51吃瓜网

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Tell us about yourself!听

I have a 19-year-old daughter, and we have a Siberian Husky and a Chihuahua. I enjoy road trips, concerts, and listening to music. I love getting manicures and pedicures and taking long drives. From time to time, I just like to be still. I鈥檒l sit in a quiet room to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I鈥檓 learning that it鈥檚 okay to enjoy your own company鈥攏o talking, no phones, no television. Silence can be a great way to give yourself the opportunity to regroup.听听

Please tell us about the setting where you teach.听

The Women鈥檚 League Child Development Center was founded over 100 years ago by a group of African American women to meet the needs of migrant and immigrant families in the city of Hartford. Infant, toddler, and preschool educators teach children in our program鈥檚 17 classrooms. In 2023, we added the STEAM Lab to offer equitable STEM learning for the children in the primarily Black community where our program is located. Community members and partners have been and continue to be responsive by helping to provide materials, books, and funding for the lab.听

How did you become a STEAM coach?听听

I started at the Women鈥檚 League Child Development Center in 2002 as an assistant teacher and, over time, became a lead teacher there. I obtained two degrees in early childhood education鈥攁n associate鈥檚 degree in 2018 and a bachelor鈥檚 degree in 2021. I also earned my Connecticut State Certification with an endorsement in integrated early childhood/special education, birth鈥搆indergarten. Although my background knowledge and experiences have mostly focused on teaching preschoolers, I've always enjoyed teaching STEM content. STEM allows children to experiment, explore, and engage in hands-on investigations. It also supports their cognitive development through prediction and problem solving. Our executive director, Ms. Lott, saw the STEM lessons I was doing in my preschool classroom and encouraged me to run the STEAM lab program and to become the STEAM curriculum coach for our program.听听

How do you build upon the strengths, cultural backgrounds, and experiences of children and families?听

My practice is focused on building relationships with children and their families. When a child feels safe and welcome, they can learn. It鈥檚 also wonderful to see children return and to see their growth over time, even just over the course of an academic year. I often teach multiple siblings in a single family. Many of the relationships that I build with families are lasting, and I enjoy receiving updates about their children.听

听It is important to get to know each child and their family and to build trust. Some families need time to get comfortable with educators. When this is the case, I start interactions slowly, keep conversations light and positive, and validate concerns. When learning about a family, I begin by asking about the good qualities they see in their child and what they hope for their child鈥檚 future. Once they understand that I want us to work together to support their child and to help build on their identities in STEM, they respond positively. 听

How has being a STEAM coach influenced your professional development as an early childhood educator?听听听

I've learned a lot as an early childhood educator, and I鈥檓 still learning. In our program, we introduce all the children, including infants and toddlers, to the world of STEAM. I love working with preschoolers, especially 3- and 4-year-olds. Working with infants and toddlers was new for me, and, at first, I didn't know how to start. Working as a STEAM coach has given me the opportunity to see how younger children learn. For example, I discovered that infants and toddlers get a lot of information through touch and need opportunities to use their senses to explore the environment in safe ways. It鈥檚 also important to consistently narrate what鈥檚 happening during activities, using content-related words.听听

Working with infants and toddlers has shown me how learning connections develop incrementally. For example, while exploring motion and gravity, I brought inclines and balls to the infant classrooms. I rolled balls down different inclines and described what was happening to build on the concept of cause and effect. At first, they watched what I did; then, over time, they wanted to try the activity out themselves. Working with children of different age groups helps me to build on the children鈥檚 learning from year to year, which is a focus of our program.听听听听

What does being a STEAM coach involve in your setting?听听

We work on science-related content and skills outlined in the For example, we studied how living things grow and change over time through a primary investigation of the plants in our program鈥檚 garden towers. The garden towers are new to the lab, and I think they鈥檙e great鈥攖hey鈥檙e an accessible way to offer learning experiences connected to those that a school garden can provide. The plants grow quickly, allowing the children to see and document changes each week. They also give me another opportunity to model for teachers how I support the children to observe change. As the spaghetti and butternut squashes began to flower, I invited the children to spend time looking at what had changed from the week before. I allowed them time to wonder about the plants鈥� changes before engaging them in inquiry. Then, I asked questions such as 鈥淲hat do you think is happening?鈥� and 鈥淲hat do you think will happen next?鈥� The teachers can apply these approaches when practicing observation in their rooms.听

