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 a) understand and use positive relationships and supportive interactions as the foundation for their work with young children and families. Candidates b, c) knows, understand, and use a wide array of developmentally appropriate approaches, instructional strategies, and tools to connect with children and families and d) positively influence each childs development and learning. Brief Description of Evidence: As part of my emerging literacy course during the fall semester of 2013, I developed a prop box to use in my classroom for the children to use in dramatic play. In the classroom, the children had to listen to two complete stories about working and different occupations. The children were then asked to discuss what their parents did for a living. The children then talked about what they wanted to be when they grew up. A chef was mentioned in the discussion, so I decided to make a chef/cooking prop box with the children. As a group, we discussed what should go in a cooking prop box and the children and I, together, constructed the box. The box was then placed out during center time for the children to explore and dress up as a chef. The items in the prop box were available for the children to pretend to cook and prepare food for each other. Analysis of what I learned: Through completion of the cooking prop box, I was able to use positive interaction and social skills to work with a small group to complete the box. I learned how important it is to discuss family life with the children at school. Asking the children about their parents and the jobs each parent did was exceptionally interactive. The children were very eager to discuss what their parents jobs were, and they were proud to tell me what their parents did for a living. Through making the prop box with the children, I have learned that connecting real life issues into an overall curriculum is very important and stimulating for the children. Connecting real life gets children actively involved in their own learning, making real life connections between content and the real world. How this artifact demonstrates my competence on the NAEYC standard: By constructing the prop box with the children I was able to use positive, social interaction between the children and myself. I feel like the children built better relationships with each other after discussing what each of their parents did. Each child was so proud to tell all the other children what their parents did for a living. All the children listened intently to each other. I am competent in my ability to use different developmental approaches, instructional strategies, and tools to connect with the children and their families. By making a prop box of the chef profession, I connected real life to my curriculum, all the while making it fun for the children.