It’s A Wrap!

It’s A Wrap!

Welcome to the last post in this Research to Practice project! This post is going to be a little different so buckle in… I’m going to first be doing a reflection on some of the components in this project, and then answering some questions at the end. I hope you enjoy my thoughts and thanks for coming along on this journey with me!

So, lets reflect.

Observation

Remember the observation that I have been doing in the Head Start classroom? ( If you forget here’s a refresher). Anyways, it has been interesting. Going into it, I was familiar with the classic Head Start classroom setup, and their philosophy. This did not come as a surprise, but I obviously Image result for head startwas not super familiar with the ins and outs that come along with observing over a long period of time. This observation for me particularly came with a lot of observing and not a ton of hands-on teaching as I would have liked. Although I know Pre-K is an important grade level, it is not what my major is, or frankly what I hope to teach in the future, so it has been an interesting time. However I personally feel about it at this moment, any and all observations are beneficial in some way or another.

Questions

Remember all pf those questions I asked then answered in my previous posts? There was a point to them. Despite my feelings about the center I was placed Image result for questions mark"in, it generated as a source for excellent questions. Any situation you are placed in, weather you enjoy it or not, can almost always yield learning and inquiry. I asked questions that meant something to me, and followed them with intent research. My favorite question was the one I asked  and researched in my most recent blog post!

Research

Research portion of assignments are not always my favorite, but when they are connected to a question you are genially interested in knowing the answer to, something changes and it becomes more engaging. Research is so important in every field of work, to help you pull information from credited people who may have more time to study certain areas. This is such a powerful tool for growth.

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Reflection

Along with research, reflection helps to drive growth. Especially in the teaching field, reflection is imperative to ensure all students are learning, grasping concepts, and connecting to material. Teachers are encouraged to Reflections Clip Artreflect on lessons to see what worked and what could be improved for the next go around. That is exactly what we did with this project, and it helped tremendously. Not only did we reflect personally, but with the help of the professor and Tatiana, we learned through our peers what a good blog post, podcast, or video looks like. Through the example of others, I found my own voice in the form of a blog and am happy how this post looks in comparison to my first.

Technology

Blog Icon Speech Bubbles Clip Art

I have always been partial to blogs. Weather they are blogs teaching me in depth how to slow cook a chicken breast, or what the top 10 gifts to get your mom for Christmas are, I have always loved to read in the form of a blog. That is what drove me to choose blogging as the medium for this project. I can say, that I have thoroughly enjoyed this learning process. I enjoyed connecting personally to my posts like including pictures of my family, and showing my audience some of my favorite teacher resource’s like Michelle Ferre’s YouTube channel.

(here it is if you missed it!)

Pocketful of Primary

TEACHER | VLOGGER | TPTER | ORGANIZER I’m an actual Capella student compensated for posting about my experience at Capella. All thoughts and opinions are my …

All in all, this blogging journey has been quite fun, and I may just have to continue it beyond this R2P project 😉

Whew, now that all that reflection is over lets continue the wrap up process by answering some questions that are directly related to this project!

Questions

 If you were to experience the R2P project again, what would you do differently? Please specify.

If I were to do the R2P project again, there is not much I would change. I really enjoyed the blogging, but I perhaps would try different outlets of expression to expand my ability and the fun side of this project, although I really did enjoy the blogging.

What are you taking away to your future teaching practice from this R2P project?

From this project, there is much to take away. I learned so much through asking questions and getting down and dirty by answering them in depth while connecting it to my observations. Through this project I learned that having Image result for future teacher clipartsupport as a teacher is imperative, questions are so important to growing as a teacher no matter how old or young, I learned how to work with my peers in an inquiry in the rounds at a local elementary school, how to deal with misbehavior in students, and most importantly the importance of self reflection.

What advice would you give to the next ERCH496 students about the R2P project?

HAVE FUN! This is such a versatile project, perhaps the most I have had thus Top Secret Clip Artfar in my education career (3 1/2 years, two different schools). Make it your own. Choose to view it as an opportunity for growth in a fun and interactive way. This will help change your mindset and set you up for success from beginning to end!!

What advice would you give to Tatiana for the next iteration of the R2P project?

I applaud Tatiana for the amount of work she put into helping all of us create awesome R2P projects! I enjoyed the sessions that she did on Thursdays,  and if there was ever confusion, she was very good about clarification. I think Image result for advice clipart"maybe for next time, if there was a paper version of the directions that clearly laid out the requirements for the project, that could be beneficial to students like myself who like to have a “syllabus” type outline of larger projects like this one.

