Last One ~

Children live in a world where there is just so much to learn. Can you believe how much children learn in the beginning of their lives? They learn how to walk, speak, feed themselves, and simple tasks that we take for granted everyday. Children are always curious about everything. Understanding simple contexts about things and explaining it to them through activities is important. Sometimes I try to explain things to children that I think is so easy, yet they do not understand what I am talking about. Also, sometimes when they are not able to see it happening, they cannot picture it.

One challenge that I know I faced when trying to explain something to a child was when I was trying to talk to children about lying. I did not know how to talk to them about it because they do not realize what they are doing. They know that lying is bad, but they do not realize the consequences of lying. How do you explain lying and discussing things about being honest? Why do you need to be honest? Children are taught to be honest yet people lie to each other all the time. So are we being hypocrites?

This semester has been an adventurous semester. This class has taught me many things about documentations and how to use them. Analyzing and viewing the different types of documentation and observation types has opened me to a wide range of opportunities to get to know my children better. I think what continues to challenge me is finding which form of documentation is the easiest and best way. It is always different with each child yet it has been fun trying the different techniques. 

Group Learning

What I enjoy most is listening to children discuss about things that they go through everyday. What really made me enjoy reading this weeks lesson was the curiosity that the children had. They all thought of cause and effect to the process that their letter goes through to get to America. They each discussed things that could make their letter arrive to their friends faster. Then they came up with ways to be able to communicate quicker with their friends in America.

Instead of giving children the answer to what they were discussing, the teacher gave them each a chance to have an idea about how their letter will get to their friends and what happens if it gets lost. This is an interest that teachers can use as a curriculum. Writing letters and mailing them. I think that it is important to base curriculum off of things that children are interested in, that way they will want to learn the material. This also makes things more fun for the children.

I enjoy listening to what children have to say about things. I often have discussions with the children about things. For example, I like to ask them about what they know about a certain topic. Many of them often use each others answers, but sometimes they will come up with their own things. That is how they learn; to think about it and to come up with their own answers and we help them understand it on their own.

In the reading, the teacher could've easily told them to email their friends or just call them on the phone. We hardly ever use the form of lettering writing. I think that we should teach children to write letters and to mail it to their friends, families, or even to themselves. I can imagine using this as a curriculum to teach children how we communicate with others.

Week 11

This weeks reading made me think about how we come together with family to help children learn. Also, it made me think about how we use technology. I wish that children were able to use the computers in preschool classrooms. There are some preschools that have computers in their classrooms and allows children to use it to print pictures, type, or to do research. It helps children learn computer skills early because they will need the skills when they enter elementary school. Shouldn't that be a "readiness" skill? In this century, we are so dependent on technology and use it everyday. How can we not teach children how to use it?

I love involving parents into our learnings and projects that I would like to have in the classroom. Many of my parents are willing to provide materials to help their children learn. It was amazing to see how the parents were willing to help the children create the track with the robots. They were eager to help their children with their fascination. This allows parents to come together and get to know each other better. It also helps the preschool reach out for resources that are obtainable.

How often do we have group projects in preschools? I know that I hardly get to have children involved in group activities....it was interesting reading about how the girls came together and made the sculpture. You also see how gender is different and how focused they are. Providing group work for children is difficult, especially if they are the younger ages. I've seen where the older children were able to work together and make something. With younger children, we would need to constantly watch over and redirect them. 

These skills that are presented in this reading shows skills that will definitely be needed for future purposes. Children who later on enter the work field will need to work with others to come up with ideas and just to work along side them. They will need to use technology, and find resources. Why are we not enforcing that now? 

What thought process orient the teachers as they document? Does an even partial awareness of these processes have value for professional growth? 

When I create curriculum, activities, and focuses for my classroom, I always look through things that I have documented that week. I use these documentations and recall things that I recall hearing the children talk about. After all, we are there to spark the interest of children and help them learn. How do you help children grow if they are not interested in what you are trying to teach them? When collecting documentations, how are we collecting it? When I create activities, I have a focus on what I want to get out of it. For example, I am focusing on fine motor skills and bugs in my classroom. I created many art activities and fine motor activities for the children to learn about their interest (bugs) and my objective (fine motor skills). 

We see how different it is now from how it used to be in preschool. We now learn that preschool is an important stage and is very important for a child's development. As things are changing at such a fast pace, there are also different procedures that are being added on or changing. How do we all keep up with it? Just today, I had to tell my coworker that he had to cut the banana's in small pieces for the children because it is a choking hazard. He did not know that and said he has been serving the children banana's by just giving them a big piece. 

