PREPRIMARY STUDENT PRACTICUM EVALUATION: HDFS 424 Student: Hervey Jessica Student Number: A46151: ‘Semester/Year: Summer 2016 Last First Center: The Child Development Laboratories, Department of Human Development and Family Studies College of Social Science, Michigan State University Address: 325 West Grand River Avenue, East Lansing, Michigan, 48823 Ay srre WWerradern Adhd — Supervning Teacher Signature Fabay CooratsSiandture Melber Segauers es) X_pass___No pass Teaching Placement: Ms. Hervey successfully completed a student teaching experience at the Michigan State University Child Development Laboratories, an early childhood teacher education training facility, accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs. The Child Development Laboratories offers an inclusive environment attended by approximately 200 children, ages three months to six years. Families whose children are enrolled in the program represent great diversity in their ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds and family structure. Student teachers in the Child Development Laboratories begin the semester in a support role and gradually assume primary responsibilty for planning, implementing and evaluating major portions of the children’s program. Assignments include creating single-week and mult-week teaching units. Each unt is theme- Centered and consists of a factual database researched by the student teacher. Student teachers plan all classroom activities, develop an overview of each week's activities, write numerous activity plans, construct and distribute newsletters that inform Parents about how the unit is being carried out as well as offering ideas for family involvement at home. Students are involved in collecting evidence of NAEYC accreditation criteria. In addition, they are responsible for aligning curricular objectives. with Michigan Department of Education Early Childhood Quality Standards. Student teachers are expected to use a variety of evaluation formats to determine the children’s progress and the program's effectiveness. This kind of authentic assessment results in the development of child portfolios, consisting of children's work samples, teacher observations, photographs and other documentation of children’s leaming. Student teachers develop their administrative and supervisory skils by supervising other student staff members who are at various levels of training. They are responsible for directing these aduts in the classroom and for giving them constructive feedback. Student teachers are observed and evaluated daily on their growth and development as ‘early childhood educators. In addition, student teachers develop individual inquiry projects to advance their own learning about a particular area of development or practice. Ms. Hervey was placed in a classroom with full day programming and was responsible for planning and supervising during the moming. Twelve children were enrolled, among which, four different languages were spoken: Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Spanish. There were two children with special needs enrolled in the class. Ms. Hervey had opportunities to work with Applied Behavior Analyst therapists in support of children with autism in the classroom. ‘Seminar: Student teachers participated in series of seminars in which issues in the early childhood profession were examined. These seminars were designed to build and support professional development. Presentation topics included discussions of best practice strategies, exploration of current trends in theory and delivery, examining practices related to home and school partnerships, implementation of an ant-bias curriculum, standards alignment, as well as the role of emergent literacy in early childhood settings. Ms. Hervey consistently attended seminar. She displayed an interest in exploring theory and concepts, ‘especially in regards 0 special education, Ms. Hervey participated with her teaching team in completing a classroom inquiry project that examined the role of gardening in reducing aggressive behaviors in the classroom. She read current research regarding the topic of gardening with children and the prosocial benefits of gardening, She then collected data in support of her project and presented her findings to her teaching colleagues. Ms. Hervey worked alongside her colleagues to plan a family hight that focused on celebrating the children’s hard work in the garden. Ms. Hervey planned a painting activity that utilized naturally found materials to paint. She facilitated families in participating in her activity with their children and encouraged them to implement the activities at home to foster a strong home-school connection. Program Planning: Ms. Hervey planned and implemented a developmentally appropriate program for children using a thematic Unit format. She included activities in a variety of curricular domains including aesthetic, affective, cognitive, language, physical, and social. Ms. Hervey demonstrated strong observation and planning ability. Each week, she carefully observed each child's interests and developmental stage and then carefully planned activities that related to her observations. She planned extensions of activities for older children and simplifications for children with special needs. Ms. Hervey conveyed the curriculum planning to families through weekly newsletters. The newsletters were writen carefully, connecting the school experience with the home environment. Ms. Hervey worked diligently on developing large group experiences for children that were engaging at all developmental levels of the classroom. Children thoroughly enjoyed the activities she planned such as voting to choose which vegetables to plant in the garden, and counting and graphing the number of letters in children’s names, The unit Ms, MSU isan affrmaiveactionequal opportunity initionHervey planned