Other than that a huge THANK YOU to you, Tatiana!!

Unshakable

Image result for emotional regulation"

“It’s not easy teaching these kids. One child equals four kids here. They need more attention and care, and some lose concentration very easily.”
-Kenny Mjili

Unshakable 

Throughout my ongoing observations in the Head Start Pre-K classroom I have been placed in, I have witnessed plenty of misbehavior from the students, but there is one student in particular who constantly gives the teacher a hard time. He consistently does not listen, is disruptive during circle time, and runs away during recess.  Head Start has adopted and implemented PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) strategies to help combat behaviors like this.

Watch this video for a better incite into the PBIS  basics:

PBIS Training for Head Start Volunteers

Description

My co-op teacher may be young, but she implements these strategies like a champ. However, when it comes to this particular student, it seems like she crumbles and forgets what to do. 9 times out of 10 she sends him to the class’s “calm down” corner, which takes away from his learning. 

This continual observation of misbehavior has left me with the big question of…

How do you deal with classroom management using PBIS? 

Let’s get help from the smart guys…

According to the article written by Scott D. Gest  titled Teacher Management of Elementary Classroom Social Dynamics: Associations With Changes in Student Adjustment, they claim their approach to these issues follows a long tradition in educational and social psychology taking the view that teachers can and should shape the peer ecology of their classrooms.

Classroom ecology studies focus on the classroom micro-system, seeking to describe and explain the interactions of students’ thoughts and behaviors with teachers’ management of academic goals and learning tasks.”

In the case of coaching within the educational context, a coach is one who works with teachers to provide support in the implementation of their duties as a teacher; this could include providing instruction, engaging in effective classroom management, or addressing the needs of a specific student. My  mom  works for a Head Start classroom in Harrisburg as a PBIS coach. I have not seen one in the classroom I am observing in.

Image result for pbis coach" Continue reading “Unshakable”

Questions

Asking the Important Questions

Observations

Observing in a classroom allows future teachers to gain hands-on experience on how to implement particular practices in a real life setting.  I am observing in a urban Pre-K Counts classroom with all three year old’s and a year two co-op teacher. After two observation days (a total of eight hours so far),  I have seen so much from the teacher and students that caused me to “think” and ask questions to myself.

Let me set up the scene so you can have a better understanding of the environment I am observing in:

Image result for headstart classrooms

This is what a typical Headstart classroom looks like!
(or click here to see a video of a classroom!)

So I walk in, and am greeted simultaneously by at least two children that reach my knees, and are ecstatic to show the new person (me) the shirt they are wearing. I proceed to rotate around centers, which are play-focused STEM , music, art, kitchen and other learning centers. I rotate around the centers while sitting in a chair that is not meant for a grown human begin, and play with the children while observing their behavior.
_______________________________________________________________
Schedule 

8:30 arrival time – Choice centers/write name/snack
9:05 Morning Circle/Read Aloud
9:30 Choice Centers/Small Groups
10:30 Gross Motor Time
11:40 Movement Activities
12:10 Lunch
——————————————————————————————————–

As you can imagine, observations allow for plenty of time to come up with a plethora of questions.

After exploring and thinking through the many I had, I came up with one big question that I am interested in learning about the most: “Why does allowing students to choose a center themselves work so well compared to having “rotations” or teacher-choice centers?”

Remember:

Sometimes we get so caught up in appearing smart that we become afraid to ask the question that will actually make us smart. – John Hawkins

Student- Choice Centers

Head Start students at Woodland Early Learning Center in Kansas City, Missouri, played in their classroom during a recent afternoon.

Upon talking with my co-op, she informed us that a new policy Pre-K Counts and Headstart is following through with this year (new to her location, not all) is allowing the children to choose the center they want to be at during free time instead of incorporating a rotation system.

My co-op informed me this to insure that the children are learning as much as possible during free play by inquiry based learning through having the choice to make their own decisions. She mentioned that it helps with classroom management and behavior problems if the children are choosing to be where they want to be.

Research 

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So what does all of this mean? Lets get fact-checked by the experts. I’m going to focus on the question of choice making in the classroom. Remember talking about that? Well hopefully along with me, you found it interesting and look forward to hearing about what the big guns have to say about it.
SO
Let’s dive in.