Seeing how they did the documentations was interesting because they captured all the language quickly and in a group of children. I know that it would've been easier with a recorder yet we will have to remember whose voice is whose. With documentation, you see how children build on everyday experiences and use them in things like building a bridge. 

Week Eight

"The use of portfolio assessment is a valuable tool for teachers to use with young children to better understand how young children develop and learn" (Seitz, 1). 

I believe that it is true that teachers use portfolios to learn about children. We use them to document children to better understand them in many ways. We are helping them developmentally and use them to plan activities and curriculum to help them better their skills or to learn new skills. Because children develop at different stages and times, having a base to what is the "norm" is important. Children grow everyday and it is best to capture that to reflect on how they progress and how fast they progressed. We also learn about what their strengths and weaknesses are. While the children are learning, we are learning about the children through collecting documentations. We also learn about how children grow. Although I know that we learn about the development of children from infant to adulthood, it is different when having hands on experience because each child is unique in their own way. Learning through hands on experience is helpful because it is easier for me to remember.

"The immediate focus of the portfolio is to support a child (learner) with their understandings of concepts, ideas, and emotional self."

Using portfolios also help the programs earn accrediation and makes the program a better program that parents would be interested in enrolling their children in. Having the license makes the program proud and the workers proud that they work there. It shows parents that we are teaching the children rather than just playing with them until they get picked up everyday. Using portfolios also helps us catch developmental delays and signs. Because we know what benchmark or developmental point each age is supposed to be, children who are showing delays would be easier to catch.

Everyday, I observe how the children act and know their personalities well. When the child starts to act a certain way, it automatically alerts me and I would ask the parents if there is something different going on at home. Sometimes, I try to see if it is something that is adjustable in the classroom before asking questions about family life at home. Children often share things when they are comfortable so it is important to build relationships with each child in a positive and trusting way. I use their personalities and their everyday moods to help me better get through the day with them. Everyday is new with them and it is a joy to have because I am never bored at work!

Week Seven

The chapters in this weeks readings were quite interesting. It talks about the child and how we assess them on a daily basis. In chapter two, we saw a child's development through a teachers perspective. Also, there were examples of how the child grew through the years. As teachers, we use assessment tools to help us show parents what we do at the preschool and what we have observed during their time at school. Some things that happen during school may not happen at home or things that happen at home may not happen at school.

From my experience, I know that I have children who show no interest in learning letters at school, yet at home they know their letters and is able to identify and show an interest. Because there is so many things that go on at school, I am sure that a child would not want to be doing things that they do at home everyday. Children often want to play with their friends and do things that they often do not get to do. How it is interpreted is very different. Our job as teachers is to be able to assess children without giving our opinions. Which is why we have standards that help us learn if they are prepared.

In chapter two, it talked about assessments, conferences, and school readiness. How much of it is for the parents? It also gave some good pointers about things to talk about during conferences. I know that when I have conferences with the parents, I have no idea what to say because I am so nervous. Also, I am still very shy and there are things that I know I am not sure about either. But I am thankful that the parents that I work with are very laid back and understanding.

Chapter three talked about how we use assessments and documentations for our curriculums. I know that I for sure use that during my planning. I try to incorporate the children's interests and help them to learn in different ways. I use the documentation tools to help me plan what types of activities to do, if I want to see how the children use their fine motor skills, I may do a drawing activity. Using the assessment tools also help us challenge the children and figure out if the activity age appropriate and if the child is able to understand what you are trying to teach them.

Teachers as researchers is a big topic. Right now, I have a child who has some developmental delays and I know that he has made me more aware of the different types of developmental diagnosis there are. Children are often deemed "ADHD" because they can't sit still, which is why more children are being medicated in this generation. Yet how many of them are really ADHD? I know that I am not ADHD, but yet I can't sit still most of the time and I am always anxious and have anxiety symptoms too. How much of it is just society telling us that something is wrong with us? But yet, what is normal? We stress how much we want each child to show their individuality, yet we deem them something the instant we feel that there is something wrong. As a teacher, I know that I research many things for me to use in the classroom and to help parents. I know that parents often ask what we do at school to help them regulate their child's behavior, however children act differently in different social situations. Being at school, I was always the shy one but at home I was really goofy and often loud.

Setting the Stage for Successful Assessment

How many of us actually take the time to listen to children? I feel that people often do not listen to children because they are "children." What they have to say does not matter. But that is completely not true at all. I believe that children who are listened to are the most successful. Those children feel that they are heard and their opinions matter. Children who are constantly ignored will always feel that they should never say what they feel and they will feel insecure about themselves. I actually feel that children have really interesting things to say about many things.

