Reference no: EM132049432

Look at the variety of places and work environments your peers are posting about, and respond to at least two learners who work or would like to work in a job similar to yours. Comment on what you relate to in what they describe or what strikes you as different about their workplace.

My name is Linnea Nelson. I grew up in Eden Prairie, MN. Once I graduated high school, I went to college at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Once I graduated with my bachelor's degree, I came back to Eden Prairie. I currently teach at Little Eagles Preschool, which is the Eden Prairie school districts preschool program.

For the past 3 years, I have co-taught with another teacher. Next year, I will be teaching my own full-day 4's preschool classroom. Recently, my coworkers and I unionized, which is pretty exciting. We wanted to be treated the same as K-3rd grade teachers, so hopefully we start making progress soon!

Little Eagles Preschool has two different programs: half-day classes are located in one building and full-day classes are located in another. I teach in the full-day program. Each year, we continue to grow. Three years ago, there were only 2 full-day classrooms. Now, next school year (Sept 2018), we will have 9 full-day classrooms (three 3-year-old classes, five 4-year-old classes, and one 5k prep classroom). Our program's calendar aligns with our school district.

Also, in the summer we have full-day summer camp, which is optional. The program runs Monday through Friday, from 6:30 am to 6:00 pm. The lead teachers work during the middle (academic) portion of the day and the assistant teachers work either the morning or afternoon shift, which overlaps in the middle of the day. Also, we have special education paras to help with our IEP students.

In regards to the unit study activities, I have learned that my program is in the microsystem of Bronfenbrenner's Ecological System Theory. We are in our student's immediate community, along with their parents, siblings, neighbors, classmates, religious communities, and other immediate caregivers. We are in the most direct system of support for our students. An advantage of our program is our ability to be consistent in our students lives over several years.

Our students can be with us from age 3 till age 6, in some cases. Because of our long hours, our students can be with us for up to 11 ½ hours a day, which means that our students could spend upwards of 60 hours a week with us. As educators and caregivers, it is our job to teach our students, as well as, take care of their basic human needs.

My name is Tiffany Paulson. Currently I work in a school district called Hayfield Elementary. We are a very small rural community. The demographic is low to middle class white families. We recently started a full day preschool program. Our program is full days in which the students can enroll in 5 full days, 4 full days, or 3 full days. I very much enjoy the opportunity I was given to help build this program and want better build the foundational walls and expand my knowledge in Early Childhood environments.

This work place directly relates to early childhood education in the manner that it is an early childhood environments. We offer a learning environment for children to learn and explore in. We want students to feel safe and experience many positive opportunities to learn. "One of the controversies surrounding the use of public funding is the quality of universalism- that is, the availability to all children" (Driscoll 2008).

While we are on summer break for the school district I am also working part time this summer in my son's child care center. This place of work also directly relates to early childhood education as we are offering child care settings and environments for children to learn and grow in.

Both of these places offer care and learning for students and children to which are in direct contact with the environments. Both places goals are to provide care, learning, and promote healthy development of their students, families, and staff.

Discussion 2

Review the posts of other learners and examine how similar or dissimilar their skills and backgrounds are to yours. Respond to at least two learners by reflecting on their post as compared to your own. Add anything else you can think of that ties their skills to those needed for early childhood education.

Tiffany post

When working in Early Childhood Education you need to have many skills and traits. When identifying my personal skills and traits that help me to work in Early Childhood Settings I see I have many that benefit my profession. The first trait is my caring and nurturing personality. My second skill is my ability to positively communicate with all students, families, and colleagues. Another great trait I possess is that I am always willing to try different ideas.

When working with children being caring and nurturing is very important. It is vital to establish a personal connection with students and build a trusting relationship, to do this you must be caring and nurturing. I am always looking to personally connect with my students as many times a day as I can so they know and I know that they are valued and cared for. This allows students to feel safe and really open their learning experience in a safe and positive environment.

Communication is a large aspect when working with other individuals. It is important to communicate with students to discover their needs and desires. Communication is also a vital part of the students success. Communication with families better allows us to support our students with their own personal needs.

No two children are the same. Every child is different in their own way and learn differently. I am always trying to find different strategies and ideas to use within my classroom to better support my students and their learning. My goal is to help students reach their fullest potential in whichever manner will allow it. I love to try new ideas and better my classroom settings and maximize student learning. "The important quality we is in Robin is she never stops learning" (Driscoll 2008). As Robin is always learning, I feel that I am always trying to learn and try new things as well.

Linnea post

I believe that I have several skills and traits that helpful in teaching in the early childhood environment. For this discussion, I have chosen three skills/traits that I find are the most essential to my teaching: (1) Having a personal connection with special education, (2) being passionate about the importance of early childhood education, and (3) having a different perspective on the way we teach preschool.

1. When I was in early childhood, I had no interest in books. Whenever my parents tried to teach me how to read, I would cover my ears and say "la la la." Once I was in 3rd grade, I was diagnosed with dyslexia and learning disabilities in reading and writing. Until 11th grade, I received special education services to help me throughout my primary education. Through support from my family and my teachers, I became a "A-B" student throughout my high school years. Because of my personal experience, I feel as though I have a better understanding of my academically struggling students compared to someone who had no difficultly learning how to read and write.

2. Ever since I had a child development class in high school, I have had a passion for early childhood education. Since then, my passion for early childhood and its importance has grown immensely. To this day, I still meet people who think preschool teachers just color with their students all day. As an early childhood educator, I believe that it is my job to not only teach young children, but to teach adults, as well.

3. I have been a preschool teacher for the past three years and every single one of those years have been different. When I started, my knowledge and experiences in college influenced how I taught. Now my coworkers, students, and professional development have influenced my teaching in different ways.

My goal I have as a preschool teacher is to teach my students how to make their own decisions and guide their own learning. For example, if I see a student climbing on the retaining wall, which is against school rules, instead of saying "Get down! We don't do that!" I asked them, "Are you making a safe choice?"

It may take them a moment, but usually they respond with "No, it's not" and they get down. By doing this, it gives children the ability to think for themselves and make their own decisions. Another example is flexible seating. At large group, on the rug, why does everyone have to sit crisscross applesauce? Why can't they stand in the back, or sit in a chair, or lay on the ground? If they are paying attention and participating, why does it matter how they sit? Those were two examples of a different perspective towards teaching.