A Trip To Feed The Ducks
A picture of a bright yellow duck appears on a the door to the classroom at adult eye level which reminds students to wear tennis shoes and bring bread to class tomorrow because “we are going on a trip to feed the ducks.” The room is neat and clean and most of the children are on the floor playing with baskets of toys. The teacher, Miss C, is reminding the children to line up for the bathroom before they go. In most cases the door is open and the bathroom door is right next to the door to the room. Colorful, pretty, hand crafted paper balloons with the children’s names on them hang from the ceiling; painted on both sides. Starting to the left, just behind the “restroom” there is a drinking fountain with a stool. Children are free to get a drink whenever they want, but the teacher is encouraging them to get drinks before they leave on the field trip. It is approaching 9:30 a.m., the time the field trip is scheduled. She puts sunscreen on a little girl’s face while she reminds a little boy in a firm voice that no more than two people can play with toys. She explains this to me, this is to prevent fights over toys. I remind her, gently and smiling, that I am not “here”. She asks another little boy to go back and walk, not run across the room. Next to the drinking fountain is a poster with all the children’s names in alphabetical order, with small stickers appearing to indicate good or bad behavior. There are eighteen children listed and only thirteen in the room; preschoolers – most are four years old. Next to the poster is a box of shelves covered with a polka dot curtains (containers for table projects go in here). Near the floor are more shelves that contain little baskets with toys in them. The children pick out one basket, bring the basket to the floor and play with the toys. One little boy asks me a question and I smile and tell him I am not a teacher, and point to the other young woman in the room, Miss D. The teacher is busy listening to a little girl. Later, I am told that Miss D is not a teacher, a volunteer, she has only been there a week. (She is a nursing student at Midwestern State University.) Another teacher, Miss H comes into the room, with seven older children, they are around five. They are joining the class on the field trip. Miss C tells Miss H that the little girl “who denied everything yesterday, has just told me everything that happened.” Miss H asks about the bread. Miss H and Miss D, the helper, start breaking up the bread in each child’s plastic bag into pieces for them.
Several boys asks Miss C the name of the dinosaurs. With the exception of the “T-rexes”, they look for labels on the toys, then she admits she does not know. Advertising for this school indicates that “… we have structured our preschool to develop your child’s core intelligences.” This would be a good opportunity for the teacher to build knowledge based on interest initiated by the children [Helm, J. H., 2004]. Miss C sits down with her back to the windows in a chair. All of the students are lined up around her and she tells them that they need to go over the rules for their field trip. One rule is “I know how much you love to step in duck poop, but that stuff is nasty and we do not want it in our classroom, so … no stepping in poop.” After the rules, Miss C starts selecting letters of the alphabet and asking the children to name an animal that starts with that letter. Miss H suggests one of her students participates while she continues to break bread. Miss C repeats, “I taught you this yesterday, you should remember, several times.” A little boy suggests ‘DOG’ for a “B”. She pronounces ‘D’ is not ‘B’, phonetically and slowly several times, but he is confused. While this may not be an indicator of dyslexia, it most certainly a symptom [Developmental reading disorder: Dyslexia: Symptoms, 2013]. My ears perked up and I am reminded that I need to investigate further early identification procedures, e.g. “Child Find” [What is Child Find?, n.d.]. After three tries, Miss C suggests to him that ‘BALL’ begins with a ‘B’. Miss H and Miss C discuss logistics. Another little boy arrives. His classmates welcome him, but he does not respond. He sits down and looks at the floor. Moments later Miss C asks him a letter question, but he does not respond. Miss H asks if he is feeling sick and he nods. Miss C asks if he has been given medicine and he nods again. Miss C says he needs a tissue and sends him to the box. Then she says that his nose is bleeding. After going after a paper towel and being, instead directed to the tissues, he is told to hold the tissue to stop the bleeding. Miss H offers to “clean him up”. First, she washes her hands at the sink, then goes to the bathroom and gets a plastic glove, then she cleans him up. She tells him that he should put extra tissues in his pocket in case it happens again. He returns to the circle and Miss C starts a game of ‘I Spy’. Another teacher from across the hall enters and Miss C tells her that the little girl is “now talking”. She indicates that the students love the visiting teacher. The new teacher walks between the children on the floor and pats some of them on the head, then she leaves. The bread is almost ready, Miss C has finished “I Spy”, but the bathroom line is three long and growing. Miss C opens the bathroom door while a little boy, next in line looks in. Miss C asks if she is pooping. She closes the door. Shortly, the little girl comes out, but she is holding her pants away from her body. The little girl joins the group lining up. We form a long line now, there are approximately twenty-one children. Miss H has paired them and instructed some of the other kids to keep an eye on the younger, “but you don’t have to hold hands” with some and with others, “please hold hands.” Miss H tells an older girl in a glittery skirt, you can go with me. This girl “might” be her daughter. Miss H leads the way, Miss C is in the middle, and helper, Miss D takes the end. Almost to the walkway, school administrators shout for Miss C. Another child comes running. Miss C tells her she almost missed them and asks her where are the tennis shoes and bread you were supposed to bring. Miss C gives her an extra bag of bread. The girl has a running conversation, but not clearly and possibly to herself. Her peers welcomed her, but she is at the end the line. She loses her flip flop shoe and falls behind. She runs to catch up. She missed the rules.
The teachers head towards the bridge and we stop when two ducks (everyone agrees later, they must be “gooses” or geese) finally arrive. Miss C gives them some bread and exclaims that they must be very hungry. She yelps when they get too close. Miss H and Miss C consult and decide to turn around to find more ducks. She is experimenting. At this point, it becomes clear that this field trip has not been “planned”. The students are not involved in the learning process. The teachers have not coordinated their activities. This is especially disappointing given the rich environment. They are ignoring the scissor tail nest over their heads, the delight of some children at butterflies and their curiosity about the birds. This may be a demonstration of the case where the teachers’ instructional planning consists of “‘creating activities that the students will like’.” [Tomlinson, C.A., 1999]
Next they break the children into groups so they can throw out the bread and keep the “ducks” from getting too close. Once they have finished their bread, Miss H takes them to the covered picnic table to sit and wait. The kids squeal with delight when a big male gander comes ashore with wings spread and honking. They discuss whether the new big bird is a big goose or a swan. Miss H admits she does not know, but tells the children she will find out. She tries to fill a cup with water from the fountain, but it is too brown. She explains to the children that she does not think the water is good to drink and they must wait. Miss H is a good communicator. She describes her concern calmly and the reasons behind her decisions treating the children with respect.
The table is crowded now and the children are lively. They discuss the birds, what they are doing and why are they so different among themselves. Miss C and the others arrive and they gather them to take pictures. They say ‘cheese’ as a group for a long time, but it doesn’t get them all in. They try again. One child “poses, very good.” They form a ‘train’ to go back, single file, but the line is crooked and wavy. They are having a good time. We arrive at the much cooler classroom and building in good spirits. Even the little boy who was sick, seems more animated. Soon, it will be time for lunch someone reminds them.
References
Developmental reading disorder: Dyslexia: Symptoms. (2013, January 4). Retrieved June 21, 2013 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002379/
Helm, J. (2004). Projects that power young minds. Educational Leadership, 58-62.
Tomlinson, C.A. (1999). Mapping a route towards differentiated instruction. Educational Leadership, 12-16.
What is Child Find? (n.d.). Retrieved June 21, 2013
from http://www.childfindidea.org/overview.htm
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