Standard 6
In NAEYC Standard:
STANDARD 6. BECOMING A PROFESSIONAL
Candidates prepared in early childhood degree programs identify and conduct themselves as members of the early childhood profession. They know and use ethical guidelines and other professional standards related to early childhood practice. They are continuous, collaborative learners who demonstrate knowledgeable, reflective and critical perspectives on their work, making informed decisions that integrate knowledge from a variety of sources. They are informed advocates for sound educational practices and policies.
Brief Description of Evidence:
As part of my ECED 130 Exceptional Child course during the Fall semester of 2017, I completed three conferences with my peers to help convey paperwork for each scenario. I completed my final case conference and had to write and print out paperwork to discuss with each child’s parents. In order to begin the conference paperwork, as a group, we needed to come up with the different roles each individual would have and what we would say to the family at each conference. We scheduled a conference to meet with each child’s family to go further in detail about what is going on in the classroom and how their child is doing in their academics. At each conference, there were different age groups that went from birth to seven years of age. During these conferences, we documented the child’s accidents and at what times it happened. These conferences served as a way for families to build relationships and revisit the paperwork the teachers have provided for every parent to help their child succeed.
Analysis of What I Learned:
I learned that when I had to talk to each parent in the conferences that it can be difficult to know what kind of mood every parent is in. I learned that there is a lot of paperwork for case conferences, and not as much paperwork for a parent-teacher meeting. Each child learns differently, and as a teacher, I can talk to the parents about the different ways each child learns. I learned that the teachers need to be positive when talking to every parent about their child. These discussions helped me get the knowledge I needed to prepare for when I become a teacher and have meetings with parents about their children. As one of my roles in those conferences, I was the assistant teacher and had to show the parents what some of the paperwork each child was doing to help the parents understand how their child was learning, and if it was appropriate for their age and explain what the standards/foundations were. I gave the parents resources for their child including the By-5 program for the parents to use if they were low on income. I provided different apps they could use like PBS kids to help their child learn and grasp the concept of different subjects including math, science, and social studies to where that child will understand through playing a game. Before the conference, knowing where the child was developmentally we were able to take the child's strengths and weaknesses to create goals that would help the child learn better. During the conference, we created an IEP to help the child achieve his/her goals and to give him/her extra support in the classroom.
How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the In NAEYC Standard:
My competence in this standard is proven by the paperwork I had while completing my conferences. I understand better the importance of positive relationships because it will help the teacher not have a parent that is upset with them. I understand better the approaches necessary and tools needed to positively influence the parents because it will make a conference smoother so the teacher can calmly talk to the parent about their child. Showing each parent something their child did is an important step to prove what that child knows. For each activity, the children do in class, the teacher can record dictations of what every child is saying about their activity they are making (including art, language, math, science, engineering, etc) to fully engage in their conversations. If a child is not able to complete an activity, then I will adjust my activity based on the ages of characteristics of the children by using age-appropriate materials. I will also be encouraging age-appropriate discussions that include open-ended questions. I gave the parents at the case conference some parental safeguards for them to look over so they can get an understanding of what they can do as parents.
