The Legs of Ozymandias: A Support Based Approach To Literary Engagement

Anderson Scull, Psychology, '19

The teaching philosophy assignment gave me a chance to reflect on what I truly valued in terms of an educator, and really invoked some introspection. Similarly, I’m certainly glad people enjoyed my verbal presentation of it in class, to the point of bringing it up and complimenting me in the day or two afterwards. As such, I want to share my thoughts on its context in a more concrete manner.

Students can’t be expected to fully engage with learning, even if they might want to, if they don’t feel like their more fundamental needs are being met. A basic statement derived from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Schooling is mandatory, certainly, but learning about more academic matters that aren’t immediately applicable life skills is closer to the top of the pyramid than the bottom, dwelling in self-actualization and esteem. Learning about literature is a luxury, and it’s not very easy to fully engage in that when you don’t feel that your foundation is solid.

A cartoon man scales an mysterious colorful pyramid demonstrating Maslow’s famed concept that recently materialized in the Rockies. If he didn’t have that physiological foundation himself, he would likely be plummeting towards the ground at high speed right now. (Courtesy of verywell Mind)

It seems like a relatively simple concept, one that should be a fundamental part of attempting to teach anyone. But for many poor reasons, a few mediocre reasons, and in many cases essentially a lack of reason, quite a lot of people with a say in the direction of public education seem to fail to understand this. Perhaps it’s being so high up the mountain of relative power; after all, for all the platitudes laid out in policies and speeches, it’s clearly very easy for those with clout to forget the ‘little people’ are actually still people. Ronald Reagan, for instance, had such disregard for students outside of something that can invoke moral outrage that he suggested ketchup and pickle relish count as vegetable for nutrition purposes in school lunches. Even today, two tablespoons of tomato paste means cafeteria pizza can be legally classified as a vegetable as well. Not only does this ignore the biological fact that tomatoes are fruit, but it also clearly demonstrates how happy people are to cut corners on a program specifically designed to help children with a home life that makes sating their physiological needs difficult.

Even in the local scale, a school district administrator, a principal, or anyone who lacks a direct connection with a student can lose sight of the fact that the ‘student body’ is just a term for a lot of young people in need of help and guidance, not a single minded flesh golem they have to prod subordinates into wringing bigger numbers from.

A false cognition of a student body, clearly driven by carrots and sticks crafted from free pizza and ice cream. (Courtesy of Castlevania: Curse of Darkness)

When figuring out how to make students better at learning, the primary question really shouldn’t be why they don’t perform well, but rather the more fundamental step of why they didn’t fully learn the material. There are a number of possible reasons for any given student, but purely attributing the matter to laziness or stupidity and giving up on the individual is not responsible in the slightest for an educator. The more responsible thing by far is to put in the effort to make sure that students feel safe and comfortable in the classroom. If you truly want someone to engage and learn, putting all that effort and energy into your topic, it’s only fair you put in effort of your own to help your charges.

To start at the base, students shouldn’t have to be distracted by hunger or physiological needs. No restrictions on using the restroom; letting people go when they need to lets them come back less distracted. In addition, if students need it, there should be filling and at least somewhat healthy snack bars, as well as cold water bottles. This can really help kids who may not get enough to eat, even if it’s just something small. The water also helps with emotional needs further up the pyramid: cold water, drinking or even just having it to focus on, can help people recover if they’re having a panic attack.

Stepping up to safety, students shouldn’t have any reason to feel unsafe in class. If there’s some social conflict or other issue, it’s part of the teacher’s job to notice, then try and make that not an issue anymore. Bullying can be more subtle than it’s generally portrayed in media, so put aside preconceived notions to look for potential trouble. A safe classroom is a classroom where people can start opening up to learning.

Love/Belonging is especially vital for an English classroom. After all, when engaging with literature, sharing your own thoughts and interpretations is key. Any successful and engaged English student is also a student who doesn’t feel like they’ll be mocked or dismissed by those listening. It should be made clear that expressing opinions (in good faith, mind you) is essential to the class, and students should try to consider an argument even if they disagree with it and let the speaker elaborate on why they see things so. Even if it’s not always with their best friends, students in groups should always be able to consider their teammates as people who will take them seriously.

