Feature Teacher: Janice Garcia

I am a single mother of two children. I recently graduated from San Francisco State with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in early childhood and adolescent education and am a first-generation college student. I am a woman who came out of the darkness into the light. I had a traumatic childhood, which led me to a hectic adult life. When I became pregnant with my son at the age of 29, I changed my life! This led me on a journey to being an educator.听听听

What is something important a child has taught you?鈥�

I started working with a child in my program who entered my class with a 鈥渂oy鈥檚鈥澨齨ame and wearing 鈥渂oys鈥� 鈥澨齝lothes, who then started to change this behavior.听First she changed her clothes, then she changed her pronouns and hairstyles. I had a conversation with the child鈥檚 family and worked to adapt and be responsive to those changes along with her. One day, when she turned around and looked at me with a big smile on her face, I realized that I had done her justice as an educator, supporting this child as an individual. She taught me about the kind of educator I want to be鈥攐ne who supports children and their families鈥櫶齞ifferences and individuality. I didn鈥檛 change as an educator right away; I reflected on my own potential comfort level and am still learning through this experience of listening to children and having brave conversations with not only this child鈥檚 family, but the families of the rest of the children as well.

What strategies would you recommend to build on children鈥檚 individual and family strengths, cultural backgrounds, and experiences and to show children and families that you value them?

In our classroom, we decided to create a culture shelf where everybody in our classroom was encouraged to bring something that represented them and their family. This gave us an opportunity to get to know them beyond the classroom. Each family is unique, with their own cultures, customs, and perspectives, and each brings something special to our community. We take pride in celebrating our similarities and differences.听

Describe some ways in which you communicate with families to build and maintain positive and reciprocal relationships.鈥�

Since the onset of the pandemic, we have been using an app called BAND, which is like having a secure Facebook page just for our classroom community. It has allowed us to communicate with our families and to view and share the social and emotional development that is happening in our classroom. This communication tool has allowed for a positive dialogue between families and the teachers. It allows the teachers to capture special moments such as major learning milestones or exciting class projects with pictures and videos. More importantly, it gives the families an insight into what happens on a day-to-day basis as far as the learning and engagement of the children. We also value small moments when we get to check in at pickup and drop-off.

What is your favorite children鈥檚 book and why?鈥�

My son donated a series of books called Magic Tree House to the classroom, and I have enjoyed reading this with the preschool children. My coteacher and I read the series to our group of children during the 2019鈥�2020 year, and it was a hit with the group. We decided to read the series again this year, and the children have been enjoying listening! Each chapter book tells a new story either from the past or the future,听in different places around the world, and different animals help the brother and sister solve mysteries. These books don鈥檛 have many pictures, but our children don鈥檛 mind.听

What is your proudest accomplishment as an educator?听

Beginning in the fall of 2019, I started the PATH program (Promoting Achievement Through Higher Education) at San Francisco State University, which is designed to support educators who are working in the field full time to complete their bachelor's degree听in child development. During the two years I was enrolled in the program, I was also working full time at Children鈥檚 Campus as a head teacher. While juggling both school and work, I maintained a 4.0 in PATH.听I also have two children ages 11 and 4. Reflecting back, sometimes I don鈥檛 know how I did it all, but I did!听

I knew I had to teach when . . .听鈥�

my son enrolled in child care.听I spent a lot of time in the classroom hanging out with him to support his transition into school. The more time I spent in the classroom, the more I became interested in early education and wanted to join. The administration at my son鈥檚 program helped me enroll at the local city college to start taking my core early childhood education units.听听

What is a future professional goal that you have for yourself?听听

I would love to work in other early education programs to coach and mentor first-time teachers. I would like to focus my coaching on how to encourage and inspire educators to incorporate art into their curriculum in a way that isn鈥檛 traditional. For example, some teachers like to put out crayons and paper. I like to use loose parts, including natural and recycled materials such as buttons, gem stones, dry flowers, bottle tops, and canvases to expand children鈥檚 creations. I love to hang the children鈥檚 masterpieces in the classroom. My dream would be to open an art museum that showcases children鈥檚 art on a global scale.听听

My teaching style is . . .听

based on children鈥檚 interests. The more their interests inspire the curriculum and my teaching, the more exciting it is for them. I watch and listen to what they want to learn about and run with it. For example, when children were interested in outer space, we found books for research and began our learning by finding a spot in the classroom to create an outer space area. We made model planets, a background that children painted with their feet, a space ship made from cardboard, and wooden stars that the children decorated. This project went on for months, and the children came to school each day with new questions about space that they wanted to explore. I try to find ways to individually support the children and meet their needs. I take time to get to know each child in my classroom.听听

How does assessment in preschool connect to what you do as a teacher?听

Children鈥檚 Campus uses a variety of tools and practices, such as portfolios and developmental summaries. One that is used in all of our classrooms is an established assessment tool called Desired Results Development Profile (DRDP), which we complete twice a school year. It is part of a larger system designed by the state of California. It helps us听document our observations and reflect on the learning that occurs and the developmental progress of the children over the year. We also connect what we learn through using this tool to many other types of documentation, including what we regularly share with families and use to support our family-educator conferences.听

Photographs: courtesy of the author

Topics: TYC

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