Q&A: A Preschool Teacher in St. Helens, in Her Own Words

Q&A: A Preschool Teacher in St. Helens, in Her Own Words

This summer Children’s Institute is highlighting the important work of early childhood educators teaching preschool through third grade. In this series of profiles, teachers from across the state tell us why they teach young children, what they wish people knew about their work, and what they’ve learned in their jobs.

Dani Boylan Reveals How Much Time and Effort Goes into a Well-Run Preschool Class
Dani Boylan is the lead Preschool Promise teacher for the St. Helens Early Learning Center at McBride Elementary School. In this interview, Dani shares with us the work involved in creating a preschool classroom that runs smoothly, and some of the professional learning she’s engaged in recently that has enabled her to meet the needs of a diverse population of students.

Why do you teach preschool?
I teach preschool because of the joy it gives me to come to work. It is amazing to have a job that you really WANT to go to each day. It doesn’t matter how rough things may be in my personal life, when I walk into my class and get greeted with big hugs and smiles, all my outside worries fade away. When I lost my dad to cancer, I went into work afterwards and my boss tried to send me home. I didn’t want to go home though because when I am in my class with my students, I forget about all my troubles and we just have fun together. To walk in every morning and see the excitement in the children’s eyes as they see you and inquire about what they are going to learn about that day is priceless.

What is one thing about your job you wish people knew?
I wish people knew how much work and time it takes to make an amazing program for children. People seem to think that it is a 40-hour a week job and it isn’t. The amount of time that goes into making a classroom great is way over 40 hours. Amazing teachers work so much at home not because they have to but because they want to. They want everything to run smoothly and be exciting for these little ones they teach. Most preschool teachers do not have a lot of prep time/planning time built into their work schedule. So, in order to make our classrooms exciting and well run, we do a lot of the work at home when we should be spending that time with our families. My children learned at a young age that we have a set homework time every evening. They work on their homework and I prep activities for my preschool. When they don’t have homework, they help me. They have grown up with me teaching their whole lives and I am very lucky to have two children who are so creative and love to help prep things for the preschoolers. This way I can get work done and spend time with my family.

Can you describe a learning experience you’ve had that has impacted your teaching?
My teaching style has dramatically changed over the 21 years that I have been teaching preschool. Each year it seems to change based on the students I have in class. I am still learning more every year. This year I had an unusually rough group of children. It was the first year that I had so many children with speech delays as well as other behavioral concerns. I enrolled in a community college class to help me figure out better ways to run my class with all of the children’s best interests in mind. I also made lots of referrals to Northwest Regional Education Service District’s Columbia Service Center to help get students the extra assistance they needed. I was shocked and thrilled by all the extra help that ESD gave me. They included me in professional development trainings that they were having, came into my class and brought me new tools and supplies to use, and overall supported me throughout this year. They helped me learn how to adapt my teaching to each of my student’s needs. Each and every one of my students succeeded in my class this year because of the changes I made for them, whether that was adding a quiet area for one of my boys to escape to when he needed to calm down, using a weighted lap pad to help a child stay seated, or asking lots of open ended questions to increase vocabulary and word usage. These are just a few of the changes that I made just this year and I can’t wait to see what next year will bring for me and my class.

Q&A: A Preschool Teacher in Astoria, in Her Own Words

Q&A: A Preschool Teacher in Astoria, in Her Own Words

This summer Children’s Institute is highlighting the important work of early childhood educators teaching preschool through third grade. In this series of profiles, teachers from across the state tell us why they teach young children, what they wish people knew about their work, and what they’ve learned in their jobs.
preschool teacher in Astoria-1

“I am amazed at the gifts and talents children have innately. As I strive to understand and bring out these gifts, I find joy in teaching children and watching their growth develop in all areas.”

Michelle Gardner Shares Her Passion for Early Childhood Development

Michelle Gardner teaches preschool at Clatsop Kinder Ready Kids in Astoria. Launched four years ago, the district-run program has demonstrated success in preparing children for kindergarten. Here Michelle shares with us her passion for teaching preschoolers who are learning during every moment of their days.

