I think this is a huge fact that is over looked. We have been given an incredible opportunity to communicate in more ways than one. I do know though that there are some species of animals that perform and communicate through those performances. For example: birds perform dances to find a mate.

I love this explanation of the meaning and value behind art. Art is so overlooked now a days in elementary schools, when it should be a stable aspect of learning throughout subjects. I feel like more students would appreciate learning if they were provided with a creative outlet to demonstrate their understanding and knowledge.

has BJS's atelier transformed over the years with new technology as well?

This is really interesting. Do they mean connecting what is going on worldly or locally that could cause stress or new feelings for children and providing an outlet for children to work through those feelings. For example, a war or catastrophic weather event and providing opportunities for children to express their feelings about them.

I think this is really important because not many schools in the States value parent involvement in the younger ages. Usually child care centers are just viewed as babysitting places but really they are so much more and should be valued as necessary educational facilities.

I think this is beautiful. This is that human connection that is the base of all society. Community engagement and collaboration is key to a heathy, functioning society.

this choice of label provides multitudinous opportunities for children and adults to express themselves, explore and create within the room.

Finding resources within their educational community to be an atelieristi was very smart of them. What better way to have an informed teacher who had a desire to use art as a tool for children to express themselves and their learning.

This is a beautiful statement. By using this in my mindset during documentation, I wonder if I would notice a shift in the outcomes of my photos and videos.

I like how we are building this concept right now in our classes. We are learning how to successfully teach to young children through our unpacking of our observations, documentations and soon our assessments.

This is a part of listening I need to better in. It can be difficult to listen to other opinions around social-justice issues. I feel as though if a student of mine in the future were to have differing opinions around those, I would be able to listen to their reasoning and see if we could have a conversation about it and come to a middle-ground.

70-93 percent of human communication is non-verbal. I feel like this concept of communication having to be verbal is linked to white supremacy culture.

I think it is important to consider this aspect of listening because more than half of my children's are not speaking words yet. I need to tap into their expressions, body language, emotions, eye-contact. and multiple other signals in order to try and understand what they are trying to communicate to me.

Even with one-year-olds, I should be narrating these inquires to my students so they can begin understanding that asking questions is good and supports their learning. Also, it helps them understand reasoning if they are already wondering inside their head why something is working but they can't verbally say it yet.

I feel as though adults lose this sense of self-advocacy and looking for their own happiness in learning as they shift into the working world. Luckily as teacher, we are reminded of this everyday through our children.

non-violent, honest and responsible answers are something that every adult should strive to have for children. It is important to module this in front of children and adults.

Does this change over time? Would there be more intervention with younger children, toddlers/infants, compared to older children, 3-5 year olds?

I think that is my most difficult task right now for one child in particular. I think one issue with his behaviors is because he is not being challenged enough to engage in the environment or materials in the classroom.

I think this would be interesting to do in my classroom, I wonder if there is a pattern of interaction with the classroom or if there are areas that are not being played with because of the overuse or children have become use to it.

I like how there is value in taking photos/videos and notes. There is more meaning behind the actions and provides opportunities for teachers to be active in their research. They aren't just taking the pictures and notes because they have to for proof of learning, they are taking them because they want to and they want to be apart of that transformation.

how would you adapt this to one-year-olds?

I like this idea of re-representation, it provides me with the opportunity to do a provocation again but with slight changes to better attune to students abilities or interest. In a normal elementary classroom setting there wouldn't be time for this to occur.

This child must have seen a sun setting into an ocean or lake from a book, movie/TV show or real life. I think that is a beautiful description.

meeting the child at their level but continuing to engage with them in the actions and challenging them further to build on those skills.

this makes me think of when my kiddos climb on the stumps in our playground. They make the initial climb and are in a squatting position on top and then they move into a standing position. After a while, they look to me or a different teacher for assistance in stepping down because it is a big step for them. I have noticed one student becoming more confident in herself and she is taking those big steps on her own now.

Adding another layer of how we interact with our students and their learning.

