Reflective Analysis of Portfolio Artifact

Rationale/Reflection

NAEYC Standard:
NAEYC 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 (NAEYC, 2010).

Brief Description of Evidence:

During my 2017 Fall semester of Cognitive Curriculum ECED 243, I completed an invitation to learn.
This project consisted of observing an early childhood classroom. During this observation, I created a
webbing with the children on topics that they were interested in. I then created activities to place at a
licensed level three center after studying the Reggio Emilia Approach which was developed by
psychologist Loris Malaguzzi. After creating the activity, I implemented it in the classroom. During the
implementation, I asked the children open-ended questions to keep them engaged in the activity.

Analysis of What I Learned:

While completing this project, I learned that If I continue to create activities that allow the children to
stay engaged on their own without any support, this will allow me to fully see the learning process as
the children play. This also enables the children to learn from each other. I observed the children
teaching each other what they thought they were supposed to do at the new center. Finally, I learned
that although you want a child to do something specific with your activities, without any guidance, it
may not always go as planned.

How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the NAEYC Standard:

In order to create my invitation to learn, I had to develop and maintain positive relationships with the
students. To create an exciting invitation, I had to learn which ways the children in this specific
classroom enjoyed learning. While implementing the invitation to learn, I used open-ended questions to
keep the children engaged in the activities that I created for them. I was searching for student lead
learning. In my invitation, I did my best to create developmentally and age appropriate activities for the
children. I understood and used a variety of approaches and tools to connect with the children and
families by finding out what the children enjoy doing and finding new ways to bring that into the
classroom. I maintained the positive connection with the family members by discussing the new things
we did in the classroom each day at pick up times.