5 = Introductory section is complete, including autobiography, philosophy, resume, and

professional plan. Work is creative as well as neat and well organized, with no spelling or
grammar errors.
4 = Introductory section is complete, but may need some revision. Work is neat and well
organized, with few or no spelling or grammar errors.
3 = Introductory section may be incomplete and one or more parts may need some revision.
Work is neat and well organized, with few or no spelling or grammar errors.
2 = Introductory section may be incomplete and all parts need some revision. Work lacks
organization and has spelling or grammar errors.
1 = Introductory section may be incomplete or need much revision. Work lacks organization and
has several spelling or grammar errors.
0 = Introductory section has 3 or 4 parts missing, and work is sloppy and unprofessional.
Student Self Rating
5

Instructor Rating
5

Katie
Your philosophy is thoughtful and well written.
Your resume is in a good format, but you should remove the brackets that were in
the template --- just use the headings without the brackets.
Your autobiography is interesting and of good length (but I found one minor typo).
Your reflection and planning is good.
Nice work!
Joan

Philosophy Statement
I believe that infants and toddlers are a very important stage in life to teach. There
are so many things that I teach these children and so many milestones that are met, I am
responsible for teaching and helping these children to learn everyday things even at such
an early age. I am helping them with crawling, walking and running. I am also worried
about the things that they learn emotionally along with developmentally.
I believe that the one way that I interact with toddlers is just by showing them love
and attention. It is my responsibility to make sure that each toddler gets individual
attention and that they feel trust in me as their caregiver.
I believe that the most important thing in daycare is relationships, not only with the
children, but also with their families. I believe that if the parent does not feel that they have
a relationship with me they will not feel comfortable with leaving their child with me. I
ensure that the parent knows that their child is being left at a daycare that every child is
getting attention and that it is a caring and loving place for their child to be.
I believe that making sure that the parents feel that they can come to me with any
issue or concern and if there is a problem I will try to fix the things that are wrong. I also
want everyone to be happy, so I will work with each family to make their experience a good
one. I also must remember that every family is different each family has their own ways of
doing things and that I must respect this. This is another reason to make sure to form a
relationship with parents so that we both know exactly what to expect from their child
based on the way they are brought up.
I believe that I must have some type of relationship with my co-workers. The people
that work around me can give great ideas and help when needed. I must form a
relationship with each and every teacher in some way. These are the people who can help
me learn even more about myself and even more about the kids that I may have coming to
my room.
While I believe that it is important to have a routine in place I also know that it can
be difficult to follow the same routine every day. I believe that there are things that can
throw off my routine but I do know that it is important even at a young age to try. I also
know that childcare is about being flexible, Flexibility is all part of routine. Something can
come up like a teacher calling in sick that will make for flexibility as well as a schedule
change. While this may cause a total uproot of your original plan I believe that you must
change and always have a backup plan.
I believe that I keep routine in order by doing the same things at the same time each
day. I try to follow our classroom schedule and keep the kids as busy as I can. The busier
the child, the better the routine will be accomplished. I also believe that with a routine
children will be calmer and happier. I also believe that with this statement on routine you
must also keep up with the proper transition. Ig the transition is missing then the routine
will be thrown off or not succeed.
The number one thing I believe is that I must remember, every child needs to be
LOVED and CARED for in a professional and caring manner to make their experience a
good and memorable one. I must also remember the best interest of the child, not pushing
them too far or too hard. I must remember that every child learns at their own pace and in
order for them to succeed that is ok.

Katie Nowack
1314 Monroe Ave South Mil. WI 53154/Yok8jr@aol.com/4142028202

Lead Teacher @ Grace Lutheran Early Childhood Center

May 30th, 2007 Present
I have worked in the one year old classroom for all the years that I have
worked at Grace. I have also taught in the infant room and preschool room
as a sub. I have worked had in hand with the director with scheduling and
staffing needs. I have also helped many new staff now the roles that they
need to play and the things that need to get done as a closer.

MATC, West Allis WI

Undeclared
I only took one class at this location. I took Infant Toddler Development in
2008.
UWM, Milwaukee WI
Undeclared
I only took one class here. I took EC 1 in 2009.
NWTC, Green Bay WI
Undeclared
At NWTC I have completed my Corse work for my Infant Toddler
Credential and will be petitioning to the State of WI this summer. I have
also completed many other ECE classes as I work towards my associates in
Early Childhood Education. I have kept a 3.75-4.0 GPA each semester as I
complete these courses
Jenny Conrad
6515 North 80th Milwaukee WI 53223
2624098870

