Alyssa's+Practicum+Blog

(1st Log Entry)-September 14, 11

I started my practicum on September 13, 11 and it was a blast. I absolutely LOVED it! I was placed in a Montessori school that had such a wonderful welcoming atmosphere. As soon as I stepped into the classroom I felt like I was completely at home. In this log entry I would like to answer the questions, What are you doing to get to know the children in the classroom? What do you know about them now? and What are they interested in?

To "break the ice", ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍I went to each child individually and introuduced myself, asked each of them to tell me their name and shook their hands. I made certain to do this in a crouched position so that I was down at their level and we could easily make eye contact. I believe that this technique made them feel more comfortable talking to me. I wanted to make sure that the chidren did not feel like I was towering over them. I recall being very aware of this as a child. I always felt more at ease when I could see the teacher's face without having to strain my neck to look up at her. Although I know now that this is pretty standard practice when dealing with small children, I must admit that my personal memory helped me to do this rather instinctively during my "introductions". ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Even though I just met the children, I realize that I have already learned quite abit about what the the children are like. The classroom that I am in consists of children ranging in age from 3yrs-5yrs. One of the first things that I noticed is how differently the children interact with one another and/or adults. The 3yr olds tended to me more reserved/shy and seemed to enjoy playing with the other 3yr olds in the classroom while the older children did not. The older children (who were kindergarteners) were very social. They initiated interactions with me. They also appeared comfortable playing with both the younger children as well as their same-agedpeers. Even though the 3yr olds and the 5yr olds had differences, however, they also had a few similarities. Children of both ages liked to hold hands (especially mine), they loved laughing/being silly, and listening to stories. It is amazing to see how easy it is to get to know these young children. In a short period of time, I feel as though I have learned alot about their developmental levels.

‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ The children in my practicum classroom are interested in a multitude of things. The older boys (4yrs-5yrs old) are interested in __Star Wars__, super hero's and wrestling. The younger boys (3 yrs old) liked building blocks/crashing them and bugs. The girls, however did not like those kinds of things at all. The older girls (4yrs-5yrs) preferred dance, playing house and art/crafts. The younger girls (3yrs) spent most of their free time playing dolls, drawing with chalk and playing dress up. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

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(2nd Log Entry)- September 28,11

On September 27,11 I went to my practicum (for the 5th time) and each time I go there, those wonderful children teach me something new everytime! I truely love my classroom that I am in for this practicum!!! For my second log entry I would like to answer the questions: What are your initial thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the classroom environment you are in? What are the children like? What are your first impressions to the class schedule, curriculum, and room arrangement?

My initial thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the classroom environment are very positive. I absolutely love the room I am in. This classroom has a nice "welcoming feeling" that you notice as soon as you enter the room. I feel that this c‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍aring/peaceful ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ classroom environment helps the children develop appropriately because (in my opinion) it makes the chidlren feel safe and comfortable. I know that this was an important characteristic of the school setting when I was young. I believe that when a child feels safe in the classroom, he/she tends to answer the teacher's questions more readily, offers help to his/her fellow classmates and even participates more often in class discussions/activities.

The children in my classroom are much like any other children. Some are very open and social and approach a "new" person without hesitation while others are rather quiet and shy and it takes them alittle longer to warm up to you. All and all, however, the children in my practicum are great kids! The older ones (the 5yr olds) help out the younger ones (the 3yr olds). Despite the fact that their interests vary, (some of the children like the Math are in the classroom, while others prefer the Science, or Art, or Daily Living corners) all of the children are curious and eager to learn new things.

My first impressions of the class schedule, curriculum, and room arrangement were also good. I feel that the class schedule flows nicely and helps the children transition from the morning activities to the afternoon activitives. I was struck by, however, the differences that I noticed from more traditional PreK-K classrooms. This class schedule, had for example, a wider variety of activities than I recall from my preschool experience! These students have French, Music, Computer, Art, Rest/Nap, Lesson and more! The curriculum (since in is a montessori school) is different from a public schools curriculum. The‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ teacher of a Montessori classroom is not suppose to ask the children what they are working on or what they are doing for their freely chosen activities. I, unfortunately, kept catching myself asking the students "What are you working on" or, "What are you making" etc. It is quite hard not to ask the children these questions but hopefully by the end of this practicum I will not do that anymore. When I first saw the room, I also thought it looked quite different from the usual PreK-K classrooms that I have seen. The classroom was very neat/organized. There were no toys/materials out of place. All the items were "child-sized" and/or at an appropriate height for the children to reach. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Overall, I feel that this classroom placement is a wonderful educational environment. The children are obviously comfortable and ready to learn in this neat, welcoming classroom!

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(3rd Log Entry)- October 12,11

On October 11, 11 I went to the Montessori School at Carlow University for my practium for the 8th time. Everytime I go there, I feel alittle bit more at home

inside. For my third log entry I would like to answer the questions: Is there a child who is particularly challenging? What are the child's behaviors

like? How do you think the curriculum helps or hinders his self control? What are some things you might try to help the child develop self control?

