Andy Van Patten FHS 2600 period 2/3 8/27/2013 My Personal Philosophy I believe that early childhood education

is the most important stage in a persons learning because its a time in a persons life that their brains are growing and developing, so its important to feed the children knowledge before that key stage in development is over. With that, I feel that children learn the best when they are actively engaged in the things that they are learning. I think that the best kind of teacher is the one who is intentional and has a purpose in the classroom. One of the key things an intentional teacher does is use DAP. Without DAP the lesson plans would be complicated and children wouldnt learn anything. If a teacher has lesson plans tailored to the children they are teaching, they will achieve a much more desired result from their efforts in teaching. The teacher is more than just an administrator in the classroom; they are the key to how the children learn. If a teacher is prepared and engaged, it will make the childrens experiences more profound and beneficial. I personally feel like the teacher in a classroom decides how much the children will learn, just based on how much they care about the children. It makes a difference in the eyes of the children if the teacher is prepared and engaged.

Teaching is not all left to the teachers, though. The classroom environment is another huge influence on the childs learning. If the activities arent geared toward a specific age group, then the children wont benefit from the activity or lesson. This means that along with being engaged as a teacher, you also have to make sure that the classroom environment is one in which children can focus and learn as much as they can. I believe that if a classroom is controlled and has guidelines that all the children know, then it becomes a better experience for both teacher and student. Having clear and simple expectations from students is one of the keys to making the learning environment safe and effective. If students are learning in an environment where they feel unsafe, the teaching becomes ineffective. Ive chosen to study early childhood education because Im planning on becoming a teacher. Making sure you understand where learning begins is the first step in becoming an effective teacher. A teacher that knows how the learning process works and how it starts as a young child will find different, more effective ways, of teaching their material and making it more applicable to their lesson plans.