Blog Posting- P5

Montessori, Waldorf, and Reggio Emilia are common approaches through Europe for some time. These programs are influencing programs in North America and they are programs built to improve human society by showing children their full potential. These programs view children as authors of their own development and they open their way toward learning. Working with parents is important in all these programs, parents are highly valued.

The Waldorf teacher role is to model many group activities that integrate academics and artistry. The teacher provides an environment that has a sense of harmony and is focused on caring of the community and the natural and living worlds. It is the teacher's role to encourage a child's "natural sense of wonder, belief in goodness, and love of beauty. This teacher role would benefit children that live in the US. With the amount of violence, carelessness, and apathy that's in our society, I think creating an environment for children that is filled with harmony is vital. In a Waldorf classroom, the materials or toys are handmade and the environment is "homelike". If we can have the classroom represent a home setting, the children will be better able to take what they are learning in the classroom to their home and vice versa.

The word "unobtrusive" is the word used to describe the teacher role in the Montessori classroom. The teacher works to create an environment that is calm as children alternate between long periods on concentration mixed with recovery and reorganization. The goal for a Montessori teacher is to encourage children to "develop confidence and inner discipline" so less of a need to intervene a child's development. Children will learning at their own pace and aligned with their own capabilities. Since Montessori teachers fully understand this, interrupting children when they are engaged in an activity can interfere with their interest and thoughts. The teacher relates reality through sensory investigation and an activity to promote curiosity in the child.

In the article, I liked the term "artful balancing" when describing the teacher role in the Reggio Emilia program. The teacher plays a role through engagement and attention. Through listening, observations, collaboration from other adults, the teacher works to guide the children. Teachers in Reggio Emilia work in pairs and continuously collaborate with others. This aspect of the program I favor because it is not exaggerating to say that it takes a village to raise a child. In the classroom, setting this saying can also be true. Although the teacher plays a big role in the classroom, there are assistants,  and aides that also work with children in the classroom that can share what they know about each child. I think not matter where you live, this teacher role will benefit children. However, the assessment that Reggio Emilia uses does not allow someone on the outside to understand outcomes and measure impacts over time. If someone outside the classroom cannot understand the assessment on what a child knows, areas of improvement, or their needs a responses it does not make it an effective tool.

If I had to favor a certain aspect of the each program, it would be the teacher roles. I feel that the assessments are very different from each other and I would need to go into more detail of each aspect of the program before I can say what assessment will work and what wont. However, each teacher role no matter what program allows the child to completely dominate their learning. Children should be the ones to tell us their interest and show us what he or she likes not the other way around. By allowing each child to work uninterrupted, you are showing the child respect and building confidence that they can make choices for themselves.

Blog Post- P4

There are so many different programs because many have different views on childhood development. Each program was established or developed by a person that did research and created a program based on what he or she came to the conclusion on.

If I had to teach in three types of Follow-Through Program models they would be High Scope, Montessori, and Bank Street. The teacher role in these programs are to be facilitators and partners in learning. The children are able to find something of their interest, while the teacher meaningfully creates ways to expand their learning. What the children learn is not a forced lesson where workbooks and worksheets are used. The materials used in these programs promote problem solving  and are meant to be used independently. I believe that in the classroom the teacher learns with the children. By observing and interacting with children regularly, teachers create a nurturing environment, build relationships, and help children learn what is developmentally appropriate for them.

This study was interesting to me since I picked programs where the teachers role was a facilitator and partner in learning. The study showed that children that were in programs based on child-initiated learning activities contributed to positive development in short term and long term academic and social development. I feel that it is important for children to initiate their own learning. If a teacher sits down and shows them or explains a lesson to them, what he or she will do or learn, not all children will respond. Child-initiated learning should carry through to the elementary years. Even though there a specific things a child in elementary school should know, it would still be beneficial to the child if his or her interest was involved. Teachers in elementary classrooms who have knowledge about early childhood education, will understand the importance of child initiated activities. In the study it said that when a child was placed in a inappropriate development class, more stress behaviors were significant in the classroom. I'm not sure if there will be a time when preschool and kindergarten curriculum will align. If we can get both curriculums to align, it is the children that will benefit the most.

