ECE 1.

Apply Child Development Theory to Practice

I have utilized developmental theory and assessment information to inform

practice by understanding each domain. In any activity I teach, it can include all 5 of the

developmental domains. If I would like to work on one specific domain, like Social and

Emotional development, I can make it more detectable. In one of my lesson plans, I did

an activity where the kids made faces on ‘people’ using playdough. Now in this lesson it

incorporates all the domains. The kids were working with their hands, learned about

different faces and emotions, created faces they wanted their own ways, and learned

how to listen and understand what someone is telling them. Whenever I play my lesson

I want to make sure all the domains are included. It’s important for kids to work on each

one individually, but I personally would like to keep working on their other areas of

development.

If I want to have my students play while they are learning, I would like to provide

a variety of opportunities for children to play and learn. One way I can do this is by

having different toys out everyday. Children can look and read new books or pretend

they are doctors in the dress up area. This can also keep kids interested and build their

knowledge. I would use this approach because this will stop the kids from getting bored.

They might start playing with something for a few minutes then leave because they are

tired of playing with the same things daily. This also will help increase their knowledge

of different objects, jobs, and boost creativity.

By making observations, I can create lessons and developmental plans that will

help meet individual needs of each and every child. I can attend child care classes after

I graduate to help grow my knowledge of child development. I can stay up to date about
new teaching ways and get new ideas of how to run my classroom. These classes can

also provide me with new resources to use in my childcare environment. This is

important because I can help children meet their milestones, create plans based on

their own personal interests, and use resources to broaden my education.

ECE 2. Cultivate Relationships with children, family, and the community

In my classroom, I would love to have a bulletin board that parents can look at to

see what will be happening in the classroom, that has flyers that provide information

about their children, etc. This is important for parents so they can understand what is

going on in their child’s lives. They know what the kids are learning about and what they

are doing throughout their day. I would also like to have a question box. In this box,

parents can write out their questions or concerns and put it into the box. Some parents

are in a hurry when they come to pick up their children. This is one way they can

communicate with me if needed.

Throughout my daycare classroom, I would like to have a bulletin board that

provides parents with a variety of information. On this board would have community

sources that help out families in need. Some would include where to get food, clothes,

and other necessities for a low price. I could also have some dates for parenting classes

if anyone is interested in taking. These classes can help parents learn how to care for

their children and learn new parenting skills. This is important because some people do

need help with their families, but they are too afraid or proud to ask. By having a bulletin

board, I can give parents ideas on where to go to get help that is in our community.

In my classroom, I would love to have parents come in and do activities with their

kids. One thing I plan on doing is having a Fun Friday. So every month I’ll organize a
day where parents can come into the classroom and have fun with their child. This is

important because kids need to see that their parents and I have some sort of

relationship. Also, research has shown that this has a positive effect on kids. They

achieve higher grades and have good test scores.

I have explained how I would like to have a bulletin board in my classroom. I

would like to add a bunch of artifacts to this for parents to look at. First would be what is

going on in the classroom that week and then photos of all the students. I would also

like to provide a section of community resources for the parents to look at and hopefully

use. In this section would be brochures and newsletters about ways to help prevent

anything like SIDS or how to help their children develop. I think this is important

because this not only helps parents get informed, but it also has parents stay up to date

about new research.

One way I would interpret interpersonal skills with children and families would be

by creating a small conversation with each child and parent I see during the day. This

could be something as simple as a “how are you” or more personal like “what did you do

last weekend”. It is important for me to do this because it will help build relationships

with children and parents. Parents will begin to trust me with their kids and feel like their

children are safe. Children will then feel like they can trust me and come to talk with me

throughout the day. Children can also benefit from this by developing their social skills.

In my classroom, I would like to develop a personal relationship between all of

my students. I can do this by listening to their needs and wants. I can do my best to

make sure that the kids are comfortable in my classroom. By doing this, my students will

see that I respect them enough to meet their needs. This will also begin mutual respect
between the kids and I. Having an open-house in the beginning of the year to meet new

parents will help me create relationships with my student’s parents. We can talk about

their kids and any concerns that they might have. Then throughout the school year, I

can have parent teacher conferences to talk about their child’s progress. This will keep

parents informed about their child’s school life. This is important because I can learn

more about each of my students and I can begin to build trust with parents.

ECE. 3 Assess Child Growth and Development

Throughout my practicum classes, I have learned how to create and write

observations. The one I most prefer would be using a Checklist. By doing this I can use

it to spend one on one time with my students and ask them questions to see if they are

on the right track. I can also document who might need a little more help. I could also

use this to walk around the room and check off things I notice without asking questions.

This would be much faster than sitting one on one. This is important because it shows if

children are developing properly and at the same rate.

