Creating a Classroom Culture for In-Depth Curriculum Essay

The article Environments That Inspire complied by Susan Friedman was a fantastic piece. I learned that having a stick building area for children will encourage children to explore their imagination and create something for either dramatic play or make different kinds of structures. Another thing I have learned was how important it can be to have low tables and chair for toddlers. Allowing the children to sit in these chairs where their feet can rest on the floor give them a feeling of independence. Lastly, something that I learned and found quite interesting was having the All About Me Books. The child and parent can work together to create these and then bring them to class. The books celebrate each child’s uniqueness, encourage literacy,

I encourage children to participate in classroom activities and to honor the classroom rules. I listen to what the children say and expand upon their language, building their vocabulary and background knowledge. I understand when to teach directly, when to provide time for exploration and discovery, when to practice skills, and when to encourage creativity. I plan activities that have a purpose and that challenge children. We have site words, colors, shapes, letters, and numbers posted throughout the classroom. In small group time we have enrichment work that is fun as well as educational. We also have calendars that we send home with the parents that have daily activities on them to help the children to learn while at home. The parents also have the opportunity to view the lesson plan because it is posted on the wall in the

With different children in the class you have to make sure to keep each child’s learning to their levels. Keep researching new ways for the children to learn more information each week. Make sure to stay along licensing rules. Get trained in the fields I need so that I will know everything that I need to know for the children. Making sure to have them in a safe place so that they will feel safe there is important. Make sure to learn about the children’s families because knowing that information can help better understand the children. I will make sure to let the families always know the local school hours. Let the parents know about my program’s mission. Keeping the parents and other staff up to date on what I’m planning to do. Keeping my policies up to date such as communication with parents, curriculum, discipline and guidance, drop-off and pick-ups, emergency closings, others authorized to pick up the children, fees and payment arrangements, food and nutrition, etc. One of the most important things would just be keeping everyone up to

As a practicing teaching, it is responsibility to create and maintain a safe and supportive learning environment for students. Whilst on professional experience at a local school in Cairns, I taught a series of lessons (artefact 4) for a year 8 Health and Physical Education class. In order to effectively teach each lesson, I had to manage the classroom activities and challenging behaviours. I used the ten micro-skills for classroom management to not only manage students’ behaviour but also ensure inclusive student participation and engagement.

There were times during the day, where the children could read alone, and every day in the morning and afternoon the teachers did circle time with the kids and would read books. When there was down time during the day, the teachers would pull out puzzles for the kids to play with. The only change I would suggest is to allow more time for independent reading for the toddlers. Their own completed artwork was hung all through out the classroom. There was not one blank space on a wall. Every single week, they have a theme and do art work everyday that relates to that theme. For example, when I was there it was gardening week and they made a sun out of their own hand prints and that was also the week I did my garden sensory bin with

The Curriculum for Excellence describes eight curricular areas, three of which assign a responsibility to all teachers regardless of sector; namely Literacy, Numeracy, and Health and Wellbeing (HWB). Whereas some form of instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic has always been a feature of formal education, Health and Wellbeing is a relatively new addition to the school curriculum, both in Scotland and globally .

One easy way to provide feedback and information to parents is to make an online newsletter. My teacher updates her newsletter about once every two weeks and then sends an email to the parents to let them know. The newsletter is on the schools main page, but the bi-weekly reminder is how she communicates the information with parents. In my teachers newsletter she includes a calendar for the month, important school events, like the Thanksgiving Feast. My teacher also includes what the students are learning in class and ways that the parents could help them at home, such as read aloud time, and finding vocabulary words together. The newsletter also has information

4. Currently in my classroom I teach 5 year olds. They really enjoy stories to open a lesson for the week. They love hands on learning, so we play a lot of letter and number bingo, we play counting games, and create art several times during the week that have to do with our themed lesson. I engage myself with every child, and want every student to be fully interacting with me and the rest of the class. I believe in differentiating instruction, adapting to every child’s need. I also assess each child three times a year, first to see where the class as a whole is in knowledge of letters, numbers, and shapes and colors, then I will assess half way through the year to tell myself how we are doing, and the end of the year to let the parents know our success.