during the semester related to gardening and insects. Through her planning, she gave children adequate time to ‘explore the concepts she presented. Additionally, during Ms. Hervey's study on insects she arranged for a librarian to come visit and read some books about insects, Program Supervision: Ms. Hervey increased in her ability to be an effective classroom manager. She solidified appropriate guidance techniques to facilitate a cooperative climate where children learned and practiced social skills. Ms. Hervey provided intervention to maintain the safety of the children. At the beginning of the semester, Ms. Hervey was working on her ability to provide feedback to other adults in the classroom and how to manage the classroom by guiding adults to each area, however, she adopted the skill through dally practice and now effectively provides on-the-spot feedback fo adults. She led both the pre~ session and post-session meetings to address the events of the day, and provided information for each adult participant Ms. Hervey encouraged each adult to share their impressions and observations. She positively guided adults in the learning process and acknowledged their effort. Ms. Hervey took feedback with a positive attitude and quickly incorporated it into her practice. ‘She maintained a great relationship with her morning colleagues. Large Group: Ms. Hervey demonstrated the ability to successfully plan and implement appropriate large group experiences for children and was able to explore theme related concepts in a large group dynamic. All of the large groups she planned were Conerete, making it easy for young children to understand. She worked hard to manage large group in a professional way. Ms. Hervey worked on inviting guest speakers to enrich the learning during large group. During the semester she invited a librarian who read stories and sang songs to the children related to the unit of study. Children enjoyed the learning experiences. Ms. Hervey demonstrated great story telling skils. She implemented dialogic reading strategies at large group time. Ms. Hervey adequately prepared in advance and was able to successfully facilitate children’s participation during group time while ‘maintaining a global view of the children and directing adult support. Ms. Hervey was mindful of making adaptations to her large group experiences in order to involve all children in tis inclusive setting Assessment: Ms. Hervey incorporated the use of a variety of assessment tools to collect data that related to the children’s theme leaming experience. She wrote anecdotal records, used checklists, took time samples, photographs and videos when she saw behaviors of the children that demonstrated their leaming, Ms. Hervey shared her assessment findings with the head teacher and other adults each day. The assessment tool she used was High Scope's Child Observation Record (COR) Advantage system, The tools provided more information to both the families and the teachers, Ms. Hervey participated in program assessment through the collection of documentation as related to NAEYC criteria for accreditation. She collected evidence that related to all the criteria and incorporated the data into children’s online portfolios. Working in a Team: Ms. Hervey worked effectively as a team member. She was cooperative, reasonable, supportive and conscientious in her work with others. When other staff members were ill or absent Ms. Hervey pitched in as much as she could to assist with the classroom and children. Her interactions with parents and staff were always pleasant, friendly, and respectful She arrived early each day to set up the classroom, whether she was in the lead or support role, and carried out all assignments cheerfully and promptly as requested by the head teacher. Ms. Hervey worked with the head teacher and the other student teacher to design a sensory friendly classroom. In the group discussions, Ms. Hervey actively and respectfully offered her opinions. Working with Families: Ms. Hervey had numerous opportunities to work with families. She warmly greeted families as they arrived with their children each day and her interactions were always supportive and respectful. Ms. Hervey wrote newsletters that supported the home-school connections and included several activities for families to continue learning opportunities at home each week. It was evident to parents that she had a genuine appreciation for their children as individuals. Ms. Hervey cfeeted everyone at pick-up time and shared children’s leaming with each parent. She maintained good communication and relationships with families. Judgments: Ms. Hervey exhibited good judgment pertaining to all aspects of her classroom. By maintaining a global view of the environment, she was able to identify and solve pertinent issues and problems in a calm and rational manner. The safety of the children was always a main concem and Ms. Hervey was proactive in supporting changes in implementation as well as planning for particular children. When she noticed some children had a challenging time with the activites, she made changes Quickl9 and scaffolded the specific skill for the children. Ms. Hervey employed effective strategies to support an inclusive environment Professional Behavior and Ethics: Ms. Hervey was dedicated to her student teaching experience. She was an effective, conscientious, and responsible teacher of young children. She cooperated with other adults in the classroom, showed respect for each child, carefully planned the activities, maintained good interaction with parents, and provided support to the participating University students. Ms. Hervey maintained confidentiality regarding all children, families, and colleagues. | highly recommend her for a position of responsibilty in working with and educating young children. MSU team afirmave ation/egual appara instintion