Why do you teach preschool? 

I teach preschool because children and their learning are my passion! I want to be at the beginning level of a child’s learning in order to provide a positive, solid, whole child learning experience for their future school careers and life. I also want to collaborate with parents and families in providing the best opportunities for children.

What is one thing about your job you wish people knew? 

I have loved learning about children and their development for many years—it’s in my blood! I have worked in university preschools and their early childhood education department, earned a double Bachelor of Science in early childhood and elementary education, received a master’s degree in early childhood studies, developed a home preschool, taught kindergarten, first grade, third grade, and fourth grade. I’m now back to my roots and first love: teaching preschool. I love to learn and am still learning more!

preschool teacher in Astoria-2

Can you describe a learning experience you’ve had that has impacted your teaching? 

I am amazed at the gifts and talents children have innately. As I strive to understand and bring out these gifts, I find joy in teaching children and watching their growth develop in all areas. I love how learning in preschool is interwoven throughout the entire day: from riding the bus, to greeting first thing, then breakfast, free choice, literacy and math, lunch, outdoor time, quiet time, and closing. There is always something to learn! If I allow the child to be the center of that learning, teaching children is a joyful experience for all involved!

Preschool teacher in Astoria-3
preschool teacher in Astoria-4
Q&A: A Preschool Teacher in SE Portland, in Her Own Words

Q&A: A Preschool Teacher in SE Portland, in Her Own Words

This summer Children’s Institute is highlighting the important work of early childhood educators teaching preschool through third grade. In this series of profiles, teachers from across the state tell us why they teach young children, what they wish people knew about their work, and what they’ve learned in their jobs.
preschool teacher Andreina Velasco

Andreina Velasco Reflects on the Value of Community and a Supportive Administration

 

Andreina Velasco is a preschool teacher at Earl Boyles Elementary School. The Earl Boyles preschool offers publicly funded preschool to all children in the school’s catchment area. As part of the Early Works initiative, the program provides families with children from birth to grade three with learning opportunities, health and housing supports, and other resources.

Why do you teach preschool?

I was working at Children’s Institute as the Early Works site liaison and before that the family engagement coordinator, so I had a strong connection with the Earl Boyles community, school, and program. What drew me to teach preschool here was that community—the families, the staff, the strong partnerships between them, and the positive learning environment they’ve created. Preschool is the first connection between children and families and the formal education system, at least here at Earl Boyles, because all kids have access to public preschool. That inspires me because it means that I can be the first positive connection between children and families and the school. I want to make sure that it’s a really affirming, validating, and positive experience for everyone, so that further on in their academic careers they have that as a baseline.

Preschool—at least the way it’s structured here—also allows time and space to partner with families a lot more, which is a part of the job that I really appreciate. We have time for home visits, and to develop curriculum that is responsive to the children’s and the families’ interests. All those factors really inspire me to teach preschool here. I don’t know if that’s the case in all settings, so that’s why I specify that it’s here at Earl Boyles that I’m really interested in teaching preschool, because of those strong partnerships and the time and space given to develop them.

What is one thing about your job you wish people knew?

I always say that it’s the best teaching job in the world. I have so much support in the classroom. I have two incredible assistants who are highly skilled educators, reflective of the community: one is a mom in the school and the other was a student in the school and has siblings here, and we’re all women of color. Having their support in the classroom is phenomenal, as well as the administrative support from [Principal] Ericka [Guynes], who is very responsive to our teaching needs. What I would really want people to know, then, is that teachers can be very happy in their roles if they are supported by their administration and their district. This support allows us to be a fully inclusive environment for kids with special needs, and to serve a highly diverse population in terms of cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, and socioeconomic status. We can have that kind of environment if teachers are really well-supported.
preschool kids at Earl Boyles

“What I would really want people to know, then, is that teachers can be very happy in their roles if they are supported by their administration and their district.”

Can you describe a learning experience you’ve had that has impacted your teaching?

