Guidance in Early Childhood Education: The Use of Toys

Guidance in Early Childhood Education: The Use of Toys Teaching involves a fine balance between what legislature states should be provided for students and the creativity of each teacher. Today, the way which these two elements work together to serve students best will be examined along with a talk about how maths toys can assist us in our work. The curriculum guidance for the foundation stage was distributed to schools with nursery and reception classes. This guidance includes six areas of learning which form the basis of the foundation stage curriculum. These areas include personal, social and emotional development; communication, language and literacy; mathematical development; knowledge and understanding of the world; physical development; and creative development. These six areas were created so that practitioners can effectively meet the needs of a diverse student population with a variety of needs. The hope of all practitioners who follow the curriculum guide is that all individual children’s needs are met, whether it is th at a child needs increased individualized assistance or is in need of a gifted program. Principles of the curriculum guidance direct all individuals who interact with children to help facilitate learning in various environments. Doing so causes greater understanding between both school personnel and caretakers. In effect, it also allows the teacher to better understand the needs of the family, thus, reduces various forms of exclusion. For instance, if the family has another child at home with special needs who is immobile; teachers are better able to understand why parents are unable to come to every school program (Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage, p.12). The curriculum guidance format also heavily emphasizes the need for practitioners to focus on children’s individuality and emphasize what is unique and special about each child. In some instances, we as teachers become frustrated with unique personalities or the different methods some children use to understand curriculum. However, the curriculum guidance specifically says that we should embrace these idiosyncrasies. In line with this idea is another point made in the curriculum guidance documentation. It states that â€Å"no child [is] excluded or disadvantaged because of ethnicity, culture or religion, home language, family background, special educational needs, disability, gender or ability†. Instead, it goes on to say that practitioners should learn more about each child’s ethnic, faith and cultural heritage and home experiences so that they can be used to create an environment of familiarity for the child. For instance, a familiar custom can be employed with in the classroom to increase familiarity for one child while teaching multiculturalism. It is amazing how little familiar notions such as this can promote not only comfort in a new environment but can also facilitate increased self-confidence (Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage, p12-14). Every Which Way We Can: A Literacy and Social Inclusion Position Paper discusses policy, school, home and community issues relating to children’s literacy and learning. The authors discuss the many ways children can have access to literacy and education so that no child is excluded from receiving a strong education. They also discuss the importance of involvement in policymaking and how there is much work to be done in this area to advocate for inclusion (Bird and Akerman, 2005). The DfES regarding Excellence and Enjoyment is another document that specifies best practice in education with children. This article states that an effective combination for learning includes elements of both excellence in teaching and enjoyment in learning. Excellence in teaching includes challenging yet engaging teaching, while enjoyment comes from the child being given the opportunity to engage in learning in the mental and physical environment that suits him best. If a child is very playful, then play could be a useful tool in teaching him. If he learns best with visual tools, he can be given the option to pictorially draw out a solution (DfES Excellence and Enjoyment, p.6-8). Excellence and Enjoyment also charges practitioners to â€Å"take ownership of the curriculum, shaping it and making it their own†. This is encouraging to hear, especially because a curriculum is already set and a teacher sometimes feels that room for creativity is limited. However, when we hear that we can take ownership of the curriculum and mold it through a practitioner’s creative and playful eyes, it feels as though there is great possibility to generate other ideas from it. Another important aspect of effective implementation of the Curriculum guidance is of course practitioners who truly understand curriculum requirements and have the ability to effectively implement them. Not only is it important that practitioners understand the curriculum, but that they also understand a child’s development in midst of the curriculum. This is a very significant point and the rest of the presentation will be focused on how curriculum and child development meet to produce a fruitful and educationally creative environment for children (Curriculum guide for the foundation stage, p. 13-15). It is well-documented that children learn best when they are manipulating objects or participating vibrant discussion. Play and discussion are key factors in learning. Through play and discussion, children make great discoveries, are allowed to create hypotheses that may or may not always be correct and explore new ideas. There is a freedom and carefree