Tracy: My Personal Journey

Saturday, November 12, 2011

My Personal Journey

My chosen topic for this course is "Are there effective, research based assessment tools that can measure academic and social gains in children?" I chose this topic for many reasons. One is the school district I am in does not have an official assessment tool in place for preschoolers and sometimes feel that we are missing key areas of development. I also feel that, while the programs do not have to look the same between schools, we should have similar assessment tools in place. Lastly, the State of Michigan is implementing a Quality Improvement Rating Scale and I want to have a valid assessment in place to show parents and the state the progress my children are making in my program.

I just went to a training on the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment program and really like that for the social emotional development of children. If you have not tried to use the DECA before you really should. It has follow up suggestions for when there is a problem including the set-up of the environment. There is also the Parent's as Teachers curriculum and Ages and Stages Questionnaire that are useful. For academics I have many informal assessment tools but would like to come up with one that measures children's growth and learning in the fall, winter and spring. The task of combining what I have into one effective assessment tool seems a little overwhelming but to be an effective educator and to know what the children need to know it is something that needs to be done. I would like to take what I have and combine it into one assessment tool that meets standards put in place by the State of Michigan.

Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas on assessment? If you have a tool that is working for you now please let me know. Also are there other things I should consider when developing the ideal academic assessment tool?

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"My Connections to Play"

Two quotes:

Vygotsky - "Children use private speech in play to regulate behavior"

"Creative play is a central activity in the lives of healthy children."
Almon, K. (2002) The vital role of play in early childhood
education. Gateways, 43.

My family, especially my mom, was very supportive of play. She recognized its importance. My sister and I loved to play with our friends. She would take us to the community pool and parks and we would play all day. When we got a little older we got a trampoline and jumped on it for much of the day. We had a playroom above our garage in Tennessee and we played there for many hours even though it got very hot at times. My sister and I loved to play with dolls. My mom always said she would be my best friend and as we got older did not encourage many outside friendships. I think that hurt our social skills a little. Now we talk every once in a while, have very different lives and see each other about 2-3 times per year. Even though we are still very close and had many years of play as children, we have drifted apart. My dad was really good at playing with us also. He took us on our boat all the time and encouraged more of the rough and tumble type of play. Both my mom and taught us to be resourceful and take care of ourselves, almost to a fault.

As I attempt to write my blog assignement I feel play has changed a great deal since when we were younger. We would go all day without seeing the inside of our house and find things to play with. All three of my boys are sitting around my table asking me questions and saying they are bored. I live about 2 blocks from one of the most beautiful lakes and beaches in the country and 1 block from an elementary school playground. There are children all over this neighborhood to play with and they are asking me what they can do. Where have I gone wrong in this scenario? They have come to rely on me as their "social director" and I have probably enabled that. Play is very different. I am going to cancel cable and hide the playstation and nintendo ds's for the summer. My kids are older and possibly beyond help. I hope that young children will be pulled away from the computers, tv and other electronic devices. I hope they will be in a safe place to be able to venture out and make friends. Parents need to be more confident in their childrens ability and need to become independent players. I think sometimes parents protect their children and don't let them make mistakes at an early age.

I have included pictures of my boys below at the beach. This is what we love to do these days. This was on a spring break vacation. My youngest sons favorite toy was a palm branch he found the first day. Again, an item from nature that I didn't have to purchase that entertained him. Nice!!