In my practium there is a child whose behavior is challenging. He often throws materials, knocks the objects off the shelves, and deliberately ruins class

activities. (For Ex: Joey purposely dumped a bucket of water that the teacher had planned to use for a "job" activity). I feel as though the Montessori

curriculum may be too loosely structured for Joey. In my opinion, Joey is doing many of these things to gain attention from the teacehrs. After these

incidents, the teachers responed by making Joey sit alone at a table and work on a "job" that was chosen for him. The teacher also sat with him

for a few minutes to discuss why he was not joining the group. In the end however, Joey's behavior had the exact effect he wanted- he gained attention

from the teachers! Joey's Ability to control his behavior appears unaffected by the techniques used to date in this Montessori Pre-K Classroom.

Perhaps some other interventions would be more effective. Frequently reminding Joey of the beavioral expectations before a particular activity may be helpful.

In addition, giving Joey concrete feedback during the activity (Ex: Via a sticker chart) regarding his behavior is also suggested.

Overall, I think that Joey is a great kid he just needs to learn that he cannot be the center of attention all the time and the teachers have to be with the other

children in the classroom too. Perhaps if the teachers do what I suggested stated above, Joey will stop these behaviors and act appropriately in the

classroom.

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(4th Log Entry)- October 26, 11

 On October 19, 2011, I completed my ninth practicum site visit. Now each time when I walk into the door, the children greet me by saying, “Hello, Miss Alyssa” which I think is so sweet!  Initially, the children either just stared at me or smiled. As time went by, some children began to verbalize, “Hi!”, but could not remember my name from week to week. Now, I am a familiar person in their daily routine which feels very good. I’ve learned quite a bit from these children. The goal that I would like to discuss today in my blog is: How does the curriculum support (or not support) the developmental stages the children are in? How do you know this? What kinds of materials and interactions help to support these stages?

 All of the children range in age from 3-5yrs and although variations exist, they all fall within Piaget’s “Pre-Operational Stage of development. In this stage of development, the children’s thought processes are developing (even though they are still far from “logical thought” in the adult sense of the word); the children are usually “egocentric” which means that they are only able to consider things from their own point of view and they believe that everyone shares this view because it is the only one possible, and finally, the children “symbolize” which means that they can utilize one object or item to represent something else. The Montessori curriculum, I believe, //does// support the children’s current developmental stage. I see several examples of this. The children are given many “jobs” in the course of the day that support various cognitive skills. Some of the jobs, (like the “Parts of a Tree”) encourage the children to sequence the growth process of a tree using flash cards and puzzle pieces. The curriculum also helps the children develop/use “symbolism” when they are learning their letters and perform simple math operations. As they identify various letters and their corresponding sounds, the children are asked to find various objects which represent those letters/possess those sounds (ex: an apple for the letter A; a ball for the letter B, etc.) When “adding” to equal a target amount (ie; 11), children use different colored beads to represent various values (ie; 1 gold bead (10) and 1 red bead (1). Through the teacher/child interactions, I’ve observed that the Montessori curriculum certainly recognizes the “egocentric” nature of the “Pre-Operational Stage of development”. I’ve observed teachers asking the children what they think, what they are doing, etc. I also feel, however, that this particular approach attempts to stretch the children beyond their egocentric tendencies at this level of development. I hear the teacher telling the children, for example, that there is another way of thinking and doing various tasks/”jobs” and, oftentimes, both are correct. 

Further evidence that the Montessori curriculum helps support the children’s stages of development is the children’s behavior in the classroom. Although each of the children has his/her particular interests, strengths and weaknesses, the children are quite tolerant of one another and very well-behaved in the classroom. When the teacher tells the children to “work on their jobs”, for example, they do! This curriculum seems to encourage the problem solving/logical thought that is emerging in the Pre-operational stage of development. (Ex: One of the children was trying to draw an oval but it had to be a certain size to fit on his paper. After trying to draw it “freehand” a few times without success, he changed his approach. He went over to the metal instants picked up an oval instant and traced it onto the paper - and it fit!) This is a great example of a student using his “logical thought” to complete a task.

 Overall, I feel that the Montessori curriculum //does// support the children’s current developmental stage. My belief is supported by the kinds of materials that the children use as well as the types of teacher/child interactions that I have outlined above.



(5th Log Entry)- Nov 19, 2011

On Nov 15, 2011 I once again went to my practicum site at the Montessori School. I truly can not even imagine not seeing these children every Mon and Tues morning anymore! They are such a joy to see and they "warm up my 'love light'". "Love light" is a Montessori term that I learned during this practicum. In a Montessori school, "Love Light" represents the feelings that make you happy and warm inside. That is what these wonderful children do for me. They warm up my "Love Light" every time they smile at me and say, "Good Morning Ms. Alyssa ".

For this blog entry, I would like to reflect on my goal and say how I am meeting this goal for my practicum. My goal for this practicum is to learn all that I can about being a Montessori teacher and what the Montessori classroom experience is like for the teacher and the students. I am meeting this goal by asking plenty of questions to my practicum teacher; observing how she teaches her students their "lessons", and noting how the classroom is set up/ what materials are in the classroom.

