Recently, I read an article that Ezra Jack Keats’ book, The Snowy Day, is the book that has been checked out more times - 485, 583 - than any other book in the New York Public Library system. I can understand why this book is so popular. I remember reading this book with my preschoolers every year. At the time, most of my students had never experienced snow - and neither had I - so the whole story and the pictures evoked a sense of wonder. I think we all wished we could go outside and play in snow like Peter did.
This article made me reflect back to when I was getting my Master of Education in Curriculum & Instruction with a focus on Children’s Literature. At that time - back in 1976 - one of my assignments for my university coursework was to make a list of multicultural picture books. I remember going to the library, looking through the card catalog, and going through the shelves to look for picture books from different cultures. I wrote the title, author, and a synopsis of the book on 4”x6” index cards that I could reference when we studied different cultures in our Head Start classroom.
What I recall about that project is that the Peter books by Ezra Jack Keats were probably the only ones at the time that pictured children of color in realistic stories. The Snowy Day, Peter’s Chair, Whistle for Willie, A Letter to Amy were sweet stories about a little boy and his adventures with his family, friends, and his dog. My students loved these books! They also loved Goggles, a story about how Peter and Archie along with Peter’s dog Willie get away from some neighborhood bullies. We had little boys in our class who looked like Peter, so these stories were especially important.
I compiled a pretty comprehensive list of multicultural picture books, but as I recall, they were primarily folk tales from different countries or they were books about children in other countries. It was good literature and I did try to expose our preschoolers to stories from other cultures, but I realize that there was definitely a lack of diversity in realistic children’s literature at that time.
Today, there are many more choices for teachers and students. One of my favorites when I taught second graders was Dumpling Soup by my high school classmate, Jama Kim Rattigan. It is a a story that our local kids can relate to and shares about our culture here in Hawaii. Teachers can also search for multicultural book lists like these: 30 Children’s Books about Diversity that Celebrate Our Differences by Danika Ellis or Popular Multicultural Picture Books Shelf. I love this quote from Danika Ellis: “This is the importance of mirrors and windows: mirrors to see ourselves reflected in the world, so we don’t feel alone, and windows to see outside of our own lives, to recognize the humanity of other people.”
Picture books are a great way for children to learn about the diversity in our world and to develop empathy for other children and their lives. Let’s make sure we provide both mirrors and windows in the books we read to them.
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Saturday, February 15, 2020
Learning from Failure
Today, I was a recalling an incident that happened many years ago when our son was taking karate. He had been taking lessons for a couple of years and had made good progress. It was the day when all the students would take their test to be promoted to the next color belt. Justin was about 7 years old, and the others in his group were one or two years older.
All of the students in his group did what they needed to in order to be promoted. They did their routine, followed the sensei’s (teacher’s) instructions, and sat down, confident that they would pass.
At the next class, the sensei started with the beginners. He called each student by name and asked them to stand up. Every one of the beginners had passed and received their next color belt. Sensei gave them their new belt, and they proudly bowed to him. Everyone applauded. The sensei continued until he got to Justin’s group. When all of his group members were standing, the sensei stated that he was disappointed with all members of that group. He felt that they were just going through the motions and didn’t try their hardest. He said he could not promote them at this time.
After class, Justin didn’t say a word as we got into the car, and when we got home, he immediately went to his room and closed the door. I could hear him crying. My heart broke for him; Justin rarely cried. A few days later, we talked about how he felt about not being promoted. He was disappointed; he had not expected to not pass.
Luckily, the sensei gave those students another opportunity, and this time, all the boys were much more focused. Their movements were crisp, they were sharp, and it was evident that every member of the group had taken their earlier failure seriously. They did not want to be embarrassed again. Their sensei told them that this time, they were worthy of being promoted. He shared how he could tell that they were trying their best. That was a hard lesson for a young boy, but Justin learned from it. He realized that if he was going to compete, he needed to be serious. He carried that lesson with him when he competed in tennis, eventually earning a scholarship to play at the University of Hawaii and being selected as one of the captains in his senior year. He led by example. That karate sensei actually did him a favor by teaching him that he needed to put forth his best effort whenever he competed.
