Masters in Early Childhood Education
Learning Showcase
Module 17
Philosophical Inquiry and Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Education
Topics in Module 17:
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Issues and Strategies in Multicultural Education
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Home, School, and Community Relationships
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Analyzing the Impact of Parental Support in Early Childhood Education
Module Reflections:
This module refresh my memory about key educational theorists like Piaget, Dewey, and Montessori. It was helpful to look at these theorists and learn about more modern ones like Comer.
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Working with a group to role play discussions with parents was very helpful. Often as teachers we have parents who are very involved or not involved at all. This helped test communication skills and allowed me to practice crafting messages carefully with the child's learning and wellbeing at the center.
Impact on Teaching Practice:
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Created a new structure for reaching out to parents at the start of the term. This includes sending a personal "Welcome to Grade 1" email including updates about the student's progress within the first month of school.
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Designed an in school culture sharing event for students, teachers, and parents to take part in, highlighting the importance of individual cultures and histories.
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Reconsidered the organization of small group work after watching other teacher's videos of lessons. I started to include more pair work with reading, translanguaging, and using realia.
Module 18
Creating Positive Learning Environments in Early Childhood Education
Topics in Module 18:
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Elements in the learning environment
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Issues of Culture in the Classroom
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Fostering Positive Attitudes toward learning
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Educating Students with Challenging Behaviors
Module Reflections:
This module helped me consider planning the physical environment as well as lessons themselves. We learned about using supportive tools. My project can be found in the project section.
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This module was a strong reminder that environments come from the physical space, emotional environment, lesson planning, and more. Teachers set the tone for it and our intentionally planning is essential to create a space where children can be curious and love learning.
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Impact on Teaching Practice:
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Updated lesson planning documents to ensure infusion of culture during lessons
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Reviewed IEP adjustment strategies with teaching assistant more regularly to ensure communication with parents is consistent and children are getting support from all sides
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Module 19
Learner Differences and Commonalities in Early Childhood Education
Topics in Module 19:
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Content Area and Instruction for students with varying abilities
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Ethical Considerations in Early childhood Education
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Developmentally Appropriate Practice
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Differentiation and Scaffolding in Early Childhood Education
Module Reflections:
Developmentally Appropriate Practice was a particularly interesting part of this module.
Again, lesson planning is such an important part of teaching. Staying up to date on research about ECE and learning about differentiation and scaffolding techniques helps all students. The teacher's learning trickles down to the student.
Impact on Teaching Practice:
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Keep a list of differentiation techniques available during lesson planning meetings with my Grade 1 colleagues
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Reviewed the difference between bullying and challenging behaviors with my co-teacher
Module 20
Curriculum and Instruction in Early Childhood Education
Topics in Module 20:
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Considerations in Designing Early Childhood Education Curriculum
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Early Childhood Curriculum Development
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Infusing Diversity and Culture into the Early Childhood Curriculum
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From Curriculum to Instruction: Best practices in Early Childhood Education
Impact on Teaching Practice:
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Include play-based learning strategies into my school's current Inquiry Based Curriculum in lessons at least once weekly.
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Consider questions to ask future schools about their curriculum to ensure it aligns with my philosophies surrounding SEL and play-based learning
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Module Reflections:
Early Childhood Educational researches and theorists have created frameworks of many different curriculums. This module really focused on the importance of play-based learning in providing a well rounded education for young learners.