This finally brings us to where the study of stories actually resides: esteem and self actualization. Once a student’s needs from outside are sorted, their remaining needs are more introspective and modeled on their own thoughts and perceptions, just like literary analysis. But from here, how does a teacher go about making their students engaged?

They let the students have choice.

Disliking the reading material or not seeing much value in it is fine, so long as the student does their best to explain why it rubbed them the wrong way and how it could potentially be improved, or what they think a better example of what the author was trying for is. A student is expected to do major projects based on at least three works throughout their time in the class, ideally on books originally assigned by me, but if they are willing to give me a presentation of why they would rather do their own and how it is appropriate, I am willing to be flexible in order to better enable personal passion. If the class as a whole decides that a book isn’t worth the effort and analysis, if they propose a reasonable alternative, work with them. If you show with your actions as well as your words that their opinions have weight, students can begin to give their thoughts more respect.

Students are expected to learn about literary devices and reading into subtext or themes in a work, being able to look into it more deeply, but they are also expected to learn about how a book becomes considered a classic, how best to judge for themselves what books are worthy of respect, and what value can still be gained from a text that you don’t agree with or particularly like. This relatively soft approach, with an emphasis on personal experience and self sharing, aims to help students become more personally engaged and get comfortable with learning and connecting without having it forced on them quite so much. In addition, meta analysis of books in a larger social context can help students find things to latch onto, such as Hamlet being rewritten as a choose-your-own-adventure book with a wide variety of endings, or how stories can be affected and rewritten by its readers in time, for good or for ill.

My Fair Lady, a fascinating experiment in making a new, ‘happy’ ending one of the worst possible outcomes. (Courtesy of the Chicago Sun-Times)

What it all comes down to really is simple. A teacher’s responsibility is to help their students learn. It’s just that for something as personal as literature in particular, there are things beyond the written word they have to account for first.

Unconditional Love and Communication

Alexandra Kahn, Studio Art, '21


After our class read Alfie Kohn’s Punished By Rewards which explored various parenting strategies within conditional parenting practices, I became fascinated by the contrast between conditional parenting and unconditional parenting. For my first self-directed learning project I read Kohn’s Unconditional Parenting which gave insight into the disparities between the two parenting philosophies. Still intrigued, I then read Elaine Mazlish and Adele Faber’s How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk. Within unconditional parenting practices, this book focused on valuable ways to communicate and interact with children for mutual respect and understanding, while best supporting the child’s needs.

Unconditional Parenting

How To Talk So Kids Will Listen
& Listen So Kids Will Talk

Conditional parenting is award related; if a child behaves in a way that their parent 
approves of, this child will be rewarded for their actions. However, if behavior is deemed 

inappropriate, the kid will be punished or parental love will be revoked--this is called
withholding love. Whatever the child’s behavior, action is taken to reward or punish
conduct, prompting this child to feel loved conditionally--valued when, and only when,
behavior is considered suitable.

Conversely, unconditional love is just the opposite. Regardless of proper or improper
behavior, parents show their love all the same. A conversation about how to behave
accordingly next time might be in order, but the parent’s love is never rescinded. A
child of parents who practice unconditional love will feel they are valued for who they
are, as opposed to appreciated for each individual action.

Dispersed within the chapters of Mazlish and Faber’s professed “parenting bible” were
activities--spaces to reflect on and encourage the practice of skills learned. The authors
provided readers with first hand accounts of various dynamics between parent and child,
which supplied parents with relatable experiences that they might encounter with their
own children. Mazlish and Faber illustrate, occasionally through comic strips, how to
listen to children in ways that show them that you understand them. Readers learn how
to communicate with their children without exploding in a sudden fury or resorting to the
use of punishment. Navigating encouragement of the child’s autonomy is discussed, as
well as how to praise effectively. We learned in Punished By Rewards that certain forms
of praise can be categorized as loving conditionally, so Mazlish and Faber help parents
distinguish between the two and encourage the use of unconditional praise by describing
what they see in one or two words. The last parenting practice explored in full is how to 
liberate children from their familial roles. Often times, children take on one specific, 
negative role within the family and parents have a difficult time breaking this cycle. Finally, 
readers learn how to piece all these parts together to help each parent figure out the 
practices that will most benefit their own child. 

