Reflective Analysis of Portfolio Artifact Rationale/Reflection NAEYC Standard: STANDARD 4.

USING DEVELOPMENTALLY EFFECTIVE APPROACHES

Candidates prepared in early childhood degree programs understand that teaching and learning with young children is a complex enterprise, and its details vary depending on childrens ages, characteristics, and the settings within which teaching and learning occur. They understand and use positive relationships and supportive interactions as the foundation for their work with young children and families. Candidates know, understand, and use a wide array of developmentally appropriate approaches, instructional strategies, and tools to connect with children and families and positively influence each childs development and learning (National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2011).

Brief Description of Evidence: During the fall 2012 semester as part of my ECED 243 course and the Engaging the Brain Project, I created fifteen teacher-made activities for children ages two and three. The activities I created were based on an ocean theme chosen by the children. In order to create all activities I had to come up with an activity for each of the fifteen cognitive skills; discrimination, finemotor, gross-motor, cooperation, classification, memory, hand-eye coordination, literacy, creativity, science, seriation, direction, one-to-one correspondence, matching/sorting, and social studies. After creating each activity I paired them with foundations to ensure developmentally appropriate quality. Analysis of What I Learned: Through creating activities to promote each of the fifteen cognitive skills, and pairing them with foundations I was able to provide children ages two and three with developmentally appropriate tools. Allowing the children to choose the theme for the activities also helped with making sure the activities were appealing. During the 243 course I learned that children need a wide variety of materials to study and explore in order to fully develop a skill. How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the NAEYC Standard: The fifteen teacher-made activities also played a major part in the Engaging the Brain Project. This opportunity has allowed me to design developmentally appropriate approaches as well as extend learning within the classroom and at home. Through creating and implementing these activities, I feel confident with my ability to provide children with positive interactions and developmentally appropriate guidance throughout the learning process.