Practicum #2 Journal

From Mentor Educator and staff:

Week 1: My mentor mentioned in our daily chat that she has noticed I’ve been developing great relationships with the children. She mentioned I’ve played a great role in assisting with the children’s play by assisting them with skills such as turn taking, sharing, and problem solving.

Week 2: A direct quote from my mentor educator was “Haley is beginning to develop an ability to find a balance between observing children’s interactions and interacting directly with the children.” She told me that she has noticed everyday that I’m down on the floor with the children interacting with their play.

Week 3: “Haley has made great progress with transitions and change in routines,” Bev mentioned that I can quickly adapt to different routines and changes during the week. She mentioned I’ve learned to do transition, like the transition to nap time and I’ve been a great help to the children and staff during this time.

Week 4: During this week, Bev mentioned with me that she noticed that children are starting to come to me when they need help with things, rather than going to the other educators. She said this is a great thing as the children are starting to bond with you and grow their trust with you. An example of this was a child was playing outside and he was needing a break from playing tag with the other children and he came up to me and said “Haley I need a break,” so I sat down with him and talked with him until he was ready to play again.

Week 5: Bev mentioned to me that I do well with children who have behavioural issues and that I stay calm and work through the problem with the child. She enjoys how I go up to the child and get on the child’s level and talk to them in a calm manner.