Field Experience as a Preschool Teacher
FE JOURNAL (USE TEMPLATE PROVIDED). Keep a detailed journal of your 15-hour experience. Please use the journal template I provide in this packet. Make sure that your journal entries are complete and detailed. Your entries should include: the day of participation, location of participation, time of participation, details of what you did (observe/help/interview, etc.), and what you witnessed. The more details in your entries the better. If possible, you should complete this journal while at your placement or as soon as possible after completing your participation. You will submit an electronic copy of your journal with your final paper. (You may type up your journal, or scan or take a photo of the original hand-written version. Journals will be submitted to iCollege along with your paper).
FIELD EXPERIENCE PAPER. Your final FE Paper should follow standard APA-style formatting (typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12-point font, one-inch margins all around, proper APA citations). See the APA manual or Purdue’s Online Writing Lab website for additional information. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html
Please follow the formatting guidelines below. Your paper should include:
(1) A title page containing:
Title of the paper
Your name
Course number and name
Instructor name
Assignment due date
(2) A 1-page Introduction (labeled "Introduction"):
Describe what you decided to do and why. Describe a little about the location where you chose to observe or participate, and the teacher or others you observed, interviewed, helped, etc. Set the context for your paper.
(3) A 3-4 page Main Body (labeled "Main Body"): This section should be written in a narrative format, translating your journal entries (which may be written in short-hand or bullet points) into a format for the final paper. For each entry, you should include:
(a) the date of your participation
(b) the beginning and end times of your participation as well as the location
(c) detailed observations of what you saw, did, etc.
(4) A 3-4 page Theories Section (labeled "Theories Section"): In this section, explain how your observations or activities relate to 2 or 3 different learning theories or concepts discussed or read about in class. (Please be sure to use the chapters and topics discussed in the syllabus.) In order to earn full credit for this section, be sure to explain how what you observed or did relates specifically to each learning theory/concept you chose. Discuss each of the individual theories or Ed Psych concepts one at a time. Use subheadings if it helps to organize this section.
(5) The FE Verification Form provided in this packet must be completed and submitted as the last page of your paper if you complete any in-person or virtual hours with a supervisor. If you complete modified assignments, you do not need to submit a verification form.
The final FE Paper will be 9-11 pages long including the required title page and mandatory filled out verification form, or 9-10 pages if a verification form is not needed.
PRESENTATIONS OF FIELD EXPERIENCES. You will also complete a brief VoiceThread presentation on your field experience. In your presentation, you will give an overview of your project including your observation hours and connections to educational psychology. See the grading rubric and presentation guidelines for additional details. Presentations will be submitted to iCollege.
ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES
Each FE Project undertaken by a student in this class MUST relate to readings and/or discussions in this course. Please refer to the course schedule and weekly assignments for topics covered this semester. Please dress and act professionally when completing your field experience in a school, community center, church, etc. and always be mindful that you are a guest who has been invited to join an ongoing activity. A few examples of an acceptable FE project are listed below.
- Teach something new to a child or an adult to gain an appreciation of the planning and effort required to help someone do or understand something that they could not do or understand before your instruction. You may do this in a daycare facility, classroom, church school, a shelter, a neighborhood, or retirement facility etc.
- Shadow a professional in a field in which you are interested (e.g., a speech or physical therapist, school counselor or school psychologist, dance, music, or acting instructor, coach, dietitian, nurse, doctor, professor) to determine the kinds of learning and teaching that occur on a regular basis in that field.
- Work as a teacher's assistant with a group of children through a community or church group on a particular project (e.g., Girl Scouts, Sunday School, YMCA, Clarkston Community Center, Refugee services, ESOL classes).
- Visit a classroom (e.g., public or private school, college class). You can volunteer (reading to students, working one-on-one with a student) or can observe. You might divide your hours so that, between your classroom experiences, you can talk with the teacher about what you have seen and their experience as a teacher. Take extensive notes on what you see and what the teacher tells you, and write in your journal about the classroom, the students, the ways the teacher chose to promote learning, the types of activities you observed or participated in, the main points of your conversation with the teacher, and what you learned from this activity.
- Suggest your own FE placement and discuss your idea with your professor for approval.
Select one or more activities from the “Modified Field Experience Assignments” handout for alternatives to face-to-face hours.
Field Experience
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Lecturer’s Name
Course Name and Number
Assignment Due Date
Introduction
For this field experience, I volunteered as a preschool teacher at Discovery Point Hamilton Mill, working with children between ages 3 and 5. I decided to offer early childhood education and provide a structured learning environment. I also ensured safety and well-being of the children under my care while providing a nurturing and stimulating environment. In my day-today tasks, I engaged in various activities that promote children’s physical, social, intellectual and cognitive development. In particular, I developed lesson plans, organized games, crafts and educational activities that encourage learning and creativity. Additionally, I monitored children’s behavior, intervened in conflicts, and taught appropriate social and foundational skills to foster an inclusive and positive environment for all children in the daycare. This exercise aimed equip childcare workers with knowledge and skills required to provide appropriate daycare services.
