What I Learned This Week as an ECE Major

Lauren Davis

McKay Student Ambassador

Early Childhood Education

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I'm in my first semester of practicum, which means I have all my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays with the same group of 14 girls. It's been an exciting and busy semester! Plus, sometimes our professor brings us snacks. This week, as an early childhood education major, I've gained some valuable insights, and I'd love to share what I've learned.

Practicum

This week, during my practicum at the lab preschool behind the JSB, I had the opportunity to teach students how to retell a story and identify characters. I used The Rainbow Fish as our focus text, reading it aloud before breaking into small groups. Each group was assigned a character from the story, and together, they retold and acted it out. It was incredible to see how capable preschoolers are!

Overall, my lesson went well, but I recognize there’s always room for growth. This experience taught me the power of positive feedback and how to read a book in a truly engaging way. I also realized that I need to work on setting clearer expectations and providing students with more opportunities to learn from each other.

Child Guidance

My first class of the day is Child Guidance, where we learn how to support and teach students about emotional and social well-being. This class has been incredibly informative, especially in developing effective classroom management skills. Through this course, I’ve gained valuable strategies that I hope to apply in my own classroom one day.

This week, we focused on the pros and cons of small group work. On one hand, it allows teachers to provide more individualized support to students who need it. On the other hand, it can be challenging to ensure that all students stay engaged and on task. Overall, I love the idea of small group work, but I recognize the challenges that come with it. Being aware of these challenges will help me develop effective strategies to keep students focused and make the most of small group learning in my future classroom.

Literature Development

My second class of the day is Literature Development, where we learn how to teach students to read. This week, we focused on strategies to motivate and encourage emerging readers. When someone struggles with a skill, it’s natural to feel discouraged and want to give up—reading is no exception. Since reading is both a challenging and essential skill, we explored ways to foster a growth mindset in students and make the learning process more engaging and enjoyable. Learning these strategies has been invaluable, and I’m excited to apply them in my future classroom.

Tech in Early Childhood Education

My last class on Tuesdays is Planning and Assessment, where we learn how to write lesson plans and gather the assessments we need as teachers. Most of the semester, we have broken down each part of the lesson plan and learning how to plan effectively and the importance of each. On Thursdays, I have Technology in Early Childhood Education, where we explore how to integrate technology into the classroom. The tech class has been especially fun because we’ve discovered so many useful resources that can make teaching just a little bit easier. My personal favorite so far is SchoolAI, which can generate lesson plans and so much more. This class has really shown me how valuable technology can be as a tool for both teachers and students!

In conclusion, this has been a really great semester, and I’ve learned so much. I’ve loved how all of my classes have supported and connected with my practicum at the lab school. I got to apply classroom management strategies, teach a reading comprehension lesson, and even plan a center that incorporated technology. I’m really looking forward to my second semester practicum and everything else I’ll get to learn along the way.

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