Module 2: Observing and Interacting With Professionals/Collegues

I conducted my observations in two settings, a public school with my host teacher, and my place of employment with a infant and toddler teacher.  During my observation, I wanted to observe specific quality indicators related to Quality Care for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.  According to National Associates for the Education of Young Children (2010), quality programs addresses the physical environment, staff qualification and professional development, interactions between teachers, children and families, developmentally and culturally appropriate curriculum and classroom practices just to name a few.  During my research, interviews, and observation,  teacher qualification and professional development are two specific indicators that are frequently mentioned.  When speaking with my host teacher about education.  She informed me that she has two Master Degree's, one in Education and one in Reading Instruction. I asked her, if her education impacted the way she teach?  She replied, "my education has impacted my teaching in many ways. For example, I used to have a hard time teaching reading, but I learned different strategies and techniques to help students who struggle in reading”.  I also asked my co-worker about her education and training. She has a BA in Early Childhood Education.  She stated that her education has greatly impacted her teaching.  She says, “I have a better of understand of what young children need, which helps me provide quality care to the infants and toddlers in my classroom”. During my observation, I also wanted to see how teachers provide developmentally appropriate curriculum, as this is an important part of providing quality care to young children.  My host teacher uses differentiated instruction. She say’s, “students enter the classroom with varying abilities, and I have to plan curriculum that will meet the needs of all students".  She continues by saying, "many of my students are not performing at grade level, so I have to provide some instruction at grade level, but most assignments are based on the students individual abilities". I was able to observe this, in the host classroom.  Many of the activities where done in small groups, called flexible grouping in which students, are grouped based on ability and interest.  She says, there is a lot of peer interaction and cooperative learning. When I observed the infant and toddler classroom, I also wanted to look for signs of developmental appropriate activities and instruction. I observed the children learning through play and hands on activities. There were many positive interactions, the host teacher was on the floor playing, reading, and interacting with the infants and toddlers.  The teacher knew her students well, and she responded to their attempts at communication.  For example, one of the toddlers wanted a snack, so they went and stood by the snack table, with their hands raised in the air.   I heard the teacher say, are you ready for your snack? 
Overall both of my observations went well.  I had an opportunity to observe indicators of quality care.  I also learned how ongoing education and professional development has impacted teaching young children.
References
http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/policy/state/QRSToolkit2010.p

My interview with Early Childhood Professionals

My first interview was with my third grade host teacher Mrs. G. I started the interview by explaining my desire to do a research paper on advocating for families with special needs, the lack of quality childcare programs or adequate training for those working with young children. During my discussion, I asked my host teacher if she could share with me some of the topics related to quality care, working with families, and training.  Mrs. G.  replied, "education, training, ongoing professional development, and staying current on best practices" are all important aspects of providing quality care.  She went on to say, "providing quality care goes beyond the certificate requirements that are needed to become a teacher".

            As we continued to talk, I asked Mrs. G, "What are some of the current issues related to training, ongoing professional developing, and staying current on best teaching practices". She says, "without quality teachers, students do not get a quality education". When I asked her about the issues that she commonly encounter in discussions with her colleagues, she says, "teacher evaluations".  I could tell in her voice, that this is a big issue for her.  She says, "teachers are being held accountable for how well students perform on achievement test". She goes on to say that, the parents or students are not being held accountable; and everything falls on the teacher, and it's not fair". She feels that it should be a joint effort between the teacher, parents, and the students.

            I also interviewed a Quality Rating Specialist(QRS) and a preschool teacher.  After explaining my interview with Mrs. G, I wanted to hear their opinion on providing quality care.  I asked both of them about topics related to quality care. The QRS specialist says "education of teachers and the importance of teachers being knowledge of most current teaching practices". She goes on to say, with everything changing, it's so important for educators to stay on top of the best teaching practices.  The preschool teacher says, "quality care involves planning a good curriculum, knowing your students abilities, and building positive relationships with families. I ask both of them, to explain which of these issues are of most concern.  They both agreed that  education, training and building positive relationships with families are all important issues to providing quality care.  The QRS specialist says, "educators need to have access to education. Many educators want additional training, but there are many time constraints and lack of resources".  

            The information that I gained from these interviews, helped me to see how education and ongoing professional development impacts the quality of care that early childhood educators provide. As a result, of interviewing these professionals, my knowledge on what it means to provide quality care has greatly increased. As a result, I have decided to do my research paper on the importance of providing quality care.  My three related topics will be:

1.         What is quality care

2.         How does quality care impact children and families

3.         Why is ongoing professional development and training an important part of  providing quality care.

Resource - 50 Questions about Learning Disabilities

Parents of children with LD are often faced with many questions. What are the warning signs of LD? How can I get my child tested? What is an IEP? NCLD has asked some of the top LD experts to respond to these questions and many more in 50 Questions About LD: An E-Book for Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities. This informative resource addresses issues that directly affect your child at school, at home, and in the workplace. Information retrieved  January 9, 2013 from  http://www.ncld.org/images/content/files/final-faq-e-book.pdf

Download your FREE copy of 50 Questions About LD: An E-Book for Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities.

Resources

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires all states that accept IDEA funds to provide a free appropriate public education to all children with disabilities in the state. The special education provided to children with disabilities must be specially-designed instruction to meet the unique needs resulting from the child’s disability and must enable the child to be involved and make progress in the general education curriculum.http://www.frcd.org/resources

Early Intervention Clearinghouse is a resource for families living in Illinois who have infants and toddlers enrolled in early intervention (EI) services. This service has a library of videos, books, manuals, and journals related to the development of young children with special needs and their families.  Check out this link http://www.eiclearinghouse.org/

Next week is going to be very busy and stressful. My internship class starts, my son has therapy on Monday.  I have therapy Tuesday and Thursday.  Work is back in full force and I need to schedule an observation site.  Welcome to 2013 let the fun begin.

Has your child recently been diagnosed with a disability.  Are you unsure of what to do next?  If so, I am interesting in hearing your story.

First Blog

I am a student at Kendall College and my Internship class involves blogging.  I have heard of blogging but this is the first of many to come.