Chesapeake College

ECD 270 Practicum in Early Childhood Development

Self-Reflection Journal

1. What were the ages of the children you spent time with during this half of the semester?

I have been working with four and five-year olds in the Pre-K classroom.

2. Taking into account the dynamics of the group and the children’s individual interests, do you
feel that the classroom arrangement was effective? Explain your answer and if you would make
changes what would they be?

I do believe that the classroom is fit to the needs of the children. The teachers have designed a
variety of centers that allow for exploration and discovery at each, and most of them the children
are interested in. I do see one center not getting a lot of attention, which is the easel. Perhaps
because it is placed up against a wall, but that is because it is next to the art center. I feel as if this
could draw more attention if there was something more interest if there was a better activity there
rather than brown paper and markers.

3. Based on your interactions with the children, staff members and your experience with carrying
out lesson plans, circle time, transitions, etc., identify strengths in your teaching skills, also
identify areas of improvement.

I find some of my strengths would be communicating my needs to staff members and having an
open communication with them. I find this easier to get what I need when I can talk with them.
Lesson plans have been a strength so far as I haven’t had any negative feedback from the children
nor the teachers observing. But an area where I need some improvement are transitions; switching
from one activity to another, or clean-up. When I have tried to initiate the transitions, I sense a lack
of authority. They do not take to me as they take to their teachers. I can understand why, but it
concerns me when it comes to being a full-time teacher and if I will be capable of doing it in my own
classroom.

4. Reflect on your experiences in regard to behavioral management. Were there any instances
where you observed or were directly involved with a child that displayed unacceptable
behavior? Briefly describe the behavior what the cause was and how the situation was handled.
What did you learn from this experience?

Oh goodness, there is so much I can say about this topic. We have one child who displays this every
day. They have outbursts multiple times a day, like average of 6. As the teachers, we have
communicated and tried every possible thing to help them, but nothing seems to work. We make
sure the children are always safe, so if that means removing the one child from the room, then we
have to. Or if we have to remove everyone else, we will. Most of the time, we talk to the child. Allow
them to reflect on their actions. The only problem with this is that there is no change. While we all
think it is caused by something more, we can’t do anything else.

5. How will this experience affect your teaching style when you have your own classroom?

I have learned a lot and will learn so much more from this experience so far. Through teaching
lessons, I have seen what works and what doesn’t work with different types of children with
different learning styles. I have seen effective classroom management styles that I can try to
implement in my own classroom. How they work will on depend on the needs of the children.