Author: McKenzie Ross

I'm just a mom with a teaching license, raising my kids, and writing for this blog! Someday I hope to be back teaching when they are older, but for now, I'm here and loving it!
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You Don’t Have To Be Screen-Free To Be Successful

How many times do you see on any social media platform “Screen-Free Summer!” or, “How our family became screen-free” maybe the “Screen-Free Challenges”? These titles are indicating that using screens such as iPads, movies, and electronic games are bad. But is it bad if you aren’t screen-free in your homes? 

Our schools are using technology and can even be thriving through its use!! But then we go home and are pressured into being a screen-free home. Media can be harmful. But also… It doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to be screen-free to be successful. Say it with me again, you don’t have to be screen-free to be successful! 

Media can be powerful. It can pull teachers and students together during a global pandemic. It can give a teacher a few minutes of free time to grade papers or join a zoom meeting because she’s still a mom with kids to teach and entertain herself. It can be a platform for friends to collaborate and create, hello Minecraft! 

Scree-free for some households works great. But media filled households can also function and have just as much success. Let’s stop focusing on what we need to add or take away from our lives and start growing with the resources we have, media, and all! 

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Feature Friday: Kiera Rasmussen

Welcome to Feature Friday! Where we showcase a new teacher each week in an interview. For past Feature Friday interviews, go here. 

Today’s Feature Friday is highlighting Kiera Rasmussen, a first-grade teacher in Roanoke, Virginia. Mrs. Rasmussen loves teaching this age because they mostly have their foundation for learning, but are still young and excited about new information. She received her elementary education degree from Utah State University. 

What made you want to go into teaching? 

Ever since I can remember, I have loved working with children and teaching. I wanted a career that would make an impact on future generations and I could see the difference I was making.

If you could recommend one children’s book, what would it be and why? 

Giraffes Can’t Dance – I love the lesson that it teaches. It is okay to be different and unique! Everyone has something they are good at and it is not always the same as everyone else.

What is a big challenge you face often in teaching, and how do you overcome it? 

I worked in an inner-city school, so it was very challenging to have students from very rough homes and family life, and many students with behavior problems. What I kept in my mind the whole time is that they just need love and stability. My most important job as their teacher was to make sure the students knew they were loved and safe. It was also important to lean on coworkers and receive help.

What do you wish someone would have told you in your first year teaching? 

I wish someone would have told me that it is okay when lessons or days don’t go well! It doesn’t mean you are not doing a good job. Most of the time, following the lesson plan exactly does NOT work. It may not work exactly as thought for that group of kids or even just that day. Teaching requires adapting to the students.

Who influenced you most to choose a career education? 

My mom! She has been teaching for 25+ years. She taught while I was growing up, so I had the chance to watch her and learn so much from her. I had a lot of experience practicing and learning from her example.

Thanks Kiera for all of your insight! Come back next week to read our Feature Friday post from our old writer here at Honors Grad U, Mary Wade!

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A Few Of My Favorite Teacher Memes

With so much going on in the world right now, let’s take a little break to laugh at some of my favorite teacher memes! Then share with your friends so they can laugh as well!

Because memes are so widespread and easily shared, it was nearly impossible for me to give credit where needed. However, many of the memes are made by Bored Teachers, you can see their logo on most of the pictures. I apologize for not giving proper credit to the rest of the memes.

You know this has been you too!
Some love for our science teachers out there!
They didn’t prepare me for seating charts in my college classes!
It’s always good to look for the positive!
Every teacher is going to remember the 2019-2020 year as the year of virtual learning
I want this hung in my classroom someday!

There truly is no happiness compared to the feeling of your students understanding the topics you’ve worked so tirelessly to teach them. Teaching comes with pros and cons galore, but we all know we do it for the children.

I hope this roll of memes helped you relax and laugh a little during such a stressful and crazy 2020 we are having. Stay safe and keep washing your hands!