One anecdote found in the first chapter resonated heavily with me, so I am going to
share it below. Chapter one is about listening and communicating with children so that
the child feels heard and understood; this story illustrates the extraordinary benefits
that come with finding particular skills that work well for certain children.

Todd is a three year old with cerebral palsy, and has difficulty with things that come
naturally to many other children. When he tries to do something and is unable to, he
becomes extremely frustrated and may scream for hours. His mother writes, “he thinks
that somehow his difficulties are all my fault, and that I should be able to do something
about it. He’s angry at me most of the time” (32). In her parenting workshop, Todd’s
mother learns that kids may feel relief when they draw their feelings, so she decides to
try the technique out with her son. At home, she finds Todd struggling to complete a
puzzle and knows a tantrum is about to begin. As her son begins to cry, she runs to
grab a paper and crayon and returns to sit on the floor with him:

     “‘Todd, is this how angry you feel?’ And then I drew sharp zigzag lines up and 

     down, up and down.
     “Yeah,” he said, and yanked the crayon out of my hand and made wild slashing
     lines. Then he stabbed the paper over and over again until it was full of holes. I
     held the paper up to the light and said, “You are so mad… You are absolutely
     furious!” He grabbed the paper away from me and, crying the whole time, tore it
     again and again until it was nothing more than a pile of shreds. When he was all
     finished, he looked up at me and said, “I love you, Mommy.” It was the first time
     he’d ever said that” (32).

The sheer frustration and pain that this three year old must experience on a daily basis
is enough to make any parent desperate for answers--desperate to find any way to ease
his agony. Though the practice of drawing feelings may not work every time or have the
same effect, there is joy in helping your child find comfort when they are struggling,
especially in times when you are not convinced solace can be found. 

I’m continually fascinated by what motivates different children; finding the approach
that works best with each child to support their drive and success is an unmatched
feeling. Though I knew some innate skills in working with children before reading Mazlish
and Faber, the vast amount of new practices I have learned will stay with me forever. I
will use these skill sets as I continue to work with children and enjoy experiencing
the diverse effects that each practice has on a particular child until finding the approach
that is most valuable for each unique child.

Using Kohn To Challenge Perceptions About Millennials

Sarah Sklar, Psychology & Studio Art, ‘19

For this project, I read Alfie Kohn's The Myth of the Spoiled Child and learned about the widely spread misconceptions about our generation which affected how we were treated by our parents at home, and our teachers in the classroom. My final project consisted of a drawn and painted poster which I used to challenge the false ideas put forth by 
psychologist Jean Twenge in 2006.

In our educational psychology class, we read Punished By Rewards, a book by Alfie Kohn in which
he addresses why teachers should refrain from using systems of rewards in a classroom setting.

This book illustrated how rewards promote extrinsic learning in the form of praise from a teacher,
social approbation, and tangible treats while diminishing any motivation for intrinsic learning. After
our class discussion and first self - directed learning projects, I wanted to read more about Kohn’s
thoughts for improving education. For my first self directed learning project, I read another book by
Alfie Kohn entitled The Myth of the Spoiled Child.

In this book, Kohn addresses misconceptions about modern children who are constantly labeled
by older generations as controlling of their permissive parents and teachers. The book was
written in 2014 and a lot of the research is actually about our generation and how we grew up
with our relations to our parents and teachers. Kohn’s argument is that we as children were
never any more controlling or demanding than children of other generations, but that once
these conceptions became widely believed, parents were so afraid to be labeled as “permissive”
that they adopted an authoritarian position.

As we talked about earlier in the semester, when adults become too stringent with their children,
those children act out more because they do not know how to problem-solve for themselves
socially or emotionally. One of the psychologists to whom Kohn attributes the start of the
“permissive parent” scare is psychologist Jean Twenge. In the early 2000’s Twenge published
research articles labeling millennials as lower in empathy and higher in narcissism than children
of any generation before them. Twenge conducted experimental studies to support her data and
blamed parents of millennials for being too lenient.

