Caitlin+S.+Practicum+Blog

**Practicum Entry #1 (9.14.11):** 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?
 * Caitlin's Practicum Blog **

I was placed at a Montessori pre-school because I am considering ‍receiving my Montessori certification after I graduate, with my Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education, in May 2013 ‍. When I first walked into the classroom, I felt extremely comfortable and welcome there. I have known the teacher for two years now and she was just as excited that I was there as I was to be there. The classroom environment, like all Motessori classrooms are, was very natural and organized, much like an individual with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder would organize their own belongings; I fit into this environment so well for that reason. The children were curious about what I was doing there and who I was. I did not introduce myself because I wanted to see if they would come up to me and ask who I was. I decided to use this approach because, in Montessori education, children are taught to come to their teachers for assistance or advice. Eventually, one of the children asked, "Who are you?" I said, "I'm Miss Caitlin and I am going to be helping your teacher for a little while, because I want to be teacher." The child was completely satisfied with this answer, smiled, and asked if I wanted to watch him do his self-chosen activity. From that point on, all of the children wanted to have my full attention for the rest of the morning. It was so exciting and it made me feel really good about spending several weeks with them. My first impression to the class schedule was that it flows really well and helps the children to transition between morning circle time, to free-choice, to afternoon circle time, to lunch. The curriculum, since it is Montessori, is different than the curriculum in a public school. As a teacher, I am not supposed to ask the children what they are working on or what they are doing during their freely chosen activities. ‍Whereas in a public school, it is considered neccessary and appropriate to ask the children about their work. I kept catching myself starting to ask them about their work rather than waiting for them to tell me about it whenever they are ready. ‍I imagine that this will become easier for me as the semester with them continues. As for the room arrangement, it is extrememly organized. The wooden shelves go around the perimeter of the room and everything is placed into sections based on the subject that the activity teaches. Each shelf has beginner activities on the left and advanced activities on the right. The children know that the activities get progressively more difficult as they move to the right. There are several child-size tables around the room where children can do their activities and eat their lunches.

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 * Practicum Entry #2 (9.28.11): ** What are you doing to get to know the children in the classroom? What do you know about them now? What are they interested in?

Due to the fact that I am at a Montessori school, it is difficult for me to learn a lot about each of the children in the classroom. However, watching them do their activities and seeing how they interact with their classmates, tells me a lot about their personalities and temperaments. After being with these children for three weeks now, it is evident which children are the leaders, which children are quiet and go with the flow, and which children are the comic relievers. The children, also, are very much aware of the roles that everyone in the classroom has and they are not afraid to tell each other when they need to //be quiet// or //calm down//. In addition, the majority of the children have a wonderful work ethic and do not have any trouble staying on task. There are a few children that need to be redirected ocassionally, but, after they are redirected, they usually stay on task for the rest of the morning. The children know what is expected of them and they do their lessons and activities at their own pace throughout the morning. The children are interested in a variety of different things, such as cars, drawing, painting, coloring, dancing, singing, role playing, and playing games. Again, it is difficult for me to learn a lot about their interests because of the type of education that they are receiving.

**Practicum Entry #3 (10.13.11):** Reflect on your goal. How are you meeting your goal for your practicum?

At this point in the semester, I am approximately halfway completed with my practicum. At the begininning of the semester, I had several goals for my time at the Montessori school; (1) continue to learn more about Montessori curriculum, (2) talk to the children about their work, and (3) reflect on myself. So far, I have learned so much more about the Montessori curriculum. I find it interesting that sometimes their teacher shows the entire class several lessons during circle time and sometimes she shows individual students lessons. I really like that even though Montessori education is based on individual strengths and paces, they still work together and help each other. The children are so aware of what they are capable of and what their classmates are capable of. ‍Many of the 5 year olds are not afraid to tell their young classmates that //this is not 4-year-old appropriate work//. ‍ It is so amusing and amazing to watch these little people work out problems and complete their lessons with little assistance from myself or their teacher. I am continuing to be amazed by how intelligent these 3-5 year olds really are and I learn so much from them every week. My second goal, talking to the children about their work, is going much better than it did during the first week or two. I am realizing that they enjoy telling me about their work and explaining the process for each task. I frequently move around the classroom to sit with as many different children as possible throughout the morning. At first, I had to confront them, but now they are becoming more comfortable with the fact that I am there every Tuesday morning. It is so wonderful to see them get excited when I walk in the door. Often times, the children take my hand and lead them over to an area of the classroom in order to show me their work or ask me to read them a story. I love that they are initiating interactions with me as much as I am initiating interactions with each of them. L‍astly, I am doing a lot of reflecting on myself and how I am handling different situations that arise throughout the morning. ‍ I am continuing to really enjoy working with the teacher and the children in my classroom. I have found that I am even more patient, comforting, and helpful than I thought before; I could watch these children work on something all day long if I had the opportunity to do so. As much as I love Montessori education, I am considering another option: Early Intervention. At this point in my college career, I am being exposed to a variety of different schools, curriculums, and types of education. My other practicum is at an Early Intervention site in Pittsburgh Public Schools and it is making a great impact on me. So, as of right now, I am debating between three options: General education, ‍Montessori education, and Early Intervention ‍. I am continuing to look forward to these different experiences and how they affect me.

