It's time to play the music
It's time to light the lights
It's time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight
The Jiffy Pop tray scraped over a burner. After a few minutes that seemed like forever the scraping yielded a pop, followed closely by another. Those pops increased and the mound in the foil started to build. It became larger and larger
almost matching the excitement in our eyes. When the mound finally became a large, beautiful silver ball of yumminess, we held our breaths as popcorn exploded into our red and green flowered bowl. It was almost time. Time to eat our popcorn and watch one of our favorite weekly television shows, The Muppet Show. While we did not always get popcorn for our shows, we lived for those thirty minutes of slapstick hilarity.
Miss Piggy was my idol. She was loud, flamboyant, and demanding. She was the exact opposite of me, but I thought she was funny and pretty. I had a Miss
Piggy doll, put together puzzles of her, and loved my Miss Piggy pajamas. My most prized possession, however, was her book Miss Piggy’s Guide to Life. I pored over her advice, lingered over the pictures, and would practice the French words over and over, not realizing it was a spoof of self-help books.
I loved to pose and dress up like her. I always wanted to try her mud mask recipe. Miss Piggy as a prima donna ballerina held two of my favorite loves.
Each week here at KBM, I get a chance to meet with our directors. Kelli, our
assistant director, mentioned something that made me think of prima donna Miss Piggy. She said we all need to learn to pivot. To pivot is to turn or rotate. It could also mean a change in strategy. It means changing directions but still having the same vision.
I started on this play-based, child-led, reggio-inspired journey about eight years ago. I heard about it from my amazing sister-in-law. She recommended I read the 100 Languages of Children by Loris Malaguzzi. He lays out his approach to education that is considered one of the best systems of education in the world. Loris states it takes about ten years to become a master teacher of this approach. In many ways I feel like I am just beginning. Learning to pivot, in life, professionally, with kids, is key to becoming a master teacher.
Our history, both personal and collective, is the pivot we use to improve our future. The Compass classroom’s image of the child is one part of the vision that guides our daily time in the classroom. We view the child as strong, capable, and thoughtful. Kodiak Baptist Mission pivoted halfway through this year when we combined our outdoor and indoor classrooms. We continue to pivot as we learn, play, and co-research alongside our tiny students. I look forward to the opportunities ahead that offer new chances to pivot.
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