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Gosh I cannot believe that we are almost done with the semester. I feel like it was just yesterday I was getting ready to start my first class and feeling a little bit nervous. Well I know our last blog is supposed to focus on if we feel more prepared to be a teacher, our goals for next semester, and how we are going to get there. I am actually taking a semester off. Originally I was going to completely quit the program, but instead I asked for a semester of leave. I can still answer the questions though. Are you feeling more prepared to be a teacher? To be honest no I’m not, I have been thinking of quitting the program pretty much since I started in August. At first I thought it was just because I was having trouble getting used to being in school again. As the weeks went on though I was becoming more and more unsure about my Masters. One hesitation was the fact that after completing the program I would be committed to teaching for 3 years in SC (because of a loan I got). This was looming over me like a dark cloud, I felt like one of those cartoon characters who have a stormy cloud following just them. Another hesitation developed because of my dislike for my previous job with the daycare. I loved seeing the kids, but I didn’t like the day to day structure. Everything was just too structured for me. I didn’t like the consistency of every day; I never looked forward to the next day of work. I was often already dreading the next day even before my work day was done. Finally, my hesitation to becoming a teacher was reinforced when I did my observations. Once again I loved seeing the kids, but I didn’t like the structure of they day. What goals do you have for yourself for next semester? How will you get there? Next semester I am going to take time to look into other masters programs and decide on one to do. I still want to work with kids, but I want to be able to focus on smaller numbers. A classroom has too many kids in it for me. My undergrad degree is in Psychology so I would definitely be interested in doing something with that. If any of you have any suggestions on people to talk too or schools to look at I would love the help! I definitely did not expect to be sitting where I am right now here 5 months later after I started this Masters program. I am a little nervous, but extremely excited to see what I find to do with my future, or at least with the next couple of years.

Rewards in the Classroom

In the classroom I observed the teacher provided many different "rewards" for the kids. Whenever a student did a good job the teacher made sure to offer a verbal reward, such as "great job" or "good try." The students can also earn "smart cookies." They earn these any time they display exceptional behavior. Students get to write their names on a little cookie and put them on a bulletin board. As a class the students are rewarded with pom poms. If they get a certain number of pom poms they get an ice cream party. Also above each section of desks is a laminated filmstrip. The students can earn clips to attach to their filmstrips if their section is being quiet or if they have followed the rules. That reminds me of another verbal reward the teacher gives the students, and that is acknowledgement. She will point out a specific student and say, "Maggie I am very impressed with the way that you put your journal away like I asked." I like that she focuses on that one student. You can really see a child light up when the teacher points them out for doing something positive. It's great!

An interesting student

During one of my observations the students were given the task to label the different parts of a plant (flower, stem, leaf, and roots). Most of the students in the class were able to complete the task by themselves. One student, however, had much difficulty with the task. What was interesting to me though was that his difficulty was not caused because of a lack of knowledge, but simply a lack of interest. The student just sat in his chair for a little while looking around the room. Eventually the student changed his piece of paper into a telescope and started looking through it at his different classmates. Once the teacher noticed this she quickly moved him to a table away from his fellow classmates. I watched as she flattened out his "telescope," the paper still showed no sign of work. After the teacher walked away the student quickly stated the four parts of the plant out loud, but then he started to label them wrong. The student also got up from his chair and started copying other students work. Eventually he came back to his spot and erased everything he had written. I believe that this child was perfectly capable of doing this task correctly, I think he was just bored and didn't feel like doing it.

It brought a smile to my face

When I was doing one of my observations the class was having free time inside. All the kids were doing various things, some were playing games, others were doing art, and one student decided to befriend me. She came up to the table I was sitting at with a tub of little bears. At first she was just playing with the bears and keeping to her self. Every now and then she would look up at me. After a while she asked me what my name was, and I said Meg, she took a second to process it and then said, "You're pretty Meg." It was the sweetest thing ever!! So after the student knew my name she was much more comfortable, she decided to include me in her game with the bears. Her game was simply throwing the bears towards my side of the table, but she seemed to be having a good time. I made a couple of the bears stand up right, the student noticed me do that and then she started placing the bears in front of me rather then throwing them. The student also started organizing the bears by shape and color. She was a very sweet little girl and helped me to keep a smile on my face the entire day!

Case Study 25

This was a very interesting case study to me. I just really liked that Aiyana, the principle, was so kind to Ms. Remington. Aiyana took Ms. Remingtons wet raincoat from her and gave her a cup of hot cider. I also really like that Aiyana has a round table in her office for meetings. I think that is more comfortable.

When I first read this study and saw that the mom let a 1st grader (Luke) have "mental health" days I was absolutely shocked. It is a child and they are not always going to like school. I feel like this could be staring a very bad habit for Luke. This could lead him to think that every time he doesn't like something or something is too difficult he can just run away from it.