** "The greatest sign of a success for a teacher...is to be able to say, 'The children are now working as if I did not exist.'" **** //-- Maria Montessori// **


 * Practicum Entry #4 (10.26.11): ** 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?

I chose this question for this week because there is one boy in particular who has been acting out since my first day at the Montessori school. I figured by this point, I know what sets him off and what kinds of behaviors he displays most frequently. He has a very sweet and silly personality which, I think, triggers most of his acting out in the classroom. For example, during circle time, both in the morning and in the afternoon before lunch, he always receives several warnings for laughing, talking, or just being plain silly. Also, he tends to intentionally touch or hit other children who are next to him which is why circle time is so difficult for him. Eventually, his teacher asks him to leave the circle and sit at a table until circle time is complete. While circle time is the most problematic, today, during outdoor playtime, he slapped another child in the face for, what appeared to be, no reason at all. I believe that he acts out to get attention, not to intentionally disrupt his classmates or to hurt his classmates. I feel that the Montessori curriculum hinders his behaviors rather than helps them. Because everything is freely chosen, he often roams around the classroom bothering his classmates and getting into trouble instead of finding his own work to do on is own. Some of the things that I might do to help his self control are to go over to him and ask him what job he would like to do. I feel that literally asking him what he is going to do rather than simply saying, //choose a job//, over and over again, will help him to concentrate on the purpose of being in the classroom‍. If this still does not work for him, I will have him choose an area to work in and I will pick two jobs. His job will be to choose which job, out of the two appropriate jobs for his age that I chose, that he would like to work on. I feel that he just needs some redirection and assistance with concentrating rather than continual punishments and separations from his classmates. ‍




 * Practicum Entry #5 (11.19.11): ** Reflect on the classroom literacy environment scale. What did you notice when completing this scale? What kinds of recommendations would you make to the teacher? Is literacy encouraged through the environment in the classroom? What might your classroom look like that would encourage literacy development?

After completing the classroom literacy environment scale, I realized that the classroom that I have been in throughout the semester supports literacy in every way possible. The classroom environment and teachers scored exemplary (5) or strong (4) in all of the categories throughout the observation packet. I found this to be extremely refreshing and a wonderful reflection on the quality of the classroom and school that I have been doing my practicum in all semester. From the first day that I set foot in the classroom, I knew that it was a quality environment for pre-school children, but this scale proved the high level of quality to me. Honestly, I really do not have many recommendations to make to the teacher, because the classroom scored so high. The only piece of advice that I would give is to make the book area of the classroom a little more inviting for the children. ‍Currently, there are several stools and a bean bag chair which is great, but I would also add additional seating and colorful fabric to hang from the ceiling to make a canopy over the area. To encourage literacy development in my classroom, I would make the book area inviting and comfortable by using the items that I mentioned above. In addition, I would add a wide variety of books that incorporate all of the different interests among the students in my classroom. Like Miss Stephanie, I would also have books pertaining to the theme of the classroom and/or the time of year/season that it is currently. ‍


 * Practicum Entry #6 (11.30.11): ** How has your own professional teaching practice changed as a result from this practicum experience?

My last day with the Montessori preschoolers was last Tuesday and I have missed them every day since then. They made such an immense impact on me over the course of the semester and it was so difficult to walk out of the classroom for the last time. They blew me kisses, waved goodbye, and screamed "Happy Thanksgiving!". My heart melted many times throughout the time that I was with these remarkable children, but those last few seconds melted my heart even more. I will never forget any of those children for as long as I live and I can only hope that they will remember me. My professional teaching as changed in a way that is slightly difficult for me to explain. The aspect of being a teacher that I have learned to most from being in a Montessori classroom is that children do not always need to be questioned about their work.‍ Sometimes simply allowing them to do their work and think about it for themselves is all that is necessary. ‍I value asking children to "tell me about their work", but I also value allowing children to just do their work without interruptions. At first, not interrupting children's work to ask them questions proved to be difficult for me. However, I got used to simply observing the children and waiting for them to come to me. Once they got comfortable with me, they were literally fighting over who got to have my attention next! It was the best feeling to know that they wanted my attention and input of them and their work. As a future teacher, I will be sure to implement both independent thinking and prompted thinking amongst my students.