Portfolio

Methods I Benchmark- Fall 2022 Portfolio

Infants/ Toddlers

Awesome B-5 Student

Assessment Standards Cluster

Portfolio Artifact Rationale: NAEYC Standard: 3 & CEC Standard: 4

Name of Artifact: Ages and Stages Questionnaire Summary and Data

Date: 7/10/2022

Course: EXC 3560 Observations and Assessment of Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers

Rationale:

NAEYC Standard 3 requires teacher candidates to know about and use systematic observations, documentation, and uses of assessment. The Ages and Stages Questionnaire is a great tool to use to screen the developmental and social emotional growth of children. I chose this artifact because it demonstrates my ability to use observations and formal assessments to determine whether a child demonstrates delays in any area of the screener. In this experience, I learned that EH would have benefited from more support in communication and problem-solving skills. The ASQ screener was also designed to identify developmental progress. If I was EH’s teacher, then I would use the data to inform his parents about his developmental progression. We would collectively create ways and tools for them to implement and help further assist EH’s development by using the data collected from the ASQ. This would allow his parents to engage in their child’s learning with support from me and to assure implementation for long term involvement.

CEC Standard 4 requires candidates to be able to “conduct formal and informal assessments of behavior, learning, achievement, and environments […]” that are non-bias and meaningful. The artifact includes the actual assessment along with the summary information page that details the results of EH’s screening. The ASQ taught me that I can use assessments to quantify my student’s abilities and use those numbers to determine whether or not they have a delay. According to the assessment, EH did not have a delay; however, he was on the cut-off in problem solving and communication. With that information, I can individualize lesson plans to meet his needs. I could implement activities that involve language (i.e., singing songs) and problem-solving skills (i.e., playing with developmentally appropriate puzzles), and then “adjust instruction in response to ongoing learning progress”. CEC Standard 4 explains that teachers must be able to collaborate with families “to assure meaningful assessments and decision making”. In using the written summary, I could detail the concerns that I have about EH’s communication and problem-solving skills to his parents during a conference. With this

information, his parents would be empowered with recommendations on how to help improve EH’s communication and problem-solving skills. I would suggest that they read bedtime stories to him to help develop his language and literacy skills and play games like “Simon Says” to help build on his problem- solving skills. If the ASQ was used on a child that was suspected to have delays, the results would empower parents with documentation necessary to take their child’s pediatrician for further assistance and possibly evaluation.

Artifact:

B.5 Student

ASQ- 3

July 10, 2022

1) Student information: a) E. H. b) D.O.B: January 1, 2020 c) 2 years and 6 months or 30 months d) No grade e) ASQ screening

2) Reason for Referral and Relevant Background:

a) Still working on enunciating and forming words.

3) Behavior Observation: a) EH was showing interest in completing tasks. He was excited when he was given

accolades for completing a task that was asked of him. He was full of energy as he jumped around and tried reaching for requested items above the fireplace. He did not like sharing the time with his older sister who was trying to help him answer questions. He screamed and shooed her away when she would try to answer a question or write on his paper.

4) Names of Test and Year of Test Version used a) ASQ-3 30-month Questionnaire (28 months 16 days through 31 months 15 days); 3rd

edition of 2009

5) Assessment Results: a) EH is really good at listening and following directions. He is persistent when attempting

to complete a task and does not like getting help to complete them. EH is above and close to the cut off for all of the areas on the ASQ. This screening shows that there is no reason for evaluation for this child. He excels in gross motor skills and was smiling as he ran and jumped around.

6) Summary and Conclusions: a) EH excelled with his gross motor skills. He demonstrated the ability to not only complete

tasks but to also keep continuously trying to complete a task asked of him if he does not get it correctly the first time. He also excelled in personal – social areas. His weakest area is problem solving. His screening summary determined that there are no areas where his parents should show too much concern. I believe that if his parents continue to work on certain areas with him, then he will improve. EH’s scores were all above or close to the cut-off. The areas that his parents should work on are communication, and problem solving because he is really close to the cut-off section for those two areas.

7) Recommendations:

a) I would suggest that EH’s parents continue to help him enunciate his words. Reading to him every night will help increase and improve his vocabulary. Also, if they have conversations with him where they repeat words that he mispronounces back to him the correct way he will start making more effort to enunciate his words. Furthermore, I suggest that EH’s parents give him puzzles to complete and play some call and answer games to help him improve his problem-solving skills.

8) B.5 Student July 10, 2022

Methods I Benchmark- Fall 2022 Portfolio

Infants/ Toddlers

Awesome B-5 Student

Child Development and Learning Standards Cluster

Portfolio Artifact Rationale: NAEYC Standard: 1 & CEC Standard: 1

Name of Artifact: OMPA #3 Cognitive

Date: 10/16/2022

Course: BRFV 4380 Methods for Infants and Toddlers (Practicum)

Rationale:

NAEYC Standard 1 describes a teacher candidate as being able to understand the entirety of a child, their needs, and “of multiple interacting influences on children’s development and learning”. This assignment demonstrates this standard because it gives children the opportunity to have multiple sensory experiences while making mud. Playing with mud helps with a child’s development because the activity can involve using 4 of the 5 senses: touch, hear, see, and smell, which creates a deeper exploration of nature while they develop their cognitive skills. The activity also gave them the opportunity to explore things in their environment safely and under close supervision. Throughout the activity, I spoke to the children and repeated specific words (i.e., soil, water, mix, mud, squishy, smell, listen, and touch) to help build their vocabulary while they explored the sensory table. This also helped them build their communication skills and create a connection between words and action while we played in the mud. Communicating and getting directly involved in the activity helped me to establish a relationship with the students and helped the children foster relationships with one another as they participated in parallel play. The children also developed their motor skills through this experience when they collected dirt and mixed it with the water to make mud. In the future, I can put large rocks and fake insects to link the activity with real world experiences.

