Essay On Professionalism In The Classroom

Professionalism is key in any work environment whether it be the White House or Ms. Brittany’s preschool classroom.

One of the first steps in of professionalism is dress; I make sure I am always dressed both professionally and comfortably for our classroom setting. For example if I know we are going to the Playscape, I wear either closed toed tennis or water shoes so I can get down and dirty and interacting with the children, really exploring the landscape. If I am wearing a dress I am conscious of how I sit or even go at step further and wear leggings underneath just so I don’t have to be worried. Another aspect of professionalism in the classroom is language. I always use appropriate language when speaking to the children, parents and my coworkers. Confidentiality is also a part of professionalism. Whenever I am taking notes or speaking of a child I am sure to keep it a confidential, I do not use names and am sure to only keep the information between the teaching team and I.

Professionalism is especially key to me being at Arlitt where there are dozens of people that come throughout daily. I am representing myself as well as the university, the college of education, and the Early Childhood Education program. So I must put my best foot

forward.

I am settling in well into my practicum placement. I have established myself as one of the teachers in the room to both the children and their parents. Parents and I have open discussions at both drop off and pick up and they feel comfortable with me. The children recognize and trust me as a teacher. They listen to my instructions and come to me for guidance and assistance.

I am beginning to get more involved in the classroom planning and management.

I help to select new items for the classroom and muscle room and rearrange the setup. On Fridays the morning and afternoon teachers along with all the student teachers meet to discuss what has been going on in the classroom and what is working out well and what needs to be changed. For example we recently change the setup of our lunch table from 2 long tables to 3 separate tables to facilitate better conversations during meals. We also have introduced dinosaur books, puzzles, block mates and toys after we noticed a class wide interest in them. My teacher has also given me the tools to assist children in conflict resolution when disagreements

arise.

I have also gotten feedback form both my mentor teacher and supervisor that have helped me be more. I have been more proactive in predicting the needs to limit play when it becomes unsafe or inappropriate. So now when I see children’s play getting too physical or materials being used in a harmful or threating way I stop it immediately, while direct them to more appropriate play. I have also developed my language with the children modeling what I hear my teacher say and what I have been taught in my classes. I repeat the children’s language as to help with their language development while using scaffolding language and use opened questions to engaged problem solving and high level thinking. I also have adult-child conversations with them to help increase their vocabulary.

Now I am working on putting into practice what I have learned in my classes within the classroom and implementing an activity plan of my own. I also would like to become more involved during group time even though I have to prepare for lunch, so that I can one day lead group time.