attitude in play that allows creativity to flow naturally. The practitioner’s role then, is to gently guide the play and discussion without overtaking it. Play becomes vital, particularly when working with children on the curriculum guidance point, Mathematical Development. Creative and unique methods must be employed in teaching young ones. There are currently hundreds of toys available on the market that aid in learning various school subjects. Many of them are focused around mathematical concepts and learning. Various maths toys stress different functions, whether it is addition, subtraction, or even just learning the maths symbols (Perry Dockett, 2001, p. 1-3). Toys in learning become a common language between teacher and student. They are indispensable in the learning environment and can be utilized in several different ways. For maths particularly, many toys can be created right in the classroom without few or no materials. For instance, the class could sing a number song together. The class could also make shapes with pencils and glue. While applying the glue, children could count the number of pencils being used. There are many examples such as these that could facilitate mathematical development. The important part of utilizing toys is to present the toy or game as engaging and fun. This should not be a difficult task to do, being that children already have a propensity to be drawn to toys (Perry Dockett, 2001, p. 1-3). Some toys are available for free online while others could become quite expensive. Many could easily be created in the classroom or at home. Some examples of online games include Numeracy Powerpoints, Number Poem and Five Little Ducks. These games do not require payment or any materials. Most of the games available online are placed there by parents and teachers who have utilized these games and found positive results (Brooker, 2003, p. 4; Conoley et. al., 2006, p47-48). It is important to take some aspects into consideration when looking for educational maths toys. Most importantly, question whether the toy is really teaching the child about maths. Sometimes, although toys are geared toward children, they are not attractive to children. Second, make sure that the toy is suitable to the age range you are working with. Question whether it encapsulates the mix of children in your classroom. Will the child struggling most be attracted by this game? Will the advanced child be bored? Third, can the child recreate the game at home or in other environments? Every parent cannot afford some of the toys on the market. Therefore, it is important to consider whether parents can recreate it. If this is not possible and you would like to continue to use the game at school, are there other games that parents can create at home for the child that can assist in learning? In considering parents’ financial limitations, you can accommodate them in other ways and still ensure that all students are learning the same concepts (Brooker, 2003, p. 4). This type of questioning, by the way, is an example of using the inclusion framework at all times when working with students. As long as we as professionals continue to always think and play, we allow this same mind frame in our students. References Akerman, R. (2005). NRDC Policy Paper 2 – Every Child Matters: A response from the National Literacy Trust. www.literacytrust.org.uk/socialinclusion Bird, V. and Akerman, R. (2005) Every Which Way We Can: A Literacy and Social Inclusion Position Paper, London: National Literacy Trust. Brooker, L. (2003).Integrating New Technologies in UK Classrooms: Lessons for Teachers from Early Years Practitioners.Childhood Education, (79). Conoley, J., Moore, G., Croom, B., Flowers, J. (2006). A toy or a teaching tool? The use of audience response systems in the classroom. Techniques: Connecting Education and Careers, 46-48. DfES (2003). Excellence and Enjoyment. Perry, B. Dockett, S. (2001). Playing with maths. APMC, 6(2). QCA (2003). Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk

Personal Ethical Development Paper Essay

Everyone has their own personal code of ethics, develop through education and experience. With the basic identified in kindergarten or even earlier. Each of us have developed personal ethical codes with inputs and guidance from numerous people including family members, friends, church leaders, mentors, teachers, community leaders and role models. My underlying ethical system primarily is a duty-base ethical system, in which I acted in a certain manner, a manner that is a clear right or wrong. As a child, my parents and family were the ones who lay the ground rules for my ethical decisions. Knowing what is right from what is wrong, to say please and thank you when asking for and receiving something, to say good morning, good afternoon and good night, and to always speak the truth, pray before bed time, and again in the morning when I wake up. School teachers taught me how to enforce strict discipline, self-control and obedient behavior while in class. Religion, also play a major role on my personal ethics, it helps me to established a set of principles and morals, to always show respect for others, to do unto others as you would like others to do unto you. There are other unique individuals that have influenced my personal ethics, such as Mahatma Ghandi, have earned my respect as a prominent leader; who once said, â€Å"Even if you are a minority of one, the truth will always be the truth.† Also Lady Theresa, another prominent figure who also said â€Å"when I am hungry, I look for someone to feed, and when I am thirsty I look for someone to give a drink of waters.