Failure is hard, but how we react to it is what will define us. Hopefully, we will see failure as an opportunity to do something better the next time.
All of the students in his group did what they needed to in order to be promoted. They did their routine, followed the sensei’s (teacher’s) instructions, and sat down, confident that they would pass.
At the next class, the sensei started with the beginners. He called each student by name and asked them to stand up. Every one of the beginners had passed and received their next color belt. Sensei gave them their new belt, and they proudly bowed to him. Everyone applauded. The sensei continued until he got to Justin’s group. When all of his group members were standing, the sensei stated that he was disappointed with all members of that group. He felt that they were just going through the motions and didn’t try their hardest. He said he could not promote them at this time.
After class, Justin didn’t say a word as we got into the car, and when we got home, he immediately went to his room and closed the door. I could hear him crying. My heart broke for him; Justin rarely cried. A few days later, we talked about how he felt about not being promoted. He was disappointed; he had not expected to not pass.
Luckily, the sensei gave those students another opportunity, and this time, all the boys were much more focused. Their movements were crisp, they were sharp, and it was evident that every member of the group had taken their earlier failure seriously. They did not want to be embarrassed again. Their sensei told them that this time, they were worthy of being promoted. He shared how he could tell that they were trying their best. That was a hard lesson for a young boy, but Justin learned from it. He realized that if he was going to compete, he needed to be serious. He carried that lesson with him when he competed in tennis, eventually earning a scholarship to play at the University of Hawaii and being selected as one of the captains in his senior year. He led by example. That karate sensei actually did him a favor by teaching him that he needed to put forth his best effort whenever he competed.
Failure is hard, but how we react to it is what will define us. Hopefully, we will see failure as an opportunity to do something better the next time.
Friday, February 14, 2020
They Touched My Heart with Their Stories
My heart is full; my cup is filled. This has been an uplifting week for me.
I’ve been sharing about my book, Leading with Aloha: From the Pineapple Fields to the Principal’s Office, and one of my goals when I speak with educators is to encourage them to tell their mo`olelo, their unique stories. I question them: What is your mo`olelo? Why did you become an educator? What is is about teaching that is rewarding to you? What challenges you? And most important, I ask them how they will share their mo`olelo to hopefully inspire others to be our future educators. Oftentimes, teachers look at me with doubt in their eyes, and some even tell me that they don’t have anything interesting to write about.
This past week, I had the opportunity to share about my book and about writing at Teacher Institute Day. My goal was to get teachers inspired to write and share their stories. Most of the participants did not know each other prior to the session which made what happened next so special. When asked to share their “why?” every teacher shared, and what we saw in all of them was their aloha, their love, for what they do. There were smiles; there were tears; there was laughter; there were head-nods; there were hugs; there were new relationships built. I saw teachers conversing after the session, asking questions of each other and making plans to stay in touch. My hope is that these teachers will now be motivated to share their mo`olelo with their students, with their families, or even with the broader community.
We never know how our actions today will impact our students in the future. A kind word; a stern look of disappointment; a snack when they were hungry; extra help when they were struggling. We hear stories about how these actions by a teacher made a difference in someone’s life. At the session, a teacher shared, “We teach academics. Yes, that’s important. But if my students leave my classroom at the end of the year and they are not better people, I have failed as a teacher.” I then shared a story about a teacher’s impact many years later (The Difference a Teacher Makes). More tears, but also lots of smiles.
Teaching is not an easy profession, Teachers give so much of themselves, and sometimes, there’s not much left in the tank for their own families or for themselves. We all need to take care of ourselves if we want to take care of others. So teachers, get that massage you’ve been putting off; go to a movie; curl up with a good book; call a friend and make plans to do something together. You can’t pour from an empty cup so fill your cup. You deserve it.