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My Review On Playing Preschool

A few months back I purchased Busy Toddler’s Playing Preschool book to do preschool with my daughter and a little neighbor friend. I wrote a little about the experience here. After a few months of working through the book, I want to write a review to help you decide if it’s the right decision for you. Before I begin, read more about what Playing Preschool entails here.

Pros: 

Lessons are easy to read and organized. Whether you’re an educator or not, there is plenty of information and resources to give you the most success possible. 

We had to take a few weeks off while I worked from home, but it was easy to pick back up again and get started. The lessons are evergreen and can be done at any time of the year. 

Most of the materials were found at home, but mostly because we’ve been doing toddler based activities for a year now. Even if you don’t have all of the materials at home, it’s a worthwhile investment because they are cheap and useful! I don’t know about you, but we go through a pack of construction paper really fast over here! 

Some weeks required more materials such as the cooking unit because we needed a lot of food, but again, nothing crazy expensive and worth the money for the outcome. I went through the supply list of every unit before we got started and made an Amazon Wishlist and shared it with our family members that often like to buy my kid’s gifts so that they would know the books and tools that would be extra useful to us right now! 

The activities do not take a lot of time to set up. I don’t think I ever spent more than two minutes gathering supplies and setting up an activity for the lessons. They are quick and practical! 

The lessons truly are playing. There are no worksheets to print out! It’s all activities to set up for your preschool to explore numbers and letters. There’s a lot of paint and a lot of play! A method I can get behind! 

Cons: 

I loved that each unit had a great book list that really worked hand in hand with each day, but we started Playing Preschool the same time quarantine began, meaning our library was closed! Without the resource of the library, it was so hard to find the specific books she recommended. I did my best to find substitutes (although her suggestions truly are the best books to use). I also tried the free trial of Vooks, but not a single book on the list was found there! You can read my Vooks review here. 

Another solution I found was to buy a few books on thirftbooks.com, they had great prices and free shipping after a certain amount spent! I couldn’t pass up an opportunity at buying new books! We also searched Kindle on Amazon for any free or cheap purchases. Those books obviously aren’t the same as holding a real book, but it did the job! 

The rest I put on my Amazon wishlist for our family members and we received many that way. I also called upon good friends and neighbors to borrow their books. With all efforts combined, I was able to get together all of our books! With access to a public library, this process would not be as difficult as it was for me, but I wanted to share my ideas for others who also may not have access to a library as well. 

The final downside is more on me than on the curriculum itself. I would feel like the entire unit was a failure if we skipped a day or even a single activity. I wanted to get everything in to make sure she understood the concepts being taught. In the introduction of Playing Preschool, Susie the creator of the curriculum explicitly says you do not have to do every activity and it does not have to all be done in one sitting. She suggestions spreading it out throughout the day or splitting it up into two sections if accomplishing everything in one sitting is too much for your preschooler. My type-A personality shone through a lot when I saw each activity as a checklist feeling like I needed to mark everything off. You do not need to do this to have success in the program. 

Overall, I truly have loved Playing Preschool and use it often with my daughter. Even if we are on a break from doing preschool, I can still pull it out and find one or two activities for her to do while I cook dinner or clean the house. It’s great exposure to letters and numbers. My 2.5-year-old has very little interest in her letters and even after a few weeks of playing preschool she can’t name a single letter or letter sound, but she’s still gaining that exposure and teaching her to have a love for learning and reading. Playing Preschool for the win! 

A few of our Playing Preschool experiences!

Have you done the Playing Preschool curriculum? Leave your pros and cons in the comments for others to see! 

Cover photo from busytoddler.com

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Books We’ve Recently Added To Our Home Library

I recently added new books to our little home library and wanted to share some with you.

Malala’s Magic Pencil by Malala Yousafzai. I wrote about Malala months ago and what an impact she had on opening my eyes to new cultures. When I found a children’s book I could read to my kids, I knew I needed it!

