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Hi, I have taught preschool for several years and I have decided to stay home because we will be trying for babies. I would like to work some from home. Do you have any ideas on things that still relate to teaching and education that I could do? I still want to keep up with things. Thanks for any input!
I teach at a parent cooperative preschool and this year the parents want to have a whole school valentines day brunch with a valentine exchange. How do I coordinate a valentine exchange for 20 students & parents-- in the past each class had their own party so the exchange was easier....I need help with ideas for a smooth and fun exchange.
anyone currently using Creative Curriculum with four year olds? our district has adopted it for next year and we're an IB school...and we're wondering how/if it works...!!! any input/advice is welcome!
by Stuck in the mud
Feb 8, 2013
reschoolers will love dancing to this cartoon video that teaches children about caring, counting and lots of African animals ;) Enjoy.
Garth [link removed]
I'm looking for a good-bye song that can be used for a program where half the children leave after school time and the other half stay for lunch. Hope that makes sense.
by lisa lynch
Feb 10, 2013
hello i have worked at preschools for a long time as an aide i have been a sub in classrooms but i know have my own class i am feeling overwelmed . kind of lost i work with 2 yr olds not sure if am doing enough or doing it correct any suggestions thanks
currently teach spec ed 4th/5th grade, considering teaching preschool to k at private such as Bright Horizon or public school. What are the pros and cons?
by Samuel_JS
Feb 15, 2013
The XXXXXXX School is located on XXXX XXXXXXXX Avenue in XXXXXXXXX. It is part of XXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXX Church.
I began my employment with The XXXXXXX School on June 22, 2011 as a summer camp teacher.
During the 2011-2012 school year, I was a substitute teacher for the Pre-School, Pre-Kindergarten, and Kindergarten classes.
...See MoreThe XXXXXXX School is located on XXXX XXXXXXXX Avenue in XXXXXXXXX. It is part of XXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXX Church.
I began my employment with The XXXXXXX School on June 22, 2011 as a summer camp teacher.
During the 2011-2012 school year, I was a substitute teacher for the Pre-School, Pre-Kindergarten, and Kindergarten classes.
I resumed my duties as a summer camp teacher on June 20, 2012.
On August 27, 2012, I began serving as the Pre-Kindergarten teacher of the school.
I had twelve students, who were either 4 or 5 years old.
Approximately four months went by until the start of Christmas Break at noon on December 21, 2012.
During those four months, the children were engaged in a variety of high-quality learning experiences, and they were retaining content at a 1st or 2nd grade level.
The children always seemed to be happy in my class.
The parents offered me their unconditional trust, respect, and support with the care and education of their young children.
Being a perfectionist, I devoted every hour of my life to the job.
By the admission of the administration, I had a 100% job performance record.
There was no indication that anything was wrong when I left the building at the start of Christmas Break.
On December 24th, I was at the school prior to a Christmas Eve church service, where I ran into a parent of one of our kindergartners. I didn't think anything of it at the time.
Christmas Break was uneventful on my end. I was looking forward to getting back to work.
I returned to work on January 2, 2013. The children were excited to talk about their Christmas presents. There was no indication that anything was wrong.
The people who were present on that day (students, parents, and co-workers) did not treat me any differently than they usually did. The day progressed as normal.
Three of my students were absent, which was highly unusual.
The mothers of my absent students were very closely intertwined. They knew each other well, and often watched each other's children.
At approximately 11:30 AM, my supervisor walked into my classroom and placed a Sticky Note on my desk (at the back of the room) while I was busy with the children at the front carpet. She didn't say a word.
Around noon, as the children were getting ready to be dismissed, I read the Sticky Note. It requested that I see my supervisor in her office at 12:30 after all of the children were gone. The office door had been closed all morning, which was highly unusual.
At 12:30, I knocked on the office door, and entered at the request of my supervisor. Besides her, there were three members of our School Board present.