I asked my practicum teacher a variety of questions such as, "What made you become interested in becoming a Montessori teacher?", "What kind of education/ training do you have to have do to become a Montessori teacher?", "How is the Montessori method different from 'typical' teaching techniques?" etc. During my practicum I observed that my practicum teacher instructs her students through various lessons categorized as either a "rug job" (performed on a rug) or a "table job" (carried out on a table). Once materials are gathered in the correct location, the teacher calmly explains/demonstrates to the child what he or she has to do with this 'job'. Once the child demonstrates understanding the teacher lets him/her proceed with the lesson/job on their own. She of course, is always available if the child has questions. Finally, I learned quite a bit about the specific classroom set-up/ materials of a Montessori school as I gazed around this Montessori preschool classroom. For instance, everything in the classroom has its own specific place on a shelf and there are different sorts of shelves. For ex: there's the science shelf, math shelf, daily living shelf, language shelf etc. Everything in this room is very tidy and clean as well. As I looked around this room, I noticed very quickly, that the materials were often made of wood and beautifully crafted. I learned that all of the main instructional materials are crafted by approved "Association Montessori International- AMI" companies. They produce the classroom materials according to blueprints designed by Maria Montessori. Some examples of these materials include: 1) **//The Pink Tower//** (which are nesting blocks used ONLY for building a tower), 2) //**Sandpaper Letters**// (which are thin pieces of wood containing a large sandpaper imprint of one letter of the alphabet). This supports Montessori's emphasis on a multi-sensory approach to teaching. The children trace the letter with their finger before repeating the sound of that the letter makes. 3) //**The Peace Rose**// (which is an actual rose that is located on the Peace Shelf for the children to use when they are having an argument or disagreement with another student). This reflects another belief of the Montessori Method - the importance of teaching "peace making skills". 4) //**The Bead Stair**// (which is located on the math shelf and is used to teach the children the numbers 0-9). The Bead Stair is a wooden platform with a support on each side an d a wooden block connecting each side across the top, Printed numbers 0-9 can be seen across the top of this wooden block. Beneath each number is a hook. Children place beads attached to wires on each hook corresponding to the correct printed number above. Beads are color-coded (ie; red=one; green=two, etc.) This color coding remains constant during math instruction in the Montessori classroom.

Overall, I feel that I have accomplished my practicum goal and I am so glad I got this opportunity to do my practicum at the Montessori School.

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(Final Wiki Log)- Nov 30, 2011

My own professional teaching practice has changed as a result of this practicum experience. More specifically, it has truly taught me that there are many different ways of teaching children and no particular method is necessarily better than the other. The trick, in my opinion, is to match the teaching method to the particular child’s developmental level and/or individual strengths and weaknesses. I have also learned from this practicum experience that I like certain teaching practices within the Montessori curriculum as well as within the “traditional” early childhood teaching approach. More specifically, I am impressed with the importance that the Montessori curriculum places on teaching conflict resolution/peace within oneself, the classroom, as well as the world. This is done through the use of the “love lights”, the “peace rose”, and the “peace shelf”. Although I am more familiar/comfortable with the traditional teaching approach (whereby the teacher leads a math, reading or science lesson and the students are sitting at their respective desks), I would like to incorporate this aspect of the Montessori curriculum in my future early learning classroom. There is a considerable amount of attention in the current education literature given to the effects of stress on young students and the need to directly teach coping strategies and conflict resolution skills. <range type="comment" id="952633">This practicum has provided me with some excellent ideas regarding how I might introduce these concepts to my future students.

<span style="color: #cb00ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">This practicum has also shown me the importance of another simple and yet extremely important teaching technique. I have seen firsthand the effectiveness of bending down to a child and speaking to them “face to face”. Each and every time I have observed this strategy, I have witnessed a very productive interaction between the student and the teacher. It was obvious that the child was comfortable with the interaction and, as an observer; I noticed how “natural” the exchange seemed.

<span style="color: #cb00ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Lastly, my practicum experience at the Montessori school has also influenced my teaching practice in a very subtle yet meaningful way. I have learned the power of observation. <range type="comment" id="247554">Simply observing what a young child is doing can not only help you determine how you can “scaffold” their play, enrich their understanding of a language concept or refine a fine motor skill but it can actually //enhance// //the child’s attentional abilities//. In other words, the teachers in the Montessori school never approach a student who is engaged in an activity and ask him/ her “what” he/she is doing. Instead, they just observe the student and wait until the student engages the teacher in conversation, etc. At that point, the teacher asks the child to //explain// what he/she is doing. In this way, the teacher has not “interrupted” the child’s concentration. I believe that this is another relatively simple teaching method that I will utilize in my future classroom.

Overall, this practicum has been a very valuable experience for me. It has broadened my concept of early childhood teaching methods and curriculum and has offered me some concepts and concrete techniques that I look forward to trying with my future students.





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