September 2010, I was blessed to walk into a classroom and meet an Administrator and co-Educator that would change my life forever! As I entered the school I would be directed to classroom on the second floor. St. Mary was an older building, over 50 years old, with a Church on the premises, trees and a small wooded area where children could play. The school itself was small, built into a hill, and I would soon realize in spite of its size, this school was all heart. I walked into the school, one day the week prior to the children returning after summer break. As I stood in the office, I was welcomed by my new Administrator, Patricia Peroni. As I followed into her into her office I immediately felt at ease, and all my anxieties and fears began to fade. Patti directed me to the stairs and gave me directions to my new classroom, where I would meet my new co educator, Shirley Silva. As I look back, I had no idea the amazing journey we would begin as a team from this point. I remember BLUE! the walls, the doors, and one long hallway that lead to the very last room in the school..that was now to be my new room. As I peeked inside, a smile would welcome me in and a greeting I will never forget. I had met my partner in crime, my side kick and other half in this FDK world, Shirley Silva. We began to chat about where we had come from, who we were and one of my very first questions for Shirley was “…soooo what is my role? Am I a T.A?” and her reply would change my life “no, you’re not a T.A., the vision for this program is that we take what you have and what I have..and we put it together!”. Over the years, as I would meet and talk with other teams, I would then realize what gift Shirley gave me that day, a voice!
She had validated my profession, and gave me the ability to bring what strengths I had as an Educator into our classroom, our school, and our Board.
The first month or so you could walk into our room and clearly see the roles divided. I was creating and sitting in centres, while Shirley met with groups. I was involved in play…while Shirley hit
curriculum expectations with the children directly. Then something amazing began to happen, as I began to understand and gain knowledge of the kindergarten expectations and began to watch this amazing teacher deliver guided reading, target and teach math strategies, Shirley began planning centres with me. We soon realized together that the expectations could be hit within the centres (for the most part, yet targeted learning was still required)….and all we needed to do was communicate and plan as a team. So we did, and then we began to listen…listen to the conversations, the questions and understandings of the children. We began to merge and create a curriculum plan each week that would validate and respond to the needs of the children, and weave in Kindergarten expectations.
We could truthfully write and go on forever about all the stories that brought us joy, tears, laughter, success, challenges and goals we had for our program, but nothing has been more clear to us over the past 4 years…the single most important aspect of our journey was the team! Team is the key to success in Full Day Kindergarten!! If you have the team (Administrator, DECE, Teacher and parents) the passion, and an understanding of the vision created by Dr. Charles Pascal and Dr. Stuart Shanker, you’re already on your way!
We would like to share with you a motto we created and would paint on our window each new year.
“Play a little…
Pray a little…
Sing a little…
Dance a little…
and laugh a lot…everyday!”
For more information about our team approach, including planning strategies for FDK from our Administrator perspective please visit our website!
Journey Together FDK 