The Holidays Mean So Much to Me

I love the holiday season. It is, without question, my favorite time of year.  Everyone seems to be in a giving, selfless, helping spirit and it warms my heart to see complete strangers helping each other out. Just when I start to feel blue about this chaotic and destructive world we live in today, I get very pleasantly surprised. 

To me, the holidays mean making the fifteen second walk across the street to my grandparents house on Christmas Eve. I grew up here in Beaverton, and I have spent every Christmas since I can remember in this house, making the same trip every year across the street. It has always been me, Mom, Dad, my brother and sister, and Mimi and Baba (my grandparents) celebrating together. It never fails to be a little dysfunctional, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It always begins with my parents making jokes about skipping Christmas for a year and donating all our presents to the needy. Then there's us kids still pretending there is a Santa Claus. 

The holidays mean pajamas, too much hot chocolate, and warm tea. Mimi and my mom slaving in the kitchen on Christmas Eve over green bean casserole and cheesy potatoes that will surely give you a heart attack. Don't laugh. They are delicious. 

The holidays mean a full family room and a large tree with presents for the entire family under it. Sure, we start out politely watching each person open their respective gift. By the end it is a mad free-for-all. We never seem to mind. 

The holidays mean listening to Christmas music. I have been listening this year since the first of November. I listen to it everywhere. In the car. At home. At school. On my computer. What can I say? I love my Christmas music.  My favorites this year continue to be the N'Sync album and Jessica Simpson. 

The holidays mean half eaten cookies from Santa, an empty glass of milk, and being lazy on Christmas Day, enjoying our new goodies from good ol' Saint Nick. Without a doubt, this is my favorite time of year. 

So my first Christmas party this year was with my cohort at Pacific University. On our last day of class for fall term, our professor slaved in the kitchen over gingerbread and frosting. We met at Mark's house to drink homemade apple cider, decorate a giant gingerbread house, eat too many sweets, and enjoy each other's company. Here are some pictures from the get together!

Wrapping Up

Aaaah, it is the end of fall term! As we are wrapping up coursework at Pacific University in my Master's program, I am feeling good about everything I have accomplished. I am amazed at how much work I have completed, all the reading I have done, and how much information I have embedded in this brain of mine. . Although I have a lot of work to do over holiday break regarding getting my work sample together, I feel as if the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders as I finalize major projects I have been working on for months. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! I am now getting the chance to look over everything and feel a sense of accomplishment. Whew! This week I published my website, a homemade DVD with my expressive arts lesson video, a podcast on the accomplishments of social activist, Jane Addams, a 40-page writer's workshop genre study, and an emergency resource box. To see some of my work accomplishments, please feel free to visit my website! Click here. 

Discovery Boxes With the Kinders

Last week I had the opportunity to work with the Kinders in the ELC playing with  discovery boxes. I put together a magnet discovery box and worked with little Ike (in the picture above). So what is a discovery box? A discovery box can be any box, trunk, or other holding device filled with objects and artifacts that represent a topic. For our purposes with the Kinders, the topic could be anything related to math, health, or science. The box I put together was about the properties of magnets and their relationship to other objects. Other people in my cohort did fun boxes to discover the food guide pyramid, insects, the five senses, nature, etc. Our interaction with the children was limited, but it was entertaining to see their responses and reactions as they discovered away! In my magnet box I included all kinds of magnets: magnet wands, discs, marbles, paper clips, a giant horseshoe magnet, magnet bars, etc. There were a million little pieces which might have been a mistake as I watched them being flung all over the room, but Ike and Connor seemed to really enjoy them! Ike was more involved with the activity than Connor, who proceeded to make a necklace by stringing the paper clips together. I am in love with these kinders!

Movement and Dance

In my expressive arts class the other day we had a guest come in and run us through demonstrations of different ways to get children involved with movement and dance. I had an absolute blast! My classmates and I were making up interpretive dances, contorting our bodies into odd positions, and moving however the music made us feel. We got the chance to partner dance and make-up routines, play with rythm sticks, etc. 