Blog Posting- P12

Throughout the semester, there were many topics that stood out to me and many that are relevant in my teaching today. A topic that stood out was getting children ready for kindergarten. There continues to be a debate on what and how much we should teach children for kindergarten and the right way to implement these teachings. It is always a parents concern that their child may not be ready for kindergarten and what can they do to get them to read and write as soon as possible. I believe that there is a perception among those in the community that feel if a child cannot read and write when their supposed to (normally a generalized age) then that means they are not smart. As early childhood educators we know that this perception is never true. Young children learn differently and cannot be expected to follow the same expectations or developmental skill as the other 20 children in the classroom. So preparing a child for kindergarten means giving them the skills, concepts, and knowledge that is right for their ability and development.

All the programs I selected were very interesting to me. This was the first time I took an in depth look at these many programs at once so I could compare and contrast. As I wrote in my final paper, I feel that the center I teach at now has similarities to many programs. I would like to make it my goal to research more of the programs, this may help me to find one that really stands out to me and how I may be able to get a different viewpoint on my teaching.

In each early childhood education course that I take, I realize that there will always be something to learn about. By continuing my education it keeps me up to date on the current trends, topics, and concerns. My teaching will change because will be open to using new ideas or strategies in the classroom.

Blog Posting- P9

Living in Hawaii, we are truly blessed to be called the melting pot of all cultures. It is no secret that this island we live on embraces differences and is accepting no matter what language you speak or what color your skin is. As teachers, we need to display this type of acceptance in our classrooms if we want the children in our classrooms to do the same. Professor Ladson-Billings gave three components of culturally relevant pedagogy. I really appreciated point number two when she said "an attempt to develop all students cultural competence". This means that we help children to understand their culture while learning about another. As teachers, it may be easier to teach what is familiar to ourselves and what we know. However, it does not give the children or us a chance to learn something new.

In my classroom, this year I am happy to say that I have several students that speak another language fluently and have lived in different states/countries. The children who speak different languages are eager to share words that they can translate and even bring books in their native language from home. By allowing these children to express themselves from their culture in front of their peers enthusiastically, it is exposing the other children to something that is unfamiliar and new.

In this day and age, it is no lie that society bases everything on what a person looks like. However, children have a gift of being non-judgmental, accepting, and loving to each other no matter what their wearing or what kind of hairstyle they have. If we want our children to continue this "gift", we as early childhood educators need to embrace differences in our classroom and keep trying to make everything how everyone thinks it should look like.

When it comes to the terms achievement "gap" or "debt", I agreed with Professor Ladson-Billings when she said that "gap makes it seem like you need to catch up. The debt, for me helps to evoke some shared responsibility". I relate this to the achievements in my classroom. Families are always concerned about their child hitting crucial milestones, however they blame or put the pressure on the teacher when their child doesn't achieve at their expected time line. How can we as educators get families out of the mindset "its the teachers job to catch my child up?" After this reading I can ask myself "how can I share the "debt" instead of feeling the need to always be the one to catch up?"

Blog Posting- P8

The word curriculum can carry a variety of meanings depending on what age group you work with, the school you teach at, and your own personal values as a teacher. I think it is very important to explain to the families in your classroom, what curriculum is used in the class. There are benefits and a negatives to standard curriculum and emergent curriculum. Standard curriculum generalizes the children instead of looking at each as an individual. This type of curriculum does not focus on the child's individual interest of knowledge. Yet, this curriculum is very responsive to the needs of learning objectives/goals in the large educational system. This type of curriculum allow the teacher to plan well in advance and can maybe even mimic another teachers lesson plans or activities since the lessons are based of a set planning and assessment.

On the other hand, the goal of emergent curriculum is to respond to the individual interest of every child. This learning is self-directed with no right or wrong answer. As I always say, "its not about the product but the process that counts". This curriculum focuses on the interactions between the child, teachers, and environment. Emergent curriculum takes time and effort to develop and it means that the teacher is focusing on observing the children's play, needs, and interest. Focusing on all of this in a full classroom (I have a class of 25) can prove time consuming and maybe even a little overwhelming. This type of curriculum is not based on outcomes, rather on how the child arrived at his/her discovery (learning) which is the best part!

In my classroom I make sure that I display emergent curriculum in my classroom. As much as my center does not follow rigid standards, we do base our learning and periodic assessments on the Hawaii Early Learning Development Standards (H.E.L.D.S). After reading this article I asked myself "Do I have a clear curriculum set up in my room?'. And another question that comes up is "how can I accommodate my families that are focused on academics to be open to an emergent curriculum?". The diversity of outcomes my families have for their child's preschool experience can vary. Some may say that they want their child to develop strong social and emotional skills, while others make it clear that academics (writing, reading, math) is their highest priority. But is there a way to mesh a standard and emergent curriculum together?

