Week of October 8, 2014

Jessica Weiner
Reflective Journal
This weeks observation was the first week that I was able to fully focus on
observing my child for the child study project because I finally got the written permission
to begin my work. Because of this written permission, I was able to really implement the
third NAEYC standard of observation and assessment (Morrison, Page 5). I began
writing more detailed anecdotal notes about my child; however, I still struggle to keep
my notes completely objective. Every week, I will flip through my notes at the end of the
observation and take note of the multiple subjective comments I have made that day.
While I am extremely specific and detailed in my notes, I am still attempting to learn how
to restrain my subjective thoughts and allow only objective observation to take place.
Moreover, Ms. Natale introduced the sight word, see this week and as a way to
teach the students this word, she created a multimodal lesson. First, the students
discussed the word, its meaning, and sang their song to spell it. Next, as a kinesthetic
activity, the class went on a nature walk to observe their surroundings and learn to
associate the word see with the actual action of seeing. Finally, the class went back into
the classroom and discussed what they saw on the walk. Then, they wrote sentences using
their new sight word and the objects they saw outside. This multimodal lesson is an
example of the using developmentally effective approaches, the fourth NAEYC standard
(Morrison, Page 4). The teacher was able to comprehend how her students learn best,
which at this age, is through play, action, etc. Therefore, she incorporated kinesthetic
activities, such as the nature walk, and auditory activities such as, the song, to teach her
students a new sight word. By making this a multimodal experience, Ms. Natale shows
her responsiveness by recognizing her students development and interests and

Week of October 8, 2014

incorporating this information into a lesson that assists them in internalizing the new
material.
Lastly, this week taught me a lot about the importance of being a professional.
Through observing Ms. Natale, as well as through the discussions and advice she gave
me this week, I was able to see the sixth NAEYC standard of becoming a professional,
come to life (Morrison, Page 9). Ms. Natale demonstrates the importance of being a
lifelong learner, constantly. Many of her activities, lessons, and even behavior
management are from current educational movements, such as, whole brain teaching. She
is constantly reflecting on her lessons and teaching approaches and researching for more
effective techniques. She explained that this is her most important piece of advice as a
teacher; that we should always reflect on our teaching and research more effective
approaches and techniques, especially when it comes to behavior management (Morrison,
Page 9). |
After reflecting on this weeks observation, I was able to see how the six NAEYC
standards all work together and influence each of the other standards. For instance, I was
able to recognize Ms. Natales use of observation and assessment of her children, which
influenced her approaches to students. For instance, after observing one of her students
hyperactivity, she utilized her responsive relationship to modify her approaches to
teaching this particular student in order to optimize his developmental progress in her
classroom. This modification of her approaches then required her knowledge of the
content, as well as her professionalism and commitment to being a lifelong learner, as she
researched many different techniques to work with this student. Finally, to complete this
cycle, being a professional enables you to promote development and learning, which was

Week of October 8, 2014

exhibited by the students positive response to her new approaches she implemented
based on her recent research (Morrison, Page 4). Therefore, as Ms. Natale demonstrates,
it is crucial for a teacher to adhere to all six NAEYC standards because they all influence
one another and without the successful adherence to one standard, a teacher may fail to
implement the other standards and this will negatively impact the classroom, immensely.