Prompt 1: Building a Foundation for Play and Learning

       Teaching is not a simple profession. Many people who are not involved in the Education field see it as an "easy" profession that requires little to no work. As a future educator, I have learned how difficult teaching really is. Becoming an educator requires hours of preparation and a determined and caring personality. Teachers need to consider the many learning styles, backgrounds, and disabilities they may have in their class. This requires adapted materials, extra resources, and much more. If anyone would spend a single day observing the life of a teacher they would see that it's not as easy as it looks. 

          I believe that different children are going to learn better in different ways. Not all students are going to be wired the same which will require the teacher to differentiate some of the material. I have worked in classrooms where a teacher used alternative assignments to align with the students learning practice. This type of approach seemed very effective and allowed each student to excel. But, I believe that students need to learn from experience. I do believe that the students need to be pushed in the right direction, but I feel like teacher’s today spoon feed the material instead of letting the students find the answers. Our Bullard text discusses how it is the teacher’s job to create an environment where the children can initiate the activities. Those children are then able to learn through play which could include; writing stories, reading books, dancing, making art, doing experiments, etc. The teacher can also initiate learning strategies for their students. Teachers can ask students questions to further engage their thinking process. The teacher can create different mini-lessons and workshops, and also display material throughout the classroom that references what is being learned. 

          Every teacher has their own philosophy that they refer to during their career. A teaching philosophy is what the educator finds to be the purpose of education and what they believe is their role as the teacher, the student’s role in the classroom, and how they are going to meet their needs. A teaching philosophy also includes the best ways that the educator will teach the information and how to determine if the students are learning. I personally believe the constructivist philosophy is the most beneficial in a classroom. Bullard’s text refers to a constructivist as someone who believes children learn information through interaction with other people and different materials. Each learner is considered "unique" and their personalities, backgrounds, and needs are taken into consideration. In order for educators to facilitate students learning and growth, they need to keep extensive research on each child. Teachers will do many assessments throughout the year to make sure students are where they need to be in their education. If a student is struggling the teacher can refer to any information they may have on that child that will help them solve the problem. Professional educators need to make sure every students needs are being met, and that involves not allowing any of them to fall too far behind.

         Once a student enters school, the school is then liable for anything that may or may not happen to that child. Professional educators are similar to babysitters for an entire school of children. Each teacher will be in charge of their own class to make sure they are safe and needs are being met. The NAEYC's Code of Ethical Conduct is a document that states appropriate behavior that a teacher must follow and how to solve multiple ethical dilemmas that a teacher may face in their career. A teacher must follow a professional relationship with the children, families, colleagues, the community and society. The Code of Ethical Conducts states seven standards that teachers must follow. These standards are seen as the "core values" that we must follow as educators. 

          I would consider myself to be a play-moderate. I believe that there is a time for children to have free play, and there is also a time for traditional classroom instruction. I do not believe children (especially Pre-K students) should be stuck behind a desk all day. By confiding the students in this area, they are not able to fully activate their brain and play-based learning. I do understand the concern that many teachers have with free play turning into a chaotic mess. In order to avoid this type of craziness, it is very common for the teachers/adults to conduct a lot of the play time. I know that I am a play-moderate because I have used this type of approach in some of my classrooms. I have used a lot of GoNoodle exercise videos in my lesson plans to give students a "brain break" from their stationary positions. For one of my lesson plans on prefixes I had the students pass a beach ball around the room that had different prefixes written on it that they had to use. By allowing the students to do something other than a worksheet they were immediately engaged. Although I was still conducting the lesson, I allowed students to explore the content on their own. 

          Play based learning is a type of learning approach where children make sense of the world around them by organizing themselves and engaging with other people and objects. Play based learning also involves minimum adult intervention. The Barlett article, "A Case for Play" made a lot of interesting points on the idea of using play based learning. Teachers should be involved in this type of play, but they need to make sure not to persuade any of their students in a certain direction. This type of play should not be directed by the professional educator. This is a time for the children to explore and use their imagination without being told exactly what to do.