How fortunate I was to be able to attend the Early Learning Forum in Harrisburg today. Dr. Pam Schiller was the speaker and if you ever have the opportunity to hear her speak, please do so. It will change how you look at the earliest years of a child's life. As Dr. Schiller spoke about the positive impact a few minutes of interaction made in the brains of neglected Romanian children, many of us had tears in our eyes. I thought I understood the Windows of Opportunity as they related to learning. I knew that young children can learn language better than older ones, but I never realized just how important those windows are on social emotional learning. I did not know about mirror neurons or realize just how important it is that the youngest of children see others displaying empathy. Dr. Schiller was so inspiring that I wanted to call my co-teacher and give her strategies to implement immediately. If I had called, I would have told her to be sure to instill confidence in the children by giving real praise for effort, by taking time to be fully engaged with each child if only for a moment, to demonstrate empathy and caring to the extreme, and much much more.
Dr. Schiller suggested some books we can use to build on her "Seven Key Ingredients of School Success." I hope to share some of these ingredients, the books that go with them, and ideas of how to use them during upcoming blogs. Right now? I need to reflect on how I can make my own classroom better using the information shared by Dr. Schiller.
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