Jazmine Martin

10/4/14
Reflective Journal #1
Week of September 29
Within my first few weeks in Mrs. Pennys class at Alice Costello Elementary School I
have seen her implement the NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation in
many different ways. When she has the class in their learning centers, Mrs. Penny applies the
first standard, Promoting Child Development and Learning. Mrs. Penny tells the students that
they cannot ask her questions during center time unless they have to use the bathroom. She
encourages the students to find the answers to their questions on their own, or to use their
classmates to help them. This strategy allows the students to become more independent and to
also use their classmates as a resource.
During the students academic center time, Mrs. Penny calls four or five students to do
some reading work. This allows Mrs. Penny to do more individual observation of her students.
During this time Mrs. Penny makes note of the difficulties as well as the strengths of each
student with regards to their reading development. This shows how Mrs. Penny meets the
standard of Observing, Documenting, and Assessing to Support Young Children and Families,
allowing her to address any issues that she notices and communicate with parents and families on
their students progress.
The last standard I have seen Mrs. Penny use so far is Using Content Knowledge to Build
Meaningful Curriculum. During her math lessons, Mrs. Penny uses language she knows that
students will understand in order to explain concepts to them. She also gives examples using
things that he students are interested in, allowing them to make connections to their lives outside
of the classroom.

Jazmine Martin
10/4/14
Reflective Journal #1
Week of September 29

Mrs. Penny also implements the New Jersey Professional Standards for Teachers in her
classroom. I have seen Mrs. Penny meet New Jersey Standard 1: Learner Development when
teaching math lessons. This standard states that teachers [recognize] how patterns of learning
and development vary individually; designing and implementing appropriate learning
experiences (state.nj.us). Sometimes Mrs. Penny has her students go to different centers for the
math lesson. In these centers there are different activities for the students to do, from worksheets
and coloring to rolling dice and crafting numbers. Doing this allows the students to learn through
many different methods and it caters to the visual and kinesthetic learners in Mrs. Pennys class
because the centers are more hands on rather than sitting and listen to the teacher explain the
concepts to the students. I have also noticed Mrs. Penny applying New Jersey Standard 2:
Learning Differences which states that teachers should be, providing inclusive learning
environments that enable each learner to meet high standards, (state.nj.us). Mrs. Penny always
encourages her students to ask and answer questions and pushes them enough for them to learn
and experience new things, but not too much to the point where they will get frustrated and give
up.
The one thing that has surprised me most in the kindergarten class is their ability to
transition from one activity to the next. Whenever Mrs. Penny announces that it is time to move
on, the students immediately begin to clean up and prepare for the next activity. I think this
shows that Mrs. Penny has good control of her class and her students respect her enough to listen
when she gives instructions.

Jazmine Martin
10/4/14
Reflective Journal #1
Week of September 29

Jazmine Martin
10/4/14
Reflective Journal #1
Week of September 29

References
New Jersey Professional Standards for Teachers (N.J.A.C. 6A: 9C-3.3): Foundations of Effective
Practice. (2014, August). Retrieved October 4, 2014, from State of New Jersey
Department of Education website:
http://www.state.nj.us/education/profdev/profstand/teacherstandardsoverview.pdf