It’s good to encourage children to try out new things as this helps them prepare for changes that are expected to happen in their lives. It is good to use different ways of practice such as stories and group discussions about families having babies, starting school and bereavement. This will

Every day during dismissal I give the caregivers brief details about their child's day including any concerns I may have. A communication folder is sent home daily. I encourage the families to check the folder daily for new information, student work, or paperwork that may need to be filled out and returned. Included in the folder is a monthly calendar that shows daily lessons, homework, classroom items needed, fieldtrips, etc. I contact the caregivers that I do not see on a regular basis by telephone, notes, and e-mail. Progress reports are also sent

Parents and Staff: Everyday written report was given to the parents for mealtime and diapering log, there was Family Board Bulletin where milestone moments of each child were posted. Both teachers in the class communicated well with each other. The director(Kelly) was very helpful and supportive to all her staff members. At this time, they are short of staffs but Kelly is accepting new applicants. When new teacher is accepted she/he will undergo orientation first before working with

As mentioned prior, students in middle school are going through significant changes. This means that there must be a clear path of communication between the parents/guardians and the educator. Parent-teacher conferences are a great way for parents to be involved in the learning environment. Through these conferences, parents can learn how their adolescent is performing in class. These conferences not only address academic progress, but also behavioral needs. It is common for students to act up for attention or to look cool in the middle grades. With parent-teacher conferences, the parent(s) can be made aware of any negative behaviors that need to be addressed. Another approach is a school newsletter, which I personally really like. Within the newsletter can be important upcoming dates, shout-outs, and relevant information. I really enjoy the idea of newsletters being sent home versus emailed. This is because I have students who do not have internet access at home. It is not fair for those students and parents to miss out if they do not have internet access. The communication line between parents/guardians and the educator is critical in the middle level. It is crucial for me to fulfill my role as an educator and communicating with the families. If I push this topic to the side, it is my student who suffers. It is not fair to my student to suffer if I do not perform my job the proper way.

Curriculum is a term often highlighted during discourse about education and most commonly understood as a policy with overt leaning outcomes for teachers to apply and achieve. Ornstein and Hunkins (1998), as cited by Selvaraj (2010), defined curriculum based on two lenses; micro and macro, which identify the term as both policy towards certain goals and what students experience with consideration for relevant theories and principles central to its development and implementation. However, Wilson (n.d.) argued that curriculum is not restricted to certain individuals, subjects and environments, since teaching and learning can also occur beyond the scope of official curriculum (Ebert & Culyer, as cited in Marsh, Clarke & Pittaway, 2014). I believe this interpretation is the closest to the true nature of curriculum, or education, as there are more complex layers to curriculum than just a written guideline. For example, not one curriculum is similar to another because it is subjected to influences from continuum number of factors, such as politics and economy. Hence, it is wise to conclude that curriculum could not be defined based on a singular perspective due to its dependability on context.

In the field of education there could arise many philosophical ideas of each individual teacher. Many of the past philosophies have been and still are used in today’s education programs, such as the Socratic method. My philosophy will also contain some of the many philosophies of the past and possibly the future. I will state the nature of students, the nature of knowledge, the purpose of public education, method, and curriculum according to my own philosophies, which also may be based the philosophical ideas of previous individuals.

The meaning of the term’ curriculum’ is difficult to define. For school, Pratt (in Brady and Kennedy, 2014, p. 3) argues that curriculum can be ‘an organized set of formal educational and training intentions’. For students, Marsh and Wills (in Brady and Kennedy, 2014, p. 3) maintain that curriculum is ‘an interrelated set of plans and experiences that a student undertakes under the guidance of the school’, while for teachers, the challenge is to develop curricula that will cater for the needs of all students (Ah Sam & Ackland, 2005). There are various meanings attached to the term’ curriculum’. My personal definition for school curriculum is that schools develop programs of different study areas basing on the content of the national curriculum document; teachers plan their teaching basing on the programs; eventually, students experience the curriculum by engaging in diverse teaching activities. In this essay, I will be discussing The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) in relation to the strategic plan and teaching philosophy of Hampton Park East Kindergarten.