“Young children give us glimpses of some things that are eternal.”
― Jonathan Kozol, Letters to a Young Teacher
( 01 )
About Me
Welcome,
My name is Kendall Spraggins, and I am an early childhood teacher. I am from Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri and got my degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. I enjoy being outside, spending time with friends and family, playing basketball, and volunteering at my church.
I became a teacher because of an overwhelming, genuine love and appreciation for children. In a world that constantly makes me feel not good enough, children have always been my safe resting place, a place in which I feel just right: enough. Children have made me smile in some of my most sorrowful moments, laugh amidst a broken heart, and feel immense joy when I felt like I had nothing left. For me, teaching children is an honor and a pleasure.
While I am passionate about education and teaching children the skills they need to become all that they can be, that is not the main reason I want to teach. I want to teach because I want to show children (my students) and everyone that I meet, the same kind of unconditional love that for so long kids have shown me. That is what I want my life and my teaching to be marked by. Loving and being loved by children has changed me down to my core for the better. Children have inspired me to do and be all that I can. I just hope that I can return the favor someday.
( 02 )
Educational Values
I believe children have the right to feel safe, comfortable, free, fully known, and fully loved in a classroom environment that resembles a home. For example, I like for my classroom to include framed pictures of children and their families, lamps, alternative seating, and children's work hanging on the walls.
I believe children have the right to play and to play often. I believe play of all types provides opportunities for serious learning and the development of essential social-emotional skills. I believe play fosters skills in collaboration, literacy, problem-solving, and reasoning.
I believe in teaching the whole child. I believe in supporting children's cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development in all areas of the classroom.
I believe in authentic, multicultural, anti-bias curriculum and teaching practices.
I believe children have the right to learn through hands-on experiences and investigative inquires.
I believe that my students' families and the surrounding community have an important place in my classroom. I value my students' families, communities, and cultures being involved in my classroom and evident in the curriculum I teach.
I believe in informal, on-going, authentic assessment through conferences, observation, and documentation of both my own and my students' learning. The assessment used most in my classroom will be for learning rather than assessments of learning.
( 03 )
Reading Values and Methods
In my classroom, my students will engage in literacy through a reader's workshop model.
I believe students need time each day to hear books read aloud, to explore both familiar and unfamiliar texts, and to independently read books of their choosing for a variety of purposes including enjoyment.
I value my students having access to a wide variety of texts that support their developing identities and interests. This means, I will expose and encourage students to read all forms of writing from graphic novels, to chapter books, to blog posts.
Students should not only have constant access to books that engage their interests, excite their minds, and challenge their skills but also students need to be exposed to texts in which they can see themselves and their surrounding community. I believe students have a right to literature that shows and tells the stories of people of all races, genders, sexual orientations, and other identities.
I believe that children can read before they can conventionally read. To me, reading is not just decoding words. I will support emergent readers by teaching them the skills to read pictures before they can read the words.
( 04 )
Writing Values and Methods
In my classroom, students will engage in writer's workshop where they are given time to independently or collaboratively write about topics of their choice after a mini lesson each day.
I want the writing done in my classroom to be purposeful and relevant to students' lives while also being true to how "real" writers work. So, during workshop time students will be allowed to spread out around the room, working in a space and in a manner that works best for them (as long as it is respectful of others in the classroom). More often than not, students will be allowed to write about topics of their choice and in a form that interests them.
I believe students should have time daily to free write and create various kinds of writing pieces. I value my students having access to art materials such as blank paper, crayons, markers, pencils, construction paper, scissors, and staplers to create books, posters, journals or any other work they find meaningful.
I believe the writing process involves talk and collaboration; therefore, students will allowed to talk to each other throughout workshop time about their writing. Students will be taught how to have respectful, constructive, and purposeful conversations about their writing.
(05)
Technology in the Classroom
I believe technology can be a helpful tool in the classroom when used with purpose and in moderation.
I believe in using various kinds of media (websites, videos, pictures ect.) and technology (computers, Ipads, cameras ect.) in the classroom to enhance and deepen children's learning and investigations. For example, I will encourage the use of technology when students are doing research work for projects or if the technology allows a shared experience that is otherwise impossible to achieve.
Technology will never take the place of hands-on learning, play, or social interaction in my classroom.