In reality, however, the parents she labeled as permissive were really just demonstrating a
basic level of respect for their kids, addressing their questions and encourage them to think
critically for themselves. On top of that, members of older generations have regarded members
of younger generations in a condescending manner for decades. For instance, the baby
boomers commonly claimed that the children of generation X as lazy and unmotivated.
Additionally, anyone who has seen the NPI, which is used to measure narcissism knows
that the scale measures maladaptive attributes like conceitedness, but it also measures
healthy qualities like strong leadership skills. So, high levels on this index doesn’t necessarily
mean someone is arrogant. If anything, her results really showed that modern young girls are
more confident than they have been in the past. She also combined measures to cherry pick the
data she wanted, which did not yield accurate results. But, by the time psychological
researchers challenged her results, the misconceptions were already widespread and the
damage was done.

For the evaluative aspect of this project, I wanted to create something visual, rather than
something in the form of a writing piece. My motivation for this came about because we
talked in class about how every student expresses their knowledge best in vastly different
ways. Seeing as my two majors are psychology and studio art, I wanted to see how well I
could combine these two academic fields and create something other students and I would
find visually stimulating. After much deliberation, I chose to create a poster using an array of
graphite pencils and water color paints. For the subject matter, I wanted to use content
relevant primarily to our generation to allude to the quintessential millennial childhood.
I thought a lot about the phrases I could use from Jean Twenge’s research and how I could
combine it in a clever way to create my main visual message.

I began the art process by combing through advertisements and commercials for products
popular in the 1990’s and targeted primarily for children or teenagers. Some of the products I
considered using consisted of popular breakfast cereals like Trix, toys like the Bop It!, and
candies like the Baby Bottle Pop. I ultimately landed on the Loreal children’s shampoo, a
product which commonly appeared with the words “no more tears” accompanying it. The
idea behind this slogan was that the shampoo was made for children with the understanding
that kids do not have the control over their motor functions to avoid getting hair product in their
eyes when bathing or showering. Therefore, this shampoo was made with the intention of
protecting sensitive eyes from irritation by not stinging or causing redness.

After deciding what my advertisement poster would feature, I looked for reference photos of
vintage advertisements with designs that I liked. I wanted to juxtapose the fairly modern
products with a vintage style to symbolize the wide generational divide Kohn discusses in his
book. Finally, I added the citation to Jean Twenge's 2006 book Generation Me: Why
Today’s Kids Are More Confident, Entitled, Assertive, and Miserable Than Ever
Before (preview her book for yourself!). I positioned this under a drawing I made of a
still from an early 2000's commercial for Loreal Kids shampoo which featured two
young kids laughing with each other. Next to the product logo, I wrote their famous
phrase "No Tears!" and then added ironically "Because millennials cannot
empathize".

Inequality and Segregation in America's Schools

By: Haley Witschey, Psychology, '20

For my second self-directed learning project, I read the book Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools by Jonathan Kozol. This book was written in 1991, but it illustrates just how segregated American public schools are, due to numerous economic and social factors. Kozol illustrates the hard divide between the rich and the poor within education, and how that divide is even more intensified by racial issues.

The author visits some of the poorest areas in American cities and compares them to some of the wealthiest schools in the same city. Kozol visits East St. Louis, IL, Chicago, IL, New York City, Camden, NJ, and Washington D.C. throughout the book to examine the education systems. From his findings, he discovers that schools are underfunded, understaffed, and underequipped.

There were many heart-breaking, eye-opening passages throughout the book that illustrated to the reader just how evident the racial and economic divides are in public schools. In one passage on page 45, Kozol is visiting a kindergarten classroom in North Lawndale, Chicago, and he explains the depressing and true probable futures of children growing up in the area. He states, “Twelve years from now, if these neighborhood statistics hold true for these children, 14 of these 23 boys and girls will have dropped out of school. Fourteen years from now, four of these kids, at most, will go to college. Eighteen years from now, one of those four may graduate from college, but three of the 12 boys in this kindergarten will already have spent time in prison.” He goes on to explain just how saddening it is to see these hopeful, friendly faces, and to know what the future most likely holds for all of them. It is not the children’s fault that they were born into an unfair, racially prejudiced society, and the outcomes of growing up in this area surrounded by poverty and hardship are bound to negatively affect these smiling, hopeful faces, and that is extremely disheartening and problematic.

