You Can't Say You Can't Play

When I first started reading this book, I admit that I just wanted to read it quickly and get it over with, but it was a very good story and pretty easy to read and understand. I thought about some of my own experiences in the residency thus far and I realized that during my observations, I focused a lot on the academic side of the classroom and not so much the social aspect of it. I had to really think back to what I have seen so far. It is interesting because in my first placement, the 3^rd grade classroom that I was in only had 10 students. In my time there, I did not see any of the exclusion that is normally found in classrooms. Maybe the size of the class had something to do with it. All of the students played together, although sometimes the 2 boys in the class tended to group with each other more. But as a whole, there was really no exclusion. My Pre-K placement was a whole other story. It was actually pretty common to hear one of the kids saying, "Well, he/she said that she wasn't my friend!" or "He/she said I couldn't play over here!" In one case, I actually saw one of the kids leave a station because the teacher said that everybody could play in the area and then he did not want to play at all. She told him that that was not right and that we were all friends and could all play together, but at the age of 3, I wonder if he really understood exactly what she was saying. 

I am definitely all for everybody getting along and playing together, especially after my own experiences as a child. When I moved in 6^th grade and attended another school, I did tend to be excluded at first since I was the “new girl” and I completely hated it. I always used to get scolded and the “Golden Rule” was a big thing in our house: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Once I began to be excluded, I realized how other students may have felt when I was younger and I hated it. But as much as I agree with Paley on the concept, part of me does not think that that is feasible and it is very idealistic. In theory, it works, but when it comes to putting that into practice, I am still on the fence about that one. To me, it seems a little counterproductive to tell kids that they have to get along with and play with everybody because the real world does not operate in that way, just like that 4^th grade boy told Paley during the discussion. I don't know. I am all for inclusion and treating everybody equally, but I am still not sure about how I feel about forcing kids to play together, especially as they get older.

I LOVED the way that Paley discussed the plan with not only her students, but with students and teachers from other grades as well. That is the number one thing that I am going to take from this book and incorporate into my own classroom. It was very democratic and the students had their own voice. Even if she did not agree with all of their ideas, particularly Lisa, she still let them voice what they were thinking. Not only that, after each discussion with students from other grades, she brought the ideas back to her classroom and asked her students what they thought about what was said. Even in kindergarten, she valued their opinions and voices. She also taught them about rejection. They were able to put actions and events with a word/concept that they might not have known until later grades. I am pretty sure that that is a year they will not forget.