After the demonstration, I decided to do some research of my own to see the benefits interpretive movement and dance had on child development. I found that the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 states that, "Studying music encourages self-discipline and diligence traits that carry over into mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history and geography." Additional research I came across supports that music helps prepare the mind for specific disciplines of learning; skills learned through music carry over into study skills, communication skills and abstract reasoning skills used to all parts of life, according to a 1997 article in the Journal of Neurological Research. Author of The Mozart Effect, Don Campbell, traced neurological development during childhood and found that prior to a major spurt of neurological integration in the brain during elementary school years, learning occurs through movement and quick emotional associations. For example, by age two, the brain has begun to fuse with the body via marching, dancing, and developing a sense of physical rhythm. The more music children are exposed to before they enter school, the more deeply this stage of neural coding will assist them throughout their lives. 

Through the demonstrations and supporting research, I am extremely excited to incorporate interpretive movement and dance into my teaching pedagogy. I now strongly believe that arts education can make a tremendous impact on the developmental growth of every child and can even help to level the "learning field" across socioeconomic boundaries. According the the YouthARTS Development Project of 1996 et. al., arts education has a measurable impact on youth risk in deterring delinquent behavior and truancy problems while also increasing overall academic performance among those engaged in after school and summer programs targeted toward delinquency prevention. 

Art = Therapy!

I have been taking an expressive arts course at Pacific University for my masters program and it is amazing! It is a student-centered course designed by professor Mark Bailey to explore artistic expression in early childhood and elementary classrooms. Mark designed it to help aspiring early childhood teachers (like me!) to become knowledgeable about methods for exploring art, music, and physical movement, and help us to become skillful in integrating art, music, and physical exploration activities into our curriculum. He believes that he cannot simply teach us what we need to know about helping children to express themselves artistically. So, in order for us as a cohort to effectively learn about children's expression in school, we have been active participants in the learning process. Not only has it served as a source of stress relief from all of my responsibilities this term through a range of hands-on artistic experiences, but it has helped me see what it can do for children. I have become aware that since artistic expression is not on the standards tests it has been thrown on the back burner of education. Ironically, it is probably one of the most important subjects. Children should be allowed to be children and art allows that. Through art and artistic expression, children get to explore their multiple intelligences, serves as an outlet for stress and anxiety, and is just plain fun! Some of the exciting art activities we have indulged ourselves in to this year is Aboriginal dot art from indigenous Australia, creating and decorating our own masks as a form of taking on the life of another person or culture, experimenting with cohesive bonding (a fancy word for tie dye) and Batik from Bali, rythm and music, movement and dance, and the power of play (as in hopscotch and Twister). Here are some pictures from my adventures in expressive arts class:

Professional's Conference at Portland's World Forestry Center

I recently attended the professional’s conference at Portland’s World Forestry Center on Project Learning Tree (PLT) and project WILD. A reminder of what these projects are: Project Learning Tree and WILD are both award winning, multi-disciplinary environmental education programs for educators and students in Pre-K through grade 12. PLT and WILD, which are programs of the American Forest Foundation, are two of the most widely used environmental education programs in the United States. They use the forest and water’s trees, plants and animals as "windows" into natural and built environments, helping students gain an awareness and knowledge of the world around them and their place within it. We began the conference by checking-in and visiting with the other attendees from Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, all while eating breakfast and pilfering through the materials provided for us. There were only twenty people in attendance so it was a great chance to get to know the other professionals on a personal level. Another benefit to the small conference was being able to ask a lot of questions and explore the projects and their application in ways we were most interested in. The rest of the afternoon was spent learning about PLT and WILD, practicing activities in the books and discussing variations to them for other grades, and learning ways to use other subjects to support the projects and use the lessons across the curriculum. I particularly like the mantra of PLT and WILD, which is to help students learn how to think, not what to think, about the environment. I am also fond of how the curriculum materials provide the tools educators need to bring the environment into the classroom and their students into the environment. A major benefit of PLT and WILD is that the lessons are adaptable to many contexts: classroom, playground, nature center, and even in their own home. This conference has made me a strong believer that PLT and WILD can improve student learning in all facets of education. Through these programs, students learn environmental content that correlates to national and state standards in science, social studies, language arts, math, and even ESOL. Students will be able to strengthen their critical thinking, team building, and problem solving skills as well through the PLT and WILD activities. I left the conference with a wealth of applicable knowledge that I can use immediately in my student teaching placements. I have gained insight to how Project Learning Tree and WILD can work to make my teaching practices not only more rewarding but also less time consuming! I read through the PLT book as soon as I got home that same night and its format makes it easy to find an activity that will engage my students, will get them excited about natural resources, and will meet my teaching requirements. Children have a natural curiosity about their environment, and programs such as Project Learning Tree nurture that curiosity. I am so excited to use PLT and WILD in my upcoming work samples!