This makes me think of an industrialized system. Having everything prepared for the whole school year and knowing what will be taught every week seems unrealistic and controlling. I would probably being doing something similar to this in a classroom right now if I was not in this program learning about how factory based our public schools are.

With technology always changing and adjusting how society interacts with one another, I think this part ties in with that. We have to be willing to incorporate the technologies our children interact with at home so that they are able to practice with them. I think this also references to the many jobs we hold as educators and how versatile we must become in order to provide a successful education.

I think this part is very valuable to consider. I myself had to practice at not saying "you're fine or it's okay" when a child had been crying. I have worked on this and continue to catch myself saying it occasionally but have noticed a difference in the response from children. When you validate their thoughts or feelings, they feel accepted and acknowledged for who they are.

I remember one time at my old childcare center, I was in the one year old room and we were getting ready for lunch. The two main teachers expected the group of one year old's to sit nicely and quietly for 30 minutes before lunch. You can imaging the types of things that went on during those thirty minutes. There were always two-three children up and moving around or very upset because they did not want to sit. I felt that their rights to movement were not being honored. I also felt that their rights of being heard were being disregarded.

I think this is an interesting concept that ZPD theorists should consider. Group works allows for the option to change course of a project from a new idea or opinion. It allows for more creativity and fluidity in the process because there are more children thinking and creating.

They show such a communal thought process during their daily schedules. I think its very meaningful that they want to share a meal with their friends and wait for them even if they are hungry just for that reason.

I thought this was a great assessment on the teachers documentation. They were able to see how much their infants were capable of achieving just by allowing them to choose their own way of mobility to the theater! I wonder what was I could better understand my children by changing something to accommodate them better.

Children and adults have the right to feel their emotions freely without shame of them. I think its important to teach children healthy ways to feel their emotions instead of insisting they "are okay" or "you're fine". It does not help them grow if you tell them all the time that they okay. When we say that, we are telling them that their feelings do not matter and we just want them to feel good all the time..which is unrealistic for adults even.

I love this quote, I think it helps me understand how much we communicate to one another without using our voices.

I wonder that myself. It is difficult sometimes when I am trying to find out if my toddlers truly want to be held when they are upset or if they truly enjoy some of the activities we put out for them. I definitely use their body language and facial expression, noises they make to help me but sometimes, I wonder if I could do more.

Learning to speak up when they feel uncomfortable and knowing that they do have a right to consent is so important for them to learn at a young age, for any child!!

I wonder if this was brought on by a fire in their neighborhood, fire drill or if there were natural wildfires going on during this time of deciding about rights.

This one is so special because it just speaks to their ability of understanding their upset and being able to self-soothe with a book or alone time. They also understand that they don't always want a hug or touch when they are upset which is important as well.

I feel like this is similar to always let your conscience be your guide. They are listening to their inner voice about what their rights are.

Imagination should not be shut down right when they enter elementary school. Adults think imagination is "childish" but really we all do it, even as adults. Imagination in adults is labeled brainstorming or being innovative.

I can see my children doing that right now, a lot of them are starting to explore the room next to each other or by themselves. They are all investigating the classroom materials but they do it in their own way and have different outcomes.

Is there a noticeable difference between children who go to child care vs children who's first school encounter is Kindergarten?

this is an interesting concept to consider. A lot of the times teachers focus on the product and forget about the process the children are taking to accomplish the product.

Showing up for our students and being invested in their abilities is so impactful! It can change a student's self worth so much just by giving them compliments on their small successes.

How can we help our older students (first-fifth grade) love school again? I've heard too many times from third graders that they did not want to be in school anymore and they would joke about dying so they could get out of school. That was so tragic and sad that a child would have so much stress and sadness to not want to be in the world anymore. I know they were "joking" but it really sacred me hearing that with third graders. I made sure to talk to those kids more about how to help them with their stress or emotions towards school and why they felt those feelings.

I haven't considered my one-year old group having expectations for me, which is interesting because I would expect that in an older classroom. I know that the parents do have expectations for me and my co-workers but I haven't considered the one-year old's, now I will keep this in mind next shift.