I often have discussions with the children during circle time and when we are doing free play. They talk about many things; from interesting things that are happening at home and using their imagination. We also want children to use their words to voice what they feel to others, but what use is it when the children are not listened to when it comes to voicing their feelings to adults? My focus when working with children is always making sure that they are heard. I always want to make sure that what they have to say is important to me. I never want to make any child feel that I do not care about what they have to say.

We use voice notes and running records as a way to assess children. It is hard to get what they are saying on paper because what they are saying is random and we are often not prepared for what they are about to say. I try to remember what the children say and write it down, luckily I have my phone handy and use app to get all their documents.

My favorite thing about assessing children is that you can see the progress that they make from one period to another. It is easier for me to use pictures because I can always go back to it later on. The hard part about assessing children is how much of it is forced? Sometimes I have to get the children to redo what they were doing so I can get it on camera.

Observation and Assessments

When and how do we assess?

I think that is a great question. These past few weeks of readings that we have done for this course highlighted doing assessments that were for children who were at risk for developmental delay. For example, Dial and Brigance are used to assess children to help teachers and professionals rate the child if they are developmentally on track or potentially delayed, and it is used to help them find the areas where the child needs focus on and to suggest professional resources to help the child. Many of us said that we hated tests because we would get nervous and forget everything; which I could totally relate to. How do you think a child feels when they are being assessed by an stranger? I know that I am very shy around people I am not familiar with. I am still very shy around the children's parents. I have a hard time trying to make small talk with them because I don't know what to talk about. But I try to do my best in every way possible because I know that having that bond with parents is very important. 

Depending on what we mean by assessing a child, it could be many different times and ways that we assess children everyday. For one thing, we assess children everyday to check if they are healthy and for signs of any abuse. When we feel that a child is at risk for potential developmental delay, we use assessments and make observations for the child to have proof for the parents. How much of it is for the benefit of the child? How do you come to approach the fact that their child may be at risk? How do you tell a parent that there may be something wrong with their child? 

Observations are a big part of how we assess children because we use them as proof of what we see when we are around the child. However, it is hard to capture everything that they do everyday because you have multiple children to assess for. Also, I think the saying that people act different in different situations. I know first hand that children do not show their true self at school because there is rules and limits that they understand. When I talk to parents, they ask about habits of the child that I have never seen before. I thought that this would make a great point that even with observations, what if we did not catch the child counting ever at school, or even trying to attempt to count. Yet the parent says that the child counts everyday at school. Yet, the parent does not have much say when it comes to school needing evaluations from teachers. This shows that the parent does not have much power when it comes to applying for top schools because some require portfolios or assessments from teachers. If the child does not display it, how would the teacher know? That would make a negative aspect of the child. 

TS Gold and School Readiness

When thinking about school readiness, I feel the pressure, as a teacher that I have to get the children to be able to do this before they are ready to go to the next grade. Then it just makes it harder for the child because I am forcing the child to do things to show parents that the child is doing these things. How do you know if a child is "ready?" A child may be the smartest in the class, knows his or her letters, and listens well, but that does not mean they are ready; what if they are not socially ready?

I feel that children are ready for anything that life gives them, as long as they get practice and soon they will get the hang of things. Even as adults, I feel that we make many trials and errors before making things right. When we get a new job, we go through training, and even when we are on our own after; there is leeway because we are new workers. However, we put so much pressure in the children to have to know certain things before starting kindergarten.

Parents often are stressed about if a child is ready for kindergarten and feel that their child would fail. As teachers, we want whats best for the child and want them to learn in the best possible way; however, with so much pressure and making the child feel forced to learn, where does that lead the child? They wouldn't want to learn or wouldn't want to do activities. 

With school readiness, companies provide assessment tools for teachers to use, but who does it really benefit? As I look at TS Gold, which is what I also use at work; it does not benefit the child at all. It benefits the company. Even with this assessment tool, I feel that it does not truly identify that the child is ready for school. 

When I use the TS Gold tool, I use it to put my documentations, but I also provide summaries and a portfolio for the parents to see, because the program is so difficult to navigate around, and the terms are complex; it is better to put things into a portfolio for the parents to better understand what I have learned about their child. I feel that using this tool does not get to know the child, it just shows what the child does at school and it is simply just meeting standards. But it doesn't show true personality. It doesn't show a child's interest or personality at all. 

I feel that a child who is willing to learn and is excited about learning is a child that is ready for school.