† These are people with morals, value, and  principles, which set good examples for others to follow. Looking to others as well as the rules and regulations when making an ethical determination, is a very important process of ethical decision-making. Speaking openly and honestly, that my information are indeed factual, show support for my company and others, even when there are differences of opinion; to adapt to any changes, even if the initial process was done by me. Take pride in my work, whatever duties assigned to me. Try to amend any problems caused by misunderstanding of information. Address injustice, provide assistance, and so on. Entitlement-based: By showing positive emotions, such as joy and happiness towards others, will consequently make them more optimistic and more likely to live out their moral choices to help others. Moral values often conflict with other values. For example, a co-worker of mine made several mistakes while processing tax forms for the IRS. These process must be done with specific governmental guidelines (company strives on quality), she brought some forms over to my desk for verification, I came across several mistakes, using a systematic approach, I went back to her, very politely I said, â€Å"you have to be a little more careful,† there were few mistakes in you batch, knowing very well that people don’t like to told that they’ve made a mistake. She asked, what were the mistakes? I said there were four internationals included in your domestic batch, she said there were no international codes, I said agreed, but the address clearly states Canada, she rose from her seat asking for a second opinion (more like yelling), is Canada international, she asked? Everyone answered yes in uniformly. Feeling rather embarrass, she walked back to my desk and started yelling at me, saying how she don’t like my attitude and told my manager how I tried to embarrass her. My manager in turn told me to be careful how I speak to my fellow employees. My ethical standard of fairness was challenged because my boss did not review the situation in a fair manner. My manager did not address the situation between us or address the entire department of the situation; instead she listens to one side of the story. Quality is an integral part of the company’s operation, and as a senior employee and part  of the verifying team it is my duty, my responsibility to inform employees of any errors. My boss did not make a conscious effort to control the negative feeling and put everyone in a positive frame of mind. There were two other instances involving the same employee that continued to challenges my ethical standard that led me to make a final decision and asked for a transfer to anothe r department. Ethical codes vary among individuals and also corporations. History is filled with examples of the impact on society of varied ethical codes, from the organization or corporate perspectives, one can hardly picked up the newspaper anymore without reading about corporate scandal. As Allen Greenspan noted testifying before Congress in 2002, â€Å"trust and reputation can vanish overnight,† and we have seen repeated examples of such occurrences, demonstrating why good ethics is good business (Wisely,1974). There are many factors of moral reasoning and behavior that are relevant in any organizational settings. History demonstrates that trust, integrity, honesty and credibility remain very important to any organization. Organization should have a clear set of organizational goals and policies, particularly when it comes to moral and ethics, employees need to know that the organization holds itself and them to a higher standard. By being clear about what is acceptable and what is not in the work place (Wisely, 1974). This plays into setting the policies that will govern how the organization is run. Guidelines of the company must be followed. In terms of competition, whether it is with another company or between two employees, ethics and moral should always be stressed. For example, if two employees are pitted against each other in competition for a raise, the potential for immoral and unethical behavior is there. The eagerness to get ahead in any way possible can be strong. It is therefore necessary for the organization owners to stress that the integrity of this organization cannot be compromised in any way shape or form. To incorporate ethics, an organization must obey the law and the spirit of the law where ever they conduct business, values must be real, and must reflect actual behavior, especially among the organization’s leaders. To emphasize principles more that rules. (This is the best way to be more  demanding of the organization, (Schulman, 2006), to encourage all employees to be challenging and demanding in the ethical domain of everyone in the organization, including the bosses. Perception is reality. Ethical and social responsibilities are part of the same thing. Our ethical values are part of our image in the business world. At one time it did not matter much if we polluted the environment, paid below the minimum wage or used plastic bags wastefully if we could get away with it (Schulman, 2006). Rightly, as an organization in a community, which for some large organizations includes major parts of the world, investors may decide to invest, or not according to our reputation for ethical behavior in our society. References Miriam Schulman, March 22, 2006. Incorporating Ethics into the Organization Strategic Plan. Retrieve from. http://www.scu.edu William H. Wisely (1974). The American Civil Engineer. Retrieved from. http://www.acsc.org Trevino, L.K., and Nelson, K. A. (2011), Managing Business Ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right (5th Ed). