Random Thoughts on Dancing with Children 1 Dancing with Children was written by Wu Fang, an American educator, combining her years of educational experience. The author narrates his educational life in the form of simple and simple language, vivid stories and letters, which makes people feel very cordial to read. The book records some examples of what the author has seen, heard, done and thought from children's articles, curriculum articles, teaching articles, behavior management articles, teacher development articles, family communication articles and casual feelings articles, and vividly and intuitively depicts the colorful preschool education work. The letter struck out in my heart, revealing everywhere that the author has great love and is good at listening and understanding children. Have a keen professional vision, timely and carefully observe and capture the little things in life, and play its due educational value through the creation of the environment. This is a perfect teacher with profound theoretical accomplishment and rich practical experience, which is worth learning and imitating.
There is such an article in behavior management that children can learn and grow through repeated behaviors. There is such a description: "There is such a child in your class who usually makes some mistakes and is easy to accept the teacher's criticism and education, but he will soon make some small mistakes." Reminds me of another child in my class, as mentioned in the article. I remember Liang Lianggang was very active when he came in. He always liked to touch here. There were many people here. He usually goes his own way and doesn't take his activities seriously. So we began to educate him, and he accepted it easily, but it didn't last long. In a few minutes, this happened, and some children even began to respond to him, touching here and squeezing there together. We only know that children's self-control ability is poor, and their actions and behaviors are often impulsive. They think what they think and say what they say. But Dancing with Children gave me a different idea. When children repeatedly have "problem behaviors", teachers may wish to reflect on themselves and see whether their teaching methods are appropriate first. Sometimes, the effect may be much better just by changing the method. So I assigned him a task, starting with "the student on duty" and giving him some small tasks, so that he would not affect other children to carry out various activities. In this process, his "problem behavior" has gradually improved a lot, and sometimes he can become a teacher's little helper.
Children have a rich imagination. The protagonist of the first story in the book is Qiao Jia. She has a regular program after school every day, playing various roles and playing games with her mother, usually small animals, and occasionally playing other roles once or twice. This can be seen everywhere in children's lives. In addition to imagining themselves as various roles, children will also imagine all kinds of things as living objects (that is, animism), and children will also imagine one object as another, or make an action instead. It is with rich imagination that children can play smoothly. In imagination and play, the child's body and mind are happy.
"Children are like the sun, which brings us light every day; Children shine like stars, and each one radiates its unique light; Children are like blooming flowers, which will bloom as long as they get enough time, care and patience; Children are like wet cement, be careful that you will leave an indelible mark on them ... "Children are like this, adults need to care more and interfere less; Guide more and stop less; Only by appreciating more and blaming less can we grow into a towering tree and become a pillar of society.
Encourage everyone with a sentence in the book: "Keep a childlike innocence and learn to see the world with children's eyes, and the world will become better." I also wish you all a beautiful mind and always remain youthful and energetic.
Reflections on dancing with children II. I once watched the series "My Experience in America" in early education. When I was a correspondence undergraduate, I heard the teacher introduce American teaching methods. These understandings can only give me a superficial understanding of the American preschool education system, the present situation of American preschool education and the preschool education model between China and the United States, that is, openness and "autonomy". I still know nothing about how American teachers organize life activities. Since reading the epistolary note "Dancing with Children" written by teacher Wu Fang, I have a comprehensive, profound and detailed understanding of the concept and educational behavior of American early childhood education. I am curious and moved by every case introduced by the author. Because each case is the author's personal experience, the author's comparison and reflection on Chinese and American educational models, and the author's forward-looking practical research on how early childhood education can promote children's development, which gives me a deeper understanding of "openness" and "autonomy". I think this is a gospel for front-line teachers of preschool education.