In a journal article I found called “Naturally Occurring Opportunities for Preschool Children With or Without Disabilities to Make Choices” all of the collaborators in this article have put their heads together and answered my

question! They start off by letting us know just how important choice making is in life. Not just for preschoolers, but for adults and those in between. Imagine if the freedom of choice was taken from you.

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When a child has a choice in the location which they want to work or play in, they tend to focus well on their work and in turn increases appropriate forms of behavior, thus decreasing inappropriate forms.

Keeping this in mind, although this may seem trivial to us, the more choice that students have in their day, the more learning, higher order thinking, and enjoyment is had.

We can attribute and compare this to inquiry based learning. In another article titled “Preschool: A Hearts-on, Hands-on, Minds-on Model for Preschool Science Learning” Trundle and Smith introduce us to the preschool learning cycle:

From this image, notice the exploration phase. This phase fosters explicit and intentional learning. After students choose their center of choice and explore and play in that center, teachers are able to ask questions that expand the students knowledge and understanding by asking those questions that produce divergent answers.

“Build on their incidental learning with intentional instruction to foster explicit learning”

Reflection

So what does this all mean? I observed that the classroom is focused on student choice centers. From there, and after talking with my co-op, I learned

how choice has positive affects on the students behavior and learning. 
I asked the question “why does allowing students to choose a center themselves work so well compared to having “rotations” or teacher-choice centers?” This was answered through research.
Through the research, we were introduced to the exploration phase of learning. This phase fosters explicit and intentional learning  that expands the students knowledge and understanding.

-BUT-

What do we do with this information? How do we incorporate choices in the classroom?

We create a culture of inquiry by encouraging students to express their thoughts in a safe environment.  We (the teacher) seeks support from external resources.  Gain an understanding of the students. Lastly, keep an open-mindedness and spontaneous approach to learning.

to learn more, here the first video from a four part series on how to incorporate inquiry based learning into the classroom:

How To Get Into Inquiry-Based Learning: Part 1 – First Steps to Inquiry

Incorporate Inquiry-Based Learning into your Classroom. Start with this short four part video series. (Version française: https://goo.gl/fkRRea) PART 1 – First Steps to Inquiry (https://youtu.be/N9cK_eto3HE) Prepare yourself to create an Inquiry – Based activity for your classroom.

Resources

Jolivette, K., Stichter, J., Sibilsky, S., Scott, T., & Ridgley, R. (2002). Naturally Occurring Opportunities for Preschool Children With or Without Disabilities to Make Choices. Education and Treatment of Children, 25(4), 396-414. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/42899719

 

Trundle, K., & Smith, M. (2017). Preschool: A Hearts-on, Hands-on, Minds-on Model for Preschool Science Learning. YC Young Children, 72(1), 80-86. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/90001494

Who Are my Guru’s?

Who Are My Educational Guru’s?

Who reassures and stretches you as an early childhood educator?

My mom is a first generation college graduate. She went to TCU for speech pathology and is currently a behavior support specialist at a Headstart/ Pre-K Counts classroom in Harrisburg. I often call her after learning about new strategies or theories and talk about how to use them in my future classroom and how she sees similar being used in the classroom she oversees. 

There are many doubts I have while going through my education. I am getting closer and closer to becoming a real teacher but am sometimes feel I am not adequately prepared for the stresses of teaching an actual classroom.  Whenever I feel this way, I know that I can call up my mom and feel reassured that she is confident I will get to a point where the thought of getting in front of a class everyday is not so daunting.

 

Whose pedagogies  are shaping your paths?

IBL

As my pedagogies are continuously changing,  new concepts and theories are constantly changing my teaching pedagogies. However, over the last three years, one theory has stuck out to me as being a solid way of teaching that I plan on implementing in my classroom. That theory is inquiry-based learning.

IBL is based on student investigation and hands-on projects.  In this teaching method, the teacher is seen as a supportive figure who provides guidance and support for students throughout their learning process, rather than a sole authority figure. This type of teaching help students to see things in their own way, and come to conclusions on their own merit. This type of learning was inspired by Jean Piaget, one of my favorite educational theorists. 

Constructivism

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Inquiry based learning is paralleled with constructivism, the philosophy about learning that proposes learners build their own understanding of new ideas or skills.  Constructivism allows information that is absorbed by a child, allows them to build  knowledge built upon prior  knowledge, and help scaffold them into learning and adding things into that prior schema.

