences with children, it also presented an open forum for dynamic discussion amongst both of the groups with the common focus of The Four Lenses. Small break out discussion groups throughout the day allowed for this necessary connection. The Philadelphia area educators with the educators from the Dublin area became a cohesive support system.
I demonstrated a numeracy activity, which reinforced counting, and other mathematical concepts. I saw the look of excitement, understanding and interest in the many faces. Furthermore, when I later introduced art activities with Mitzi Weinstein, supporting these math concepts, greater enthusiasm grew. This was a very exciting time as I felt the energy and realized we were a community of teachers and learners. I left the experience with satisfaction and a deeper understanding of the bond we all share, reaching and teaching young children.
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Lisa Chavenson, PLN facilitator, K-8 & Preschool teacher:
I would like to share my thoughts briefly and then in a Text Render. It is how I end every PLN experience. Text Rendering is a "Critical Experience" that allows all participants to feel connected to the program. In doing so, we understand what we experience through a social, a language-based, a human, and most of all with a meaning-centered lens. Teachers share, inspire, ignite and provoke thought. They nurture. I will share a few of the many memories when I witnessed such inspiration. I watched as Jack McGovern found a book near five children.
He opened the book and read. To no surprise, the children sat and listened. What seemed to stand out for the children was that it was well worth his time to open a book and read to them. What stood for me was that Jack was a reading role model. I believe that the impact of that one small exchange will be far reaching. The children were given a story and felt nurtured by a man who came from "across the pond." Nurturing happens in every language and in every culture. We shared that common language of learning. The magic was knowing that children would hear it.
Our participants in the workshop were very receptive to our co-constructionist theory of learning. They were open to the many strategies we introduced. I recall one teacher commenting that after this experience she felt like, "a teacher and not just a babysitter." It felt like what she did as a teacher was "important" and she felt "validated." I also remember a teacher sharing her feeling of realizing for the first time that there were so many teachers near by that she could share ideas with. Her sense of connectedness felt empowering. Another teacher said she had left school at a young age, but went back and became a teacher because she wanted children to learn in a way that she felt was more meaningful than what she had experienced. I was struck by the sincerely positive feedbackand the hugs at the end of the program. Those hugs told me that the participants felt proud of themselves and pro ud of their profession, so much so that they had to share their excitement. I remember how delighted the participants were to see the children's work from my classroom. They enjoyed taking samples of projects connected to literature back with them that they too could create with easy and recyclable materials. We discussed how they could use them with their students. The exchange of ideas felt inspired, meaningful and powerful. They told me it was a "brilliant" exchange. We all left feeling excited, energized, connected and valued. We look forward to our continued global exchange by remaining connected through the internet.
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Reflection by PLN Lead Literacy Facilitator, Bernadette Janis, Ed.D.:
Collaborating with our colleagues in Ireland reminded me that in each of us lie a story teller and author. In our conversations we recognized that the Before, During, and After framework brings story reading to life and fully engages children. We experienced the limitless opportunity for learning in story reading.
I am grateful for our sharing of the varied collections of stories we hold dear to us in our cultures. We experienced that repeated readings of these texts offers opportunities for rich language experiences.
Our colleagues in Ireland demonstrated how poetry is woven into early childhood education on a daily basis. When we visited a child care center we saw samples of nursery rhymes. How excited and appreciative we were to be given copies of these nursery rhymes to take back to the United States! I have a wonderful memory of chorally reciting these lovely rhymes in a car ride with my Irish and American colleagues. These experiences reinforced our understanding that exposure to poetry can teach children much about language.
Family literacy is a subject close to my heart. In this teacher exchange we had conversations about home literacy and school literacy. We noted that literacy takes many shapes and forms and is part of everyday life activities. We identified examples of home literacy and discussed the importance of reminding families that every day literacy activities have the potential to positively contribute to children's language development.
Thank you to everyone who took part in this teacher exchange. As the saying goes, "None of us is as smart as all of us." It was a privilege to collaborate with you.
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