In another chapter, Kozol visits Camden, New Jersey, where he is exposed to just how underfunded and overfilled some of the schools are in the lower-income school district of Patterson. On page 160, Kozol states, “The city is so short of space that four elementary schools now occupy abandoned factories. Children at one wood-framed elementary school … eat lunch in a section of the boiler room. A bathroom houses reading classes.” He also explains that in a school with 2,200 students there is only one physics section, while in the wealthier nearby school district of Summit, there’s six physics sections for 1,100 students. These examples illustrate that due to the underfunded and overcrowded nature of these public schools, children have hardly any chance to get the resources and experiences needed to succeed after they are done in school. Even more so than this, a majority of these students in the poorer schools are not white, again showing how segregation still exists and how it prevents students from succeeding and escaping the mold of poverty.

On page 27, Kozol discusses another severely segregated and underfunded school system within our country, located in East St. Louis, IL. When visiting a high school, he encounters an Introductory Home Ec. classroom and speaks with the teacher. “I ask her whether she regards this class as preparation for employment. ‘Not this class,’ she says. ‘The ones who move on to advanced Home Ec. are given job instruction.’ When I ask her what jobs they are trained for, she says: ‘Fast food places--Burger King, McDonald’s.’” This conversation reveals the sort-of cycles of poverty that exist in communities like this. The students within these schools are not looked at as much more than just becoming fast food workers, never destined to attend college or told to dream bigger than just their small, poor community.

As part of my project, I just wanted to expose my class to the racial and economic injustices that students within these public school systems must go through. To compare to present day, I examined some of the cities and schools discussed within the book to see if any changes have occurred since Kozol wrote the book. I unfortunately found that truly nothing has changed for the better. Instead, schools are still extremely segregated. For example, when looking at the demographic information between Hope College Prep High School, located in North Lawndale, versus New Trier Township High School, a much wealthier area public high school, the statistics are staggering.

Screenshotted from illinoisstatereportcard.com

Screenshotted from illinoisstatereportcard.com

What is even worse is examining the percentage of students viewed as coming from low income families from both of these schools. When these statistics are put together, it is evident that segregation still exists, and it is intensified by economic factors. In Hope College Prep High School, 97.9% were low income, while at New Trier Township High School, only 3.7% of students qualified as low income. Both of these schools are public Chicago schools, but due to social and economic factors, they are extremely segregated and discriminatory. According to Illinois State Report Card ‘17-’18 school year data, Hope College Prep had a 75% graduation rate, compared to New Trier’s 98%. Teachers at Hope College Prep were making, on average, $73,661, while New Trier’s average annual salary was over $114,000. One of the most staggering statistics, in my opinion, from last year’s data was that at Hope College Prep, 0% of juniors scored proficient on the SAT, while 80% of New Trier juniors had proficient SAT scores.

These data and graphs reveal that not much has changed since this book was written in 1991. Schools are still underfunded and overcrowded, and although segregation might've been outlawed over 60 years ago, it still exists. In order to stop this cycle of poverty, there is a lot of work to do. Jonathan Kozol, author of Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools, expands on these ideas in this video. We must value teachers more, give better and equal funding to all public schools, and above all, realize that education is the #1 way for individuals to escape poverty and to change this constant cycle. We have to start setting up all children equally for success, no matter their race or economic background.

Teaching Philosophy: Cultivating a Creative Space for Ballet Students

I chose to construct my teaching philosophy as a teacher to ballet students of varying levels in a traditional academic setting. Ultimately, my goal as a teacher in this setting is to cultivate a safe space for creative and artistic growth.