I’ve been sharing about my book, Leading with Aloha: From the Pineapple Fields to the Principal’s Office, and one of my goals when I speak with educators is to encourage them to tell their mo`olelo, their unique stories. I question them: What is your mo`olelo? Why did you become an educator? What is is about teaching that is rewarding to you? What challenges you? And most important, I ask them how they will share their mo`olelo to hopefully inspire others to be our future educators. Oftentimes, teachers look at me with doubt in their eyes, and some even tell me that they don’t have anything interesting to write about.
This past week, I had the opportunity to share about my book and about writing at Teacher Institute Day. My goal was to get teachers inspired to write and share their stories. Most of the participants did not know each other prior to the session which made what happened next so special. When asked to share their “why?” every teacher shared, and what we saw in all of them was their aloha, their love, for what they do. There were smiles; there were tears; there was laughter; there were head-nods; there were hugs; there were new relationships built. I saw teachers conversing after the session, asking questions of each other and making plans to stay in touch. My hope is that these teachers will now be motivated to share their mo`olelo with their students, with their families, or even with the broader community.
We never know how our actions today will impact our students in the future. A kind word; a stern look of disappointment; a snack when they were hungry; extra help when they were struggling. We hear stories about how these actions by a teacher made a difference in someone’s life. At the session, a teacher shared, “We teach academics. Yes, that’s important. But if my students leave my classroom at the end of the year and they are not better people, I have failed as a teacher.” I then shared a story about a teacher’s impact many years later (The Difference a Teacher Makes). More tears, but also lots of smiles.
Teaching is not an easy profession, Teachers give so much of themselves, and sometimes, there’s not much left in the tank for their own families or for themselves. We all need to take care of ourselves if we want to take care of others. So teachers, get that massage you’ve been putting off; go to a movie; curl up with a good book; call a friend and make plans to do something together. You can’t pour from an empty cup so fill your cup. You deserve it.
Thursday, February 6, 2020
Needing Positive Vibes
I’m a pretty positive person. I believe that things have a way of working out, that we can find common ground even if we disagree. That is probably the reason why I loved being an educator for 45 years. We know that what we do or say to students today and how we make them feel can have a long-term impact on them. That is our goal as educators.
I’ve started and deleted so many blog posts these past few weeks. When I started blogging 9+ years ago, I told myself that this blog would not be a venue to complain or criticize. Rather, I wanted to reflect on what I saw happening in our school or in education, our community, our state, our nation, and even the world, and share my thoughts. It has been challenging, these past few months and especially in the first month of 2020, to be positive, given the divisive nature of our nation. Sadly, I don’t see it getting better anytime soon, and that frightens me.
When we are surrounded by students who depend on adults to model behavior expectations, we may not realize how removed from the real world we are. We can only hope that the lessons we teach to our students today will live with them for the rest of their lives and that they will be better leaders than what we are seeing today.
This coming week, I’ll be spending several days with educators and students. I am hoping to fill my cup with their positive vibes so that I might have a more positive perspective about the future. That is my hope.
I’ve started and deleted so many blog posts these past few weeks. When I started blogging 9+ years ago, I told myself that this blog would not be a venue to complain or criticize. Rather, I wanted to reflect on what I saw happening in our school or in education, our community, our state, our nation, and even the world, and share my thoughts. It has been challenging, these past few months and especially in the first month of 2020, to be positive, given the divisive nature of our nation. Sadly, I don’t see it getting better anytime soon, and that frightens me.
When we are surrounded by students who depend on adults to model behavior expectations, we may not realize how removed from the real world we are. We can only hope that the lessons we teach to our students today will live with them for the rest of their lives and that they will be better leaders than what we are seeing today.
This coming week, I’ll be spending several days with educators and students. I am hoping to fill my cup with their positive vibes so that I might have a more positive perspective about the future. That is my hope.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)