This year we’ve been starting to think about equity and culturally responsive practices, and I read an article that Children’s Institute published about preschool expulsions. It was shocking for me that the rates of expulsion are so high, especially for African American boys. Learning that really impacted me, motivating me to do a lot of internal work and start leading work among our staff so that doesn’t happen here—to any of our kids, but specifically to African American boys. I want to make sure they come to school and have a very positive and affirming experience.

preschool teacher in SE Portland
For more from teachers in their own words, check out our Q&A with Megan Barber, the lead teacher and director of the preschool at the Early Works site in Yoncalla, Oregon.
Helping Incarcerated Parents Build Bonds With Their Children: A CI Twitter Chat

Helping Incarcerated Parents Build Bonds With Their Children: A CI Twitter Chat

Following the publication of our two-part story on two programs serving mothers at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility and the mothers who have benefited, we convened a panel of national experts to take a broader view of the issues facing incarcerated parents around the country, supports that are needed, and programs in place that are helping this vulnerable population of parents and children. Read the full transcript of our chat below.


Q&A: A Preschool Teacher in Yoncalla, in Her Own Words

Q&A: A Preschool Teacher in Yoncalla, in Her Own Words

Q&A: Preschool Teacher in Yoncalla
This summer Children’s Institute is highlighting the important work of early childhood educators teaching preschool through third grade. In this series of profiles, teachers from across the state tell us why they teach young children, what they wish people knew about their work, and what they’ve learned in their jobs.

Megan Barber Shares Her Work Creating a Playful, Safe, and Loving Preschool Classroom
Megan Barber is the lead teacher and director of the preschool program at Yoncalla Elementary School. Yoncalla is a town of just over a thousand people in rural Douglas County, Oregon. The program is a Preschool Promise site offering publicly funded preschool to children in low-income families living in the district. Yoncalla Elementary School is also part of the Early Works initiative, a prenatal through third grade learning lab demonstrating a new approach to education and healthy development for young children and their families.

Why do you teach preschool?
Most things that have happened in my life have not been planned out but have been more like tripping over buried treasure. I chose my professional path for my undergraduate work by chance, I got involved in preschool work at the Family Relief Nursery (a child abuse prevention agency) by chance, and even finding a home within the community I now work in was not necessarily a part of the plan. Since preschool is not actually part of the elementary school system in Oregon, I never looked at it as a viable career path. However, when a part-time preschool teaching position came up at the Relief Nursery (something I found out by chance when my dad was doing a water damage job at the facility), I said, “why not?” and applied for the job—not thinking much would come from it. My life forever changed when I took that position. Through this work, I got to take a close examination of the families within my community, developing a love and empathy for their unique situations and challenges. I quickly realized that these marginalized families were invisible within the community and lacked any voice or ability to advocate for the needs of their children. I decided from that moment on that no matter what future teaching position I took, the families (especially the invisible families) would come first. I love preschool because I have the opportunity to be the first educational experience for the family as a whole within the community and I will do everything in my power to help it be positive and welcoming—starting parents on their first steps towards being leaders in the school and advocates for their children.
Q&A: Teachers in Their Own WordsI will also admit, I’m deeply in love with preschool because I get to play. It was shocking to me that I had forgotten how to play—silly, crazy play—like children do. Learning real play again became a study of mine, something I practice and invest in. You see, play is where the magic is. Anything can happen for children in play! And when I can help provide children with opportunities for good, hardy, messy, ridiculous, wild rumpus kind of play, I feel like I’ve accomplished my goal for the day. What was so strange to me was realizing that some of the children coming into the classroom forgot how to play. That is all the more reason why play is an absolute necessity, because it creates a space where children bloom and come into their own. We teach children how to use their imagination, how to think deeper about what they are doing and seeing, and how to engage with peers to make their experience more fun.

