I'm looking forward to meeting you and exploring ideas and issues in Early Childhood Education with you this summer. We will go over how to post on this blog in class and have a week to get the hang of it. Hope you enjoy the semester break.
See you Monday, May 9.
Sue
(Image: Artist: Scott Gustafson)
Thanks for the welcome, Sue!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Mark Northey. You requested a little introduction... I'm in the Professional Linking Program (Cohort 3). For the past three years, I have worked with children who have disabilities in an elementary school in Downtown Vancouver. Previous to that I worked with adults who have disabilities for five years; so it was the "disability" and not the "school" part of my job that initially drew me.
If there was one occupation I knew I DID NOT WANT, it was a school teacher!
Two years after working in a school that prejudice began to crack...
I began the program this January with lukewarm feelings toward teaching...
Fast forward and NOW, I feel I've finally found that 'vocational passion' I had given up looking for a few years back! I'm privileged to teach every day in the grade one class I work in, and it seems to fit like a super-awesome glove! I'm excited to learn the so-much-more-to-know-mountain that rises before me, but I'm a hiker so I look forward to our class.
-Mark Northey
Hello Everyone!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Chelsea, and I'm in my last semester of PDP. I was in the Burnaby Community Module, and I spent my short practicum and my long practicum in a Grade 6/7 split class. I absolutely loved the grade and I may be more drawn to teach intermediate. Since most of my volunteer experience was with K-2, I wanted to keep my options open and gain more experience with the younger ones by doing my Bachelor of Education in Early learning.
I hope that this course brings us a lot of practical components that we can implement in our class. Best wishes for a fine semester!
Week 2's Readings:
ReplyDeleteBefore I post my connection to this week’s readings, I feel it is important to put some of my transformational ideas into context. First off, I am an Intermediate teacher who loves teaching Intermediate grades. After finding out more information about Burnaby’s hiring process, I decided that since a practicum placement is viewed so weightily (and I did 6/7), I wanted to open my opportunities to teach in the younger grades by doing an Early Learning Minor. However, after applying several Educational Psychology principles to myself, I can clearly understand why I had not yet felt connected to the material or the course: I had been taking it for an external motivator and had not seen personal connection to it, besides one day ‘maybe’ teaching in the early grades. I am a big believer in fostering internal motivation in students because I believe it fosters more authentic motivation – should we as teachers hold ourselves to different principles?
Therefore, I’ve decided to take my experience in this course and my postings in a new direction. I’ve heard different notions being shared about teachers; it’s easier to teach up a grade than down; elementary teachers learn how to teach while secondary teachers learn their subject… while I’m not here to comment on them, I’d like to propose a new teaching ‘notion’. Fundamentally, all of the principles that must be applied to early childhood education should be applied to Intermediate grades. I choose ‘must’ and ‘should’ intentionally, because as an older intermediate teacher, the students’ independence, maturity, and development allow you to not put as much forethought into some choices. For example, an intermediate student who really wants a book that is ‘out of the way’ will still go and get it. However, I believe that the principles in early childhood education will make a better learning environment for your Intermediate students. For example, placing materials purposefully to aid learning and discovery successfully transfer’s to Intermediate classes. A simple decision to spread out a source of information books on a research topic before excusing the kids to look through the resources directly affects the amount of physical contact, the classroom atmosphere, and how much time the students will spend looking at their resources. I look forward to learning about more early education principles and how I can utilize them in my Intermediate classroom to help my students learn more effectively.