As soon as I sat down, they apologized for being the bearers of bad news, in spite of it being a New Year. Then, without any prior warnings, signs, or indications, they terminated me on the spot.
I was shocked, and immediately began to probe for information. One of the first things they told me was that my termination was not job-related. They assured me that I had a 100% job performance record.
The reason for my termination was the discovery of a series of Twitter accounts in my name (and with my photo attached) that used profanity and vulgar language. The accounts also included derogatory comments directed toward professional wrestlers.
I was told that the School Board did not discover the Twitter accounts on their own. The Twitter accounts were discovered by another person with close ties to the school (presumably a parent).
From what I was told, the initial discovery of the Twitter accounts could have been made by a parent in another classroom.
The Twitter accounts were reported to the School Board during Christmas Break, and the School Board, by their own admission, acted very swiftly.
They told me that the comments made on the Twitter accounts were examined by their lawyers. The lawyers concluded that I was a liability to the school, and they urged the School Board to terminate me.
The School Board informed me that some of the parents already knew about the situation, and they were threatening to permanently withdraw their children from the school.
They alluded to the fact that knowledge of the situation could be school-wide, not something that was necessarily contained in my classroom.
In my opinion, the mothers of the students who were absent in my class on that day were probably hesitant to send their children to school because they no longer trusted me.
I explained to the School Board that the Twitter accounts were not mine. I have never used Twitter. The accounts were created by an impersonator, who was using my name and picture from my Facebook profile.
The School Board would not budge on their decision. They told me that if they retained me, and the Twitter accounts turned out to be mine, the entire school could be shut down.
They offered me the opportunity to discuss my potential re-employment if I could provide legal proof that the Twitter accounts were not mine. After meeting with a lawyer a few days later, I was told that it would be a lengthy process, the costs of which were well beyond my means.
Even though the Twitter accounts were not mine, and even though I had done nothing wrong, I had to accept that my job was permanently over.
After my meeting with the School Board, they escorted me back to my classroom, and rushed me in gathering my personal belongings. They told me that they would use "forceful measures" to get me out of the building if I didn't move quickly.
In the process of rushing, a lot of things that I would have liked to keep were left behind. Some of my personal items, such as three Christmas trees, were partially ruined, as they were jammed tightly into boxes.
They deprived me and the children of the opportunity to ever say goodbye.
The children learned at a very young age that some people can just vanish into thin air, never to be seen again.
The period of time that I spent at home, following my termination, was very rough for me. I did not eat for a week.
I contacted Twitter to have the impersonated accounts removed.
I contacted old friends for support.
I wrote a letter to the editor of XXXXXXXXX Newspapers, explaining what had happened to me.
A reporter from XXXXXXXXX Newspapers expressed an interest in publishing a news story about my situation (the dangerous effects of modern-day social media, and how the impersonation of others online can destroy their careers and their lives).
However, after much debate, XXXXXXXXX Newspapers decided not to publish a potential story about my termination, claiming that "we could not be in a position of lending credence to it, if others in the community were unwilling to go on the record in your favor."
In other words, very few people were willing to speak to XXXXXXXXX Newspapers on my behalf. The parents and co-workers who had once supported me were now unreachable and non-existent.
Two people with ties to the school have kept me somewhat informed.
From one person, I learned what happened in the days immediately following my termination.
A letter was sent home to the families of the students in all three classes. It stated that I was let go for reasons that were not job-related.
My co-workers were told never to allow me inside the building if they saw me on the premises.
The locks on the doors were changed, and new keys were distributed to the employees.
My picture was immediately taken down from the bulletin board in the stairwell, and all traces of my existence were eventually removed.
A parent of one of our pre-schoolers took over my duties as the Pre-Kindergarten teacher of the school on January 4, 2013. This was just two days after I was terminated.
From a second person, I learned more of the details that led to my termination, details that the School Board did not share with me.
The father of one of my students who was absent from school on the day of my termination has confirmed that he knew about the Twitter accounts.