Among them, the 20th letter "This is my formula" touched me the most and had the deepest influence. It is about "how to be a good guide and let children learn through discovery". Teachers start from children's psychological characteristics to meet their operational needs. The book wrote such a passage: "The more chaotic a place looks, the more interested children are. The more chaotic it is, the more children like to' mix'. So, the teacher provided the children with flour, oil, salt, water, paint, measuring cups, spoons, mixers and other materials. And gave the task: experiment by yourself and create your own unique dough formula. After the experiment, the teacher wrote down the formula and communicated whose formula was different from others'. Judging from the process of activities, I think the teacher's implicit guidance is very valuable. Teachers let children find "fun" in this seemingly chaotic activity, find "fun" from a variety of materials, and gain success or failure experience in "mixing". Turn "chaos" into a warm experience sharing meeting.
Through the case itself, we think that in the face of operational inquiry activities, we often pursue peace, quietness and stability in the teaching process. Unwilling to challenge the open teaching, I am afraid that I can't control the activities, and I am more worried about all kinds of accidents that may occur in the activities. Therefore, the materials provided by teachers often have a greater' suggestive effect'; The idea of organizing courses is carried out in the way of teachers' thinking, and children's thinking space is rarely considered; Find problems and be eager to correct them; Teachers' leading role transcends children's dominant position and so on. Teacher Wu Fang, on the other hand, closely combined the contents of game activities and group activities, making games the cradle of children's experience and group activities a platform for children to integrate old and new experiences. Let the operating experience become a booster for children's autonomous learning.
Among them, one sentence is particularly thought-provoking: "Generally speaking, the main purpose of teaching activities to let children invent and discover is to experience the operation process, but this does not mean that the results are not important. The key is to determine a suitable result as a standard to measure the teaching effect. " Judging from the activity "This is my formula", at first glance, there seems to be no clear result, but there is a result that every child who participated in the activity finally summed up his findings in words and saw his oral formula transformed into written language.
From the above cases to the Guiding Outline of Kindergarten Education (Trial), the outline clearly points out: create a relaxed environment for children's inquiry activities, so that every child has the opportunity to participate in the attempt, support and encourage them to ask questions boldly, express different opinions, and learn to respect other people's views and experiences. Provide rich and operable materials to provide conditions for each child to explore in a variety of senses and ways. Putting Mr. Wu Fang's viewpoint into the syllabus, or comparing the guiding point of the syllabus with Mr. Wu Fang's idea, we can easily see that the educational idea of learning is completely consistent, and the gap lies in how to transform the idea into educational behavior. It is found that learning is a challenge of self-transcendence for teachers and a potential challenge for children. In the future teaching practice, only by adhering to Wu Fang's educational attitude and making bold attempts can we achieve leap-forward development and continuous improvement.
Reflections on Dancing with Children The author of the three books is Professor Wu Fang, a China education expert living in the United States. The book describes the author's mental journey on the road of preschool education to us in the form of stationery, and includes 50 letters written by Mr. Wu Fang to friends, which are divided into seven parts: childlike innocence, curriculum, teaching, behavior management, home communication and random thoughts. It covers all aspects of teachers' teaching and has a good guiding significance for my theoretical thinking and teaching practice. This is a good book.
I like every chapter in the book, because I am a colleague and like this job, so every chapter resonates, from which I feel the author's working philosophy for children, teaching and parents.
Professor Wu likes and is good at observing children. In the articles about childlike innocence, each article shows the author's different observation angles, including the follow-up observation of a child, the accidental observation in the process of children's interaction, the activity records of class pet rabbits and children, and the special observation of special children, which reflects the teachers' care for children everywhere, especially the education and care for special (blind children and physically disabled) children, which makes me very moved. There are two children with different disabilities in a class, which must have caused many difficulties for teachers' daily education and teaching. However, the love and tolerance for the "children specially cared for by God" revealed between the lines did show the optimism, harmonious communication with partners, positive performance in activities and sunny personality of the two little guys. Children really enjoy the happiness of childhood in Professor Wu's class, and disability has no effect on them.
