What Cookie are You??

Wow!! Finally an inservice that was very well worth it!

Dr. Keith Polette was our presenter for the day. http://www.keithpolette.com The day flew by!! Dr. Polette has always been a great speaker and presenter. I took one of his classes during my undergraduate studies and all the girls always showed up to his class! Heehee! Something about his way of speaking is so engaging, non threatening, and a lot of fun!

Dr. Polette is still with UTEP and now is our Reading Framework Guru for our district. He previously was working with the teachers in grades 3-6 and now us! He has authored a few teacher books and 4 children's books. Three of his children's books are based in the Chihuahuan Desert and are really cute. A few years back, my grade level at the time, used his book Isabella and the Hungry Coyote, made the kiddos costumes, and put on a mini production of his book. This book is his version of Little Red Riding Hood in the Chihuahuan Desert. We invited him to attend and he was kind enough to do so about 4 or 5 years ago. The kids were mesmerized as he read the story to them. We, the teachers, were in awe too! This time around we, the teachers, were also mesmerized!! Heehee!

Dr. Polette's is/has such a wealth of information and we were all glued to our seats craving for more. His presentation was serious, funny and entertaining! One of the fun things we had to do was pick which cookie we would be; a flatbread heart shaped cookie, an oatmeal raisin cookie, a rootbeer cookie, or a chocolate chip cookie....go ahead pick your cookie?! What cookie would you be??? Write it down and don't change your answer!! I'll give you the analysis of each one at the end of the blog. :)

One of the many key points he spoke of was~ Conservation. No not, energy conservation...heehee! He stated Without the ability to conserve, children cannot successfully understand phonics or process the letters and words in text. Conservation is the ability to recognize the same object in different configurations. We usually see the use of conservation done in Science when you have two same size glasses of water then pour one into a larger container and ask the munchkin which has more? If the munchkin can state that they're the same they understand conservation, if they say the larger container has more then they have not mastered the concept of conservation. Another example would be to show the munchkin two same size balls of clay. Keep one rolled into a ball and the other one, roll it out into a long snake. Then ask which has more... if they can say they're the same amount they understand how to conserve, if not, then they need more practice. A conservation example in Reading was showing the munchkin the capital letter A and the lowercase letter a. Ask the munchkin if they are the same letter. If they say no...errr wrong answer...they don't understand conservation! If they say yes they are both the letter A then...by George, they've got it!! When they do get it...it correlates with reading readiness and cognitive development so it will help them perform better. When they still do not get it, it's not because they aren't trying, it's because their brain development or to be more specific the Angular Gyrus, hasn't reached the point of growth or maturity to be able to understand it. Hope that made sense??!!

Some great children's books he shared with us that reinforce the concept of conservation were:

• Where's The Fish by Taro Gami
  
• Sea Shapes by Suse MacDonald
  
• Alphabatics by Suse MacDonald
  
• The Other Side by Istvan Banyai
  
• Alphabet City by Stephen Johnson
  
• Mouse Views by Bruce McMillan
  

This is the part of his presentation that I was sucked into... the discussion on a part of the brain called the Angular Gyrus. I am just fascinated by brain research...I know...nerdy! heehee! The Angular Gyrus is the part of the brain that is involved in the processing of auditory and visual input and in the comprehension of language. This part of the brain matures early is some munchkins by age 3, but not in others until after age six!!! Yikes!!! A few munchkins weren't even 5 when we started. After hearing this information I could instantly guess which munchkins' Angular Gyrus haven't matured yet! Until it develops we really can't force or push it to mature. We can help it along but it really begins at home with parents at a very early age....READ and SPEAK to your children!!! The more language children hear at a very early age, even another language, the more they internalize it. Then when it's time, it becomes an easier task to read and speak because they were exposed to language early.

How do you know if this part of the brain is developed??? An autopsy was his response! haha! Well, since we can't do autopsies on our munchkins, this is where the conservation examples came in; the glasses of water, balls of clay, and uppercase/lowercase letters. Another important way to tell if it has developed is if they can rhyme and understand rhyming. The fun example was to ask if they can take one arm, either left or right arm, hang it on top of their head and cup their ear with that same hand. The arm has to be on top and over, not behind their head. If they can do this their A.G. has developed, if they wrap behind their head...still not ready! 30 more minutes back into the oven...heehee! Who knows...maybe he just made us look like big dorks with our arms reaching for our opposite ear so he could get a good laugh! haha! Actually, I tried it with my munckins and the one's I can tell are having problems couldn't do it. A few did it perfectly, no questions asked and those are my little smartie pants!

There was so much wonderful information that I could go on and on about but then I'd be doing his workshop! Oh...are you still waiting to find out what kind of cookie you are?? Heehee...I was a Chocolate Chip and so were a big group of the other Kinder teachers. There were a few of the other cookies too. Ok...if you picked...

• Flatbread cookie-You're a clear-cut, no-nonsense person. You like things in your life to be precise and accurate. You enjoy being right about most things. Very analytical.
  
• Oatmeal Raisin cookie-You're a practical down to earth person. You're a good problem solver, like making decisions and happy to tell people what they ought to do. Usually very organized.
  
• Rootbeer cookie-You're weird!! Haha!! You like it because no one else had thought to do so. You like trying new things, taking risks, going with the flow, and combining things that most people would never think of combining.
• Chocolate Chip cookie-You are a party favorite. You are popular, energetic, a good mixer, and a great dancer. Fun to be with, you're a wonderful companion, though you don't have much use for schedules or being on time.

Wondering how these relate to classroom teachers...well, we each have to possess a little of all 4 in order to have a successful classroom. All this talk of cookies...yummy...got milk??

Stay tuned for the next blog and how my munchkins behaved with the substitute...
XOXO's