Author: snshirk

As I Look Back…

Before this experience, I have never made a blog in my life so I had no idea what I was doing at first. After the very first blog I made, I kind of got more comfortable with blogging and learning the ways. At first, I thought this project would be terrible because I do not really like to blog or make videos. Once I learned how to make good blogs I got more excited to make more and to inform people on important things. This assignment has made me way more comfortable with blogging!

As I Look Forward…

I would consider using blogs in my own classroom in the future. I think they are a great way to relay information and you can make them as personable as you would like. Blogs would be a great tool to use to keep parents updated with everything going on in the classroom. They can be a lot of work, but it would be worth it!

Making the transition from daily routines of going to school and work to working from home has taken a toll on many people. It is important to keep up with routine even though you are stuck at home. It is also important for everybody to be practicing self care, but it is especially important for teachers! It was a huge transition going from seeing their kiddos everyday in school to now only getting to talk to them online. Making self care a priority in your everyday routine can make this time go much smoother!

 

“So many of us went into teaching because we care deeply about others. It can be really hard to take time for ourselves without feeling guilty.”

 

Exercise

Now more than ever it is important to keep on top of staying active. Exercising just a little bit each day can reduce stress and give you more energy. There are many at home workouts that you can follow along with. Even getting outside and going for a walk would be great exercise while getting some fresh air.

Staying Connected

Using FaceTime, Zoom or whatever app you can easily stay connected with fellow teachers and friends. Taking time out of your day to talk to others is important so that way you don’t feel totally isolated from others. Now is a great time to keep in touch with family and friends while you are stuck at home with nowhere to go.

Sleep

Now is a great time to catch up on some well needed sleep! Keeping a routine each day is important in making sure you are staying healthy. Getting a good amount of sleep is important to keeping you energized and ready to take on the day.

Block Out Time

It is important to make time for school work and focusing on your students, but it is just as important to find time for your family. Everybody in the house is dealing with these struggles , so make sure to be there for each other. Have separate time set aside from school work to focus on being with your family. You could play games, have a family movie night, go on a walk together, etc. There is endless options to choose from! Here are 50 great ideas of what to do with your family, all at home!

 

Lastly, JUST BREATHE! Take time out of your day to take a minute and have a breather. There are many benefits that you can get from doing this and is a way to refresh yourself to keep going. There are many breathing exercises that you can try out as well. You can get through this one breath at a time!

 

Additional resources:

more self care ideas

tips on how to start working out at home

 

 

Many parents had to make the transition of being at work all day to being at home with their child all day. Parents are now taking on the role of being their child’s teacher all while making sure they are happy and healthy. Being stuck at home with your family all day can be tough. However, there are ways to include your family in encouraging your little ones. Now more than ever, making sure children are washing their hands often is essential. As we know, kids love touching things. Anything in their sight is fair game for them to go up and touch. With all these germs going around during this time, we want to make sure children are thoroughly washing their hands to stay safe and healthy. Getting children to want to wash their hands is often a battle, so here are some ways to spice up the hand washing game.

Singing 

There are many songs that children can sing while washing their hands to make sure they are washing for the proper amount of time.

some of these songs include:

• ABC song
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
• a tune that follow row row your boat, but instead you say “wash wash wash your hands, wash them nice and clean. Scrub the fronts and scrub the backs and scrub the in betweens”- sing it twice
• if you’re happy and you know it- instead of saying clap your hands, say wash your hands- sing it twice
• The Happy Birthday song

 

Get Creative

There are many ways you can make hand washing go from boring to fun!

• blow soap bubbles through their fingers by rubbing your soapy hands in a circle
• Put an X on the top and bottom of their hand with a washable marker and they have to wash until all the X’s are off
• let them make their own soap
• Using different soap scents and shapes Ways to Encourage Hand Washing and Getting Them to Understand the Importance
• read books about hand washing and its importance- a few great book suggestions
• put sparkles on their hands and tell them to go play, go back and have them look at the sparkles all around and explain how they represent germs
• make it a family event
• create a hand washing chart where they check off when they washed their hands and they may get a reward like a sticker
• put up posters about hand washing

 

 

 

Some more hand washing resources:

how and when to wash

tips and tricks

importance of hand washing

 

 

 

 

Have you ever sat in an early childhood classroom and wondered why the day is compromised of time to play? I often sit in my placement and the classrooms at the daycare I work at and wonder why they are so play based. Sure, kids love to play and that is one easy way to keep them happy, but there is so much more that goes into it.

 

 

 

“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” -Kay Redfield Jamison

 

So, why is there so much play involved throughout the day?

After doing some research, I have developed a better sense of why learning in early childhood classrooms is so much based on play. By taking play time away from children, we are only interfering with their development. Supposedly, play makes children smarter and more well- behaved because it is known to improve their self-regulation and their memory. There have been studies done to see if kids enrolled in a play- based school measured the same as kids in a typical school, and the play based kids actually scored higher in these areas. Kids need this interaction with other peers because there is no better way to learn problem solving skills than through the use of play. Believe it or not, there are many different forms of play that extend all the way through adulthood learning!

Each center focuses on a different part of learning or development, so it may look like they are just playing, but they are learning through that play as well. Even something as simple as playing outside on the playground is teaching them basic skills in all of the domains- social, physical, cognitive, etc. Play is a crucial part of early development of children because they can’t learn these things and get these experiences through just sitting around all day being talked to. Next time you are in a classroom observing children playing, think to yourself what those children are getting out of it or even how you could enhance it for them.

“Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning.” -Diane Ackerman

 

 

 

References:

BARTLETT, T. (2011, February 25). The Case for Play. Chronicle of Higher Education, 57(25), B6–B9.

As I was trying to decide what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, I had many different options in mind. I had always hated school, so I would have never imagined that I would be here, studying to become a teacher. I believe that the experiences and teachers I had throughout my schooling is what ultimately led me to become passionate about being a teacher. I had many good and bad teachers, all that I still remember to this day. I aspire to be that teacher that every child remembers 20 years down the road because I had such a good impact on them and changed the way they view school.

The pedagogy that I look up to the most would be those of Vygotsky because I mean, who couldn’t like him?! One of the most important things I believe that he has developed is the Zone of Proximal Development. As a teacher, it is important to know each one of your students and their needs. The ZPD helps explain where each child is at and what they need help with. His theories help us understand the development of children and where they fall. Without his knowledge and input we would not know many things that we do today as educators and the best practices for our students.

I am learning all about the why and hows of this field from the different professors I have had throughout my time here at Millersville. I have also learned a lot from other teachers that I know and teachers that I had when I was younger and still keep in touch with because I have helped in their classrooms. I learn different things from the theorists as well, which are who is really shaping who I am becoming as a teacher.

Almost everybody in my life shares new insights with me in many different ways. The majority of insights I get are from my professors and fellow colleagues in this field. I learn a lot from my co workers at the daycare I work at because we all come from different experiences and background. It’s exciting because I teach them many different things as well since I am one of the few people that works there that is studying in the education field. I am thrilled to continue my path on becoming an educator and making the world a better place!

My name is Sydni Shirk and I am studying Early Education at Millersville University. I will be using this to share my different experiences through becoming a teacher.