Have you felt broken and lost in the past few years? Lost your drive for learning, for growing, for teaching? Have you been on autopilot focusing on the routine, structure and rules that have been covid. As educators that are still currently in the field on the floor all day we have felt this same funk and we have been trying to break the barriers that have been covid, breaking the funk, bringing back the passion for Emergent curriculum through the Project Approach. As our field is on a drastic incline of trying to grow and shape new educators, we want to make sure we see that quality we have strived for, not just the quantity. It feels daunting to take this on after the past trauma we have gone through with covid, we are in a state of burnout that we are trying to escape while trying to teach new educators, it's a struggle. Now we do not have all the answers, we are learning too, but we realized we needed to make a shift for ourselves, for our children and for our sector. We have done that through embracing emergent curriculum and the project approach and just having fun with it! We are here to share our journey of growth, moments of amazing learning and so much fun. Let's get ready to break the barriers, get back to basics and have a whole ton of fun while doing it!
Facilitator Bios:
Ashley Shoemaker is a mom of two, Grace 10 and Carter 3! She has been in the ECE field for 12 years, during this time she has worked with every age group, as well as an SNA and IBI Tutor. She is a huge advocate for children with exceptionalities within the community and looks to ensure that they receive the same quality of care and properly educated staff. She completed her Early Childhood Diploma through the blended program the first time it rolled out, so she is used to the learning while working dynamic!
Most recently she has been hands on as a lead teacher teaching Pre-K and will soon be off to dive in with the infants. She is a silly, science, and emergent curriculum loving teacher! She believes that the children do the planning for us we are there to make it a reality, challenge their thinking but most off all challenge ourselves! Being truly emergent and working through the project approach has helped her time and time again with those difficult behaviors that arise during our day. She is excited to share her ideas, thoughts and a bit of my crazy with all of you!
Hailey MacKinnon is a mom of 2 spunky, loving boys, Charlie and Jude and Dog mama to Stella and Ru! Hailey fell into the childcare field while doing some yoga poses, quite literally! She was brought into Bright Futures to help the little friends with body movement and calming, the staff fell in love with Hailey’s empathetic, fun and soothing manner and how much the kids all loved her. She was a perfect fit for the team and so eager to learn and try something new! She fell right into the role of a teacher and never looked back only further, further into her education and love of working with little tiny humans! When the accelerated program came around it only made sense and gave her that sense of purpose she had been looking for that sense of achievement. Really bringing her whole self into her learning and growing experience, her classroom is usually nature inspired with love and empathy in every corner! Delving into all of the little moments that occur in the day and making them emergent and beautiful is who she is. Hailey has seen all sides of the sector, student, mom, teacher and mentor!