Research
This page details all of the research I have done for this project in order to find the answer to my essential question.
Part one: What I need to know
The first day I walked into my Kindergarten class I witnessed a group of twenty six 5 and 6 year olds screaming and running around, and I thought to myself "Nope, no way these kids are too crazy". I was immediately worried that I would not be able to handle all of these kids. I automatically thought about the teacher I was going to work with, and I wondered how she would be able to take these children and prune them into good students who are fully prepared for their academic futures. This situation is how I came up with my essential question: How can one properly facilitate the development of a young mind in order to prepare them for their future education?
Part two: What I know or assume
Going into this mentorship the only thing I knew about Kindergarten education is what I learned from teaching Sunday School at my church. I knew kindergarteners were hard to control and often unruly. After nearly eight months of working in a kindergarten class, I have learned a lot about them. I know that while they are sometimes hard to deal with, you can get them to focus and really learn if you are very attentive and learn specific needs for each student. Kindergarten is not a "one size fits all" grade. Kids come in at all different levels of education based on their parents level of involvement and which pre-K program they attended. Success looks different for every child, so in order to properly prepare them for their educational futures it is extremely important to attend to the specific needs of every child. Over the course of these eight months I have seen this method actually work. Children who couldn't even say the alphabet are now writing full sentences, and children who didn't know the difference between 5 and 9 can now count to 100. These kids have become more prepared for future success because Mrs. Moseley is attentive to everyone's needs and groups the students based on their own level of learning.
Part three: The Search
While searching for the answer to my essential question I consulted articles, websites, and conducted interviews with teaching professionals. The annotated bibliography portion of this website is a big part of the search as well. Below is an interview I conducted with Mrs. Moseley:
Questions:
Answers:
Reflection:
Part four: What I Discovered
Through all this research and these eight months at my mentorship, I have concluded that the best way to prepare young minds for their future education is treating each child as an individual. Education is not a one size fits all thing, all children are different, and each child needs special attention. In order for children to succeed, they need to feel like someone cares about them and their success, even at such a young age. Teachers need to individualize education plans in order to maximize student success.
The first day I walked into my Kindergarten class I witnessed a group of twenty six 5 and 6 year olds screaming and running around, and I thought to myself "Nope, no way these kids are too crazy". I was immediately worried that I would not be able to handle all of these kids. I automatically thought about the teacher I was going to work with, and I wondered how she would be able to take these children and prune them into good students who are fully prepared for their academic futures. This situation is how I came up with my essential question: How can one properly facilitate the development of a young mind in order to prepare them for their future education?
Part two: What I know or assume
Going into this mentorship the only thing I knew about Kindergarten education is what I learned from teaching Sunday School at my church. I knew kindergarteners were hard to control and often unruly. After nearly eight months of working in a kindergarten class, I have learned a lot about them. I know that while they are sometimes hard to deal with, you can get them to focus and really learn if you are very attentive and learn specific needs for each student. Kindergarten is not a "one size fits all" grade. Kids come in at all different levels of education based on their parents level of involvement and which pre-K program they attended. Success looks different for every child, so in order to properly prepare them for their educational futures it is extremely important to attend to the specific needs of every child. Over the course of these eight months I have seen this method actually work. Children who couldn't even say the alphabet are now writing full sentences, and children who didn't know the difference between 5 and 9 can now count to 100. These kids have become more prepared for future success because Mrs. Moseley is attentive to everyone's needs and groups the students based on their own level of learning.
Part three: The Search
While searching for the answer to my essential question I consulted articles, websites, and conducted interviews with teaching professionals. The annotated bibliography portion of this website is a big part of the search as well. Below is an interview I conducted with Mrs. Moseley:
Questions:
- What made you want to become a teacher?
- Why did you choose Kindergarten?
- You have been in your field for a very long time, what keeps you going?
- What is your favorite part about being a teacher?
- What is the hardest part about teaching Kindergarten?
- What are some tips you can give to aspiring teachers?
- How do you deal with extremely difficult students?
- How do you acommodate students who have learning disabilities?
- What is the biggest challenge with having students with special needs in your class?
- How do you keep such young children focused all day?
Answers:
- I wanted to become a teacher because I like kids. Well, the truth is it is good job for a mom because you get to learn a lot about kids and you get all the breaks. I also love to see the kids learning to read.
- Well the smaller kids are better, it is a good curriculum , and they come to you knowing basically nothing about education and you teach them so much.
- It is great getting to know the families and making friends with your coworkers.
- I like the schedule, watching the progress and growth of the kids, and the relationships you build.
- There too many kids in one place, and it is sometimes hard to deal with that many young children at once and you cannot watch everyone at one time.
- Don’t think itll be easy at first and it’ll get easier, I mean it’s hard at first, but you’ll get into a groove. The most important advice I can give is don’t quit.
- You have to make plans, talk to other teachers and administration, and parents. Having a good relationship with the family makes them feel like you love their kid and it will make it easier when you have to deal with their kid’s difficult behavior.
- I make plans for different work, ask for support from other teachers, and make sure they reach their goals whatever they need. I also make sure to never tell the child they have a problem because it makes them feel bad about themself and that is not good for someone so young.
- Really it would be the bad behavior that they really can’t help, and there is really nothin you can do because that is just the way they are. You have to learn to just accept that and make sure it does not bother anyone else.
- I make sure to switch activities alot because they can’t do anything for too long, and incorporate lots of different stuff so they don’t get bored.
Reflection:
- This is a good reason to go into the field because it will help women who want to be moms get experience with kids.
- The age is really cool because the kids come in knowing nothing and then you teach them so much. Kindergarten is the school year where kids grow the most in their education and it is awesome to witness that.
- The relationships you make with the families and with the kids will last a lifetime, so it is a really people centered career.
- The schedule is probably the thing that would be the most beneficial part for anyone since you get so many breaks, but also making an impact in these kids lives is so impactful on your own.
- Working in the classroom I have experienced first hand how hard it is to handle so many little kids in one place, and sometimes it can be overwhelming.
- A lot of teachers find the age group to be very difficult, so if I ever went into the field I would make sure to remember that it will get easier over time and it is not something that will be a walk in the park everyday.
- Difficult students are hard to accommodate, especially when they are that young. The most important thing I have seen her do is make sure they are not affecting others, and when they start to it becomes a problem that administrators and family gets involved in.
- Making sure students with learning disabilities are accommodated is very important, but when they are this little there is not really much separation from the most developed child to the least developed, but it really comes down to who practices at home and who does not.
- The special needs students need different plans and accommodations, and sometimes their behavior is hard to deal with because, unlike the other kids, they cannot help it.
- Keeping young kids focused is so hard, so we always make sure we don't do anything for more than around 15 minutes or else they get antsy and stop working.
Part four: What I Discovered
Through all this research and these eight months at my mentorship, I have concluded that the best way to prepare young minds for their future education is treating each child as an individual. Education is not a one size fits all thing, all children are different, and each child needs special attention. In order for children to succeed, they need to feel like someone cares about them and their success, even at such a young age. Teachers need to individualize education plans in order to maximize student success.