One way I plan on analyzing child development would be taking observations,

making notes, and doing activities that will help children meet their milestones. By

taking observations, I can see if the activities I have been doing are helping children

meet their milestones. If those activities are not helping children grow and develop, I

can make changes to lessons so it will focus on those specific goals. When the children

begin to meet those goals, I can go back to my original lesson plans. This is important

because I want to make sure all of my students are meeting their developmental goals

in my classroom. If someone looks like they are falling behind, it is my job to notice it

and help them get onto the right track.

on what children are interested in. Some of the kids at the daycare center I work at are

interested in farming. I can plan activities that’s based on what happens on the farm.

We can talk about animals, vehicles, and food. This is important because I should be

teaching kids about things they are interested in. Using my assessments to influence

children’s learning is important because they learn more when it's based around them.

ECE. 4 Use Best Practices in Teaching and Learning

My personal classroom will have distinctive areas for kids to play in. Some areas

include the dramatic play area, writing and reading areas, etc. In these areas I can

make sure the kids are playing with items that are developmentally appropriate. In the

dramatic play area, I can have dress up clothes that children will understand and act out

those jobs. This is important because it's important to make sure they are meeting those

development goals before moving onto more challenging experiences.

I can create many opportunities in my classroom for my students to look at and

use cultural materials. One thing I can do is hang up posters of different races of people

around my classroom. Children can observe them and learn from them. Another thing I

can do is place out biracial babies in the dramatic play area. Kids can take care of them

like feeding, dressing, etc. This is important because kids should learn to treat everyone

the same. I can also help my students understand that just because we all look

different, doesn’t mean we should treat anyone badly based on their skin color.

Making observations is a good way to see which of my students need a little

more help in certain subjects. If a student is having issues with writing a letter, I can do

more writing activities based on how to write a certain letter. Maybe a child needs more
help in balancing. We can do activities that have us balance on one foot or do some

child yoga videos. This is important because I should be making sure all my students

are meeting their appropriate milestones.

Sitting in a classroom and listening to a teacher talk gets pretty boring after

awhile. Having a play-based curriculum allows students to get up and move throughout

the classroom. They can work with their hands to make race car tracks for their cars. I

can set up multiple areas around my room for children to go and explore in. This is

important because they can create their own learning experiences with little or without

any help from teachers.

There are multiple ways I can provide caregiving routines as a curriculum in my

classroom. In my dramatic play area, I can have my students take care of babies. In this

activity, the kids can feed the babies with the bottles and change the clothes of the

babies. They can also use the strollers to take the babies on walks around the room.

This is important because it not only teaches kids how to take care of themselves, but it

also teaches them how adults take care of themselves.

I have learned how to handle different temperaments in my classroom throughout

the years. I was playing a game with two of my students. One of them really wanted to

win, but ended up losing. He threw a temper tantrum because he lost. I let him calm

down for a little bit and then I explained to him that we can’t win every game. Instead of

yelling at him for his poor sportsmanship, I calmly explained to him that we cannot

behave like that or we don’t get to play games anymore. I think it is important to guide

children in a calm voice because they don’t get frustrated when someone is yelling at
them. By talking it out, we can discuss why we should or should not do something and

what we can do differently.

In my classroom, all the furniture will be small enough for childrens usage. The

chairs will be low enough for the kids to be able to get on them easily. The tables are

low enough for the children to be able to sit on a see over. All the toys will also be

stacked neatly and at eye level for the children to access. There will also be pictures for

the kids to reference to put the toys back in the correct place. This is important because

children can learn to become independent. They begin to want to do things on their own

like sitting on chairs. This also allows children to become confident in their abilities.

ECE 5. Demonstrate Professionalism.

One thing I plan to do in my classroom is treat all my students the same no

matter their disabilities or nationallity. In my classroom, I would like my students to

understand that everyone is different and unique in their own ways. Teaching my kids

about difference will allow them to execpt them and begin to understand its not fair to be

judged on something like their skin color. This is important because I believe kids

should be taught early on that it’s not okay to treat someone different because they are

different. By teaching this early on kids will be less likey to treat people differently. Kids

with disabilities and different nationalities will also feel like they are respected in the

classroom and feel like they belong.

In my classroom, I am always prepared with anything we are going to be doing.

Say we are doing an art project that includes a variety of small pieces. I always make

sure the day before that I have everything ready for the activity tomorrow. When I get to

run my own classroom, I will always make sure I am prepared for the next day’s
activities. This will allow me to focus on what’s going on and not have me running

around looking for missing items. This is important because I won’t be disorganized. I

can focus on my students and the task at hand without getting distracted. I am also a

role model to my students. So, if I seem disorganized and messy, that could have an

affect on the whole classroom. With any clothing I wear, I make sure nothing

inappropriate is showing. I wear pants that don’t have any holes in them and they are

not too low on my waste. My t-shirts are always at least three fingers width or more. I

never wear spaghetti straps. None of my shirts have low necklines or inappropriate

words or sayings on them. If I wear something baggy, I usually wear a tank top

underneath to keep all body parts covered up. The way I dress is important because it

shows what type of teacher I am. If I wear inappropriate clothes, parents and other

teachers might think I don’t take my job seriously. The way I dress also sets an example

for my students. If I don’t wear a hat outside in the winter, my students will begin to think

it’s okay to not wear a hat either.