I also support teachers in integrating STEM into their curriculum. We discuss that STEM learning doesn鈥檛 always have to occur linearly and that there are many ways to include it throughout the year. All the classes鈥攊nfant, toddler, and preschool鈥攅ngage in what we call big ideas at the same time. Big ideas are six-to-eight-week units.鈥疻hen planning learning experiences, the teachers and I work together to design STEM instruction for each age group. I always ask for their input about how to best plan for investigations based on their knowledge of children鈥檚 interests, individual strengths, and needs. We also collaborate on STEM lessons that can span across content areas. For example, a study of trees throughout the seasons might include preschool children watching time-lapse videos of trees changing, depicting the changes in paintings and drawings, charting the squirrel population during outdoor observations, and reading books on trees from our lab鈥檚 library.听

In addition, my role as a STEAM coach involves going into classrooms and observing educators upon their request. After an observation, we debrief: We discuss whether and how learning goals were met, instructional approaches, and use of materials. Teachers also have time to reflect on and share what they felt went well and what they鈥檇 like to change in their future lessons.听听

What does an average session in the lab look like?听听

Each class comes to the lab once a week with their teachers. We provide a mix of structured and open-ended learning in the lab. Before each session, I share about the learning goals and activities with teachers. I often begin working with the children at the beginning. Then I step back, so the teacher can take over. The preschool groups meet for 30 minutes, and the infant and toddler groups meet for 15 minutes. Preschool classes can have up to 20 children, so I split them up to allow for more individualized instruction. Having up to 10 children at a time allows the children more space to explore.听听

Share a recent situation when things didn鈥檛 go as planned. What did you do to make the most of it for you and the children?听

At the beginning of 2023, I planned an experience about the force of motion using ramps. I had a clear idea about how the activity would go and prepared a box of materials: rubber tracks and various balls, tubes, and wooden ramps. I told the children that our goal was to get a ball to travel from one end of the lab to the other, and I modeled how to use the materials. When it was their turn, they looked in the box, but they weren鈥檛 really interested in its contents. Instead, they began taking items from every corner of the lab to create a long structure. They used items in ways I never considered, like using wooden blocks to lift the rubber tracks. When the structure was complete, they let the ball go. It got stuck in a tube, so they started problem solving by turning various tubes to the left and right. I could see them connecting their learning to this activity with each attempt to get the ball to move, and they were eventually successful. It was a great example of what it looks like to engage in STEM with young children: they鈥檙e able to reach听their own conclusions. It鈥檚 important to offer suggestions, but it鈥檚 also important to let them test out their ideas.听

What is a piece of advice you'd give to a teacher who wanted to integrate more STEM into their curriculum?听听

As educators, we may think we need certain materials or must do specific activities to help children observe, investigate, and explore. However, we can help children engage in STEM by building on what they notice in the world around them. A group of children observing ants while playing outside can be the start of a study. In the moment, the teacher could ask the children questions such as 鈥淲hat do you see happening?鈥� and 鈥淲hat are the insects doing?鈥� When they return to the classroom, the teacher can invite the children to share their observations and provide more information about ants through resources. By listening to children and taking their cues, teachers can provide STEM learning that is led by the children鈥檚 interests.听

What experiences and materials do you use to connect to the children鈥檚 experiences within their cultures and communities?听

I feel that it鈥檚 important for children, especially Black children, to see Black teachers in learning settings. I also feel that, as an early childhood educator, I can help set the foundation for lifelong learning. When we authentically engage children鈥檚 identities as explorers and curious learners and provide rich STEM experiences, we can create equitable opportunities for their STEM learning. In our program, we provide materials that represent Black scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians so that the children know they can work in these professions as well.听听听

