Teaching Is A Collaborative Process And Help Students Develop Critical Thinking Skills Essay

Over the years, I feel I have been guided by God to pursue Elementary Education, which narrows my focus to the kindergarten classroom. I will clearly define the most helpful theories that may be implemented throughout the kindergarten learning environment. Effective teacher characteristics will be identified and why they are imperative for this particular age group. Young children have different learning characteristics and it is important for teachers to recognize and accommodate to the needs of their students. Throughout this course, I have discovered certain characteristics about myself and I will elaborate on my unique learning styles.

I thrive on core knowledge base from within our field and evaluate our effectiveness. It gives us a framework within which to work and serves as springboard for improvement. I believe that as Early Childhood Educators we must be able to understand child development and demonstrate the implication of this knowledge in practice; provide an environment that is safe, healthy and nurturing and is trustworthy, consistent and secure for all. We must also plan, implement and evaluate developmentally appropriate curriculum to enhance all areas of children’s learning and development including physical, intellectual, creative, and language, emotional and social. As a Teacher Educator, we are guides for student-teachers , who in turn guides our children and should model and facilitate supportive relationships by utilizing developmentally appropriate techniques. As early childhood educators it is indicative that we support the development of individual children, recognizing that children are best understood in the context of family, culture and

I believe that as an early childhood educator my goal will be to promote the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development of each child. I also believe that play should be the base of learning since children learn best by doing. I believe that a balance between teacher-directed and child-initiated activities is essential balance can be developed by using the developmentally appropriate practice approach, which means that activities should be “appropriate for each child and relevant to the child’s ability, needs and interests, also including the child’s family and being respectful to the child’s culture.

My philosophy of Early childhood education is based on research that indicates that a child’s growth is developmental. Every child is unique in terms of life experiences, developmental readiness, and cultural heritage. A high quality early childhood program that provides a safe and nurturing environment, which promotes physical, social, emotional, language and cognitive development will ensure a positive continuation of the child’s education process

As early educators and advocates for young children, we need to be available to families in our area and play integral roles that can make a difference in their lives. Some ways that I could do that in a student’s life would be to assure that the family’s basic needs are met by striving to make a deeper connection, provide outside

“Students articulate the complex characteristics of children’s families and communities and use this understanding to create respectful, reciprocal relationships that support and empower families, and to engage all families in their children’s development and learning.”

Providing children with an environment that nurtures their social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development is the framework that will promote children’s optimal learning and development. Gaining knowledge about the child will help a teacher to develop and create programs that are suitable for the age and the stages of children’s development. Applying developmentally appropriate practices will support the excellence in early childhood education because it is based off of the knowledge of knowing each child as an individual and how they develop.

Describe specific methods you would use to promote partnerships with families. About two weeks before school starts, I will send my students a letter in which I introduce myself and describe some activities we will share. I will share how important their contributions are and my desire to partner with them over the year. I will ask questions about the family’s expectations for their child, how they presently support their child with schoolwork, and how you and the school can assist them. I will encourage families to ask me questions about their child or how I can run my classroom that is suitable to their child needs. I will provide each parent with my personal contact information if they have any private concerns or issues questions.

Collaborated closely with the program director to ensure consistency of Unlimited Possibilities and a high impact orientation experience with the FamiliesWork360 initiative: Integrated the initiative's core values, commitment to diversity and inclusion and connection to aid in developing strategic scope of student continuum of engagement from first touch point to sustained involvement in service; continuum of engagement from vetting criteria to training role to ongoing assessment of resources and quality of service experience and relationship management of stakeholders and constituents; Identify and connect with relevant community partners as training resources.

This unit contains all the resources needed for teaching Grades 5 & 6 Unit 2: Critical Thinking.

* Example: My friend had but his girlfriend’s name on him and every time he would go out he would cheat on her and say it was his sister’s name. So it would be argument between the two of them.

The education of the young mind is an important step in preparing the child for future learning experiences. The evolution of early childhood education has changed how adults and parents view the importance of offering stimulating and exciting opportunities to the very young. Early childhood Education offers the young child learning experiences that benefit them throughout their educational career. They soon embark on a whole new world of learning. These children are not only experiencing standard brain growth, but verbal and physical skills as well. Early childhood education teachers use a variation of techniques for instructing. They use lesson plans, worksheets, and even teacher resources for these young minds.

“Be a reflective teacher. Honestly look at what you do from time to time. Evaluate the purpose of your role as a teacher.” (Robert John Meenham, 2011)

Learning is the process of taking in information from the five senses, processing it in a manner we can relate to it, and applying it to our lives through critical thinking and sound reasoning in a way that is productive and positive to our self and those around us. My definition of learning has expanded greatly through taking this course. I had never really understood that the learning process began with our five senses, or that we filtered our experiences through four specific patterns of thought. This class has opened my eyes to the diverse ways we learn, and raised my awareness to the different patterns of thought involved in the learning process. It has also taught me much about how to apply the process of critical thinking to learning, and how I can use being an intentional learner to increase my chances of success in obtaining my goal of getting a degree. Having the Learning Connections Inventory will be a valued resource as I apply these new tools to my quest of obtaining my degree.

My courses are designed to be learner-centered and often employ nontraditional and experiential content as well as foundational texts. For example, in my Childrens Literature course, I ask students to write about their experience after reading a multicultural text and analyze their responses to the available framework for analysis. This is a way for students to understand how to place their experience within the multicultural perspectives in the light of their experience as a critique of the societal hierarchy. In all my courses, I design assignments that ask students to engage in critical thinking skills by practicing them. For example, I have asked students to bring in books regarding disabilities and diagnose the accuracy of the experience the students undergo with the medical definitions and prognosis. Using assignments such as these, I ask students to problem-solve with methods and information available from various sources, while advancing their understanding of the significance to the discipline.