Mid Term Exam Pdf

EDUC 426 Mid-Term Exam PREFACE: Molly Montoya, Hunter Peifer and Emily Trujillo collaborated on this assignment together. The references we used are below. References Daunhauer, L. (2018). Theories of Language Development. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Colorado State University Canvas site for HDFS 320: http://info.canvas.colostate.edu/ Hemmeter, M.L., Maxwell, K. L., Ault, M. J., & Schuster, J. W. (2001). Assessment of practices in early elementary classrooms (APEEC). New York, NY: Teachers College Press. We intentionally chose one aspect from each category in the Assessment of Practices in Early Elementary Classrooms. The categories are physical environment, instruction context and social context. Three examples of a developmentally appropriate classroom are: the room arrangement (from the physical environment category), use of computers (from the instructional context category) and social skills (from the social context category). The first example is the room arrangement, and it can be developmentally appropriate if the defined space is set aside for a child to work alone, protected from intrusion by others (Hemmeter, Maxwell, Ault & Schuster, 2001). The areas in Shepardson STEM Elementary School are very intentionally designed, especially the third-grade spaces. This year in third grade, there are a few students processing behavioral development. With this, there is intentional space designated to Mr. George, a behaviorist. Mr. George works in multiple rooms and specializes in working with children who have behavioral needs. Mr. George’s desk is outside of the third-grade classrooms near the cubby. The students with behavioral needs have desks near the door leading into the hallways spaces. This is because the teachers in second grade, worked very hard to coach children to leave the classroom space and move somewhere safe when experiencing overwhelming emotions. The desks in the classroom are also intentionally placed. Teachers take into consideration the temperaments of the children, the learning abilities, the range of development and other factors that impact children’s ability to learn. Overall, in our experience Shepardson STEM Elementary School has the room arrangement set up to be developmentally appropriate for the students. The second example is use of computers (and technology) in Shepardson STEM Elementary School. As a cohort, we were surprised on the resources the school had, specifically the technology resources that are provided to the students. In addition to the technology special the students attend regularly, classrooms have sets of chrome laptop computers and/or iPads. In a previous Human Development and Family Studies course, Cognitive and Language Development, we learned the term digital native. We knew the definition of the word before we knew the term. A digital native is someone who grew up using technology on a regular basis and is therefore well equip to navigate various technology items (Daunhauer, 2018). Students at Shepardson STEM Elementary School are digital natives. This is a developmentally appropriate use of instruction because teachers implement learning and activities through technology. Students can write stories, complete math games and follow along with instruction on their technology. The third, and last example of a developmentally appropriate practices are social skills. In each classroom, the teachers and volunteers use language that is appropriate for the ages of the children. Our practicums are in second and third grade classrooms. Our teachers talk to students maturely and scaffold their sentences and ideas to further their learning. In addition to how the teachers talk, they also have use posters, pictures and signs for examples of language and

sentence structures. For example, a sign describing the differences between “telling” a teacher, and “tattling” to a teacher. This picture helps students think about the situation and look at the differences between the two before choosing if it’s something that is important to share with an adult. The social skills we have seen very developmentally appropriate and well-practiced all throughout Shepardson. Question Two: From our previous experiences in early childcare settings, we learned many songs and musical notes as the children sang throughout the day. In these settings, teacher would often lead a song as the class picked toys up, as they said good morning and throughout the day. As we have spent time in our practicum at Shepardson, we have also seen some songs being sang, although there are not as many compared to early childhood centers. One song that has caught our attention is a transition song. Teachers occasionally use it as they are lining the classroom up to walk through the hallway (for example: to specials, lunch, recess, etc.). The song is sang in the tune of Frère Jacques. Some of the lyrics are “I am ready, I am ready, my eyes face forward, my eyes face forward…”. This song has been useful for this classroom as it helps them release energy and use their voice as they are getting ready. The song gradually gets quieter towards the end of the song until the teacher and class are whispering. At the end of the song, the children are usually focused and quiet. It has worked as a great transition, and we would be excited to implement it in our classroom one day. Question Three: This question can be well answered in many different directions with the proper rational. From our experience, this is what we believe as of now. We have had the chance to be in the classroom two mornings a week since the beginning of the semester. We observed and walked through teachers meeting their students and establishing relationships. In the time we were there, some of our classrooms walked through rule making decisions and talked about how Shepardson students act. These teachers worked with students to create guidelines that would promote the ideal learning environment. Beforehand, the teachers have an idea of which things they would like considered, and if those items do not come up when talking with the children, the teacher can ask questions and provide prompts to guide children’s thinking. With this being said, this was only one experience for the few of us. For the other classrooms, there was not as much direct work on classroom set up that we witnessed. There very well could have been time designated to this which took place in a part of their day when we are not there. So, for our future classrooms, we would like to work hand and hand with mentor teachers to watch the beginning of the semester unfold. From this experience we want to add it to our knowledge and use it for when the time comes of having our own class. We think that when we are there we would like to create rules with students that they can have ownership with and have additional rule for safety purposes that will be expected of them. With this being said, it is completely subject to change. Having one and a half semester left in our program, there is great opportunity of growth and learning that will be taking place. Question Four: SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound goals. The acronym comes from each of the beginning letters. So far, we have implemented them in our math intervention. Our math intervention is not in the class we are assigned to, it is with a second or third grader. This intervention is one-on-one and individually constructed to identify and fill the gaps in our students learning. The SMART goals have helped have a target to work towards.