Honk Jr. With the Kinders

Today I worked with the kinders in the Early Learning Community at Pacific University. We took the children to the local theater to watch a for-children-by-children production called Honk Jr. The play was based on the premises of The Ugly Duckling and teaching children that being different is not only okay, but something to celebrate and feel good about. The play was adorable and everyone seemed to enjoy it. The highlight of the day was when the villain in the play (the hungry cat) kidnapped the ugly duckling, and when his family was searching for him, one of the kinders (a particular character by the name of Evan) shouted out "It was the cat! The cat took him! IT WAS THE CAT!" He had the whole theater giggling. It was adorable because of his sincerity and tone of genuine concern in his voice. Overall, it was a very positive experience for the children. It is wonderful that they got the chance to experience the creativity and wonder that accompanies a live production.
A little about The Early Learning Community. It is an ideal school in my opinion with all of the latest and greatest resources made available to the staff and students. The ELC provides a learning environment organized around the principles of inclusion, active experiential learning and best pedagogical practice. They believe that children learn best in a place where they feel good about themselves, where they are allowed to explore their world, and where the learning materials match their interests and needs. That is why a lot of time is spent in the creative playroom and atelier. The learning environment at the ELC is supported by teachers who recognize developmental norms, respect individual differences, and inspire a sense of wonder and a desire to learn. It is an ideal situation for children as it is their goal to foster collaboration between students, teachers, and families as a means of supporting all aspects of children's development. I hope to get the chance to teach in a school environment such as this one. I truly feel it is a step in the right direction as far as improving educational practices and increasing learning end enjoyment of school for the children.

Project Learning Tree & Project WILD Conference

Hello again! I am really excited about a conference I will be attending in November here in Portland. It is a two day conference where they put us up overnight in a hotel in Vancouver. The conference will be covering Project Learning Tree and Project WILD.
What are they, you ask? Great question! So far I know that Project Learning Tree is an award winning, multi-disciplinary environmental education program for educators and students in PreK-grade 12. PLT is a program of the American Forestry Foundation and is one of the most widely used environmental education programs in the United States and abroad. PLT meets state and national education standards and the curriculum materials provide the tools educators need to bring the environment into the classroom and their students into the environment. Topics range from forests, wildlife, and water, to community planning, waste management and energy. Through PLT, students learn environmental content that correlates to national and state standards in science, social studies, language arts, math, and other subjects – and strengthen their critical thinking, team building, and problem solving skills.
Project WILD is another one of the most widely-used conservation and environmental education programs among educators of students in kindergarten through high school. The program emphasizes wildlife because of their intrinsic, ecological value, as well as their role in teaching how ecosystems function. In the face of competing needs and pressures affecting the quality and sustainability of life on earth, Project WILD addresses the need for human beings to develop as responsible citizens of our planet. It is based on the premise that young people and educators have a vital interest in learning about our natural world.
Pretty exciting, isn't it! I will be sure to share all of my new found knowledge after the conference, and hopefully we can all learn a few tricks on how to incorporate "green" into our classrooms and curriculum.

All About Me!

Hello Everyone! My name is Megan Dalthorp and I am currently in the MAT program at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. Let me tell you a little about myself to start off with... I am native to the Pacific Northwest, born and raised in Beaverton, Oregon. I recently moved back to Beaverton after living in Raleigh, North Carolina for the last four years where I completed my undergraduate work. I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at North Carolina State University where I played on a softball scholarship. I enjoy working out, outdoor activities such as hiking, snowboarding, and bike riding, I love to read, and I am passionate about teaching. I am currently doing my student teaching at Bethany Elementary in Beaverton in a 5th grade classroom with Cheri Martin and 2nd grade with Heather Beach. It is a wonderful school with a hard-working and caring staff that would do anything for the students. I observe and help on a part time basis right now, but will begin my work sample when I am at Bethany full-time at the end of January. I will spend my first nine weeks in the 2nd grade classroom and the second nine weeks with the 5th graders. Come June I plan on completing my student teaching hours in Tapalpa, Mexico. The details are still being worked out, but I consider it a great opportunity to further myself as an educator and diversify myself by working with international students. I will keep you updated on that adventure!