Category: Teaching

Teaching reading/writing to children, reflections on learning styles, personal experience.

Humane Curriculum

HUMANE Curriculum
(Honoring Us: Multicultural, Mindfulness & Addressing Bias iNtegrated Education)™

“I believe that over time racism, bias, prejudice, negative stereotyping and the like will dissipate IF every class in every school and every home sets it (mindfulness) at the table. Maybe we will return to sitting together to partake…and contemplate our days…together.”
-Tahira from my ‘Making Presence’ piece

Most people need to learn that an inner life exists within all of us.

At best what would it be like if children learned of this inner life from birth; at least were guaranteed to be taught once entering school?

These days, the competition of grades and becoming entrepreneurs in elementary and middle school are perceived-to-real prerequisites for high schools and colleges. Experts have redefined this trauma that is just beginning to be conveyed to the general public. The effects of trauma on students in education are neglected in some school communities while others seek knowledge and resources for help.
Talk about stress!

The umbrella of multicultural & inclusive practice necessitates curriculum that integrates mindfulness while addressing bias and other traumatic issues. While research has existed for over 30 years, we have just scratched the surface to include it in the core standards.

Kids unconsciously yearn to be empowered! Those who know mindfulness now appreciate its benefits.

“I love doing this (breathing). It makes me feel like I’m floating.”
-1st grader

Educators need an explicit integration of these humane areas of development. Our society demands to be filled with people who live with this light and benefit from its grace.

Might a deeper understanding of our interconnection (mind/body/each other) within schools create better citizens around the world?

“Why Aren’t We Teaching You Mindfulness?”
– AnneMarie Rossi – YouTube

Words!

I love words; their power, etymology, written, spoken, read, and especially the reciprocity of reading and writing.

As a child I was confused by how to read as a first grader.

I remember sitting in my first grade class of about 30 kids in the back at an elementary school in Roxbury, feeling petrified whenever the teacher asked us to read aloud. Yikes!!! Back in  the day this is how reading was taught…like we were supposed to ‘get it’ by osmosis somehow. We all were on the same page right?

Imagine 30 kids looking at words on a page at the same time. I didn’t know what to do except turn the page at the same time as the teacher said.

I didn’t know what to do after that.

At least the pictures in our Dick and Jane book were interesting.

Honestly, since the class periods were only about 40 minutes long and my last name was Wilson, how many times do you think I got a chance to practice out loud in class?

Then, innovative methods like switching the order of kids reading, small groups or reading alone, literacy specialists, or check-ins with the only teacher in the class were non-existent. Heck, I don’t even remember her face or name.

Light years later, I am a literacy specialist and what is my favorite grade to teach? Yes! First grade!

In this space, a lot will be shared…including stories after first grade to current experiences, the trauma of some systems and parental influence on children in first grade and the fun techniques applied that changed me into a lover of words.

Stay tuned.