she laughs in her sleep .. .

I am not to excited about titles either and our little one laughs in her sleep . . . and how can I be sad when I remember this? She does it a couple of times a week. I love to daydream about what she might be laughing about!

Anyway, I really enjoyed reading everyone's blog thus far. I agree with Anne that though it is inevitable that we will make mistakes it can be a learning lesson. And if we have created a positive classroom environment, then most likely the children will understand.

I also liked the encouragement as we are processing, analyzing, and appropriating all of this information. It is so insightful to hear about one another's personal experiences, including the openess of all of our teachers.

A real treasure I want to sink in and absorb is that of really utilizing the children's language, reflecting back to them what they are saying, then scaffolding in the vocabulary/big ideas, as they are ready for it. I have always kept a teaching journal (and am trying to keep up with a Grad school one - so much to process) and written down student observations. However, I want to create a weekly record or figure out a way to notate those things as the year grows. I think these could be pulled a bit from writing journals and added to through direct observation of kids talking. I never really thought about paying that close of attention to students' conversations with one another.

I was just thinking about Kohlberg again. I am really eager for our discussion about his theory. I really feel like I have seen all sorts of people at varying levels of his 'moral stages'. I also think there is some truth in how we develop a certain schema of belief/truth at a young age and it really doesn't change for some people, while others change with, in my perception, some sort of crisis that makes one think about their own morals. I am also curious about other possibilities. Like, can you skip a stage? or get the concept but not apply it? I feel like there is so much new information in this day and age that it is a real challenge to sift through it all, find the gems, analyze, and then synthesize the information. I mean, how much can a person process? Life is full of paradoxes, and many of them are ethical, is this addressed in his work anywhere? Like being 'pro-choice' and believing in capital punishment at the same time.

Anyway, what a powerful tool to have, to really think about a moral question, really examine it, stretch the mind, and make a decision for oneself at a time when seemingly so much control is out of the child's hands. It would be interesting to try to keep a log of where children are at in relation to this theory. Hmm, I wonder what other ethical questions would be appropriate for children/people to ponder at each stage?