Also I do not believe that Aiyana should be worried about Luke's progress. Some kids are just slower at learning things then others. Luke may not memorize the alphabet as quickly as his sister, but he will get it. He will also learn how to read. It is wonderful that he has a passion for stories! That is a great start!

When I was in the first grade my teacher told my mom I was going to be held back. I was not learning my reading and writing as quickly as the other kids in my class. When I came back to the school after Christmas break something had changed and I was writing and reading as much as I pleased. Obviously, I don't remember this, but I am just a slow learner, but I will eventually get it... just give me time.

First Observation

I am observing a first grade class with about 14 to 17 students. When I first arrived the students were coloring and/or reading a story. The students who finished reading the story took a quiz on one of the computers in the classroom. At 8:30 all the students stopped what they were doing and gathered for circle time. The teacher covered a lot while the students were at circle time. They did months, days of the week, counting coins, numbers (counting by five's, counting by 2's), time, weather (checked a thermometer outside). The teacher just kept everything going. After circle time was done the students had word time, this was followed by small group time.

I really enjoyed observing the first grade class. The teacher was awesome! She pulled songs into almost everything. She also really pushed for the students to encourage one another. I think my favorite thing was their "Fantastic" cheer.... the students would move their hands like they were spraying a cleaning bottle and make the sound with their mouths (chu chu chu), then then pretended they were wiping something clean and they all would say "Fantastic!" It was great! I look forward to observing this class more.

Saying Goodbye

Recently I left my job with the Children’s Center, I am now working for the Girl Scouts as a Program Specialist. I did not realize how attached I had gotten to the kids in my class, at the Children’s Center, until my last few days at the school. It was an amazing experience watching how much the kids grew since August.

Two of my students were not able to walk when they first started the class. One quickly picked up on walking after about a week of being in the classroom. The other student learned a few weeks after that. He was gone for a long weekend and when he came back that Monday he was practically running everywhere.

One of my students would freak out when we put her in a chair to eat, or tried to put a big on her, or put her in the buggy. So we had to ease her into things. We would put her in a chair to eat, but we would not push her to the table right away. We let her get used to sitting in the chair. Once the food was ready we would push her to the table, then we would put her bib on her. We would tell her “You have to wear your bib” of “all your friends are wearing bibs.” She eventually grew comfortable with both the chair and the bib. She also warmed up to the buggy after she realized she kind of liked buggy rides.

Other kids in my class have started talking so much more since August, not all of it makes sense but they are at least trying! Three of our kids were able to “graduate” from our class and move up to the next age group. It was a wonderful experience working with those kids! They brought joy to my life each day… never a dull moment!

Wow

I had a student in my class who was absolutely AMAZING. He was only 16 months old, but he was an extremely intelligent little boy! He would remember peoples names after meeting them just once. He could name a lot of the teachers at school. He also knew the names of all his fellow classmates. He knew the name of one of our little girls older sister too! He really surprised me one time at lunch, we were having sandwiches with honey mustard for them to dip their sandwiches in. He had run out of dip so he said, “Can I have more dip please?” I was shocked! All the other kids around him were saying either, “dip” or “dip please.” None of them were using full sentences, except for this one student. He was always surprising me! Such an amazing student!

The New Student Continued

I know I mentioned the new student a couple weeks ago and how interesting it was watching her transition to the classroom. She has continued to amaze me since then. Just in the past week the student has opened up so much, it is like she is a completely different child. Her mom told us that she has stopped crying in the morning when they get to the school. The student has also started walking in to the school rather than being held by her mother. It is so neat to see her come running into our classroom with a smile on her face. She looks so confident!

Another amazing thing we have seen is the student open up verbally. She is trying to talk to us now and repeat the different things we say. The other day she repeated me when I said "water," "on," and "off." She was actively taking part in the hand washing process and she was really overjoyed!

She has brought a smile to my face each day especially when we are changing her diaper. The past couple of days she has started laughing at the changing table after lunch time. She just starts laughing and can't stop, it is like someone told her this great joke. It is so funny!

Finally one interesting thing I have seen the student do is she will hold my hand. Up to this point whenever we would hold her hand she would not hold our hand back. Her hand would just sit there loosely in our hand. This past week she held my hand back. I didn't realize it at first, but I was so excited when I realized what she was doing.

It has been wonderful watching her grow!

