Case Study #12, Question #1
Kenji encouraged his students to implement a developmentally appropriate literary activity by instead of having the preschool students blinding recreate the ABC's from the modeled version, he offered that they only use letters that held meaning to the preschool students so that they would gain a better grasp/foothold of the alphabetic knowledge that they already knew, and in the process, perhaps even experiment or be introduced to new letters at their own pace of learning. Also by suggesting that they follow a more flexible model (one that they create themselves) the preschool students could also find a ways to use/show others their letter knowledge (spelling their names, words they knew, even using the materials in other creative ways to show of their own creative abilities) instead of copying what the teacher had rigidly assigned them, and create their own work that they can be proud of (and not be ashamed if their product was "not as good as the teacher's").
Case Study #12, Question #2
The second activity plan implemented the use of the book read to the preschool students about trains to help aid and transition the preschoolers into the mind-set of thinking about "trains" so that when they begin working on their ABC activity they will be primed, even excited, to create a product that will express their knowledge of trains. The second activity also incorporates a variety of artistic mediums the preschool students can use to express their knowledge of the alphabet (a creative representation of trains) either by their own direct hand (through writing, scribbling, gesturing, mark-making) or by using environmental texts (the variety of cut out textured letters). It can also be noted that by having the preschool students share their materials (glue-sticks) also promotes social interaction and cooperation, as well as aid them with practicing their literary knowledge with each other (ex. "Can you please pass me the 'F'... no, that is an "E", an "F" only has two 'arms'... yes that right there is an 'F', thank you!")
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Case Study #1, Question #2
Some of the strategies that Shawna and Ronnie used to gain the trust of the infants was they first and foremost were always readily available to take care of any and all of the infants' needs as soon as they would arise, making and directing eye contact as they conversed with the infants in soothing, calming tones. They used touch to comfort and settle the infants. They allowed the infants to be visited by their parents during the day (Natalya visiting her son Sasha and allowing her to speak to her son in Russian, even Shawna using Russian her self to ease the transition of Sasha's mother leaving and to give him something comforting and familiar to hear). Shawna and Ronnie also allowed the students to bring personal items from home to help ease their home separation, and to make the care-center a more familiar and welcoming place (for example, allowing Olivia to listen to her home CD when she was having seperation anxiety from her father to ease her transition to the care-center, or allowing the infants to have pictures of their relatives fixed to their own personal spaces/cribs to give them a familiar face to find if they are feeling homesick). Also the caregivers would talk to the students (and parents) about events in their home life (such as Olivia's grandmother's birthday) to build a stronger relationship and bond with the infant (and the infants' families). Finally, the caregivers were extremely flexible to every infants want and need and were always attentive to ease and comfort the infant and to let the infants know that they were there for them.
Some of the strategies that Shawna and Ronnie used to gain the trust of the infants was they first and foremost were always readily available to take care of any and all of the infants' needs as soon as they would arise, making and directing eye contact as they conversed with the infants in soothing, calming tones. They used touch to comfort and settle the infants. They allowed the infants to be visited by their parents during the day (Natalya visiting her son Sasha and allowing her to speak to her son in Russian, even Shawna using Russian her self to ease the transition of Sasha's mother leaving and to give him something comforting and familiar to hear). Shawna and Ronnie also allowed the students to bring personal items from home to help ease their home separation, and to make the care-center a more familiar and welcoming place (for example, allowing Olivia to listen to her home CD when she was having seperation anxiety from her father to ease her transition to the care-center, or allowing the infants to have pictures of their relatives fixed to their own personal spaces/cribs to give them a familiar face to find if they are feeling homesick). Also the caregivers would talk to the students (and parents) about events in their home life (such as Olivia's grandmother's birthday) to build a stronger relationship and bond with the infant (and the infants' families). Finally, the caregivers were extremely flexible to every infants want and need and were always attentive to ease and comfort the infant and to let the infants know that they were there for them.