I admire Mr. Wu's ability to create children's psychological environment and create the same teaching opportunities and conditions for special children as normal children. I don't use physical disability as an excuse for children not to or not to do it. Every activity has its own figure. If there are difficulties, I will solve them by myself and actively strive for them. It is the common wish of Mr. Wu and his parents to cultivate the self-confidence, self-reliance, self-improvement and optimism of special children. Teachers who silently support, help and care for children finally express their feelings in contact with special children: "I have a special preference for disabled children I have taught, but this preference is not out of pity, but out of gratitude." I thank my children for their presence in her life and their influence on her. "Teach me to see farther, make my mind more open, and know how to treat every life sincerely." I learned the meaning of life and love from disabled children, which deeply touched me as a reader.
Also put yourself in others' shoes. If I were Mr. Wu, how would I treat those children? I believe that my love will not be less than the author's, but how will the way to treat children and the educational concept for children be positioned? Through these two vivid and warm examples, my colleagues and I have pointed out a direction, paying special attention, helping, encouraging and guiding, but not arranging and pampering, but giving children the same opportunities and conditions and giving them more appreciation eyes and words.
In the course, I can learn about the different ways of dividing preschool education in America. 2-4 years old is preschool stage, 5 years old is kindergarten stage, and 6 years old begins primary school stage. At the same time, I put forward my own views on teaching in different fields. I was deeply impressed by the interpretation of early reading, and put forward that "the cultivation of children's reading ability is a' natural' process", creating a relaxed reading environment, sitting around with children, listening to teachers telling emotional stories and reading beautiful picture books. Encouraging children to read independently, insist on reading and form the habit of reading is also the concept advocated by Professor Wu.
This book is worth reading again and again, and there are many things worth learning. I need to concentrate on reading it in the future and get more insights from it.
During the summer vacation, I read Dancing with Children-50 Letters to Kindergarten Teachers in China written by Wu Fang. What impressed me deeply was how to be a "democratic" kindergarten teacher. Teacher Wu Fang made a simple analysis on how to grasp the scale of "kindness" and "seriousness" and came to the conclusion that "kindness" and "seriousness" are not contradictory.
"Amiable" and "serious" are not two opposing teaching styles, but a question of how to grasp the degree between them.
An amiable teacher must have some qualities: he is very sensitive to children's needs and can respond in time; He is one with children and will look at and understand problems with children's eyes and minds; He appreciates every feature of children; His communication with children is enthusiastic and positive. His attitude towards children is cordial and optimistic. He creates conditions for children to solve problems and make decisions independently. He guided the children to actively explore and constantly ask questions; He treats every child equally, regards him as a complete individual, and respects his personality under the most challenging circumstances.
Let's take a look at what qualities a serious teacher should have: always keep his word to children, keep his promise, set an example, never miss any educational opportunity, and be ready to help children at any time; He is not afraid to admit his shortcomings and can set an example for children to work hard; He treats his every educational activity rigorously, seriously reflects and pursues perfection; He treats every child in the class equally, regardless of relatives and friends.
Looking at the above characteristics carefully, we will find a very interesting phenomenon, that is, the characteristics of "amiable" classes are mostly how teachers should treat children, while the characteristics of "serious" classes emphasize teachers' own professional cultivation and pursuit. In other words, "amiable" is for children and "serious" is for teachers. Kindness and seriousness should be the pursuit of every kindergarten teacher.
First of all, democratic teachers have clear requirements for children, can consistently adhere to the same standards of behavior, and provide children with clear behavioral boundaries and learning goals. We know that the formation of any personality quality needs a certain amount of time and repeated reinforcement, and a big taboo in education is that teachers are willful and children are at a loss. When children's goals are clear and persistently strengthened by teachers, external behavior standards can be gradually internalized and become children's own behavior habits.
Secondly, democratic teachers should not only make demands on children, draw a clear line, but also patiently explain the reasons to children, telling them why they should and should not do it, and what the consequences may be after doing it. More importantly, teachers will give timely feedback to children's behaviors, strengthen their formed concepts and consolidate their learning achievements.
