Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale

Overall, I believe I learned a lot from completing this assignment. In regards to quality environments, I now can see that there are many different types of classrooms that I will encounter in the future. My classroom I’m placed at this semester seems to be a more typical classroom compared to a place like the Child Development Center in Kent. The CDC seems to incorporate more natural and recycled materials rather than Indian Trail, which is more store bought items and nothing related to nature or recycling. This assignment has already impacted me in the classroom this semester. I’m starting to notice more things throughout the classroom that may not be up to standards or that could potentially be changed for a better quality classroom. This being said, the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale will definitely impact me as a teacher. These are things I will unquestionably be taking into consideration when starting my career as an educator.

After

completing this assignment, I seemed to be surprised by many different things I encountered. I was very surprised at how little science and nature materials are actually in my classroom. I hadn’t really noticed this until I was finishing this assignment and I had to search for nature and science resources. I was also surprised about how little child-related display is hung around the room, including child work and artwork. It surprises me that my mentor teacher hangs the children’s artwork on the clothes line for one day, then proceeds to send it home with the child the next day. I feel as though this makes the child feel unwelcomed in their classroom since none of their work is displayed for others to see.
Ending this assignment, I still have multiple questions that I would love to have answered.

I’m still wondering what happens to a teacher/school district if they happen to score a one or two on the rating scale. Is there a punishment or is it just a warning for the future? I am also still wondering if teachers are able to review these standards at the beginning of each school year to make sure they are completing everything correctly and efficiently. I think this assignment would be extremely useful to a teacher to review and correct any mistakes that may be involved in their classroom at the beginning of each school year. Along with this, I’m wondering if the administration of the school district is able to inform teachers on these standards and tell them to make certain changes in their classroom. I feel as though it would be extremely beneficial to teachers if the administration could do a review of this rating scale every few months just to reiterate the importance of keeping their classrooms “up to

par”.
Overall, I believe this assignment will benefit me in the future immensely. I will definitely refer back to this rating scale when first becoming a teacher. Not only will this be beneficial to me in the process of becoming a teacher, but also throughout my teaching career because I will always have to be up to date on these standards and make sure my classroom is functioning to the best of it’s ability. In the end, I am excited to be able to already know everything I have recently learned about the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale. This gives me an advantage in my future teaching career and will allow me to become the best teacher I can possibly be.