Looking at the three assessment tools this week and reviewing what each program does is really interesting. They each cover about the same things, but are used for different purposes.

Dial:
Dial-4 is used by preschool and kindergarten teachers, specialists, childcare administrators, and other early intervention programs. With Dial, the power resides in the person that is conducting the screening. Also, it is the parents and the students. There are many factors with Dial because in the format that was suggested, there are many different people around the child. It really depends on how the child reacts, they may be more shy around new people or outgoing. The screening is also mostly up to the person who does the final outcome because of the percentages that are used, it is based on which percentile is used.

Dial is useful for screening children that may be at risk for developmental delay. They clearly stated that it is not a "readiness" test. It is just to see if the child is within the normal curve or at risk, it is to allow professionals to help parents with resources if needed. They suggested a setting where the children and screeners have one-on-one interaction. The layout allows children to focus on the activity. It also allows no interruptions and is fast because after they are done, they go to another station to do another activity. The best setting to use this screening is if teachers, parents, specialists, or administrators see a potential child at risk for developmental delay. If they notice that the child is having some trouble and is behind in development, this would help to figure out if the child is at risk or not.

I think that everyone benefits from this screening because it is for the betterment of the child. If teachers, parents, screeners, or anyone sees that a child is at risk, we would want to find resources to help the child catch up or have an early intervention to help the child. It benefits everyone, especially the child, because they would be helped in the best way possible.

I think that the draw back of using this screening is that it shows the national range, every child is different, but it scores the child and it is an exam. I do not think that it would be effective because each child's strength is different. Using this is like placing a child at a certain range where it is "normal" or "ok" to be at that range. Some children are a little behind but could eventually catch up.

I don't think that this screening would affect instruction in classroom because it would be a screening that is used outside of the classroom or at a different time. However, teachers would benefit by being able to use this to help promote activities to help the child practice skills that they are behind in.

Brigance:

From the video, and the format of the PDF, it looks like Brigance is used to see if the child is "ready" for school. The way that the screeners talk to the children and ask questions is similar to how programs screen children to see where they are developmentally and if they would fit into the program. I would think that teachers and program administrators use this to enroll children. The power resides in the child and how much they know.

Brigance is useful for preparing for school, seeing if children are ready for school, and where they stand in development. The setting would be best in a classroom or somewhere that the child is comfortable in. It is more one-on-one interaction because the screener asks questions.

Schools would benefit from this program the most because it shows where the child is developmentally, and how to prepare their programs on what they know about the child. This program seems like it would be used before school starts and when they are meeting the child for the first time. I think that the child does not benefit from this screening because it is about what the child knows "intellectually" but not about the whole child.

The drawback that I see from using this program is that the program does not think of the child as an individual. It seems like something that is used for the benefit for the classroom and the teacher. This screening would affect the classroom in positive ways, for the teacher, it would help them know where to begin and what they need to work on with the children. It gives the teachers an idea of where the children stand.

Battelle:

With Battle, the program believes that the power is within the teacher and the staff. They believe that it is not where you are from, what district; with teachers who are great, it wouldn't matter where the school was. This screening process is useful for schools and programs to recruit and find teachers and staff members that are eager to help children learn and grow. There are different settings for this screening because it depends on the location, because each city, school, and district is different from others, there are strengths and weaknesses in each different school, what the program wants is staff that is willing to excel in all areas and create a program that help children succeed.

The students and community benefit from this program because with the staff that is described in this screening process, it shows that the staff is amazing and is willing to adjust to the changing economy. This screening process seems like it would find teachers who are really passionate about teaching and want what is best for each student they encounter. I feel like the only drawback from this screener is that not all teachers fit into this category. Although we like to believe that all teachers are passionate about their work, some teachers are different and they show their strengths in many different ways. It seems like there would be only a certain way that is "great teaching" but there is never just one way to teach. This screener would affect the classroom in different ways, positive and negative, because it could either help children and the program, or make teachers feel like they are not good enough to be a teacher because they do not fit in the descriptions.

Introduction to 440

Hello,

My name is Monica. I am in my second to the last semester at UHWO. I currently work at Alani Children's Center at KCC as a lead teacher with 3's and younger 4's. This is my second semester teaching so I am still learning each and everyday. I am the second of 4 children, 3 girls and one boy. My family speaks Cantonese. I was born in Manhattan, but raised in Hawaii since I was 2. On my free time, I love to eat; noodles are my favorite! I love to relax and just have alone time because of my crazy schedule. A great way for me to relieve stress is by going to the gym and doing some cardio, which also is good for my health! 

I am excited to start this semester with everyone!

Monica