As I finalized my career at Sonoma State University, I realize how much I
have grown and learned. I came to this school having a clear goal, which was to become a teacher. After completing Education 437, I not only gained much more knowledge to become a successful teacher, but it also gave me the confidence I needed to go out to the professional world and say I know how to create positive learning experiences for all children. I now know that in order for a child to be able to learn, I need to meet all of their needs, this might include, Special accommodations, or to provide an all- inclusive learning environment. Also, taking in consideration their social-economic backgrounds and most importantly their cultural backgrounds. Respecting at all times their traditions, beliefs, and language. Adding to this, to create positive learning experiences for all children, as a teacher is important to include family members in our classroom, and build strong relationships with them, which will only benefit the children. In this class, I also learned to create integrated curriculum with diverse lesson plans. The lesson plans have to be adequate for all children in my classroom; this is why it is of great significance to know the different academic and developmental levels children stand before creating the lesson plans and activities. This is where assessments play a major role in the teaching field. Assessments in early childhood education are an ongoing process and important one for analyzing, evaluating, and revising classroom programs(Krogh & Morehouse, 2014). Like the book The early childhood curriculum by Krogh and Morehouse mentions, an assessment will provide me with the information needed for interventions, or changes that need to be made in my curriculum. Different types of assessment tools can be used; it all depends on what it is more efficient for what it is that I need to know. For example, to know more about the students background, I might conduct an interview, to know where their social development stands; observations and anecdotal records might be the right tool. Checklists, another assessment tool that is very useful and easy to use in a classroom, in order to find out more about where each student stands. After conducting my assessments is when I will know what types of activities I will be conducting in my classroom, the interviews will give me the necessary background to know what is culturally appropriate to conduct in my classroom, I will also like to send surveys to parts to know what it is ok for us in the classroom to celebrate, this is including holidays and birthdays. As a teacher, it is important to know all that information to be able to have a fully inclusive classroom where children are able to embrace each other differences. One of many strategies I learned from observing in my placement field and from class, is that it is okay to have two or more activities at once, in order to accommodate all the learning levels or the different ways children learn. In my activities, I always made sure that they will be activities that keep children interested in the subject, challenging enough to keep them interested but not too challenging to lose their interest and get frustrated. As early childhood professionals I know all children learn the best by playing, so each of my activities and lesson plans includes some sort of play or activities that feel like they are not doing work, if not playing. Through play (my activities) children will put in practice and improve their developmental domains. Social and emotional skills by socializing with one another, the dramatic play will help children learn about the real-life situation which will teach them problem-solving. Through play, children can also learn mathematics, and most importantly put their language into practice. Lastly, through our exploration activities children will learn science and social science. My observations also taught me that children have the best positive learning experiences when they are in a positive environment. This means implementing positive discipline and attending to my students. To always be specific and give clear instructions to also prevent miss-behavior. Another strategy I learned from my observations is how important it is for us teachers to always illustrate and demonstrate how to do whatever it might be that we are asking children to do, this can be applied with activities but also with behaviors. Children will replicate and follow our examples. The main resource I will be using in my classroom will be to follow the Preschool learning foundation standards or if age appropriate following the common core standards. Asking other teachers with more experience in the field is another great resource (Carpenter, 2017). Lastly, there are many online resources that have great ideas for curriculum and lesson plans. To me, parents or family members are the most important resource for a successful classroom, having them be part of the classroom gives me the opportunity to learn more about the children, the way they learn the best, what they like and what they dont. Children feel more comfortable if parents are around. Also, having connections with the parents, will give me the chance to find out what might be affecting the childs learning, the family could be-be through a rough time, and I can become their advocator, by finding resources that may help their situation. To create my activities, I used my book The early childhood curriculum by Krogh and Morehouse to get a general idea on how to create an integrated curriculum and how to apply all the subjects into daily routines. I also used my observations from my field site; I changed it around in order to get original ideas. Lastly, I also used the online websites to gather examples and get more ideas about what lesson plans to do. Finally, I always referred back to my knowledge about the different theorist in the early childhood field, especially referring back to the Reggio Emilia school- based, project approach learning, and the Constructivism theory by Piaget humans actively construct their own meaning of the world around them (Krogh & Morehouse, 2014, pg.12). This theory supports my ideas that children learn through exploring and play. Exactly what I plan my classroom to be, a place where play still takes place where an integrated curriculum can be part of it too.
Resources
Carpenter, P. (2017). Lecture.
Krogh, S., & Morehouse, P. (2014). The Early Childhood Curriculum (2nd ed.). New