Moreover, democratic teachers can treat children equally. They respect their personality, take care of their sensitive and fragile self-esteem and meet their reasonable demands in time. They will give their children the greatest freedom to explore, ask questions and make decisions they like.
All along, I think I am an excellent kindergarten teacher with good professional quality, love, patience and responsibility. After reading this article, I deeply understand that being an excellent kindergarten teacher is still far away. Different education methods educate different children. Some people say that children are like planting crops, what they plant will grow. A good teacher teaches children in a good class and also teaches children in a bad class. Therefore, the art of education is our constant pursuit. In daily education and teaching, only by grasping the scale of strictness and kindness can we be a good teacher that children like without losing their prestige and a "democratic teacher".
Reflections on Dancing with Children I have heard colleagues mention Professor Wu Fang's book Dancing with Children many times. I was lucky enough to read it this year. Although I failed to finish it, I was attracted by its true and vivid story. As an expert said: In this book, Professor Wu has built a bridge of time for us with his dual identity and experience as a theoretical researcher and educational practitioner. Professor Wu Fang analyzed the problems that we often encounter, think and are confused in our work in a simple way, and turned them into vivid cases with educational wisdom to guide us to understand the truth from small things.
What impressed me most was Professor Wu's education and care for special children. If there are some special children (blind children, physical disabilities) in a class, it will bring a lot of trouble to teachers' daily education and teaching, but between the lines of the book, Professor Wu's love and tolerance for "children specially cared for by God" are revealed. Rachel was the first blind child she received. In order to welcome Rachel's arrival, the layout of the classroom, the placement of furniture and the selection of teaching AIDS should take care of her special needs. For every subtle change in the classroom, she will hold her hand and walk around the classroom, explain the changes in the classroom to her and let her touch and measure with her feet.
Although Rachel needs a lot of special care in her life, she has not lowered her requirements in her studies. Careful Professor Wu found that Rachel's expressive ability was particularly strong, so he recorded Rachel's language at any time, made up his own story, and asked Rachel to tell her story in front of the whole class. The seeds of self-confidence began to sprout in Rachel's heart, and finally Rachel became the king of storytelling in her class. Gail was born with muscular dystrophy in both legs. Although walking requires a walker and metal leggings, the teacher often asks her to help move the toys around in the classroom and become a little "porter" envied by peers! Not only that, Gail can also "drive" the pulley like her partner's tricycle, and Gail and her little pulley have become the envy of her friends. These special children enjoy childhood happiness in Professor Wu's class, and their disabilities have no influence on them. Professor Wu's special preference for disabled children is not reflected in his meticulous care for disabled children, but in his ability to treat disabled children equally all the time, not using their physical disabilities as an excuse for children not to do or not to do, and cultivating their self-confidence, self-reliance and optimistic attitude towards life. In her eyes, they are not "children with backward abilities" but "children with different abilities".
Seeing this, I feel really ashamed. Last year, a child who had a heart operation came to my class. At that time, I was very resistant to such children coming to class, although the child's mother repeatedly explained that she could participate in various activities normally. But I still have many concerns, such as whether she can participate in outdoor activities normally, what will happen if she falls, and what will happen if children fight. I think if there are such children in the class, we need more energy and responsibility. If I had the right to refuse, I would definitely not accept such a child. When my children first came to the garden, I was always afraid of this and that. Every time the children play, I see her eager eyes. I didn't know how selfish my thoughts were until I heard the story told by Professor Wu today. I just think from my own point of view, not really from the child's point of view. What a cruel thing it is for children if they can't go to school normally because of an operation. I think at that time, I can take the initiative to know more about the child's illness and take corresponding protective measures according to the child's illness, so that she can enjoy more childhood happiness. It is Professor Wu who makes my mind more open. It is she who inspires endless love in my heart and makes me know how to cherish every life.
Finally, I want to quote Professor Wu Fang to encourage you. "I am the teacher of these children, but I think I have learned more from them. Do you think such a child can keep me from "favoring"