Discovery Point Hamilton Mill is a daycare center in Dacula, Georgia, offering childcare and daycare services for infants to school-aged children (Discoverypoint.com, n.d.). The organization consists of dedicated caregivers who provide the formative educational experiences that will shape how these young minds approach their academic careers. Its early-childhood teachers implement evidence-based curriculum and a child-centered instructional approach for every age and stage development (Discoverypoint.com, n.d.). The institution also has child care programs that combine learning with playing to help children explore their world with confidence and curiosity. For over three decades, Discovery Point Hamilton Mill has helped children grow physically, intellectually, socially and emotionally with its programs (Discoverypoint.com, n.d.). The institution provides a conducive environment for learning, with most children proficient in math and reading.
During my field experience, I observed that the daycare has children with various talents in curriculum and non-curriculum activities. Visual thinking, emotional intelligence, decision-making, and problem-solving are some of the notable talents and abilities possessed by children I observed. Some of them are excellent in solving math problem while others are good at reading, writing and science. I spent 15 hours with the children. These hours intensified my desire to become an early childhood education teacher because I found it interesting working with the children. Mentoring and observing children improved my perception and enabled me to understand the educator's role in the classroom and how to maintain a classroom through supervised experience. Additionally, the 15 hours of volunteering gave me an outlook on my future classes and allowed me to look into my teaching style. During this experience, I successfully learned various teaching methods employed in classrooms. This was a necessary task that all education majors should consider.
Main Body
The program I participated in occurred at Discovery Point Hamilton Mill from May 15, 2023, to May 19, 2023 in one of the daycare rooms. The room was expansive and accommodated all of us. The 15-hour task was divided into three sessions per day, each session lasting for 45 minutes. A 30-minute recess was allowed between the sessions. During the breaks, I helped the children play their favorite games as part of my volunteer program. Overall I stayed with the children for three hours and fifteen minutes in one day. The entire volunteer work took five days, with the fifth day taking 2 hours.
The first session started on Monday May 15, 2023, at 10am. In this session, I introduced children to alphabets and numbers. The sounds of certain letters and words were core part of the learning program. By the end of this session, the children could comfortably identify alphabets and count numbers from one to ten. Other sessions exposed the children to reading and comprehension, arts and crafts, early mathematical concepts, language and vocabulary, and fine motor skills. The children also acquired core science skills, auditory perceptual skills, pre-reading and writing skills, gross motor skills, problem-solving skills, decision-making skills, and social skills by the end of the last session. I noted that the children were fast learners and could grasp every knowledge that impacted them. This was one of the best classes I have ever couched in my lessons. Their exceptional talents and skills made the program enjoyable.
At first, I was nervous about volunteering in this school because that was not the grade I thought I would like to teach. Soon, I fell in love with the environment because of its welcoming atmosphere, the children’s exceptional talents, and the ability to learn. The school is child visually encouraging, and its classrooms are well structured. When we walked into the room, I first observed its layout. The classroom has chairs and an audiobook area with stools. It also has rectangular tables arranged vertically, with learners' chairs on both sides. The tables and chairs are positioned perfectly to save space and let pupils move around comfortably. I also noticed the teacher's desk in the classroom. One teacher's table is placed at the back of the class. Behind the teacher's desk is a small bookshelf where the teacher's files and some books are compiled and well arranged. Another table is in the room's left corner in the front of the class.
I observed learning materials placed all over the learner’s desks. The room is covered with pocket charts, posters of alphabet letters, and numbers. Educational posters are important learning materials for children. They help attract children’s attention and motivate them to learn. They also help to maintain children’s interest in a particular area. During the sessions, I noticed that many children remained active when I used posters to illustrate a concept. Children were also eager to participate in learning activities. Additionally, interactive media like Television, tablets and gaming systems were used. They also boosted children’s engagement. Children needing assistance in a specific area were moved from class during the lesson to help them improve their understanding of the lesson.
Additionally, I noticed that the teachers doubled as caregivers. The teacher I observed had a system with her learners. They would come in when the bell rang, unpack their book bags, place their notebooks on her shelf, grab their notebooks for their sight word and start working. After completing their term, they had it checked; observing this class firsthand allowed me to find ways to connect with my pupils through posters, assignments, and flexible seating. I discovered many children were engaged with the posters and numeric signs, especially when writing their sight words.
While observing the teacher's classroom, especially the reading/writing lessons, I noticed the educator discussed cause and effect. She had several examples displayed on the smart board. He read the sentence and invited the learners to answer specific questions related to the lesson. Some pupils were eager to answer, while others seemed uninterested. The teacher regularly used rhymes and actions, such as rhythm hand clapping, to gain the children's attention. She also used songs to regulate children’s emotions, allow them to get their things together during lesson transition, and focus on the day’s learning. I noticed that before any lesson begins, the school teachers had a morning meeting with the children for about fifteen minutes, starting with greetings and sharing. They then did something fascinating, like shake a jar of glitter and watch it move around together or play an exciting game. This strategy helped the teacher build relationships with the children. It also helped the pupils feel better about the day ahead. This was an excellent way to attract children’s attention and develop their interest in learning.
Based on the above strategy, I observed that teachers and learners play significant roles in classroom interactions. The teacher is a facilitator, and the child acts as a learner. Some children were attention seekers, trying to attract their teacher's and peers' attention. These pupils appeared to be the leader and assistant teachers. They taught their peers who had less knowledge about the subject or were slow learners. The educator and learners are also jokers in the classroom. The te...