Reflective Analysis of Portfolio Artifact

Rationale/Reflection
NAEYC Standard: STANDARD 1. PROMOTING CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND
LEARNING
Candidates prepared in early childhood degree programs are grounded in a child
development knowledge base. They use their understanding of a) young childrens
characteristics and needs, and b) multiple interacting influences on childrens
development and learning, to c) create environments that are healthy, respectful,
supportive, and challenging for each child. (NAEYC, 2010).

Brief Description of Evidence:

During the fall semester of 2015 in The Exceptional Child class I created
assistive technology for a student that a classmate and I made up as part of project.
With the assistive technology I made a photo album our student could carry around
because she had social anxiety. Due to having anxiety our child was behind in
Maslows Hierarchy of needs because she was still in the safety stage when she
needed to be working through love and belonging into esteem. It had photos of
things she loved and notes of encouragements from her family that she could pull
out and look at any time she needed. I also made her a pair of glasses that could
block out the things that bothered her, that would be in her favorite color, and
have no lenses so she could see in the classroom without getting distracted by the
glasses.

Analysis of What I Learned:

Through doing this project I gained understanding in what my students
needs are along with their varying characteristics. I learned how to incorporate what
my students need into their everyday ritual at school and how to make the
transitions easier on them. During this project I learned how to create an
environment that is safe, healthy, respectful and supportive for every student. I
obtained better understanding of how to create an environment that is healthy,
respectful, supportive, and challenging for every child. In completing this project I
learned how to help each student excel and achieve the goals set by Maslows

Hierarchy of needs and how to help them if they are not where they should
be.
How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the NAEYC
Standard:
While doing this project I gained knowledge on how to use the multiple
interacting influences on childrens development and learning. While gaining a
better understanding of Maslows Hierarchy of needs I am able to assess where

each child is at and use that knowledge to help them work through each stage so
that they can feel secure, that they have friendship , and self-confident. I am able to
create environments that are healthy, respectful, supportive, and challenging for
each child. Through accomplishing this project I am able to understand each childs
characteristics and needs to better suit their education. With the knowledge gained
I will use each childs specific characteristics to create an environment that is
supportive and inclusive to their needs.