Jeanie Meyer my 1st-2nd grade teacher

Grace Lutheran
8537 S. Pennsylvania Ave Oak Creek WI 53154
4147623655

Hi my name is Katie Nowack. I have lived in Wisconsin all of

my life. I grew up in the Bay View area and moved to South
Milwaukee about 5 years ago. As a child I spent a lot of time with
my Grandparents, both of my parents had full time jobs. I really
enjoyed getting to spend so much time with them. You never knew
what the day was going to bring. I remember always going down to
the lake and going to the playground while we watched the boats
sail in. We also always would go to this small restraint by the
airport called Night Owl and get an ice cream while we watched
the planes land. What great experienced those were and I am so
glad that I had those opportunities and hope that one day I can
have kids of my own that can have those same experiences with my
parents.
As I got older and began to go to school my dream job was
always to be a Kindergarten teacher. Every time we had to write
the when I grow up paper I would write about being a teacher in
a 5K class. What a dream that was as I grew up. I had that
dream through most of grade school and even some of High School.
As I approached my junior year in High School I was offered a
part time job at my churches daycare center as a floater between
the Infant and Two Year old classrooms. I accepted the job but
said it was only going to be temporary. As I began my job I fell in
love with the staff and the children. I began to rethink my dream.
As I began my senior year in High School I thought more and more
about what I wanted to do. I kept throwing the ideas back and
forth. As the end of my senior year came close I was offered a
full time position in the one year old classroom. I accepted. I have
now been in this position for almost 9 years and I would not change
it for the world.
I now have a new dream in mind, this dream is to go back to
school get my associates in Early Childhood Education and then
continue on and take administrative classes and to become a
director in either mine or an area Lutheran based daycare center.

Professional Development Reflection and Planning

Adapted from the New Vision Assessment

Reflections
Begin by thinking about your career and making specific statements about it. Use this tool to
reflect on your professional satisfaction and growth.
1. What excites you MOST about your job?
a. The number one thing that excites me about my job is watching each child grow
at their own pace and watching them grow as they move from room to room. It is
so amazing to watch my one year olds recognize their own picture and say their
friends name to seeing them in the three year old room recognizing the letters of
their name and then as a preschooler writing it without struggle. It makes me feel
like wow that started with me teaching them by pictures.
2. What challenges are you currently facing in your work?
a. The biggest challenge is time. As we are a small daycare we dont have many
extra staff members so being able to balance work and school and find time to do
all the necessities for both is my challenge at this time.
3. What would you CHANGE about your current position? If more than one, please
prioritize.
a. I think that for me as lead teacher the only thing that I would change is seeing the
assistant teachers doing more. At my center everything falls on the lead
Portfolios, intakes, health reports, any phone calls and the list goes on especially
being a Youngstar center there are more and more things each day that we as leads
need to do. So again I would saw either having two leads in each room or giving
more responsibility to the assistant teacher.
4. Of the topics listed below, reflect on each topic and describe what you do well and in what
areas would like to experience growth.
Observation and Planning
This is an area that I need improvement in. This also goes back to time. When these are
put on the Lead teacher alone its hard to keep up with observations and planning when I have so
many other things to keep up with also.
Learning Environment

I try and change my environment as much as I can for my kids I try to bring in new things
and rotate as much as I can. Rotation of toys and items is difficult though as my storage is very
limited. I have found the easiest way to do this is the Rubbermaid 3 drawer drawers. This way I
can rotate one drawer at a time or use the drawers to store theme specific toys to bring out only
during that specific week and then switch again.
Parent Relationships
I think that I have a strong parent relationship I try to get to talk to each parent on a
nightly bases and make sure that all issues and concerns are taken care of promptly.
Health and Safety
I try and keep my room and center as safe and clean as I can. I spray my toys nightly and
try and pick out the mouthed toys as they are mouthed. If I see something that is not safe I
remove immediately and either throw out or ask for it to be fixed.
Community Involvement
I think that as a center we could improve in this area. I think that especially since we are a
Lutheran Daycare it would be nice to do more things for our community or get involved in the
things that the church does such as Hunger Task Force, Area shelter Baby items collection or
mitten and hat collection. We along with our church should work more as a team for these type
of things to support the community.
5. List three job related areas in which you would like to learn more and gain skills
1. Preschool Teacher
2. Director
3. I would like to form or be part of a Parents Board to help with some of the topics above
5. Which Professional Organizations are you currently involved in?
a. _______National Association for the Education of Young Children
b. __X__ Wisconsin Early Childhood Association
c. _______ Local AEYC Affiliate
d. _______ Wisconsin Family Child Care Association
e. _______ Wisconsin Child Care Administrators Association
f. _______ Local Family Child Care Support Group
g. _______ other, please specify
h. _______ not a member of any professional organizations at this time

Planning
Take some time now to look at the previous sections you just competed. Reflect on recurring
strengths, areas of improvement, interests, desires and challenges. Then fill out this worksheet.

Professional Planning

Develop a professional plan with one or two goals and steps to achieve those goals
for:
Goal - 1 year from now: Have my IT Credential and a level 11 on WI Registry
Steps to achieve goal
Timeline (be specific)
Finish my Capstone Classes and the petition to the Capstone class will be completed this semester and I
state
will petition to the state this summer
Complete the 4 classes that I am in this semester By September of 2015 I should be a level 11
and enroll in at least one class next semester

Goal - 3 years from now: Associates Degree or near completion/

Administration Credential
Steps to achieve goal
Sign up for general study classes and transfer credits
from NWTC to another school with general studies
near me
Sign up for Addmin, Credential and enroll in classes

Timeline (be specific)

This is a goal that I dont have a specific time line
for it varies based on class availability and classes
needed
This is a 4 class credential do it could be completed
by 2016