We also invite visitors from the community to enhance the children鈥檚 learning. For example, we have a partnership with a program called Hartford Performs. During our study on water, a Black dancer from the organization read the picture book Water, by Frank Asch, which the children had previously read with their teachers. While she read, she showed them different ways to represent water by moving their bodies. The children were able to make new connections to the content, and they loved it.听听

How do you show children and their families that you value them and what they bring to the learning community?听听

I communicate with families through our school鈥檚 app, in newsletters, and by email to share pictures and information about what the children are doing in the lab. I plan events so that families have opportunities to come in throughout the year. For example, during the summer of 2024, we had outdoor water days focused on the different age groups: infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. We set up stations with different materials, like water troughs, so that families and children could investigate the movement of water. I also invite family members to the lab for hands-on activities with their children and for volunteer opportunities. Families help with the garden towers throughout the year and help prepare the harvest for sharing.听听

Seeing families in person gives me a chance to share about our STEM learning experiences, which children often discuss at home. For example, during one of our family events, the parents of a 4-year-old boy, Michael, shared how excited he was to work in the lab. He told them about the activities we did and even re-enacted some of them at home, like rolling balls under the kitchen table. This provided an opening for me to tell them that we had been learning about cause and effect using similar materials in our force and motion study.听听

What strategies or approaches do you use to build upon children鈥檚 individual and family strengths, cultural backgrounds, and experiences?听

It is important to get to know each child and their family. Some families need time to get comfortable with educators. When this is the case, I start interactions slowly, keep conversations light and positive, and validate their concerns. As one of their child's first teachers, it鈥檚 important that I build trust. When learning about a family, I begin by asking about the good qualities they see in their child and what they hope for their child鈥檚 future. Once they understand that I want us to work together to support their child, they respond positively.听听

For example, when I taught preschool, I worked with Michelle, a young girl whose mom, Erin, was a solo home caregiver. Michelle missed many days of school, and I didn鈥檛 know why. I saw so much greatness in her. Whenever I had a chance, I expressed this to Erin and emphasized how much I enjoyed having Michelle as a member of our learning community. I would also share what Michelle did in class and celebrate her learning successes. I worked to show Erin that I wanted Michelle to spend time with us. After we developed more of a relationship over time, I began asking her about the absences. She eventually felt comfortable sharing information about the hardships the family was experiencing. This enabled me to connect her to some resources through the Women鈥檚 League. I also invited her into the classroom, and she joined us. As a community-based program, we benefit when we develop strong and supportive connections with families.听听

What are you proud of accomplishing as an educator, and what do you hope to accomplish in the future?听听

Obtaining my Connecticut teaching certification and becoming the STEAM learning lab coach have been important professional accomplishments. I also appreciate being able to help teachers use the science inquiry cycle to support children鈥檚 wonder and exploration across multiple learning domains. In the future, I鈥檓 interested in working with our local science center to develop activities designed for younger children. I鈥檇 also like to enter a master鈥檚 program with a focus on teacher leadership.听听

How has being part of 51吃瓜网 positively impacted your teaching and/or interactions with children?听

NAYEC sets the foundation for quality through its resources and position statements. Through 51吃瓜网, I have learned about the importance of developing positive, nurturing relationships with children and families. In addition, I鈥檝e engaged in professional development through 51吃瓜网 conference workshops and by reading 51吃瓜网鈥檚 periodicals. One workshop that was important to my work as a STEM educator focused on using nature to help children explore and investigate. We went outdoors and spent time noticing the different elements of nature, then discussed how we could spark children's learning when spending time outside.听听

I search for articles on topics related to coaching and teaching in Teaching Young Children when I feel stuck. I also share articles with my colleagues that help explain the reasoning behind the approaches we take in our program. It鈥檚 natural to have challenges as an educator. By reading articles written by other practitioners, we understand that we鈥檙e not alone and that we can learn about strategies and approaches to try in our settings, such as listening to children and taking their lead.听

Photograph: courtesy of Beulah Wiggins
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