SPARK Mississippi
There is a program in Mississippi called the SPARK program. Thirteen of the children at my school are "SPARK" children. SPARK stands for “Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids." The program supports partnerships of selected communities, schools, state agencies, and families to ensure that they work together effectively for children’s early learning.
The SPARK children in my class are the first generation of SPARK kids in Shelby. They have had an extra year of head start, and their teachers have had extra money for supplies and extra requirements for child-friendly classrooms. I don't know the exact mix of things that have prepared these students for my classroom -- including the switch to the Trophies reading program, and the current class size-- but they are better equipped to deal with school, reading, and each other than the students I had last year.
Evidently, parents of SPARK children have had workshops on parenting and school-readiness training for their children. The head start teachers got additional training, funded by SPARK. I will get additional training and assistance with parent contact, facilitated by SPARK. I'm pleased. I'm hoping to get a bigger, more colorful carpet for my classroom with some of the money that they give me to use on the children, so that our on-carpet learning time (which I'm doing more of this year) can be more comfortable and thus more productive. The carpet I like is 9'x 12' and has some sight words and big rulers on it. Alternatively, there is one with a map of the world on it which would also be neat & useful. Right now, I have two 5x8 blue $20 Walmart carpets next to each other, and they fit us sitting in a group nicely, but they are barely big enough for a circle and they are already (!!!) starting to fray. I'd also love to get some learning music -- I had already written a Donors Choose proposal to fund the music, but if I could get it through SPARK, so much the better, and more funding to teachers who don't have other options.
I'm amazed by how much my teaching experience has improved this year, and most, if not all of it, unrelated to my development as a teacher. I think my teaching skills have been kicked up a level as well. Here's hoping all of this can be channelled into fabulous gains in reading and math for my students.
The SPARK children in my class are the first generation of SPARK kids in Shelby. They have had an extra year of head start, and their teachers have had extra money for supplies and extra requirements for child-friendly classrooms. I don't know the exact mix of things that have prepared these students for my classroom -- including the switch to the Trophies reading program, and the current class size-- but they are better equipped to deal with school, reading, and each other than the students I had last year.
Evidently, parents of SPARK children have had workshops on parenting and school-readiness training for their children. The head start teachers got additional training, funded by SPARK. I will get additional training and assistance with parent contact, facilitated by SPARK. I'm pleased. I'm hoping to get a bigger, more colorful carpet for my classroom with some of the money that they give me to use on the children, so that our on-carpet learning time (which I'm doing more of this year) can be more comfortable and thus more productive. The carpet I like is 9'x 12' and has some sight words and big rulers on it. Alternatively, there is one with a map of the world on it which would also be neat & useful. Right now, I have two 5x8 blue $20 Walmart carpets next to each other, and they fit us sitting in a group nicely, but they are barely big enough for a circle and they are already (!!!) starting to fray. I'd also love to get some learning music -- I had already written a Donors Choose proposal to fund the music, but if I could get it through SPARK, so much the better, and more funding to teachers who don't have other options.
I'm amazed by how much my teaching experience has improved this year, and most, if not all of it, unrelated to my development as a teacher. I think my teaching skills have been kicked up a level as well. Here's hoping all of this can be channelled into fabulous gains in reading and math for my students.
posted by Jessica at 8:02 PM
1 Comments:
Did you know that your blog is censored in China? That's right, Chinese citizens cannot read about teaching in the delta. Actually, all of blogspot is. I really missed you out there.
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