The other thing I love about children at this age is that they really don’t remember anything about preschool. When children grow up, they cannot recall the letters they learned, the numbers they wrote, and they may not even be able to clearly remember the faces of the teachers they had. What is left behind is this feeling, whether it was a great feeling or a not so great one. I hope my students will feel in later years that they were all a part of something that helped make their childhood a little bit special. Maybe we can all walk away with the feeling of being touched by a little pixie dust.

What is one thing about your job that you wish other people knew?
I wish people could really see the work that my staff and I do together. Not only do we train together, purposefully build our skills and philosophy together, and communicate frequently—we work like a well-oiled machine. Rarely needing to actually say a word about what is needed, we can pretty much read each other’s minds in order to be where we need to be, identify a need of a student, assess what is to be done when a situation arises, or how to be flexible or change plans on the fly. My three teacher aides are what makes the program work as it does. They invest in the mission just as I do, they see it work, they are honest about what needs to change, and they give everything they’ve got. For us, this is not a job—it is something we are called to do. And when you have a group of people who are dedicated to children and families, I just don’t think that there is anything we can’t do!

On the same note, I think it is only logical to state that we work so well and push so hard to do our best because teaching preschool is much harder than many think it is. Yes, we get to play—but play is actually hard work. We are right alongside the children, helping them plan, problem solve, engage, be responsive; we are scaffolding, observing, and assessing. When children come in, they have their own anxiety and stress that they bring through the door and we work so hard to download our calm, to make their burdens light. Our days feel long sometimes, our feet are tired, and we are probably pretty gross when all is said and done. Working in preschool is not for everyone because it is some intense, powerful work when done right. In other words, we should all give props to the preschools and their staff. The work is hard but rewarding.

“Teaching preschool is much harder than many think it is. Yes, we get to play- but play is actually hard work.”

Can you describe a learning experience you’ve had that has impacted your teaching?

I have been very fortunate to work in the field of trauma, which has opened my mind to better understanding my community and the children I serve. Through my education, I have learned so much about best practices, how to refine my work to best meet the needs of all students, and how to provide an inclusive environment. It feels like everything I learned was tied together last summer, when I took a week-long training in Arkansas to learn about Dr. Becky Baily’s work in Conscious Discipline. (She is now my personal hero.) I knew that her work in social and emotional development was the key that had been missing in my practice. Even though I had the education behind me regarding trauma, special needs, best practice, therapeutic language, brain development, etc., I had been missing the practical application of this knowledge in a way that works best for children. Though there’s still so much more for me to learn, I couldn’t help but dive in the moment school started. I designed a safe space within my classroom that was a purposeful place for me to talk with students about our emotions and how they can co-regulate. I trained my staff on what this looks like, so we can all engage with children in a way that is nurturing rather than punitive. I made sure that each child has a choice in how they want to be greeted and engage in “I love you” rituals for children walking into the classroom with anxiety, stress, fear, or sadness. We bond each morning with a unity song that emphasizes how we love and care about each person in our school family and how we will keep it safe for each other. The students now know how to show empathy for each other, leading their own “Wishing Well” experience for children who are upset or needing help. The students themselves have become the nurturers for each other and have truly embraced the idea of family. I love the concept of creating this family and unit within the school because it fills in the gaps that children experience within their home life—fully meeting the needs of each child.

What I especially love about Conscious Discipline is how appropriate it is for all children (heavens, it meets our needs as adults, too). Many autistic children learn specific facial expressions so that they can better identify what another person’s experiencing emotionally. Children with behavioral issues (who are frequently kicked out of preschool programs) learn how to be able to calm, use their words to express their needs, and have “loving eyes” for others so that they see from their perspective. Children who have experienced trauma (which is more of the norm than the exception in my classroom) can have their fragile hearts addressed and cared for and are provided the safety of being able to express themselves in a way that is safe but also meets the needs of the child and the family. Conscious Discipline also engages parents to take part in the school family and practice the language and purpose of the method to benefit children when at home. It is a healing experience for families. There is no way to experience the practice and not walk away unchanged. Conscious Discipline is a heart thing. It is a love thing. This is how we raise children to change the world.

Q&A: Teachers in Their Own Words