Running head: 1.

4 PORTFOLIO SUBMISSION 1

1.4 Portfolio Submission

Julie Estep

Fresno Pacific University

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1.4 Portfolio Submission

I will encourage children to venture out and experience new things. I know that my

influence has a direct impact in these childrens lives and their socialization. I want to make sure

any children I encounter are getting the best experience they can have from me whether it be my

students or family. I will remember that each student is their own person with their own thoughts,

interests, and desires that help them engage in learning. Making students solely test or even

stress over tests is not letting them engage in learning. If anything this is putting stress on their

development. I am a sole believer in incorporating play into every activity because it gets

students engaged in the subject material. I have come to this conclusion because of the expert

beliefs of Maria Montessori and Erik Erikson.

Montessori believed that the teacher should have a passive role to help free the child of

adult domination. This allowed the children an opportunity to teach themselves while gaining

self-confidence and independence simultaneously. If I were to put the stress and fear of testing

into my curriculum then my students would not be gaining self-confidence. Instead I am showing

them that I worry about wrong or right answers compared to the actual learning process, but they

are too young to understand that. Instead they will get frustrated if they fail and in turn feel

defeated in their efforts. I do not think learning is dependent on testing. I believe it is dependent

on play and a childs imagination. Children who are dependent on learning through play will

become better problem solvers in their life because they Erikson believed that, imagination

holds sway as children create their own microreality (Van Hoorn, Monighan Nourot, Scales,

Rodriguez Alward, 2011, p. 52). He believed that the children will excel when they are not

forced into learning things a certain way and instead use their creativity. It is proven that, Too

much activity forced on the child by others, claim Katz and Chard (2000), leads to damaged
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dispositions of intrinsic motivation, concentration, initiative, confidence, and humor that are

essential to the learning process throughout childrens lives (Van Hoorn, 2011, p. 52). Erikson

and Montessori believed that children needed the freedom to imagine and create on their own,

free to make mistakes and figure out problems on their own.

I will see to it that I encourage my students to try things on their own. I will show them

examples of how to perform activities, and then leave them to figure out the activities on their

own. I will observe students and test them individually without them feeling pressure. I will be

able to assess their knowledge through play activities such as counting with manipulatives,

reading a book they choose, etc. I do not want to have them worrying about tests or if they are

wrong that they will be getting a bad grade. Instead I want my students to embrace failure so that

they become resilient and eager to try again. If tests do come up for standardized testing I want

them to be confident and not intimidated. This will build their self-confidence and make them

less afraid to try new things. After this weeks assignment I will also make sure that I observe

children during play, as it is detrimental to their development.

I will make sure that I let my students venture out to solve their own problems so that

they learn on their own. I will encourage independence and creativity in my classroom. I will

guide my students when they need help, but I will not give them the answer when they ask. I

want my students to learn how to search for an answer to a problem and then be able to solve it

on their own. It is important that the children do not become reliant on the adult to do the work

for them. It is my job as an educator to teach the children not to just give them the answers. Its

all about the learning process.

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References

Davidson, F.W., & Davidson, J. M. (2004). MARIA MONTESSORI: HER LIFE AND LEGACY.

[Motion Picture]. United States: Davidson Films Inc.

Van Hoorn, J., Monighan Nourot, P., Scales, B. and Rodriquez Alward, K. (2011). Play at the

center of the curriculum (6th Ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.