There are so many ways to advocate for the early childhood profession. One

thing I will do is to talk about it. I can share my experiences about going to the

Northcentral Technical College. I can talk about what my classes were like and what it

was like in my practicum center. Another thing I can do is vote for those who have early

childhood teachers on their minds. Not a lot of people understand all that we do in the

classroom. Some might think we shouldn’t get more money to spend on classroom

items. This is important because we need more teachers. There are a lot of teaching

jobs that are in need of staff. By sharing my experiences, I can get people excited and
hopefully interested in this profession. It is also important to vote for someone who will

advocate for teachers because then they will help better our school systems.

In the early years of life, people learn so much information! We should be

providing high quality early childhood education. One thing I can do to advocate for

children is speaking with someone in elected offices. I can share my experiences and

what our schools need. We can discuss how we can help out families in need better.

Maybe providing free parenting classes or advertising helpful community resources on

TV. This is important because children should be given the best education they can get.

With the help of elected officials, they can help us achieve our goals. They can also help

get the words out about community resources that are specifically used to help families

in need.

I found collaborating with others in my workplace. We share a lot of activity ideas

and anything off that we see with a child. In my classroom I would like to continue to

speak with teachers about activities, the health of children, and any new ways to handle

certain behaviors. This will help me as a teacher by doing new activities in the

classroom and not the same ones where children could become uninterested. We can

also spot any red flags that might be coming from a child. This would benefit the child

because we can catch the issue early and for them the right help. This is important

because each teacher has one goal for each child and that is to keep them safe. We

can learn to trust each other and work together to give children an amazing education.

By looking over how some of my lessons went, I can see if there were any

barriers that might have occured. I can see what went well in the activity and what I can

do to make it better or more efficient for the child’s learning. Then I can consider new
teaching ways to maybe better the activity and not cause any barriers for the children.

Then I can use these new ideas in other activities to see if they work. This is important

because I should always try to improve my teaching methods. Also it can allow children

to make progress on their development.

ECE 6. Health, Safety, and Nutritional Practices.

All teachers are mandated reporters. We each go through classes that teach us

any ‘Red Flags’ in a child. Some of those red flags include excessive injuries, dirty

clothes, always hungry, awkward movements, etc. These techniques show use if a child

might be abused or neglected at home. By noticing these signs, I can contact the proper

authorities and get the child out of that bad situation. It is important for me to report

abuse and neglect because the abuser may keep abusing the child.

One way I can prevent SIDS in my classroom would be by laying the babies on

their backs. This will reduce babies from cutting off their air flow. One way I can prevent

Shaken Baby Syndrome in my classroom would be by asking for help when I can’t get a

baby to stop crying. This will give me a chance to calm down and have someone else

take over. This is very important because we need to make sure we are keeping our

students safe. By using these techniques, I can prevent SIDS and SBS from happening

in my classroom. I should also keep copies of all my certificates so I can show proof of

taking the classes.

There are a variety of ways I can keep my kids safe in the classroom. By putting

the toys at eye level, students can grab them off the shelf with ease and not accidently

drop in on themselves. By having kid’s size furniture, this prevents kids from climbing on

something that’s not the right size for them and falling off. This prevents the children
from getting hurt. One way I can keep my students healthy is by washing all the toys

that were used that day. By disinfecting the toys, this prevents my students from getting

sick. It is important to have kid size furniture in the classroom so children don’t fall off of

things and they can begin to become independent. It is also important to wash all the

toys in the classroom so the students don’t get sick.

The state licensing rules are used to keep kids and teachers healthy and safe.

There is a person who comes into the classroom and inspects all aspects of the

daycare. They check to see all the teachers have the proper training. This is important

because these certifications prove that those teachers have the general practice of

certain ages of children. I can do this in my classroom by having all my teachers take

certain classes, like SIDS, SBS, etc, and make copies of their certificates. I will then

make a file for each of those classes and add their certifications to the file so I can

easily show the state person.

By following the food plate guide I can provide children with nutritious meals and

snacks. On the food plate guide, it shows me that kids should have whole grains,

protein, vegetables and fruit for every meal. I can accomplish this goal by providing

fresh fruit and vegetables every day. Also I can give my students whole grains not only

for a meal, but also for a snack. By following these guidelines, I can prepare nutritious

meals that will help kids be healthy and grow. This is important because I can provide

kids with nutrients, vitamins and minerals they need to help them grow and develop.

There are many ways that I can follow sanitation practices in my classroom. By

having the children wash their hands before and after snack, after they use the

bathroom, and when they come in from outside. This will prevent germs from spreading
and getting kids sick. When the kids wash their hands they should wash them for 20

seconds. I can achieve this goal by having my students sing the alphabet song. It is

important to teach kids how to follow proper sanitation practices because they keep not

only themselves, but others safe from germs.