Josie Frisco R2P

As I look back:

I must say that this was not an easy task for me. As I look back to when this assignment was first assigned, I was stressed out. Later to find out that it would help me in the long run. I have never done a blog or anything like this, and for me, new ideas stress me out. After playing around on the website for some time, I began to feel comfortable using the blog aspect. After I became comfortable with the blog portion, I decided to go out of my comfort zone and use the video aspect. Although I didn’t post it, I was proud of myself that I went outside my comfort zone. Overall looking back I am happy that this was part of our course requirement.

As I look forward:

This is definitely something I want to try to keep up with in the future. I think blogs are a professional way of sharing knowledge. I have read a lot of blogs about subjects I am not very knowledgeable on and they have helped me a lot, so what not share my knowledge with someone else. Blogs are also a great way to keep parents updated. Most parents are on their phones/computers for a good portion of the day, this is an easily accessible way to keep them informed. I can also attach great resources for at home. This is definitely a form of communication I will be looking into for my future classroom.

Welcome back!

Last week I talked about how to keep your children learning while at home, but what about the teachers. My heart hurts for teacher, everything that was normal to them is now no existent. As a teacher you always worry about your students, but now you are worrying more than ever. It is perfectly normal to worry a lot more than you normally do, but don’t forget to take time for yourself. Just remember you aren’t giving it your all-in teaching if you as the teacher aren’t at 100%.

In this blog post I am going to talk about ways you can make sure you give the time to yourself that you deserve.

 1. The first thing to do is sit back and breathe. Just take a few deep breathes and focus fully on them to calm down a little bit.

2. Do yoga. Even if you haven’t tried it before. Yoga has been found to reduce stress, anxiety, insomnia, depression and back pain. If you aren’t a novelist at it is okay, there are plenty of beginner videos on the internet.

3. Notice yourself making negative remarks about yourself and make them positive. It can be as little as; my hair looks really bad today BUT my makeup looks really good. Having a positive attitude can make you overall happier.

4. Try something new. This is most likely a stressful time for you and you think to yourself “I can’t possibly pick up a new hobby right now.” By picking up a new hobby you are focusing your energy somewhere else and you are less likely to think about how stressed you are.

5. Find at least one thing that makes you happy and do it. This could be reading a book, going for a walk, just sitting and thinking about nothing. ANYTHING that makes you happy, do it at least once a day. 

6. Take a leisurely walk without a goal. Most of the time we are exercising for a goal. By setting no goal it is one less thing you have to worry about, plus fresh air is always good for you.

7. Remember there are people around you to help. Hearing someone else’s opinion or suggestions is not always a bad thing. Take these suggestions and make something out of them. Also don’t forget to give suggestions as well.

8. Take a mental health day. You are what matter most to your students. If you aren’t performing to the best of your ability, then they aren’t either. If you need that time to yourself take it. Your students will be okay without you for a day.

 

Finally, remember everyone is in this together, you are not the only one struggling. You are doing an amazing job given the circumstances and you are destined to succeed.

This too shall pass.

A Sense of Panic

Almost every parent is in the same boat as you are. Questioning their ability to do a sufficient job of teaching, wondering if your child is hitting developmental milestones, and just how you can cater to your child’s needs being cooped up in the house 24/7.

I promise you, it will all be okay. Take a deep breath and congratulate yourself on doing one the hardest jobs there is.

Planning is a big part of every parents’ guidelines, and when something doesn’t go as planned it creates a hectic environment. That is exactly what COVID-19 has done to everyone. But look no further I have some tips on activities and work to keep your kid busy in an educational way.

First, remind yourself that you don’t have to be teaching your kids for 7 hours a day. I would recommend that 2 hours a day is sufficient for sitting down and doing educational instruction. If some days the 2 hours doesn’t happen, it is okay. Everything will work out. Kids are learning no matter what they are doing, there is education in almost every aspect of your day.

Here are some tips:

 

• Create a schedule: children thrive on knowing what is ahead of them in a day. By making a schedule the kids will be well aware what is happening next.
• Give your children choices: make them feel important. It doesn’t have to be a big choice, it can be as little as, “What show do you want to watch today”. Be sure to let them know that their opinion matters.

 

• Set expectations: by setting REASONABLE expectations you will make your day run a lot smoother. Let’s face it you aren’t trained to be a teacher; it is okay if your children aren’t learning at the same pace as they do in school.

 

• Set out a portion of your day for alone time: it is easy to get frustrated when cooped up in the house. To limit your frustration, set a time where your children are in a different room and take time to enjoy something that you like to do. (chances are your children need alone time just as much as you).

 

• READ READ READ: reading is essential to a child’s development, even if they can’t read yet, read out loud to them. You can even make it a game. Create a bingo board of books and when they get “bingo” reward them with free time or something they enjoy. 

 

• Play outside: play outside for as long as you can. Children are getting their exercise and learning at the same time. There are plenty of activities to do outside or use your imagination and make up a game.

Here is a link of fun activities to do outside.

https://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2012/03/50-simple-outdoor-activities-for-kids.html

• Technology is your friend: there are limitless resources of activities, work sheets, and videos to help you and your children stay entertained, use it to your advantage. (it is okay to give your children extra screen time, if that’s what they enjoy. Remember they are probably just as stressed as you)

 

Remember you are doing a great job, and it will all be over soon!