Before I reflect on my field experience of September 8, 2009, I would first like to reflect on my class experience. It has been some 3 odd years since I have been a student in a classroom setting and adjusting to the workload has been been quite the ordeal. I wasn't able to obtain the textbook I needed for this class until two weeks and and I simply let the workload snowball onto me to the fact that, as Dr. Mayer had warned against, I am now rushing to complete all of my blog posts on the day they are in fact due, but with much effort and uphill struggle (and a sturdy snowplow of determination), as a teacher in training I will, myself, learn form this experience, and use the upcoming Fall Break to get some much needed snow shoveling done!
When I arrived at the two year old classroom I was first surprised to see the small class size and teacher ration (2:5) and that the caregivers were very well educated in the field of childcare. Also I noticed all of the furniture was size appropriate for the students, and that the meal prepared (breakfast) was carefully monitored by one of the caregivers (the children were not forced to eat no more or no less than what they were satisfied with, and there was no rush or hurry to get the children to eat) while the other caregiver watched over the toddlers who had eaten at home and were engaging playing with play-doh or on the computer. There was no immediate set schedule for the toddlers (story time, math time, block time, etc.,) and were allowed to pursue their own intrests and socialize with each other and the caregivers. The caregivers would converse with the toddlers, ask them questions about what they were doing, and scaffold their activities to promote further creativity and awareness (asking what they were making with the play-doh - a pancake in one child's case - and asking the toddler what else they could make to go with the pancake). The atmosphere was calm and easy going and the toddlers were generally well natured towards each other.
On the other hand the three year old classroom was much busier and much noisier. The student:teacher/caregiver ratio there was roughly 10:1 (twenty students, two teachers/caregivers). The students were engaged in multiple activities (and conversations) at the classroom seemed to be in more disarray than the two year old classroom (mainly due to the level of activity), but the classroom itself seem to be more busy and a bit cluttered (there were multiple posters of colors, shapes, and of the alphabet plastered about the classroom). The number of students and the amount of shelving, furnichure, toys, and child implements made it difficult to maneuver and traffic about the classroom. Also the caregivers had implemented rules about how many children were allotted to each area/activity at a time (and it seemed more stressful on the caregivers to enforce these rules than to allow the children freedom, from my perspective). For the given circumstances (cramped classroom and student class size) the caregivers were able to maintain (as much) order in the classroom (as possible) and remained cool and collected if not a bit frazzled by the sheer amount of activity going on in the classroom.
When I arrived at the two year old classroom I was first surprised to see the small class size and teacher ration (2:5) and that the caregivers were very well educated in the field of childcare. Also I noticed all of the furniture was size appropriate for the students, and that the meal prepared (breakfast) was carefully monitored by one of the caregivers (the children were not forced to eat no more or no less than what they were satisfied with, and there was no rush or hurry to get the children to eat) while the other caregiver watched over the toddlers who had eaten at home and were engaging playing with play-doh or on the computer. There was no immediate set schedule for the toddlers (story time, math time, block time, etc.,) and were allowed to pursue their own intrests and socialize with each other and the caregivers. The caregivers would converse with the toddlers, ask them questions about what they were doing, and scaffold their activities to promote further creativity and awareness (asking what they were making with the play-doh - a pancake in one child's case - and asking the toddler what else they could make to go with the pancake). The atmosphere was calm and easy going and the toddlers were generally well natured towards each other.
On the other hand the three year old classroom was much busier and much noisier. The student:teacher/caregiver ratio there was roughly 10:1 (twenty students, two teachers/caregivers). The students were engaged in multiple activities (and conversations) at the classroom seemed to be in more disarray than the two year old classroom (mainly due to the level of activity), but the classroom itself seem to be more busy and a bit cluttered (there were multiple posters of colors, shapes, and of the alphabet plastered about the classroom). The number of students and the amount of shelving, furnichure, toys, and child implements made it difficult to maneuver and traffic about the classroom. Also the caregivers had implemented rules about how many children were allotted to each area/activity at a time (and it seemed more stressful on the caregivers to enforce these rules than to allow the children freedom, from my perspective). For the given circumstances (cramped classroom and student class size) the caregivers were able to maintain (as much) order in the classroom (as possible) and remained cool and collected if not a bit frazzled by the sheer amount of activity going on in the classroom.
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