Power in Partnerships

Wellington Village Schools Collaborative Classroom – Westwood Elementary
Miss Fox – Hired 2002, BA-ECE
Miss Melissa – Hired 2000, AA- ECE

 

We are fortunate to have collaborative partners in our Head Start program. Those partnerships include three school systems:  Lorain City Schools, Elyria City Schools and Wellington Village Schools. This week I went to Wellington. For that partnership, we are hosted in two classrooms in Westwood Elementary. I was in Miss Fox and Miss Melissa’s room, but only got to spend time with Miss Fox.

 

Miss Melissa was covering in the other classroom for an absent teacher to whom we all send well wishes. Miss Katie, a Wellington Village Schools’ teacher, was the second teacher while I was there. Miss Katie is also a disability interventionist who works with the children with special needs in both preschool classrooms.

This week I did the start of the day. For the first half hour, I helped with daily setup. I enjoy that first half hour because you watch the room gradually prepare to receive children. At Westwood Elementary, children are received at the curb by the teachers. So they all file in together. Miss Fox made me part of the morning welcome which I particularly enjoyed. I got to interact with each of the children.

I enjoy watching each teacher’s approach to making learning fun. Miss Fox used name cards with first and last names. All the children read each name by sounding out the first letter of the first name. When children would start with the last name, she used it as an opportunity to reinforce that we read from left to right. Then she made sure to include sounding out the starting letter of the last name so that the children knew if what they had mistakenly called out was correct. A child’s name being identified was followed by a moment of recognition and going to hang up book bags and coats. You could tell how the children have progressed in knowing the letters in their name by what Miss Fox emphasized. There was elegance to it.

The children clearly knew classroom rules. Breakfast was orderly. Three year olds opening milk containers are serious. But the concentration gives way to smiles as spouts give way to determined fingers. I left shortly after breakfast. At that point, the children were taking turns brushing teeth.

Turkey pictures with scissor-cut feathers were on the lesson plan. I know this because I traced the feathers. I would have liked to have been there for the picture making. My daughter is grown. I haven’t had a hand-crafted turkey picture on my refrigerator for years. There isn’t anything store bought that is more festive.

What I Learned from Miss Fox

The joy Miss Fox takes in teaching makes being in her classroom energizing. Her approach to teaching twinkles. I do not know how else to describe it. When you look at the bright stars in the night sky as they interact with our atmosphere, you get a visual treat. Miss Fox is like that as she interacts with children. It is just fun to watch.

Memorable Moment

I was asked at breakfast to share my favorite number. The three children at my table all had one. After much consideration, it was recommended to me that I make “8” my favorite number. It is easy to write and has symmetry. My favorite number is now the highly-recommended number eight.

Linking It Together

Two years ago I was at a community meeting with Wellington Superintendent John Nolan when the idea of collaborating became the topic of conversation. It took almost a year to work out the details, obtain the necessary approvals and meet licensing requirements. It involved a team of people and continues to take the dedication of all involved. With Thanksgiving coming soon, I thank LCCAA staff for all they are doing in Wellington and thank those from Wellington Village Schools for working so well with us.

I am in Columbus next Friday and we are closed for the Thanksgiving holiday the following week. So this is my opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I am back in the classroom the first week of December.

Something A Little Different

Cold and flu season caught up with me this week. So I opted to keep my congested self out of the classroom. That makes this week’s post a little different.

Years back in a job where I spent much of my days facilitating meetings, I got in the habit of doing regular "process checks" with groups. My standard questions were "are we moving too fast?", "too slow?", and "what are your concerns at this time?"

As part of my classroom visits, I have not been directly asking teachers and staff those questions. I have been observing and listening, though. So here are the answers to those questions from my perspective.

 

ARE WE MOVING TOO FAST?

 

For some employees, the changes being made in Head Start and in our program are unsettling. If I had a dollar for every "well, we used to..." that I hear, we could easily fund a college scholarship program for Lorain County Head Start children. (That is a dream of mine and a topic for another post.)

Many times the comparisons with the past are a means to highlight something that really worked well in its day. Yesterday’s success stories are worth remembering. But circumstances, funding availability, funder requirements and client need all change. Consequently, good things get changed, too.

The other reason I believe I hear those words is an underlying desire to return to a point where there were fewer uncertainties. It is that hindsight is 20/20 phenomena. I enjoy those celebratory moments when a plan has finally come together; however, those moments take time to achieve and we have to live in the every day. This leads us to the next question.

ARE WE MOVING TOO SLOW?

I think the short answer here is “no.” It takes time to adapt and become the change we envision. That will happen in time. There are no shortcuts.

For instance, developing relationships takes time. It would be nice to have deep ties overnight. There is a comfort in being with people you know so well that you can anticipate their actions and reactions. There is a joy in being able to take action you know will please others because you absolutely know what is important to them.

A desire to be on the knowing side of change does not mean we are moving too slow. It just means we need to have patience and remember to enjoy all the good that is happening today.

CONCERNS AT THIS TIME?

In the past, we were very focused on process and task compliance. This year there is a developing expectation that teachers are managing their classrooms toward desired outcomes. It is a big shift. We are not abandoning compliance issues but nor are we using compliance as our only standard. As we transition, the concerns around this are numerous and understandable. This is a long-term change that will become clearer as we make progress.

We did see fierce competition for enrollment this year because the State of Ohio expanding early childhood funding. This has been good for children and families. For us, it did bring a few more children with behavior issues into our classrooms than in years past. However, our program is adept at handling special needs. Head Start requires at least 10 percent of enrollment include children with disabilities and we have exceeded that requirement for almost a decade.

Handling special needs along with all the other back-to-school demands is understandably stressful for teachers, staff and parents. Everything comes at once. As usual, we are starting to see that following protocols and using experts makes the difference. The process helps teachers, family service workers, and parents figure out what each child needs and talk through the specifics of what will be done.

LINKING IT TOGETHER

Not having all the answers makes people anxious. Process checks in this environment help separate what needs to be done differently from what does not.

Shauna Matelski, our Head Start Director, gets excited about every child in the program. She speaks enthusiastically of how home-based children get one-on-one attention. She champions the work of our Early Head Start program that serves babies and toddlers. She is proud that Head Start provides an inclusive environment for children with special needs. She wants every three year old to love their time in school. For every four year old, she wants their pending transition to Kindergarten to be a celebration of school readiness. Shauna's enthusiasm inspires me.

That enthusiasm serves as a backdrop for me as I observe and listen to how staffs are supporting each other in this time of change. We tend to believe change is happening too fast, yet we just want it to be over as fast as possible.

Getting back to those “well, we used to…” comments. The comments would not be made if there was not a deep level of care. We might not be able to replicate what was, but we can pull from past success to build future ones. Being in the classroom is showing me that new success stories are already in the making.