A Special Teacher

12/07/2012

When the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective.
Stephen Covey

I recently had the great fun of attending a ceremony where Kathleen Todd, a kindergarten teacher at the Moorpark KinderCare Center in Ventura, California, was announced as 28th recipient of the Knowledge Universe Early Childhood Educator Award. Along with the recognition, award winners receive from KinderCare Learning Centers a gift of $10,000 and a trip to the NAEYC Annual Conference for an awards ceremony.

After the surprise announcement, I had an opportunity to view Ms. Todd in action in the classroom, as well as spend some time talking to her about her work. What struck me most was her boundless enthusiasm. "I want to make this a happy place for the kids. If I am bored, no one is happy. I love dramatic play and creativity and lots if music." From observing her classroom it is clear that she invests a great deal of energy into creating new projects, new adventures every day.

" I really like kindergarten. The kids' heads are like sponges. I am happy every day when I walk into the school. You never know what to expect, what will happen. I teach the children what they want to learn. I get cues from them about what they want to learn. At the end of the day I walk out of here feeling fulfilled — like I accomplished something important."

I asked Ms. Todd where she gets all her creative ideas and she replied, "I don't know. I don't own a TV or a computer. I think the ideas just come to me from watching the children play."

This was a rewarding experience for me in that it reminded me dramatically of all the great teachers there are in this field giving so much back to the children and their families.

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