Standard 1b: Knowing and understanding the multiple influences on early development and

learning.

I chose this key element because I believe that children learn from the world around

them. Who they live with and who they are around, plays a huge role in the developmental

influences on the child. In one of the discussion boards, we talked about the importance of the

people around the child and how that affects the child as a whole. Children tend to mimic what

they see and hear on a daily basis and this helps them developmentally. An understanding of

child development is essential because it allows us to fully appreciate the cognitive, emotional,

physical, social, and educational growth that children go through from birth and into early

adulthood. I believe I have grown in this specific key element because I have seen how much

someone can impact a child’s life in a positive and negative way. It helps me to better understand

the child and why they are the way they are developmentally.

Standard 2a: Knowing about and understanding diverse family and community characteristics.

This area I feel as though I did well in this semester because I was able to be culturally

sensitive to the children in my classroom. I have very diverse children in the classroom and this

helps me to choose the activities we do. One activity I conducted was having all the children

bring in a food dish that represents their culture. It was amazing to see how many children have

similar cultures with their foods and what it means to them. It also involved the family to come

in and explain what they made and how they made it. I believe it was a great activity to show

what other cultures look like and how we can become culturally appropriate. Children's growing

awareness of diverse family structures provides rich opportunities to celebrate family diversity

and engage them in conversation about who is in their family, who lives in their house and more
importantly, who takes care of them. A teacher is also a big part of a child’s life because they

learn every day at school.

Standard 4b: Knowing and understanding effective strategies and tools for early education,

including appropriate uses of technology

One technology tool that is appropriate to use in the classroom is Alexa! I love Alexa in

the classroom because when I want to play a specific song, I am able to ask Alexa to play it and

she does immediately. Before the Alexa’s, it was hard to find the right song on the disc’s we have

in the classroom. I was always struggling to find the perfect disc to play the right song for circle

time as well. The children love Alexa because they are able to ask me if I can play a specific

song and when I play it, they dance and sing. It is beneficial to have a technology tool such as

Alexa because it has many benefits.

2. Review the California Early Childhood Educator Competencies. Please refer to the

Introduction to understand how the competency areas are broken down and organized.

Family and Community Engagement is one of the most important developmental stages

that can help a child to meet it. I have seen the difference in children whose parents are involved

in the classroom and whose parents aren’t.The positive outcomes of engaged parents are

powerful: increased support for children's learning at home, empowered parents, and improved

family well-being. Children see benefits like improved cognitive development and academic

performance, better social-emotional development, and improved health. Have grown in this

area because in the beginning of the semester I was nervous to ask parents to volunteer because

they would pick their child up and leave immediately without asking how their child’s day was. I

have now asked most of the parents if they would like to come during the week and volunteer to
see what their child does throughout the day. I believe that children do better when they know

their parents are watching them and finding an interest in what they do every day at school.