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.