Having fluid and unique relationships with your coworkers and the adults in the schools is just as important as the relationships with the children. Children can tell when there is tension in the room and react to it. They become uncomfortable or emotional in the response to negative energy in the space. Providing a safe, comfortable atmosphere for the children and staff is built through relationships and communication.

Breaking down this image has been an ongoing work for me. I noticed when I first began my undergrad program that I have underlying ideas of what boys and girls could accomplish in the school setting and that was from how I experienced school. I have bettered my mindset since then but it is still something I work on to continue to hold the new image of anyone can accomplish anything in the classroom in my mind.

everyone is working together to support the children's development and success. "it takes a village" is relatable to the Reggio approach. Even though that saying sometimes has a negative connotation, I am relating it to the approach because everyone is involved in the progress and practice. They are all working together to provide the learning experience children deserve and have a right to.

Collaborating with parents in multiple methods is a new concept for me. In the old child care center I was in, we only interacted with parents during pick-ups and drop-offs, parents rarely came into the classroom to interact or play with their children. I already can feel a stronger connection with the families here and can see how much the parents value being involved in their child's learning. It will be interesting to see the various forms of parent involvement throughout the program.

I love that they are taking the traditional theories and creating new ideas with them and bringing them into society as it is today. Children have changed with society's changes and we need to adjust our mindsets of how these theories of learning and teaching should look like in a classroom today.

It is so inspiring to read that Loris was a young teacher and was able to pursue and accomplish this method of teaching and community collaboration. He was able to support families and create opportunities for them to be apart of their child's learning which was probably uncommon at the time. I that Loris must have been a unique individual to have been able to create the school.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty sure American preschool teachers/families were trying to accomplish this type of preschool for across america but it was shut down by Nixon/Reagan. It's unfortunate that not all preschools are like BJS but there has been a swing of the pendulum in recent years of more schools opening up that are nature based or Reggio-inspired which is encouraging to see. I am doubtful that America as a whole could be as supportive towards early childhood education as much as other countries are.I am hopeful though that this pandemic is opening people's eyes to how important child care centers are and how important those teachers and administrators are for their children.

this is an interesting concept, many times once something is completed such as a project or writing piece, elementary teachers will move on and praise the students who were successful in completing the project. I wonder if there was time provided for students to redo a project, if they felt it wasn't successful or they didn't receive a good grade for it that they wouldn't feel as pressured to get it right automatically. I feel like we force so much onto young elementary students that they become overwhelmed with wanting to get good grades rather than understanding the information given to them and having time to come up with their own ideas based off the information. Providing time to redo an assignment without shamming involved of not getting it right the first time would only help our students understand that mistakes are okay and needed in order to grow.

Being taken seriously and respected is extremely important for children and gives them the feeling of being valued and wanted in the classroom. I love that BJS provides time and space for children to voice their opinions and ideas. When I observed in elementary schools for my undergrad, I did notice a difference in the level of collaboration between teacher and student. The most fluid relationship between teacher and student, where the teacher was allowed to give free time to students and support their projects, was when I was in a charter school that focused on the arts. It was interesting to see the difference of how much power the teachers had in the classroom to provide those opportunities for their students.

Interaction with the environment is a huge part of the child's day, they deserve to be provided new toys or materials daily so that they can interact with the environment on a more meaningful and authentic way. Imagine if you were placed in a room with only 5 toys/games and that stayed the same for several months, that would be infuriating and tedious. Even if a child is interacting with something, it doesn't mean they are necessarily enjoying it, child care centers need to change out the materials they are offering children more frequently than once every few months.

I've seen some teachers become frustrated with a one-year-old (at an old center) for not being able to hold a marker correctly after only having a couple of experiences prior to being "tested" on the ability. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me when children are assessed in that manner.

Its not reasonable to expect all children to obtain the same outcome from a learning experience, it might take several attempts for one child compared to another. It's not rational to think in a way of "how many skills can I force this child to learn before they are ready or able"

Did they have the image of the child as a whole person in mind when creating these standards? Did they value child input when forming them?