Jordan Wetzel, Dance, '19

My teaching philosophy is centered around the education of a high school ballet student, on the younger side of 9th or 10th grade. Dance in a traditional educational setting, such as a public school or non-specialized high school, can be tricky in the way that the use of the human body as an instrument requires a certain type of knowledge and understanding. As a ballet teacher in a traditional academic setting, my goal is to be able to effectively reach and teach a large population of students, similar to the way that music or visual art is taught in school. It is readily explored, while dance is largely unexplored. Because it requires using the body as a means of expression, dance lends itself to a physical sort of vulnerability.

photo courtesy of Fund For Public Schools

In order to cultivate a safe space that promotes physical creativity and comfortability for even the least experienced dancer, my lessons will largely include a social learning aspect. Students will have plenty of opportunity to discuss between one another the combinations with regard to technical alignment and creative execution. Ballet requires prolonged attention to instruction and detail. Even though the body is constantly moving, conversation is not something typically implemented in a ballet class, and in doing so, the students who are best served by having breaks from this intense focus will benefit by peer to peer interaction, guided by my instruction.

The structure of the class will be kept consistent each time the class meets. This consistency will provide a base for efficient learning as new, physical material will be taught frequently. Knowing and understanding the flow of the class will provide stability to delve deeper into the physical material with one less aspect to worry about. This way, the class flow will remain efficient and operational, if for example the students understand that succeeding the barre work comes more physically independent work in the centre. With this in mind, the students will be

properly engaging the proper muscles and perfecting the proper alignment with the help of a barre, before fully supporting these aspects on their own.

Photo courtesy of The Juilliard School

Attire in a dance class is paramount to teaching and maintaining proper body alignment, and due to the formality of the technique, this is hugely important in a ballet class. For my students, I will require of them to wear a tight fitting top, and tight fitting pants or shorts. This will allow myself as well as the students themselves to clearly see their bodies for alignment purposes. Additionally, students will be expected to wear ballet shoes, not socks or bare feet, for both safety and proper execution of the technique. Because this course will take place during the traditional school day, it is expected that students will either bring the appropriate attire to school the days that the class is held, or keep clothes and ballet shoes available in the locker rooms at the school to change in to. In the event that a student is not prepared with the proper attire on any given day, I will have in my office at all times clean, spare options to lend out at the cost of 50% of that day’s participation grade, since this aspect is so important.

My relationship with my students as a dance teacher will be less conventional than that of a teacher of traditional classroom subjects. Bringing back my point about vulnerability, dancing can be uncomfortable for many people as moving the entire body in considerably unnatural ways is foreign to so many, and can really be a scary thing. Being available and developing a genuine, comfortable relationship with my students will help to mitigate the discomfort of moving in these new ways. High school years are especially challenging as adolescents are fostering the development of their personal identities as independence grows stronger. Additionally, working so intimately with the body as a dancer can often lead to body image, or dysmorphia issues. Establishing this comfortable, non-top-down role as the dance teacher, is incredibly important for allowing my students to feel comfortable to discuss the challenges that will, without a doubt, arise. I will have a policy with my students where if at any time I am in my office, working or not, they can and should come meet with me at any point. This can occur as frequently as desired, to discuss whatever they feel, related to the course or not.

The students will be graded based on attendance, participation, written examinations, and an informal performance at the end of the course. Expectations to be based on and created around the National Arts Standards. Attendance is key to excelling, as new physical material will be taught each time the class meets, layering on top of the concepts taught prior to the lesson. In order to maintain the demands of the technique, consistent practice and repetition is essential. The course would meet three times a week, for an entire semester, totaling around 45 classes. It is expected that a student would miss no more than three classes in any given semester. If attendance becomes an issue due to injury, which is quite frequent, or any other helpless issue, I will work closely with that student to develop a realistic plan for completing the coursework, based on the case. If this issue develops because of carelessness or discomfort in the class, it would be my job to develop a relationship with that student, in hopes to engage and make them feel more comfortable being present. Participation plays into the willingness to be present and engaged with the coursework. I will hold myself with much responsibility for this, as I know that many will not always be comfortable or eager to move. Having the proper attire, however, are what the students are accountable for in order to properly participate, and from there, the comfort I cultivate in the class will foster optimal participation. Written examinations will be a great tool for objectively grading how students are performing in the class. It is expected that, even if not properly executed, the students know the terms and history incorporated into the class. A mid-term and final written examination will be administered, and both will be of low-stress. Finally, the greatest measurement of development and performance in the class is a physical demonstration of what was taught throughout the semester. This will take place in front of a small audience, and will include material taught throughout the semester. This performance is not explicitly about technical execution, but rather having an understanding of what the material is, and how it should be performed. This is an important tool for measuring improvement. It will be something that we will prepare as a class, have practiced, and discussed to ensure comfort and ease in demonstrating the beauty of dance that has been understood by the students.

