Most Read Blog Posts of 2017

Blogging is a great way to reflect and share my learning about education, self-regulation and other topics. Putting my ideas out there into the world wide web is a bit unnerving - will anyone read this? Will anyone respond? Will my thinking resonate with someone? Will it cause them to rethink or reflect on their own practice?

My main goal is not to generate a huge readership for the blog. I like to use writing as a way to think my way through things and decided why not share my wonderings and writings.  But it is gratifying to see the readership numbers grow when a post really resonates for some reason. So thank you to everyone who took a moment to read my blog posts and especially to those who responded.

My top three most-read posts for 2017 were:


3. Kindergarten Graduation Alternatives  It's interesting to me that this post was so widely read when it probably has a very narrow audience of kindergarten teachers and ECEs.  I shared several research articles about why kindergarten graduation is not developmentally appropriate and provided a range of alternatives that are more child-friendly. I'm not saying don't celebrate the end of the school year, but let's find a way to do it that is appropriate for five year olds.
Feedback on this post was divided.  Some people were so thankful to have research and ideas to share with their colleagues and administrators to help them in their quest to move on from kindergarten graduation ceremonies.  And others shared their belief that kindergarten graduation is something that parents and administrators expect and enjoy. That conversation took place as responses to my post of this blog on Facebook in the Ontario Kindergarten Teachers group so it wasn't captured on the blog.

2. Self-regulation: Not just for kids So much of what I read about self-regulation talks about how teachers and parents can help to teach students/children how to use self-regulation.  But what I've found is that learning more about self-regulation has changed my own behaviour and my understanding of those days when my self-control seems to have deserted me.  In this post, I shared an example of how my husband lent me his calm when I was too overwhelmed by stressors during a very long trip.  I had so many responses to this post that I wrote a follow-up post that generated just as much traffic.  If I combined the two posts, they would be my most read topic.

And the most read post of 2017 on the Opening Doors for Learning blog:
1. ETFO Kindergarten Conference - April 2017. I used Storify to summarize and share two days of fantastic learning at the ETFO Kindergarten Conference in Niagara Falls. I was sad when I got an email just a few weeks ago, letting me know that Storify is no longer going to be available after the May 2018.    Time to find a new strategy. What are you going to be using instead of Storify in the future?

Happy 2018 to everyone!  Thanks again for reading these posts, responding, sharing, retweeting and letting me know that you're out there!

Image from PRpeople.blog

A Memory Jar Project for Home & School

Last year I saw this idea for a memory jar around New Year's Eve on several sites on the internet and all over pinterest.  The idea is that you start the new year with an empty jar. Each week you add a note about something good that happened and on New Year's Eve you empty the jar and read all the notes. I shared it with my husband, who wondered, "Why would you need a jar to remember what happened?"  Then life got busy, and I wished I had started my jar but I never did.

And so many wonderful things have happened this year. Big things - we sold our home, we moved to our dream home on the lake, my eldest graduated from university, moved home and quickly found a full time job in her field, my dad moved to a retirement home that he loves, my youngest ran with my hubby and I in her first half marathon.  Lots of little things, too. Seeing a bald eagle swoop over our yard as we sat outside eating dinner. Campfires. Going for a run on a day that was just perfect - not too hot, not too cold.

As a teacher, I was thinking this would also be a great project to do with a class. Although it might be better to start in September, it would still be a good project to start for the new year.  Each week students could brainstorm what ideas they want to add to the class memory jar. I think it would be interesting to see what events they would select as being 'most important.'  Then at the end of the year, you could review all the entries in the jar as a class. Some students might even be inspired to start a memory jar at home with their family. Perhaps all the notes could be scanned at the end of the year and a copy sent home with the students. Or perhaps each child could have their own jar (or maybe some other container) to create their own personal memory jar.

This year, I'm going to go ahead and start 2018 with an empty jar and add notes each week. I've already selected an antique mason jar from my Granddad's collection and placed it on the bookshelf in the living room where I will see it every day. Some weeks I may forget and not add anything.  Some weeks I may add more than one.  Maybe my husband will add a note or two of his own!  And next new year's eve, we'll read them all. Afterwards, I might just keep them in the jar or place them in an envelope and start a collection for each year.

For more ideas and information on Memory Jars:
Printables for your New Year's Jar
Make and Do Crew
The Suburban Mom
Datingdivas


I don't have a photo credits  as the same photos have been used on so many sites I am not sure who the original credit belongs to.

The Power of Words

Words allow us to communicate our thoughts and ideas with others, to question, to clarify, to explore, to wonder, to inform, to elaborate. Words can be used for poetry, for debate, for conversations and for arguments.  Words have power.

As I was scrolling through Twitter this morning, I read the news that Trump has banned the CDC from using seven words in any upcoming briefs for the budget.  WHAT???? This must be fake news. But it's not.  More and more I am reminded of Orwell's 1984 when I read and hear the news from the USA. In the novel, all the residents of Oceania are to speak "Newspeak."  The purpose of Newspeak is to ensure that everything that everyone says aligns with the ideas of the government.

’Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten. […] Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller. Even now, of course, there’s no reason or excuse for committing thoughtcrime. It’s merely a question of self-discipline, reality-control. But in the end there won’t be any need even for that. […] In fact there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking – not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.[ 1984, pp. 45-6]

According to the Washington Post, Trump's seven banned words are:

vulnerable
entitled
trangender
fetus
science-based

evidence-based

diversity

Why?  Why these words? What is is that these words represent that is so repellent that the CDC may no longer use them. Dr. Loren Schechter, director of the Centre for Gender Confirmation surgery at Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago was quoted as saying "I'm not sure what the ultimate rationale is for doing this aside from trying to erase certain types of people off the map," commenting specifically on the ban on the words "transgender" and "diversity." Rep. Don Beyer tweeted that "black women have a maternal mortality rate 300% higher than white women and Hispanics are 50% more likely to die from diabetes than whites. Banning the CDC from discussing diversity isn't just wrong. It's dangerous."

At one point in 1984, Winston understands the how of language control, but not the why.  O'Brien explains: 

“The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. […] Power it not a means, it is an end.” [ p. 211]

It will be interesting to see what the response will be to this announcement - from educators, journalists, and those who value free speech.  Some tweets so far (#CDC):

Resources:

Manipulation of language as a weapon of mind control and abuse of power in 1984

Newsweek: Donald Trump bans CDC from using these seven words

Huffington Post

CliffsNotes on 1984 - Summary, Themes, Characters

Self-reg & the Wolves of Yellowstone Park

I find analogies and metaphors help me to think about my learning differently and this video about the wolves in Yellowstone Park helped me to consolidate some of my thinking from last week about the difference between self-reg as a process and self-reg as a program. It beautifully illustrates the impact that one change can have, over time, on an entire system. One of the most important points, and this relates to the idea that self-reg is a process not a program, is that the change takes time.  Part of the appeal of one size fits all programs is that they often seem to create quick results but those results are seldom long lasting. A process, like Shanker self-reg, takes time to create impact but the impact is much  longer lasting.  

Another analogy, aside from the wolves in Yellowstone, is the idea of a diet.  I can go on the latest fad crash diet (eat nothing but grapefruit, juice cleanse, etc) and I will lose weight.  But it is not sustainable.  Instead, I have to do the hard work of learning about food, nutriution, diet and exercise so that I can achieve slow, sustainable, healthy weight loss.  And in that model, it shifts so that the goal is no longer weight loss but a healthy lifestyle. Developing a self-reg community in our classroom or our homes takes time, effort and energy; there are no quick fixes.