Monday, September 19, 2011

Teacher As Researcher

A great way to explore your work is to meet with other teachers! The Reggio-Inspired Network of Minnesota provides many good opportunities to do this. Check out their schedule at http://www.mnreggio.org

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Strategic Plan

Reggio-Inspired Network of Minnesota's Strategic Plan 2011-2013 is available for viewing at
http://www.mnreggio.org/?p=929

I think it's worth looking at.

Friday, August 26, 2011

A good gathering opportunity!

Kick-Off to the 2011-2012 Year...
The Monthly Gatherings for 2011-2012 begin in September. The first is a Kick-Off event on Saturday, September 24th, hosted by the University of Minnesota Child Development Center (UMCDC), formerly the U of M Child Care Center.

The morning includes: a tour of UMCDC, a slide show of Pistoia, Italy by UMCDC director, Ann Edgerton, discussion of an article on children’s environments and an overview of the 2011-2012 monthly gatherings and research focus for the year. 9 to noon – 1600 Rollins SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
Reggio Emilia and Pistoia are both cities of northern Italy that have earned particular recognition for their passion and innovation. While Reggio Emilia has achieved the highest level of international recognition, Pistoia is also acknowledged as a site of important leadership and experimentation.
For directions, handbook and photos go to http://www.education.umn.edu/childcarecenter
NOTE: Attendance is limited to 22 participants: Please RSVP and obtain an article by e-mailing Sandy Burwell at melchisedech1946@yahoo.com

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Interesting article

Hope all is well as you prepare for the start of another year!

http://www.slate.com/id/2288402/

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

As you start the new school year...

*"All of this is a great forest. Inside the forest is the child.
The forest is beautiful, fascinating, green, and full of hopes; there are no
paths. Although it isn`t easy, we have to make our own paths, as teachers
and children and families, in the forest. Sometimes we find ourselves http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
together within the forest, sometimes we may get lost from each other,
sometimes we`ll greet each other from far away across the forest; but its
living together in this forest that is important. And this living together
is not easy."*

*- *Loris Malaguzzi (1994)

And...

www.thethirdteacher.wordpress.com


Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Reggio Approach and teaching teams

from the Minnesota Reggio blog:

University of MN Philosophy Camp
Reggio-inspired work is not limited to young children. Dr. John Wallace from the University of Minnesota’s Philosophy Department writes, “The ‘documentation’ we do at Philosophy Camp might better be characterized as reflection, where every week there are at least three scheduled occasions on which students in small group conversations with an instructor, or in one-with-one conversation with an instructor, reflect on the meaning they are making of their experiences; there are also countless informal interactions between students and instructors in which instructors get insights into the meaning students are making. The ‘traces’ that these conversations leave are spoken-words heard and remembered, and so are somewhat ephemeral and not (at least, not systematically and regularly) physical artifacts. The instructors meet for an hour every morning (except Sundays) of the course, and the traces gathered in conversations inform and guide our framing of the activities for the coming day and days, and so function in somewhat the way that physical artifact traces do for Reggio-style teachers.
From time to time in the natural course of things students produce physical artifacts that express the meaning their experiences have, and these traces the instructors also study and learn from… Here is a ‘comic book’ reflection on Philosophy Camp that a student, Martha Megarry, did a couple of years ago. It is a concrete example of these unplanned (by the instructors) documentations.” Philosophy Camp \"comic strip: (0)

Hope everyone is having a great summer!