Michelle Belanger

SEI 513
Spring 2014
Self- Reflection

In looking at the past few months I feel that I have really honed my skills as a professional.
Having been in the early childhood field for 14 years I thought that I knew all I was going to learn and
that my skills had reached their peak. I have been wondering for a while what direction I wanted to
move in next. I am so thankful for this practicum experience because I feel that it let me explore what I
was interested in and perfect skills that I had but needed some polishing. The fact that there were so
many ideas and options to choose from and a variety of skills, really was a positive for me. I feel that the
activities were well rounded and really pushed me outside my comfort zone and made me think about
things from different points of view.
In my direct work with the children I really saw some personal growth from myself. An example
of this is with a little guy in my room who is very disruptive and I knew that there was something else
going on. The referral to CDS was made in November and things were taking a really long time to
happen for him. In the meantime it was I who came up with strategies and supports in the classroom
for him. I set the limits and worked really hard at making sure mom was following through and that CDS
was following through, I made sure to take observations and document things so I would be prepared
for his evaluation and IEP. It was this class that really made me stop and think about how can I help this
child be successful in my class instead of waiting for CDS to come in and send him to a special purpose
program. It no longer became what supports are CDS going to give him, but what supports can I give
him right now that will help him be successful.
The practicum plan also helped me become a more conscious facilitator when it comes to
assessments. The realization of the skill of being able to take some assessment information based on
interactions with the children is invaluable, especially now that there is a ton of assessments that the
district forces us to do. In fact just this morning a child was looking at the phone and she was able to
name the numbers on the phone, which is something she was unable to do at last assessment. This also
leads me to my new favorite thing, which is creating the curriculum based on the childrens
assessments. I always have done this in the past, without much thought but being intentional about my
planning in not only small groups but placing the items out for the children to engage in during center
time. It seems so often I get caught on this track about keeping up with the curriculum that I forget
about intentionally providing activities that will help them based on their current skills and scaffolding
on those skills.
I will say that my favorite skill I was able to practice was the skill with families. It just so
happened that the annual parent survey came back and parent involvement was a big area parents
wanted more guidance around. My director had an idea that there should be a staff/parent liaison to
bridge the gap between what the parents want and relaying that information to the staff. I immediately
volunteered my services. After the first meeting with the chair of the parent advisory committee, I was
so excited because I had a clear expectation of what they wanted me to do. I created a power point
about the upcoming reaccreditation we are going through, what it looks like and means to parents to be
a nationally accredited center. The meeting was supposed to be my boss and me but she could not
make the meeting, which meant I was going to be the sole representative of the center at the meeting. I
was scared going into the meeting. The parents had great questions and I feel that I answered them
very well. I also feel that the discussion around parent involvement was a clear plan that I could take
back to the staff and make a plan. What gave me great validation in the work that I did that night was
when a few of the parents emailed my director to say what a great job I had done and how well
prepared I was for the night. One parent even reached out to a board member to tell them how
impressed they were with my presentation and how the night went. It was a success and I am even
more excited for the work that I will be able to do with the parent advisory committee this year and the
years to come.
In looking at my schoolwork for this class, I am proud of what I did. My constant critique with
myself is being able to convey what I want to say and making sure that I can say what I did in the most
effective way. At first I felt so relieved that there were no deadlines for the papers to be turned in, then
life happened and I found myself behind in typing up my papers as they happened, instead I left them till
towards the end, I feel that this caused some of papers to be more vague then I would have liked it also
made me miss great opportunities to add documentation to my portfolio. For example I wish I had
taken more pictures of the work I have done and when it was happening. This would have been a great
way to document some of the activities I did and pictures hold much more wow than mere words alone.
I feel that my reflection journal was a little hard to do because I didnt always want to reflect on what
happened with a project because I wanted to leave that for my project write-ups that I did. For this
reason I feel that some of the reflection journals and project papers are lacking or redundant in manner.
I feel that I participated in the seminar less than I would have liked to. I really wish that I had
gotten the chance to talk more of my experience with ELL students and families. I can say that the visits
were great and I learned so much during the 3 visits this semester. It was also nice to hear all the nice
things you had to say about my site, which is also the place I work. The validation of the hard work that I
do everyday was nice, and I thank you. It was also nice to be able to show off my work to a fellow
classmate and explain what I do everyday. I feel that the topics and resources presented in seminar
were very useful and very interesting. It was nice to be able to have a self-directed seminar that we
were able to list our interests and then get feedback or advice from other professionals in the field. It
made the seminars less like class and more like a community of practice.
I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of this class and cohort all together. I feel
that I have meet such great people that I can use in professional networking and also personal friends
that I know I will have for the rest of my life. Its great to know that you are apart of a larger network
and something bigger. It also feels good knowing that there is a group of people who will be emerging
from this cohort determined to make a difference in the life of the children and families we serve.