Journal #5

Four Ways of Looking (Prompt posted to BB) a synthesis of what did you gain from your field work experience?

Looking back at my field work experience this semester I feel that I have gained a tremendous amount of insight into child development and specifically age related differences. Since I only have classroom teaching experience with toddlers, I found it very interesting to complete some observation hours in a 4 year old classroom. Though the students were only a year or two older than my own students, I could really see how much even a year adds to a child's maturity and capabilities.I also enjoyed being able to take a step back and simply observe the students. This is a role I wouldn't normally have the opportunity to do and I found that I was able to glean many interesting findings from the experience.

Looking inward I feel that I have grown from this experience. By taking a step back and taking on the role of the observer I found that I was able to take a closer look at my classroom and our routines and find areas for improvement. One important change I made as a result of my field work observations was to implement a system of creating calm in the classroom. In my observations I noticed that often times, especially during free play, the classroom can get very loud with children shouting and banging toys around. Instead of having the teachers try to yell above all of the noise to create quiet, I decided to try turning off the lights. This immediately quiets the children and then in a soft voice I direct the children to take a deep breath and slow themselves down because the classroom is getting too wild and noisy. I am proud to say that the system really works! Now whenever I shut off the lights the children know without me having to say anything that it's time to take a deep breath and soften their voices and actions. I am proud of myself for being able to look at my classroom critically and admit that there is always room for improvement and growth.

Looking outward I am excited to be a part of the Hunter College community and feel that I have gained a great wealth of knowledge from this semester. I especially enjoyed hearing from my fellow classmates about their individual classrooms and discussing what works and what does not with our students. I also really enjoyed hearing about my professor's personal experiences and being able to get advice from them on techniques to use in my classroom.

Looking forward I am excited to see what the future holds for me. I am currently teaching in a general education classroom, however I am eager to gain some experience in a special education classroom during my student teaching. One major goal I have set for myself is to learn more about the specific modifications that I can make in my classroom to better serve children with disabilities. 

Journal #4

One of the greatest ways that children learn is through exploring their environment. In my classroom there is a large emphasis placed on allotting free play time for the children to be able to navigate and explore the classroom at their leisure. During this time many of the children tend to flock to the dramatic play area where there is a kitchen with utensils, dolls, costumes, stuffed animals, and many more fun and interactive materials for the children to play with. In my observations I have seen that the children are able to use these materials to recreate real life experiences and in doing so they are gaining a greater sense of themselves and their environments. Through dramatic play the children learn how to appropriately interact with one another. Furthermore, they learn how to resolve real life conflicts that arise, such as learning to share with friends. All of the materials in the dramatic play area are intentional and truly help the children learn about the world that they live in. 

Another way that children are able to use environmental factors to enrich their learning is on the playground. We are currently learning about the season of Fall and the different colors of leaves. When we go outside to play on the playground the children are so excited to see so many leaves on the ground. They have a blast running around collecting them; it makes all of the lessons that they learn inside of the classroom really come to life.

One last example during which I have seen how environmental factors can enrich children's learning occurred the other day when one child discovered a broken Magnet Tile. He brought the broken tile to me asking me to fix it. I noticed that it was cracked in half and the  internal magnets were showing. Instead of repairing the broken tile I chose to use this as a learning moment. I brought the broken tile to our science center along with some magnifying glasses and had the children take turns investigating the tile. They were able to finally understand how exactly the toys they love to use function and they were so excited by it! This really showed me how every material that we come across in our physical environment can be used to enrich our student's education. Even items that are broken and seemingly useless can provide an excellent learning experience. 

Journal #3

Interview with Dossie Katz

In my interview with Dossie Katz, a fellow toddler teacher at Manhattan Day School, she said to me that, "Patience is the most important skill to exercise when working in early childhood education." We discussed how children tend to exhibit many challenging behaviors in the classroom however the key to maintaining order and calm is to practice exercising the skill of patience. As an educator Dossie feels that it is extremely important to promote happiness and encouragement for all of her students. 