CEC Standard 1 explains that a teacher candidate must have respect for the students and recognize that each of them are unique individuals. It also states that we must understand that children with exceptional learning needs have varying abilities that may impact their development, learning style, or the way they experience certain activities. By providing different sized spoons, cups, bowls, and different sand toys, I ensured that the children would have a variety of tool options to manipulate while playing with the mud. For the children who are still working on their fine motor skills, I gave them a bowl and a larger spoon so that they would have a firmer grasp instead of allowing them to use smaller tools that would require more dexterity, such as small spoon, allowing each child to participate at their current developmental stage. The

tools continued to give the children the opportunity to work on their fine motor and cognitive skills during the activity while they poured, scooped, and squished the mud into different containers. Understanding that some children in the class may not enjoy the sensation of mixing soil and water or enjoy playing in mud because of the texture, I provided them with sticks and mixing spoons so that they would not have to touch the mud. This demonstrates my sensitivity to their preferences and unique behaviors to different or foreign textures.

It is imperative that the teacher is flexible and is capable to adapt to the way each of her students learn. This activity gave allowance for me to make modifications so that a child with ELN could experience the same activity, but in a way that will not offend them. Moreover, by providing different sized tools in this activity, I offered the opportunity for the children to challenge themselves when manipulating the objects. For example, they could try using a small spoon to scoop mud into a cup, or they can use a bowl to pour water into the sensory table. Each of those scenarios could be challenging for a child depending on their fine motor strength. In the future, when working with children with exceptional learning needs, I could make modifications to the activity to differentiate my lesson based on the student’s needs. For example, instead of using dirt and water to demonstrate what happens when you mix two different substances, I could give the child water and soap to mix together to create bubbles or soapy water. I could also create an emergent-based lesson plan to focus on the interests of the students. Since at this age they cannot speak, I could connect with their parents and ask them about the children’s favorite activities, characters, and experiences so that I can incorporate them into our class experiences and lessons. This allows me to connect and understand each child’s individualism and gives me the opportunity to work with parents to help create meaningful learning activities. In addition, communicating with parents throughout the school year can help me learn about each family’s culture and familial backgrounds to determine what activities and experiences are acceptable and appropriate for each child and to not offend their beliefs and lifestyles.

Artifact:

OMPA October 16, 2022

• Objectives (O) – Cite the actual state learning standards. (i.e. GELDS: http://gelds.decal.ga.gov/Search.aspx )

o CD-SC2.1b Engages in structured play with sand, soil and mud activities. o CD-SC4.1d Plays with and explores different toys and objects. o APL1.1a Uses available senses to learn and explore their environment. o APL2.1b Begins to show curiosity/interest in new objects, experiences, and

people. o CLL1.1b Listens to and follows simple directions. o CLL2.1a Demonstrates understanding of simple words through his/her actions.

• Materials (M) – List necessary materials you’ll need to accomplish the activities. Include book titles, authors, publication dates, where necessary.

o A shallow container or sensory table o Cups, bowls, sand toys etc. o One bucket of water o One bucket of soil

• Procedures (P) – Offer a brief description of the activity you have planned. Consider the

appropriate sequence of these lessons. Remember that you must use your own creativity here... no worksheets, no printed out lesson plans from the Internet... step outside the box. Create hands-on, minds-on, interactive, engaging activities. Allow your infants/toddlers to experience multisensory activities with adult language that facilitates learning; for older children plan for decision making, questioning, inquiry, etc. Integrate a variety of teaching resources (e.g., real artifacts, children’s books with literacy props such as puppets and flannel stories, art materials, music).

o Collect all need materials and place them on the activity table. o Invite a small group of children, no more than three at a time to participate in the o Fill a shallow container with a small layer of soil and add water. o Demonstrate and explain to the children that water and soil create mud. o Encourage the children to combine the water and soil and mix the contents with

their hands to make mud. o If the children are sensory sensitive, give them a stick or a spoon to mix the mud. o Give them cups, bowls and sand toys to explore how they can play with the mud. o Use descriptive words such as lumpy, squishy, gooey, and messy as they use their

hands and toys to explore.

• Assessment (A) – Include a variety of appropriate assessment tools (e.g., checklists, observational notes, portfolios, dictation of children’s ideas). Make sure they tie back to the standards.

o I will create a checklist to mark down who was able to follow the directions to make the mud and who was willing to put their hands into the concoction.

o I will also take notes on how the children used the different toys, cups, and bowls to play in the mud.

o I will also take note of what the children do if / when they touch the mud (i.e. did they squeeze the mud in their hands?)