Case 12- Question 1 and 2

1. In what ways does Kenji encourage the students to implement a developmentally appropriate literacy activity?

I like that Kenji first pointed out the positive aspects of the students planned activity: “You have nicely incorporated the classroom theme of transportation into your plan. I see you noticed that many preschool children are already interested in recognizing letters in their name. That might be a good reason to focus on letter recognition for your literacy activity.” He then encourages the students to try to find other ways to incorporate literacy development. Other areas that help with literacy development are alphabetic knowledge, print knowledge, and oral language. Kenji wanted the students to think in a broader sense in order to include children at different levels. There is a chance that not all the children know the alphabet, so it is important for the students to make the experience meaningful for the children. For example children will be more familiar with letters in their name or letters they see in their environment (ex: stop, exit, dog, cat, etc.). Kenji discouraged the students from using a model because it could be very limiting and frustrating for the children. They might feel pressure to duplicate the model and get upset when they are not able to do so. Allow the students to make their own unique train.

2. How does the second activity plan allow for the different developmental needs and interests of the children?

The students took the comments Kenji recommended and implemented them into their new activity plan. This activity encouraged independence among the children in the class. The children got to: choose letters, pick up and feel the letters, glue squares and letters to create a unique train. Once the children were down with their activity they got to present their train to their fellow classmates. The second activity plan was very effective. This was shown specifically with the child Mika who chose two M’s for her train and that was all. Mika is familiar with M since it is in her name, but she is not familiar with other letters. The teacher asked Mika if she would like to add more letters but Mika was happy with two. I like that the teacher did not make Mika add more letters. The teacher really let Mika create her own piece of artwork just the way she wanted it to be.

Case Study 5- Question 2

What strategies did Helen use to gain cooperation from the children? Were they effective? Why or why not? Helen followed DAP Guidline 1 C(1)- “Teachers help children develop responsibility and self-regulation. Recognizing that such abilities and behaviors develop with experience and time, teachers consider how to foster such development in their interactions with each child in their curriculum”

Helen sat on the floor with each of the students (she was on their level) and sang a song as she put on the children’s boots. The song went like this, “Child’s Name is wearing red boots, red boots, red boots, Child’s Name is wearing red boots so they can go outside.” I would say Helen’s strategies were very effective. All the students were excited to join Helen in singing the boot song and help her with putting their boots on. Even the one student who was upset about the color of the boots was happy to take part in the boot song and process, once Helen grabbed the right color.

Another strategy Helen used was with the student who did not come over to put her boots on. The student was preoccupied with the baby doll she was playing with. Helen told the student to make sure the baby is okay and then to come over and put her boots on. I think this was a good response. Helen does not get upset with the student for not responding to her, she kindly asks her to finish her task then come over.

The New Student

At the school I work at we recently received a new student to our class. The student has never been in a day care setting before so the transition from home to school has been very difficult. She is an only child and has not had any experience with children her age. Up to this point she has had a nanny so is used to constant attention. Since we have nine other students in the class we must give her the same amount of attention that we give the others. It has been very interesting to watch her transition. When she first went on the playground she did not really know how to play. She tried to walk down the slide. She also bumped her head on the roof of a little house because she did not realize she had to bend down in order to get in.

Her mom also struggled with the transition. We have done our best to comfort her and help her to realize that all the kids have difficulty saying bye to mom and dad. She has become more willing to hand her over to us when she comes to school in the morning. She has also stopped lingering around the classroom as much. She always asks us to call her if we have any trouble with the student or if the student is just having a tough time. We reassure her that we will let her know if we think the student is having an overly difficult time.

Over the past couple of weeks it has been so wonderful to watch her daughter grow. She now knows that she needs to sit down on her bottom to go down the slide. She has started smiling more, which is great and definitely puts the teachers at ease. She has stopped crying in the morning. I have truly seen how important it is to follow DAP Guideline 2 B(1)- “Teachers make it a priority to know each child well, and also the people most significant in the child’s life: Teachers establish positive, personal relationships with each child and with each child’s family to better understand that child’s individual needs, interests, and abilities and that family’s goals, values, expectations, and childrearing practices. Teachers talk with each child and family and use what they learn to adapt their actions and planning.”

Early Childhood Education & My Hopes for the New Semester

Ever since I was a kid I have longed to teach. Originally I was drawn to the profession because my mom was a teacher. My mom has taught in the public school system for over 20 years. I have always admired her enthusiasm for the job and her accomplishments as a gifted educator. Now I desire to teach because it is something I am passionate about. I love the look in a child’s eyes when he or she has accomplished a task. I also love the fact that I helped the child to succeed.

During this semester I hope to learn some new skills that I can practice with my present job. I work with 10 to 14 month olds at the Children’s Center – an early childhood development center that accommodates children ages three months to five years. The Center strives to meet all of the NAEYC standards; by studying these standards, I will be able to better perform my job as a more informed and capable employee. I also hope to discover what grade level I want to teach once I am done with my masters program. At the moment I am unsure which age group I prefer, but I look forward to learning about each of them and to which level I am best suited.