We also discussed how ignorant people will often make comments about how early childhood education is "just babysitting," and how irritated this comment makes us! Dossie explained that she feels that her responsibility as a toddler teacher is to impart many life skill lessons to her students. She teaches them how to conduct themselves within a classroom and among their peers. Furthermore, she feels that she gives her students a foundation in math, literacy, and creative expression that sets the stage for their future educational experiences. 

Dossie's curriculum is heavily based on the Jewish weekly Torah portions and holidays. She makes an effort to always include sensory, math, literacy and art elements in a creative way into her weekly lesson plans. However, Dossie does find that she often needs to make modifications in her lesson plans for some of the children. For example, one student this year is almost a full year older than other students and Dossie finds that she often has to come up with additional enrichment activities for the student. Additionally, Dossie has two students this year who are receiving speech therapy and in working with their therapists, Dossie is learning to use additional visual aids to assist these students.

Dossie is a very dedicated teacher, always putting the needs of her students first. I greatly enjoyed interviewing her and I feel that there is a lot I can learn from such a thoughtful and creative teacher. 

Journal #2

       After reading Manhattan Day School's, the school in which I am currently teaching in, philosophy statement I discovered a few aspects that resonated with me. MDS's philosophy statement states, "We are committed to educational excellence and the development of the whole child academically, intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, and socially." I really liked how they were able to concisely describe their child-centered viewpoint. Furthermore, I am a strong believer in the concept that school is not simply a place for children to succeed academically. Rather, a school should be a place in which a child is able to develop his or her full self and this is adequately reflected in MDS's philosophy statement. MDS's philosophy statement also describes the large emphasis that they place on establishing open communication between teachers and students. Although this concept is geared more towards the older age groups I greatly admire the level of respect that MDS holds for all of their students and faculty. It feels really great to be working for a school that places a large focus on the pivotal relationships between teachers and their students. 

       Although there is no explicit mention of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) in their philosophy statement, MDS writes that they aim to provide effective educational programs in a nurturing environment. To me, this seems to align with the ideals of DAP in that MDS strives to provide the optimal learning environment to promote optimum development. 

       MDS's philosophy statement describes their student body and states, "Our student population comes mainly from the New York Metropolitan area and includes some international students." However, they make no mention of a concern for protecting and promoting cultural diversity or of adhering to anti-bias educational ideals. 

       If I could rewrite or revise MDS's philosophy statement I would make sure to include greater details on their teaching style and curriculum design for this seems to be missing currently. As a teacher in MDS I am fully aware of their desire to incorporate many Montessori materials in their classrooms. Therefore feel that teaching style is an important aspect that should be mentioned in their philosophy statement. I also would be sure to include a portion on the importance of anti-bias education and its integral role in all classrooms. Lastly I would add a sentence or two about MDS's concern for promoting communication between the parent body and the faculty. Parents play an essential role in their children's education and I feel it is important to include this priority in one's philosophy statement. 

Journal #1

As I get close to my very first field work assignment, there are many things I am anticipating greatly and I am really looking forward to. I am currently working as an assistant preschool teacher at Manhattan Day School on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and it is there that I plan to carry out my field work this semester. I plan to spend the first ten hours observing the twelve students in my own classroom who are all two years old. I then plan on spending another ten hours observing my fellow co-worker's four year old kindergarten classroom. This year will be my second year teaching in a toddler class, however I am excited to have the opportunity to observe them with a more critical eye than I typically would during my daily teaching experience. The toddlers come into the classroom in the beginning of the year with such naivete and yet it is pretty amazing to watch how they grow and are able to assert their independence as the year progresses. I am also very eager to observe their social interactions and watch how they learn to pick up on social cues from their teachers and fellow classmates. Furthermore, I am eager to interact with and observe the four year old children particularly because I lack the experience of working directly with this age. Last school year I was given the chance to substitute as the head teacher in a four and five year old class for one day. I was amazed at how drastically mature these children were in comparison to my toddler students. Being two or three years older brought forth so many new capabilities and challenges for these students and I greatly enjoyed getting to know them and teaching them according to their advanced level. I am really looking forward to beginning my field work and being able to observe the individual and group differences within each of the two classrooms.