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Academic Strategies for the Business Professional - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1440 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Case study Did you like this example? Academic Strategies for the Business Professional Two-digit Section #: 13 Instructions: Download this document to your computer before filling it out. All of the gray boxes below should be appropriately filled in and the document saved again before submitting to the Unit 9 Dropbox. Develop your own Career Action Plan based on information you have gained in this course. Consider information from course Readings, Assignments, career research, the informational interview, and the LASSI assessment. Career Action Plan: Take some time to think seriously about where you would like to be in your future career and how you will get there. Once you have generated some ideas, complete the short-term and long-term information, and respond to all items listed below: Short-Term Educational Goal (approximately 2 years or less): Your short-term educational goal should be a goal that you can realistically accomplish in approximately 2 years or less. Focus on a goal tha t will help you to reach the long-term career goal that you will be focusing on in the second part of your career action plan. I. What is this educational goal and why is it important to you? (minimum 5 complete sentences) The short-term educational goal that I have for myself is to receive my Associates Degree in Business Administration. This is important to me because this will further enhance my knowledge in the business field. Having this degree will also allow me to better knowledge of things I will need to have to be successful business owner. This is one my personal achievements that I have been wanting to do for over ten years now. I would like to also graduate with honor by keeping my grades up with Aà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s and Bà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. II. Your Strengths: What skills, characteristics, and experiences do you have now that make you a good à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“fità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  for this short-term goal? (minimum 5 complete sentences) Some of my strengths I ha ve that make me a good fit for my short term goal is that I have good communication skills, good work ethic, and I am creative. Being that I make sure I study, take good notes, finish my work on time and really get into what I am doing and learning from it. I feel that the things that I am doing now have and will continue to help me in keeping my name on the Deanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s list. I am one that takes pride in my work. I want to be the best that I can and I try my hardest not to give up. III. Your Weaknesses: What skills, characteristics, and experiences will you need to gain in order to ensure that you will achieve this goal? (minimum 5 complete sentences) I feel that my writing is one of my weaknesses and this will hold me back on accomplishing good assignments. Taking a tutor class to improve this will be of great help for me. Another weakness I have is Math. Mathematics has always been one of my downfalls throughout school. I fear of the next set of classes due to ha ving a Math class. I have already taken an online tutoring class for this and hope that it will help me out so that I can continue to excel in my education. IV. Your Plan: What are some of the obstacles or challenges you might encounter as you work towards achieving this goal (refer back to your weaknesses)? How will you respond to or strive to overcome these obstacles/challenges? Which resources might be helpful? (minimum 5 complete sentences) Fear of failure is going to be my biggest obstacle in working towards my goal. Some of things that I can do to overcome this fear are to first, stop beating myself up over it. Second is to stop trying too hard. Third is and most important is to ask for help. I have been working on ways to help with my fears of failing with these three things. I have been asking for help if I am not too sure of what I need to do. Taking online tutor classes and asking my aunt which is a teacher. V. Your Actions: What are some of the steps or ACTIONS y ou will need to complete in order to get your desired outcome (minimum three steps/actions)? Make sure to include a projected completion date for each step/action. Step/Action Item + Completion Date #1: Enroll in school, 09/17/14 Step/Action Item + Completion Date #2: Writing tutor, ongoing, 02/14 Step/Action Item + Completion Date #3: Find ways to not have the fear of failing, ongoing Long-Term Career Goal (approximately 3à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"5 years): Your long-term career goal will be a goal that you can realistically accomplish in approximately 3à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"5 years. Focus on a goal that is clearly tied to the short-term educational goal that you focused on in the first part of your career action plan. I. What is this career goal, and why is it important to you? (minimum 5 complete sentences) I feel that everyone can give something, and help others who are in need. Helping troubled children in my community is something that I have wanted to do for a long time. Starting my own business in which I can give back to my community is my long-term career goal. Feeling the accomplishment of seeing that I have helped a troubled child turn his/hers life around because of my help is very important to me. As a child, I was going in