Blog Posting- P7

In my experience of teaching so far, I have learned that it is important to parents to find out what their child is going to learn and how they are going to learn in my classroom. I sometimes feel intimated by this question, because I know that my explanation can potentially make or break the families decision to enroll their child into our program. However, I am very careful to explain that we have standards and learning objectives for our activities and we use different themes/units to capture the children's interest and learning. I liked how this reading explained that "project work" is a growing trend toward integrating the curriculum. When you think of early education, you may not necessarily think "projects" since most times doing projects means a lengthy process.

In my classroom, I use themes/units as a way to integrate the children's interest and knowledge to expand their learning. For example, in the month of January the theme was Transportation. Since there are so many types of transportation and one month isn't enough time to go in-depth about each one, I asked the children to name types of transportation they were interested in. During circle time we did a charting activity that listed each child's response of what type of transportation they wanted to learn about. We looked at pictures of the different types of transportation and in two days of having a large group discussion, they children decided on 5 different types of transportation, airplane, jet, school bus, car, and boat. The activities that were planned for the month were focused on these transportations, but if a child did ask about a motorcycle, monster truck, or helicopter we would address their interest. To make this theme relevant for each child, I asked each family to bring in a picture of the transportation they use to get to school. Some brought pictures of cars, the city bus, walking, and even golf carts. I truly believe that when you can relate learning to the child's life, it becomes real and exciting.

To be honest, I have never done the project approach in my classroom. I believe that you can still pose questions, generate theories, and make predictions while using a theme/unit approach. I think these things can happen during conversations and while working in large/small groups. Doing a project approach is something I would like to try especially after reading this article. When doing a project approach, it will take time. It would be important to observe the children in your class and really get to know what is important/ interesting to them. Informing the parents about the project would be essential since it is always a goal to have the learning carry to the home also. I ask myself "If I had to create a project right now for my class, what would it be?" And I also wonder, "how could I use the project approach with a small group or even an individual child when my class size is 25?"

Blog Posting -P3

The belief that you can teach anyone anything if you break learning into discrete pieces and provide extrinsic rewards can be true based off of certain circumstances. In the circumstance of teaching English language learners and in depth learning, direct instruction can be challenging. This kind of instruction makes me think of the question I asked myself in my first blog post about rushing children to learn. Direct learning is based off of scripted lesson plans and is designed to essentially accelerate the child's learning. As an early educator it is never my goal to have a child memorize correct answers and be drilled on answering with correct responses. By having them memorize things doesn't help them make connections to their learning.

When a child is a English language learner or a immigrant, it is already a challenge to communicate basic needs and wants. So does teaching them through direct instruction work would be a question of debate. If we teach from a scripted lesson plan, we a not teaching based on a child's interest. And if we frequently to assessments which is a feature of direct instruction, we may be focusing on how much a child gives us the correct answer versus taking the time to truly see if he/she understands what we have been trying to teach them.

This school year I have two children that a English language learners, a child that speaks Serbian and child that speaks Samoan. At the beginning of the year I wondered how I would communicate and interact with them meaningfully. I am happy to say that 6 months later, both children are speaking in English completely in the classroom and use 3-4 word sentences. The parents of theses children say they hear much more English at home and are continuously labeling what they see and hear. Each child is able to interact with other children and staff in the room. When it comes to teaching, we use lots of repetition, gestures, and simple words. I don't have a script I follow and as much as they are learning, I am learning with them to.

When I meet with parents during conference time, a very common question is "when are you going to start to teach reading". My response to each parent is different based off of what their goals are for their child and the development of the child individually. In early childhood education,  there is a progression to reading. The child will first learn to recognize the letters, learn the phonetics before reading. For example, before a child can write his/her name, they will learning to spell it and recognize the letters before writing it. I understand that children start to learn to read early in elementary years so the thought of teaching them early sounds practical. However, a early childhood educator knows to teach a child based on his/her individual needs and teaches what is developmentally appropriate.

This weeks readings made me think of these questions: "Do some aspects of my teaching reflect direct instruction, and is it effective?" and "How can we change the view of importance of phonetics/learning to read among parents and legislators?"