Fly High! The Story of Bessie Coleman was also top priority on my list. My daughter is an avid Doc McStuffins watcher and in one episode they feature Bessie Colman and her accomplishments. I knew it would be fun to dive a little deeper into her history!

Who Was Jackie Robinson? A good old “who was” book! Are you catching on that we are trying to learn about people here? A chapter book is hard for my almost 3 year old to take in right now, but it has great information that I can pull from and teach her about Jackie Robinson.

The Hike was recommended to me by a dear friend. It ties in great science by labeling plants and animals subtly throughout the book, and shows great diversity, which is always important!

Addy A Heart Full Of Hope is an American Girl story about Addy, a girl growing up in Philadelphia during the Civil War. I tried reading bits and pieces of this to my almost 3 year old, but she lost interest and did not understand well enough what was going on. It’ll be a fun, quick read for me, and one that will sit patiently on our shelves until she’s ready to pick it up.

This Is How We Do It is a book so well loved by many! I hear this book recommended more by friends than most any other book. I have been wanting to buy it for quite some time, so once I decided to expand our library this week, I knew this one was on the list! We are currently on back order for it and anxiously awaiting it’s arrival!

Young, Gifted, and Black: Meet 52 Black Heroes From Past and Present was recommended to us again by a good friend. This one has by FAR been our favorite! The illustrations are ravishing and the information is incredible. This book again featured Bessie Colman, already a hero of my daughter’s, and Michelle Obama, who too was featured on Doc McStuffins. Simone Biles, Stevie Wonder, Rosa Parks, and Zadie Smith are just a few of the others you get to meet along the way.

I love the history, science, and diversity each of these books bring to our little library.

“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”

Harry S. Truman

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Feature Friday: Patrick Tolman

Welcome to Feature Friday! Where we showcase a new teacher each week in an interview. For past Feature Friday interviews, go here.

Today’s Feature Friday is highlighting Patrick Tolman, a high school social studies teacher. Mr. Tolman received his Master’s degree in curriculum design with an emphasis on educational technology, so I took this interviewing opportunity to ask deeper questions about utilizing tech in classrooms. He had some great answers to share with us! 

What is your favorite thing about teaching high school social studies? 

“My favorite part of teaching social studies is having a student’s perspective. These ideas and opinions change from year to year and student to student and they always make the in-class discussions more valuable and allow us to talk about the historical thinking skills that I focus on in my class.”

What is one of your favorite ways to utilize technology in the classroom? 

“I love tools that allow students to provide their opinions or responses anonymously so that there are no barriers to student participation. Tools like polleverywhere or padlet that allow students to participate with their favorite device (their cellphone).  I have got some of the best responses from students using these tools that I am fairly certain I would not have received with a traditional question, answer, raise your hand, response type of situation.  I got my Master’s degree in curriculum design and instruction with an emphasis on educational technology and my thesis was about improving the classroom using cell phones so I could go on about what a great opportunity teachers have to help students engage more with these devices.”

What are the benefits you have seen by utilizing technology in your classroom?

“The biggest benefit of using technology in the classroom is that you are giving students more buy-in.  Technology plays such a large role in students’ lives today that by using it in class you are giving the students a king of validation to a part of themselves. Especially if you make use of their cell phones!”  

There are a lot of frustrations that come with using technology, how do you move past this and keep it a positive aspect in your teaching? 

“You have to plan ahead and be ok with some hiccups in using it at first. Just like regular classroom management you have to establish norms for how it is used in class. But…….”

What advice do you have for the educators out there currently using minimal technology, but want to expand and use more? 

“You can’t be afraid to use new things.  We ask the kids to learn new things all the time so we have to be willing to do the same.  Education is a field in which we have to be in the process of continual improvement!  There are so many tools out there you are bound to find something that will make your classroom more engaging and likely make the presentation of information easier!”

What are your best tips for avoiding burnout? 