My path as an educator is still being shaped, with new ideas being thrown my way daily. I try to sift through ideas and concepts through the minds of my future students. I will never have a set pedagogy, as I hope that I am a life long learner, constantly digging for new information and ways to further my students love for learning.

Who is teaching you about the Why and the How in the field of early childhood?

Along with my mom and many professors that have helped shape my understanding and knowledge in the field of education thus far, I try to educate myself on my own time as well. I am subscribed to and watch a handful of teachers on YouTube who help take my learning to the next level with real world examples and context.

One of my favorite teacher-turned YouTuber’s to watch is Michelle Ferre.  She has named her channel Pocket Full of Primary and she shares her journey as a  fourth grade teacher in Maryland. Her channel is chock full of examples, help, tips, EdTech and so much more information that I have gleaned from for years. It is helpful to see the theories and concepts we learn about in class,  be used real time through her channel. 

If you get the time to check it out, here is a link to her most recent video:
“How to Not Feel Overwhelmed as a Teacher”

How to NOT Feel Overwhelmed as a Teacher

Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe so you don’t miss future videos! MY TEACHERSPAYTEACHERS STORE: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Pocketful-Of-Primary MY PO BOX: Michelle Ferré PO Box 719 Gambrills, MD 21054 POCKETFUL OF PRIMARY MERCHANDISE: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PocketfulofPrimary?ref=search_shop_redirect MY AMAZON FAVORITES: http://bit.ly/pocketfulofprimarystore GET 1 MONTH FREE OF HP INSTANT INK: http://try.hpinstantink.com/dQgpb __________________________________________________________________ Find me on my other social media platforms: INSTAGRAM: @pocketfulofprimary FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/PocketfulofPrimary/ PINTEREST: https://www.pinterest.com/pocketfulofprim/ BLOG: www.pocketfulofprimary.com E-MAIL: pocketfulofprimary@gmail.com __________________________________________________________________ *My description includes referral codes/links that allow me to earn points or credit that can be redeemed for products and/or subscriptions.

Who speaks truth to you? Shares new insights with you?

There are so many people in my life who encourage me through my journey as an education major, along with other avenues of my life. My parents have always taught me to surround myself with people who will positively impact my life in the long run, and thanks to them, I feel as though I have done that well thus far. 

Family

There are so many people in my life who encourage me through my journey as an education major, along with other avenues of my life. My mom and dad have been huge supporters mentally, emotionally, and financially. Even though my dad has little to no prior experience with the teaching field, he is always there to encourage me and remind me how proud he is of me, something that may seem small but goes a long way. My brothers and sister are also very supportive. Now that we are all grown and have paved our own paths, we are connected and constantly lend an ear and word of encouragement when needed. 

Image may contain: 4 people, including Joanna Barninger, Jared Barninger and Matthew Barninger, people smiling, people standing and shoes

Friends

My friends are also a big part of my large support system. They see me at my highs, and my lows and support me no matter what. I also live with three other educators, so conversation about education is always happening at our apartment. My one roommate has been with me from the start and we have gone through this journey together, which makes the burden of school, work, and a social life less heavy to carry. 

INFLUENCErs

In the ever-changing world of social media a lot of my insights are shared through people I do not personally know, but look up to in the education world.  There are so many people who share their stories on the internet that inspires me. I follow so many of these people on YouTube, like Michelle, and a plethora of others on Instagram. I believe this is a powerful tool to any educator, as long as I can quote president Theodore Roosevelt and remind fellow educators that “Comparison is the thief of joy”.

Top 100 Elementary Teacher Blogs & Websites | Elementary Blog

Utah About Blog What the Teacher Wants was started in 2010 as a way for Rachelle to post pictures of her classroom and share her teaching ideas. We share teaching ideas for the K-6th grade classrooms to make life easier for the teacher and learning fun for the students!

This is a blog that highlights 100 of teacher influencers, and is a great resource to browse for any educator that is looking for inspiration!

 

References

Borovay, L. A., Shore, B. M., Caccese, C., Yang, E., & Hua, O. (Liv). (2019). Flow, Achievement Level, and Inquiry-Based Learning. Journal of Advanced Academics30(1), 74–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X18809659

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!

I am a senior at Millersville University studying Early Childhood Education.

This blog is for my ERCH 496 class. On here I will be posting for my R2P project and taking you along with my research and observations.

Here we go!

-Joanna