Our Classroom

Teaching for transfer and the physical space for learning in Pre-K children

Scout Crowell, Psychology/Spanish, Junior

This piece is from my first self directed learning project in which I outlined key features of a developmentally appropriate pre-k classroom (ages 3-5) according to educational and developmental psychology. I offer examples of three of these points and end with a description of the physical space conducive to learning. I chose this piece because it is not uncommon for classrooms to have developmentally inappropriate practices for their students, and I want to offer a resource to educators/caretakers.

• The teacher will honor and foster the natural desire to learn that the child demonstrates as they seek to make sense of the physical and non-physical world by excluding rewards, grades, and other extrinsic motivators.
• The teacher will take an active role in the classroom by providing students with an environment in which they feel that they can learn, offering stimulation in the environment and activities, thus creating opportunities for autonomous engagement.
• Children will be evaluated by “teacher descriptions,” which chronicle the child’s development and progress on educational topics. 
• This description will be used solely for the purpose of recognizing areas of need and allowing parents to stay updated. 
• Children will not have access to teacher descriptions as not to encourage competition and buffer intrinsic motivation.
• Student-student collaboration will be highly encouraged through group lessons and projects while student-teacher collaboration will be encouraged through monthly “think-tank” sessions in which children share what they enjoy, dislike, and want in the classroom with the hopes of creating a more engaging environment and fostering opportunities for initiative.
• Lesson plans will include developmentally-appropriate tasks that encourage semiotic functions through activities such as art and storytelling.
• These tasks will provide opportunities for success, creativity, and independence encouraging initiative rather than guilt.
• The teacher will place personal focus on their relationship with each individual student, paying attention to appropriate responses and emotional support in order to encourage social competence that will translate to the child’s future kindergarten experience.

Examples of classroom components:

• The following is a sample teacher description: Link has been socializing a lot with the other students, especially Jake and Elise, which is an improvement since the beginning of the year. He really enjoys the dramatic play area and often chooses it as his free play station. However, Link seems a little nervous to engage with our “you choose” art projects and often asks for directions rather than deciding on what he wants to create. We are trying to encourage his sense of agency by having him water the classroom plants once a week and hope that will help foster a sense of initiative. Link really seems to enjoy circle time and often writes out his letters and small words during drawing sessions, suggesting that he is understanding most of the lessons.
• The following is a possible description of a think tank session: Students gather in a circle on the floor with the teacher (also on the floor to indicate equals) such that each person can see every other person in the circle. The teacher opens with asking students what they liked doing in school the past few weeks (give examples of things if needed) and follow up with “why.” Go around the circle such that everyone has an opportunity to share their thoughts. Next, do the same thing with things they didn’t like. Finally, ask the students what they wish they did in class or something they think would be cool or interesting to learn.
• The following is an example of a task that encourages creativity, group work, and semiotic functioning: After dividing the class into groups of three students, have them each draw three pieces of paper out of three boxes such that they have a location, the main noun (animal, object, or person), and an action word. Each group gets to create a verbal story or a skit using these three words. After each group finishes up, they can each present their story.

The Physical Space for Young Learners

When you walk into a pre-k classroom, it should be clean, colorful, and not cluttered. The neutral colored walls should be decorated with student art that is at their eye level so that there is color but, not in an overwhelming way. Each child should know that this classroom is where they belong, each having their own cubby, basket, or shelf that holds their nap-time supplies and other belongings. The class should be child-sized in the sense that all shelves and furniture should be proportionate to the height of students (small chairs and tables with shelves and supplies where students can reach them).

The photos and decorations on the walls should display different races, cultures, and home structures as to make students feel that they are represented (this can also be done by having a section dedicated to pictures of the students with their families). Shelves and toys should be neatly organized with clear places in which they belong and should be clearly labeled with pictures and words. Lastly, the classroom should be divided up with shelves and furniture such that children cannot run from one end to the other and can clearly understand classroom divisions (food area, dramatic play area, art area, circle time area, etc.).

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