“Plan ahead.  Put in some extra work in the summer to prepare for the school year so that you aren’t stressed preparing last minute.  If possible do your grading at work and then leave it at work. Don’t take it home with you. When you go home, be home and present for your home life.”

How do you use student voice in your classroom and what outcomes have you seen from it? 

“I teach at an alternative high school and some of the responses I get from students are inappropriate and have to be addressed as such, but in general, I try to make sure that even if students give an answer that is not correct that we explore their response and talk about it so that students feel that their voice is heard and matters.  The outcome I see from this is that most students are willing to speak up and answer in class which is great for me as a teacher and great for them to buy into what we are discussing.” 

Thanks, Mr. Tolman, for your great thoughts and for diving deeper into the ever-growing educational technology.

Come back next week for a very special Feature Friday, where our old writer here at Honors Grad U, Mary Wade will be showering us with her wisdom once again!

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Reading Before Kindergarten- Is It Really Necessary?

Reading before Kindergarten- is it necessary? Is it beneficial? Is it something parents and educators should be spending their precious minutes with the children on? As time goes on, more and more pressure is put on parents to have high academically achieving children and preschools across the nation are meeting this “need” by giving kids an academic-based preschool in exchange for a play-based preschool.  

I’ve been hearing an ad for a local preschool in my area that boasts “We will have your kids reading before kindergarten!” and every time I hear the ad it makes me angry that they are adding to the social pressure put on parents for having a reading four or five year old! No parent should ever have to feel inadequate because their child isn’t an early reader. It goes without saying that this is not a preschool I can support.

Reading to her horses, even though she can’t read! What great pretend play that will eventually lead to reading.

Did you know that if your kid is reading before kindergarten, studies have shown that by 2nd grade they don’t have much advantage over kids who learned to read in kindergarten? Did you know that teaching your child to read before they are ready can actually drive them away from reading and make them a worse reader in the long run? It may be exciting at your mom group to brag about how academically advanced your child is, it’s exciting to celebrate your kid’s accomplishments! But that shouldn’t be shadowing out what they truly need. 

I have even felt the pressure myself and my daughter is not even 3 years old yet. I see friends with kids similar ages who can name letters and sounds so easy, yet my daughter is just barely showing a small interest in letters and not even close to knowing what they are or what they say. This is discouraging because I have read to her every day and she has been exposed to letter for years now!! But she will pick it up in her own time. Until then, she is establishing her love of reading, and that is more important than letter names right now.

Reading before kindergarten is not bad by any means! If your child is genuinely showing an interest in letters and words and stringing them together to read sentences, by all means, let them fly!! When it comes to teaching kids to read, let them lead. 

There are so many other things we can and should be doing with our kids instead of pushing reading on them. First, back to the basics that create lifelong readers, and some of my favorite things to do!: 

Talk 

Sing 

Read 

Write 

Play 

These fundamental skills build the learning basics of reading. Talking and singing with them will do more in the long run than pushing letter learning on them. Giving them genuine time to play, build, and make-believe will do wonders. Play is a child’s work! It’s how they learn and grow. 

Choosing an academic-based preschool and even kindergarten robs them of their most needed resource- PLAY! Let the kids play, really play! Mary also wrote out 5 lessons her kids taught her about play that is also helpful in this situation! I also loved her perspective of Kindergarten readiness from a teacher AND a parent standpoint when her daughter was almost kinder age! She has amazing resources and tips for us. 

Other things you can focus on with your child that promote kindergarten readiness instead of reading: 

Sensory activities

Writing, drawing, coloring, and painting 

Puzzles and problem solving 

How to maintain and hold a conversation 

Establishing a love for books and being read to 

Build positive relationships with books- from the beginning!

Let’s take the pressure of reading off kids! Let’s play and sing and let the kids lead! Choose a play-based preschool, give them books, point out letters in your daily life, and when they are interested, let them read! 

What are your thoughts on reading before kindergarten? Do you as a parent feel the social pressure of early reading?