Smiley faces and shiny halos fill classroom

In Maryann McConnell's kindergarten class at Holy Spirit School in East Greenbush, an ordered cacophony indicative of over-eager children reigns.

Her class has newly returned from more than an hour spent sitting quietly in a school assembly, and she is multi-tasking: trying to prepare the next lesson while answering a little boy's question about snacks.

It's time for stories, and today the class is reading a "big book" about hideous monsters known as "meanies." Ms. McConnell says her children love the large books for their big, colorful illustrations and child-size letters.

Into books

Boasting spines as long as her arm, the books are among Ms. McConnell's most effective teaching tools. Little mouths move as the attentive children attempt to identify words, phrases and letters, crowing with delight when they are successful.

They sing, stamp and chant along with the teacher: "Who wants to be a meanie? Not me!"

After 13 years of teaching kindergarten, she's developed a philosophy: Childhood should be "a journey, not a race."

Whole child

Kindergarten teachers should favor teaching "to the whole child," Ms. McConnell said, instead of simply to the child's academic potential because the social, economic, physical and religious aspects of a youngster's life are important, too.

"What good is it if they can add and subtract if they're not relating?" she asked. "That's as important to me as their academic preparation. It's important that children feel nurtured, supported and challenged. What a difference a compassionate teacher makes!"

Variety of styles

Because a child of five or six has an attention span limited to 15 to 20 minutes, Ms. McConnell explained, it's important to keep them interested by presenting information in a variety of ways:

hands-on learning, singing, marching, listening, playing, fact-gathering and problem-solving.

For example, math class is taught not with chalk and blackboard, but by adding and subtracting leaves and pine cones. Alphabet lessons include games in which children identify letters by slapping them with flyswatters.

The average Holy Spirit kindergartner knows the days of the week and the continents of the world through song, and can tell their parents why fruits and vegetables are healthy to eat.

Attention is paid

Ms. McConnell motivates children with smiley-faces, stickers and the word "super." Mistakes are marked by a circle and never go unexplained, but she believes that teachers make crucial errors when they single out or embarrass children in front of their peers when it comes to academic matters.

That doesn't help the child, she said; it only makes them doubt their ability to succeed in school and decreases their enthusiasm to attend.

"You damage a child by making them think that they're incapable of learning," she declared.

God in class

Ms. McConnell loves teaching in a Catholic school, where she is allowed to talk about God, bring children to Christmas concerts, answer faith questions, speak about being a "friend to Jesus" and reward children for good behavior by telling them they have "shiny halos."

At Holy Spirit School, kindergartners learn very basic religious concepts, such as prayer and the unconditional love of God.

"We talk about how we're very special to God, family and friends, and that we are all responsible for caring for the gifts God has given us," said Ms. McConnell.

Prize-winner

By the time they graduate into first grade, Ms. McConnell hopes that she's given her kids the skills to be confident, independent and eager to come to school.

It is for those efforts that she recently received the 2003 Sister Miriam Joseph Farrell Distinguished Teacher Award from the National Catholic Educational Association, which she says is both "thrilling" and "embarrassing."

"I have the greatest job in the world," she raved. "It's wonderful to get an award for doing a job that you love doing. I love children, and their eagerness, openness and sense of humor. I'm still laughing each day over what they said the day before."

(6/12/03) [[In-content Ad]]