the wrong direction in my life and I want to be able to give my knowledge and experience back to my community and their children. II. Your Strengths: What skills do you have now that make you a good à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“fità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  for this long-term goal? (minimum 5 complete sentences) Some of the skills that I have in order to be a good fit for owning my own business is; leadership, commitment, great communication. I have owned several small businesses in the past which I had to have these skills. I believe that with my studies now and my past experience, I will be able to have a very successful business with helping others. When I had my daycare I have to speak to the parents and explain my program to them and make sure they understood it. I was always committed to the children in my home. I also am an active listener which is very important in this field that I want to be in. III. Your Weaknesses: What skills and/or experiences will you need to gain in order to ensure that you will achieve this goal? TIP: You might visit the O*Net Onlineà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ to see what kinds of skills are required in your career field. (minimum 5 complete sentences) Financial is going to be my weakness in gaining this goal. I do not have the finances to back up my dreams of owning my own business. This is one of the most important part of starting my business. Finding a financial partner, organization, or bank is somewhere that I would like to start in order to help me with this dilemma. My education is something that also worries me, being that I am not very good with math. I am doing my best to stay positive to move forward with these weaknesses that I currently have and hope to overcome them. IV. Your Plan: What are some of the obstacles or challenges you might encounter as you work towards achieving this goal (refer back to your weaknesses)? How will you respond to or strive to overcome these obstacles/challenges? Identify at least two specific career resources from the Unit 9 Reading that might be helpful. (minimum 5 complete sentences) I started using The Focus 2 Career Planning System. This has several different steps in helping me to figure out what is best for me in starting my own business. Kaplan Career Resources is another place to find out great information. Using the Kaplan academic support center is going to one of the best places I plan to start. Here I will be able to get my tutoring and do online seminars to help me with my writing and math skills. I have downloaded, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Kaplan Guide to Successful Writingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . This center also offers me a place where I can request a video example service for math tutoring. V. Your Actions: What are some of the steps or ACTIONS you will need to complete in order to get your desired outcome (minimum three steps/actions)? Make sure to include a projected completion date for each step/action. Step/Action Item + Completion Date #1: Start volunteering and building my professional network, 03/14 Step/Action Item + Completion Date #2: Calling around to get financial help, 12/15 Step/Action Item + Completion Date #3: Looking for a location, 01/16 Don’t waste time! 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The Era Of The Button Manufacturing Plan - 1014 Words

FOR a few fascinating years I was a fashion journalist and became used to receiving backhanded compliments from male colleagues: you re so well read, educated in politics and philosophy, how can you be interested in this stuff? It was the 1980s, the era of Japanese design, power dressing and supermodels with athletic figures and challenging stares: an empowering moment for women, soon after legislation that integrated us better into the workplace and just before the backlash so ably documented by Susan Faludi. An interest in the sociology of fashion was growing, perhaps because of the historically informed conversation of middle-class European fashion titans -- Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld and Giorgio Armani among them -- whose†¦show more content†¦She is a former winner of the Orange Prize and a short-listee for the Man Booker, and has written extensively about women s issues, Israel and the Holocaust: a serious writer, in short. The book is a meditation on clothing, and femininity, and power, and disempowerment, too, most especially the disempowerment of women in war. Grant is the grandchild of immigrants who left Eastern Europe for the political freedoms of Britain. From them, by emotional osmosis, she came to understand intimately the importance of appearance in the adjustment of migrants. Unable to be located exactly on the class ladder by means of their accent, for example, or the school they attended, they could remake themselves and their offspring afresh in their new land. Even when her mother was subsiding into dementia at the end of her life, a shopping expedition for clothes could revive her. Her last full, coherent, grammatically intact message, Grant writes, was uttered to her sister. I like your earrings, their mother said. The Thoughtful Dresser is full of such poignancies, as well as stylish apercus. The author is lively company, a persuasive writer, a woman s woman who can hold several thoughts, shading from the frivolous to the sombre, in her mind at once. Threading through it is a powerful motif, elaborated over several scattered chapters: the life and thoughts of a teenage survivor of Auschwitz, the sole survivor of her family, who matured to become the