EDEE 636: Field Two

On the first day of class we did several actvities that helped me think about what the word prfoessionalism means. I found this very helpful because I have had less experience in the classroom environment than others. Most of the information I have from experience I draw from my own experience as a student when I was unaware and not focused on the teacher and his/her demeanor. I do remember those things that a teacher did to make my school experience either a positive or a negative one and when thinking of professionalism and the "do's" and "don't's" it was helpful to think back to my own experience. To me being a teacher almost seems like living two lives: a prefessional and a personal that do overlap some, but where slightly different behavior is considered acceptable. Being a teacher is a more formal role, where you are constantly under the spotlight and serving as a role model, whereas your private life is more informal. I think teaching will make me more aware of what I am doing, both my good and bad habits, and hopefully in turn I will be able to better myself through teaching by following the idea of, "practice what you preach". There are many different dimensions to teaching which include not only academic/intellectual development, but also physical growth, developing morals and values, emotional growth, social growth, and behavioral growth in early childhood education. From my recent experience this past week over at ECDC in the 3's room, I am very aware of the social issues that are already evolving at age three, with kids excluding others, manipulating, slight bullying, and some 3 yr-olds desire to fit in. Because each child brings his own her own social and behavioral personality into the classroom, as a teacher I know I will have to learn how to manage a classroom, problem solve, discipline, and work on building respect among children. This will mean I need to be professional in how I handle these issues, and not only know right from wrong, but also how to model and indicate this to the students in my classroom. Teachers are more than just educators in the intellectual sense, espcially in early childhood education, and that is why professionalism in the classroom is so important.