Early Childhood Education

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Mr. Happy Book Review

We would not recommend Mr. Happy to read to elementary students because it makes happiness seem like the only emotion people are aloud to experience. Reading this book to elementary students will put a lot of pressure on them to feel like they must be happy all the time because "everyone who lives in Happyland is as happy as the day is long." This is not realistic though. Students should be encouraged to feel other emotions and be able to express themselves if they feel these other emotions. The only positive aspect about this book is that it illustrates that anyone can be happy like Mr. Miserable, but this does not outweigh the other negative aspects about this book.

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Vygotsky

"According to Vygotsky, until children learn to use mental tools, their learning is largely controlled by the environment; they attend only to the things that are brightest or loudest, and they can remember something only if has been repeated many times. AFTER children master mental tools, they become in charge of their own learning, by attending and remembering in an intentional and purposeful way." - http://www.toolsofthemind.org/philosophy/vygotskian-approach/

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Vygotsky Theory

Vygotsky was an educational psychologist that believed in a sociocultural theory of learning. A sociocultural learning experiences means that a child's social interactions lead to connections and changes in the child's thoughts and actions that vary from culture to culture. There are 4 basic concepts that Vygotsky believes in. 

1. Children construct their knowledge

2.Development cannot be separated from its social context

3. Learning can lead development

4.Language plays a central role in mental development

Depending on the child's cultural experiences and environment creates variability in development.

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Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget believed that children are born with cognitive skills and for the rest of our lives, our knowledge that we gain is centered around this base that we have. His theory of cognitive development is broken up into four basic stages:

1. Sensorimotor: Infants and toddlers gain knowledge though actions, sensory movements, and manipulation. 

2. Pre-operational: Kids begin to "pretend play" but still have a difficult time with reasoning, as they can not see from other peoples' perspectives.

3. Concrete Operational: Logic begins to set in for children, but they still cannot grasp a lot of abstract concepts. 

4. Formal Operational: Children grasp abstract concepts and reasoning, and can think in terms of deductive reasoning. 

Children use schemas, or categories of knowledge, to understand and observe the world around them more effectively. They alter old schemas as they gain new information, to make them more reasonable and accurate. Piaget found it crucial that children find a balance between assimilation and adaptation, which is applying old knowledge, and changing their schemas to accommodate new information. 

The following is a video overview about Piaget's cognitive theory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEam9lpa6TQ

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Jerome Bruner's Idea of the Spiral Curriculum

Read the Education Partnerships, Inc. Brief on the Spiral Curriculum by clicking the link below, scrolling down to find the link "The Spiral Curriculum - Oregon GEAR UP," clicking it, and opening the file as a PDF.

https://www.google.com/#q=spiral+curriculum&spell=1

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Common Core Standards: The New U.S. Intended Curriculum

to access my article...

1) click on the link below

2) scroll down until you find Common Core Standards: The New U.S. Intended Curriculum 

http://online.sagepub.com/search?fulltext=common+core+standards&x=0&y=0&src=hw&andorexactfulltext=and&submit=yes

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persepctives of conforming

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-f-bernstein/the-federal-governments-role-in-education_b_3459460.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6-UVQu_GtU

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standardization and curriculum reform article

http://www.thecalifornian.com/viewart/20140222/OPINION05/302220029/Should-the-U-S-send-responsibility-for-K-12-education-back-to-the-states-and-local-school-boards-

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News Article on Corforming Curriculum

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/22/alabama-bill-would-repeal-common-core-curriculum-standards/

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Letter of Gratitude

My senior year english teacher not only inspired me to work harder, but also motivated me to follow my dreams. In high school, I always had to work harder than most of my friends and the other students in my class because good grades did not come easy to me. I was continuously frustrated throughout high school because I was never really satisfied with the grades that I would  receive. However, my senior year english teacher Ms. Cho truly motivated me to not give up but work harder because once I received the grade that felt I deserved, it would be an amazing feeling. She explained to me that when she was in high school, school did not come easy to her either, however, she ended up graduating from a prestigious college, and becoming a teacher; which was exactly what I dreamed of doing. Furthermore, Ms. Cho became a role model to me and someone that I could look up to whenever I felt discouraged. 

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I think Anna from Disney's new movie, Frozen, is a great role model for young girls. 

In this movie, Anna sets out on a dangerous journey independent of all help and is completely confident in her own abilities to save her kingdom. She recognizes her "Prince Charming" is not so charming and doesn't waste a tear on him. She has an unconditional love her sister, Elsa, despite the several years her sister isolated herself from her without any explanation. Anna is the symbol of girl power and totally redefines what it means to be a girl. 

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Role Model: Hilary Duff

I chose Hilary Duff as a good role model because even though she came from childhood fame she didn't let that go to her head. She started in numerous movies and a show on Disney channel that was not controversial and after breaking away from Disney she followed her music career. She broke away from her Disney image without going "crazy" like some other Disney stars. She now helps with many different philanthropies such as aiding to Katrina victims and others helping children in the hospital. She co parenting her son with her husband even though they are separated she remains friendly in the best interest of her son. Overall she works to provide for her family and is in the spotlight all the time but maintains a classy image.

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Dear Mr. Tonik, 

I wanted to thank you for being a great inspiration for me to teach in fourth grade. I admire how you treated each of the children in your classroom with equal amounts of respect and kindness. You were always open about any mistakes you made and quick to correct them in class. I really appreciated how you were always able to make learning intriguing for me. Most of all, I wanted to thank you for challenging me and many other students in the class. At this time in my life, you opened up a lot of possibilities for me. Because of you I was able to finally see my strengths and openly identify my weaknesses. You challenged me to be better and since then I have been more open to challenging myself. Thank you for being an excellent role model for me.

Carlyn Nordeman 

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I think that Kate Middleton is a great role model. She is a classy, intelligent, and hard-working woman. She carries herself with great poise and speaks very eloquently in every situation. She does many charity events and is a very determined person. She is kind and caring - beautiful on both the inside and the outside. She is a real life princess.

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At our school, our main goal is to foster and harness children's creativity in play to help introduce them to learning. The toys provided in our school help children learn and develop at their natural pace. We encourage a natural and gradual development of the students in our classroom. Through this creative environment, students will begin to develop their aesthetic needs in order to be successful in more challenging topics, such as science, in the future. We do not force learning upon children before they are ready. However, we promote learning experiences that will benefit them in the future. It is believed that children develop from their earliest encounters with nature, and therefore we have implemented many elements of nature in the design of our classroom, allowing children to develop their own way of thinking and ideas.