 

I am in a classroom with three, four, and five-year olds. Believe it or not the maturity gap between a three-year-old and a five-year-old is very easy to observe. Another factor is that about twenty percent of the classroom are ELL’s (English Language Learners). The biggest problem in the classroom currently is having to share workspace and communicating effectively with each other. Some students being ELL’s have trouble effectively expressing their emotions when they are upset of discouraged with another student, therefore their way of showing that emotion is physically. It is inevitable that preschoolers get upset and don’t know how to handle their emotions, that is what preschool is for! However, the teacher noticed that this was a reoccurring problem, and she decided to implement different solutions to see which one would be the best fit for her classroom. This is only my third time at this specific placement; therefore, I am not only forming relationships with the students, but I am also observing how the teacher addresses problems, and what solutions she comes up with.

The questions I often ask myself in the classroom are, how big actually is the maturity gap between a typical five-year-old, and a typical three-year-old? And, what is the difficulty in an ELL student expressing their discouragement or any emotion at all?

When doing research on the two questions I had, I stumbled upon an interesting website that explains the difference between three-year-olds, four-year-olds, and five-year olds. The first thing I noticed was that most websites grouped three-year olds and four-year olds together, than five-year-olds were a separate category. The biggest common difference I found was that at three and four year old children have little to no impulse control. For instance, if they want a toy and someone else is playing with it, nothing is holding them back from grabbing the toy out of the other student’s hand. Also, at the three and four range children have a hard time solving conflicts. They don’t understand the difference between appropriate and inappropriate interactions. As the child gets to the five-year-old range they start to understand consequences and how interactions should be. At the five-year-old stage they started forming empathy, and the need to please people. It is not uncommon for a five-year-old to act irrational to please someone else. I believe that not knowing how to differ emotions is one of the biggest problems. It also makes sense that students aren’t able to share effectively in a preschool classroom.

Next I went on to find out more about ELL emotion in a preschool classroom. On a website titled “Social & Emotional Support for ELLs and Immigrant Students”, I found a lot of useful information. Such as, the fact that for most students that aren’t ELL they main concern is going to school and learning, but for ELL students they have to worry about moving to a different country, trying to fit in at a new school, and learn a new language. No wonder they act out often, I personally would too. It is a lot of stress on a child that doesn’t know how to manage stress yet. One solution that the website shares for sharing emotions is, “Emotion Flashcards”. These flashcards give pictures of children showing all emotions, an ELL can effectively communicate by simply pointing to one of the emotions. Being not only in a new school, but a new country is extremely stressful on any person, add a child that doesn’t have a good handle on their emotions yet and it is extremely likely you will be dealing with some emotional difficulties. It is our job as teachers to not only address the difficulties but also educate ourselves on effective ways to help ELL students.

Overall any preschool classroom you walk into will have their issues with sharing, and the simple answer to that problem is “it is okay.” It is not in the most of the children’s developmental stages yet, which means you aren’t being an unsuccessful teacher, you are just helping them continue of their long journey of development

 

Resources:

Jchaffer. (2019, December 5). Social & Emotional Support for ELLs and Immigrant Students. Retrieved from https://www.colorincolorado.org/teaching-ells/creating-welcoming-classroom/social-emotional-support-ells-and-immigrant-students

Preschooler (3-5 years old). (2019, November 7). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/preschoolers.html

Hello everyone, welcome to my first blog post! I wanted to share with everyone my journey on how I chose to become an educator.

First, let me start off with my own educational experience. I have two big inspirations, one being my grandfather, and second being my second-grade teacher. My grandfather is the most hardworking, devoted individual I know. He is not only a first-generation college student, but also an immigrant. He came to America at nine years old not knowing any English. With his hard work and dedication, he was able to succeed in school, and go to college. His main goal in life is to help anyone and everyone, therefore he decided to become a teacher. Being a teacher was his pride and joy in life, second to loving his family. He cared for everyone in the classroom and out of the classroom.

My second inspiration is my second-grade teacher. She cared for everyone as if they were her own children. I have a distinct memory that has stuck with me to this day. It was picture day and my parents were on a work trip, therefore I was staying with my grandpa. I was so concerned that my mom wasn’t there to do my hair, and as hard as my grandpa tried to do my hair to my liking, it wasn’t perfect. I came into school in tears, my second-grade teacher saw I was upset and assured me it would be okay. She called me behind her desk and ask me how I wanted my hair done, I told her “I want it just like yours.”. She perfected my hair, and the rest of second grade I wore my hair exactly like hers.As for my experience in school the teachers that excelled in the nurture aspect stood out the most to me, that is where I hope to succeed as a future educator.

Now being educated on theorists and their research, I relate heavily to Vygotsky and his beliefs. If you are not familiar with Vygotsky here is a brief video on his way of thinking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p_-0n2f35o

Lev Vygotsky’s core was his Zone of Proximal Development which he claimed that a child has limits of what they can do alone, but with assistance and guidance from an adult the limits can be extended. This something I hold true and hope to use to use in my future classroom. Knowing your students’ limits is important, but also pushing students to their limits is important to me. A lot of students think they are not capable of something, but with assistance from teachers you can open a whole new world to your students, and truly show them what they are capable of.

 

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Vygotskys-zone-of-proximal-development_fig2_301220572

Vygotsky has also opened my mind to why it is important to not only be there for the student’s educational needs, but also for their emotional needs. He shares the belief that nurture is more relevant than nature, and I believe that is true. Although students need both to succeed in the classroom, there will be no learning without a caring teacher.

The people that speak the truth to me are my educators and peers here at Millersville University. Millersville University strives to produce the best teachers and future teachers. There is always new suggestions and stories to share in the classroom that are especially helpful to my future career. Each teacher has something new to share and opens your mind to a new perspective.