Assignment 1: The Kindergarten Program
Published on Sep 22, 2020
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MORE DECKS TO EXPLORE
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
1. The Educator
2. The Learner
3. The Third Teacher
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The educator "strives to internalize the overall expectations, reviewing the conceptual understandings that accompany them to see the broader ideas, skills, and understandings that flow from them."
(Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 30).
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Educators beliefs
- "All children can succeed."
- "Each child has his or her own unique patterns of learning."
- "Successful instructional practices are founded on evidence-based research, tempered by experience."
Further beliefs of educators:
- "Universal design and differentiated instruction are effective and interconnected means of meeting the learning or productivity needs of any group of children."
- "Classroom educators are the key educators for a child’s literacy and numeracy development."
- "Classroom educators need the support of the larger community to create a learning environment that supports children with special education needs."
- "Fairness is not sameness" (Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 122).
I think these beliefs are an important part of kindergarten because educators need to trust that students are competent and capable of learning. Educators also need to understand and be able to accommodate a wide range of learning styles as every student learns best in different ways.
- "Universal design and differentiated instruction are effective and interconnected means of meeting the learning or productivity needs of any group of children."
- "Classroom educators are the key educators for a child’s literacy and numeracy development."
- "Classroom educators need the support of the larger community to create a learning environment that supports children with special education needs."
- "Fairness is not sameness" (Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 122).
I think these beliefs are an important part of kindergarten because educators need to trust that students are competent and capable of learning. Educators also need to understand and be able to accommodate a wide range of learning styles as every student learns best in different ways.
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The educator must consider "how the nature, placement, and quantity of materials in the environment might affect the children's play, taking into account the intent of the learning."
I believe it is important that the educator creates a welcoming, inclusive classroom environment that fosters curiosity and creativity.
(Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 40).
(Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 40).
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The learner is impacted by the educator as "the educator's documentation and analysis makes children's thinking and learning visible and inform the path educators take to support individual children's learning."
The educator will guide students' learning based on the learning they see the student doing. The educator will help to support the students' learning based on the level of understanding the student shows. The educator should be learning right alongside the students to create a safe, inclusive and engaging environment.
(Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 32).
(Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 32).
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The learner is impacted by the educator and the third teacher, the environment. The learner must have a voice known as "the children's voice" to create a "flexible and dynamic learning environment."
(Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 40).
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Untitled Slide
Each aspect of what surrounds the child will affect their ability to learn in a positive or negative manner.
(Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 9).
(Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 9).
Dynamic Classroom Management
- "develop caring, supportive relationships with and among students."
- "organize and implement instruction in ways that optimize students' access to learning."
- "use group management methods to encourage students' engagement in academic tasks."
- "promote the development of students' social skills and self-regulation."
Dynamic classroom Management
- "use appropriate interventions to assist students with behaviour problems" (Edmunds & Edmunds, 2015, p. 78).
(DCM) is important for kindergarten because in order for students to learn, they need to be able to self-regulate and promote positive behaviour to prevent distractions or interruptions in the learning. When students have difficulty self-regulating, they can become frustrated and act out. When this happens, no learning is occurring for the student or the rest of the class.
- "use appropriate interventions to assist students with behaviour problems" (Edmunds & Edmunds, 2015, p. 78).
(DCM) is important for kindergarten because in order for students to learn, they need to be able to self-regulate and promote positive behaviour to prevent distractions or interruptions in the learning. When students have difficulty self-regulating, they can become frustrated and act out. When this happens, no learning is occurring for the student or the rest of the class.
Untitled Slide
It is important in Kindergarten that students are able to construct their learning environment alongside educators so that it's not simply what the educators believe students should have to enrich their learning.
(Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 31).
(Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 31).
The educator and the learner each have different roles, but they both need to agree upon what the environment looks like, sounds like and feels like.
Agreeing upon the characteristics of the environment promotes diversity and inclusion. Safety is important when designing the learning environment, but students need to be "responsible for their own safety, and to care for their environment" (Ministry of Education, 2013, p. 3).
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The third teacher is the environment. The people and objects that surround the learner need to provide a wide variety of stimulation that fosters their curiosity to learn.
The third teachers plays an incredibly important role in kindergarten because students are taking in the world around them, interacting with it and learning from it.
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Having a variety of learning spaces and learning stations is conducive to further a student's cognitive abilities.
In my drawing from the workshop on "exploring 8 principles of creating an environment that acts as the third teacher", it became clear to me that having aspects of outside in the classroom were necessary. In my drawing I included a science/outdoor objects station that students could bring items such as leaves, rocks and twigs to look at under a plastic microscope. This activity begins to transition students into the grade 1 science curriculum of looking at the needs and characteristics of living things. Another important aspect about the environment is being able to move parts of the classroom around which allows for flexibility in lessons.
The third teacher is "the child’s environment [and] [it] cannot be seen just as a context for learning or a passive setting for activities; it is an integral part of learning and helps define their identity."
(Ontario Ministry of Education, 2013, p. 2).
Wonder question:
How will I as an educator teach students with a variety of learning abilities and needs?
Wonder question:
How will I as an educator teach students with a variety of learning abilities and needs?
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