With these goals, we are able to evaluate our work, create games and activities for our student, track progress and communicate with their teacher. Personally, we have discussed how we can implement SMART goals into other aspects of teaching and our personal lives. For example, we have talked about how our Understanding by Design and lesson plans could have SMART goals. This would help guide and assess our unit and lesson plan. Question Five: We loved and learned a tremendous amount from the Love and Logic video that was of a kindergarten teacher. The first key component we chose from this aspect of Love and Logic was the first component and one of the ones we found most important, ALWAYS start with empathy. We have to remember that while we are educators and while we are held to certain standards, we are caregivers, learners and walk through every day with our students. We will create connections and bonds with them that can impact their entire life. Starting with empathy is an amazing way to approach all human beings, especially fragile, developing little ones in our classrooms. Therefore, we believe that a key component of Love and Logic is starting with empathy. This idea of starting with empathy really ties in the aspect of love from the Love and Logic theory. The second key component we chose from Love and Logic is focus on what you can control. There will often be children’s emotions, teacher actions, cooperating teachers’ decisions and volunteers that do and say things that are out of our control. What the children do, how they act, and what they say are also not always in the direct control of the teacher. In the video we watched of the kindergartner teacher, the teacher mentioned if a child isn’t happy, just generally does not have a good attitude but isn’t harming or disturbing anyone, move on and let it go. This made us realize and started conversations on how we feel when we are not feeling joyful and how we react and how it is externalized. We also talked about what it would look like to try and micromanage twenty-something little human beings. It may very well be impossible. Teaching children comes with demonstrating independence and supports autonomy. With this, it is important to have “focusing on what you can control” as a main component. Question Six: The Understanding by Design is an intentional unit that is planned backwards, compared to traditional unit planning. This means that the end goal is the guiding factors that leads the lesson plans and guides the questions. Part of the “students will understand…’ contains the component of “big ideas”. Big ideas are the overarching understands of the unit. For example, a unit could have big ideas including known concepts on a small scale and be applied on a larger scale. The big ideas should not be specific to the lesson plans. They should be the allencompassing ideas that can tie all subjects in to a higher level of thinking. It is important that the “big” ideas, are not too specific. With this being said, it is also expected for students to have different opinions on the ideas they come up with when discussing them. This can help further discussion and can offer new aspects of learning. Question Seven: Our cohort was fortunate enough to have an outstanding workshop from a behaviorist in Poudre School District. We learned an overwhelmingly amazing amount from this workshop. One of the large takeaways from this workshop was learning what children’s triggers are. We learned that when you know what triggers and traumas have impacted children, you can avoid them. When you avoid these triggers, you are more likely to have a safe and calm child in your presence. This can also help when a child is on the edge of flipping their lid. When a child is in

this state we learned it is incredibly easy to be pushed over the edge. When this happens, and they pop their lid, we also learned that it takes a minimum of 18 minutes to de-escalate. This means for these 18 minutes there is no teaching and little an adult can do but remain calm and safe for the child. The second largest takeaway was how personal space impacts individuals and children. As an early childhood caregiver, we are often quick to kneel to children’s level, be close in vicinity to their face and in their personal space. It was interesting to work through how someone coming in your space makes you feel. When this simulation took place and was then related to working with children, it made us think of how someone who has been abused would be very uncomfortable with this enclosing space. We will take these two aspects of de-escalation and apply them to working with students in our future classroom. We know and are continuously learning each child is unique and has different levels of comfortability. Therefore, when we are teachers it is important to communicate and observe our students to know what makes them comfortable and uncomfortable. Additionally, we will notice our body language and will be mindful of our space and surroundings and how closely we come into contact with our students.