If he knew about the Twitter accounts, then it is likely that other families knew about them as well, even though they were not mentioned in the letter that was sent home by the school.
This supports my opinion that the mothers of the students who were absent in my class on that day were probably hesitant to send their children to school because they no longer trusted me.
Since those mothers were very closely intertwined, they probably all knew about the Twitter accounts.
This would indicate that a lot of discussion was taking place during Christmas Break, all without my knowledge.
A State Trooper has confirmed that the comments made on the Twitter accounts were examined not only by the school's lawyers, but by the police as well.
It is still unclear to me who discovered the Twitter accounts in the first place, although I do have a few suspicions.
It is difficult to believe that the Twitter accounts were discovered without somebody purposefully researching my full name online. I do not know why anybody would feel the need to do this.
The comments made on the Twitter accounts were printed, and then brought to XXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXX Church during Christmas Break.
It is highly possible that this took place prior to the Christmas Eve service on December 24, 2012. This was the same day that I ran into a parent of one of our kindergartners at the school.
An employee of XXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXX Church contacted the school about the Twitter accounts, and an examination of the comments made on the Twitter accounts took place from there.
A decision was made to terminate me based on the possibility that the Twitter accounts could be mine.
I did not have to share this story with the world.
I wanted to do this because I did not get a chance to tell my side of the story to any parents or co-workers. And since XXXXXXXXX Newspapers decided not to publish a potential story about my termination, I had no other avenue to get my side of the story out there.
It is my hope that, sooner or later, my side of the story will find its way into the hands of anybody associated with The XXXXXXX School, including those responsible for my termination and those who may still be uninformed at the time of this writing.
This also serves as an official statement of my innocence in the creation of the Twitter accounts that led to my termination. Simply put, the Twitter accounts were not mine.
As I stated before, my situation illustrates the dangerous effects of modern-day social media, and how the impersonation of others online can destroy their careers and their lives.
But perhaps more importantly, my situation illustrates a case where everybody involved seemed to jump to conclusions, make erroneous assumptions, and believe the worst in a fellow human being.
Had I discovered a series of Twitter accounts in the name of any parent, co-worker, administrator, or School Board member, I would have refused to believe that those accounts were really theirs.
I wish they could have done the same for me.
They had come to know me, to trust me, to respect me, and to support me. In the classroom, I had proven myself worthy of these attributes every day for four months.
They had the "real me" right in front of them, not the impersonator who exists online. They were happy with me, and their children were happy with me.
Throughout this process, I have learned how quickly people can turn on you without knowing or gathering all of the facts, and how, in today's society, you are automatically assumed to be guilty, no matter how well people have known you, or how well you have treated their children.
In closing, I would like to state that I was devastated by the events at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. Even before my termination, I stated for the record that, in such an event, I would have given my life for my students. Apparently, even that was not good enough.
I am really spinning my wheels trying to get my classroom portfolio complete. We were given file boxes with folders labeled with each of the required standards. I am so overwhelmed trying to get this done, and we could be in our 15 day window any time now! I have stacks of photos, work samples, charts and things created as a class. Sometimes, I sta...See MoreI am really spinning my wheels trying to get my classroom portfolio complete. We were given file boxes with folders labeled with each of the required standards. I am so overwhelmed trying to get this done, and we could be in our 15 day window any time now! I have stacks of photos, work samples, charts and things created as a class. Sometimes, I start with folder 1 and find or create the needed evidence. Sometimes I start with my stack of stuff and try to match it to a standard. Whichever way I go, it's not effective...at this time, after months of on and off work on it, probably a third of my folders are still empty. I get frustrated because I feel like the standards are really repetitive and I keep thinking, "I already DID this," and waste time going back and looking to see if I already have something filed that also fits for this one. Does anyone have a system that worked for you to make this process more manageable?
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You could also nanny and let them know that you are home to have babies. Most people are OK with you bringing your own children along when you na...See More