one s.m.a.r.t. teacherIn fond memory of Cindy Sperr, a pioneer S.M.A.R.T. Pre-K educator
A Chance To Grow had the privilege of welcoming Cindy into the S.M.A.R.T. community in 2005 when she participated in the S.M.A.R.T. Pre-K pilot project. Her love of children, understanding of how they learn best, and drive to serve each and every child, caused her to stand out as a S.M.A.R.T. educator. The development and creation of S.M.A.R.T. Pre-K would not have been possible without Cindy and her colleagues' unfailing commitment to our partnership and willingness to open their sites and classrooms, sharing their profound understanding of young children. Cindy was a true leader in this regard.
As her experience in classrooms grew, so did her creativity in implementing S.M.A.R.T. Pre-K. Cindy had the gift of thinking outside of the box, not allowing time, space, or budget hurdles to cause her to drift away from implementing a program she believed benefitted all children. In fact, Cindy’s creative implementation of a vision activity is one of the most replicated S.M.A.R.T. ideas to date. Follow the link here>> to be inspired by this S.M.A.R.T. use of space. We are honored to have her contributions in writing as she is featured in our Pre-K Program Guides as One S.M.A.R.T. Teacher in several activities. Let us join together in celebrating Cindy’s remarkable 25 year journey in Head Start and find inspiration in how many lives she touched. Cindy passed away in December 2023 but her legacy is no doubt etched in the hearts of the children and families she supported.
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S.M.A.R.T. training taught us that CORE activities are meant to be included daily. Why? We are focusing on developing and enhancing physiological readiness skills. Once readiness skills are in place, children have the necessary tools to become lifelong learners. We want every child to succeed. One of our biggest hurdles is time. To save you some time and encourage you to build in vision activities, here are many winter themed Visual Mazes/Tactile Trackers ready for printing and hanging. A big thank you to Katy, a second grade educator from Janesville, WI for sharing her creations with us. Scroll down for access to this download. Download:
Need additional resources? Check out our November 2023 One S.M.A.R.T. Teacher for ideas on how to use mindfulness mats as a vision material. Do you have a few designs you would like to share? Send them over to [email protected] and be featured in an upcoming newsletter.
Learning to read, and subsequently reading to learn, requires a tremendous amount of visual efficiency. As with many aspects of development, vision is learned. Tactile Trackers/Visual Pursuits are one of the most commonly used activities to build smooth pursuit eye movements. But when and how can you get them done? Cindy, truly one S.M.A.R.T. teacher, came up with a brilliant idea. She hung Tactile Trackers just outside the restrooms of her center. She would send one half of her group into the bathrooms while the other half would work on visual pursuits. This allowed for closer monitoring of the activity while cutting down on the goofing around we child professionals deal with during bathroom breaks. If you know, you know. This idea has been one of the most replicated S.M.A.R.T. ideas we have seen in the past decade. Do you have wall space next to the bathrooms for students to practice at before or after their bathroom break? Give it a try and let us know how it goes! Send photos or video clips of vision activities in action to [email protected] to be entered to win a set of S.M.A.R.T. posters for your S.M.A.R.T. Space. |
AuthorSCheryl Smythe Archives
February 2025
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