Tiffany Plummers

Practicum Competency Portfolio

Completed at the Early Head Start
ICAP Center in Sioux Falls, SD

ECE 495

Practicum in ECE

Instructor-Lynda Venhuizen
Summer 2016

Table of Contents

Page 1 of 15

Table of
Contents
Page 2
Practicum Competencies
Plan..................... Page 3
Standard 3. Observing, Documenting, and Assessing
Young children and families
.. Page 4-6
Standard 4. Using Developmentally Effective
approaches................... Page 7-11
Standard 5. Using Content Knowledge to Build a Meaningful
Curriculum. Page 12-13

Page 2 of 15

Page 3 of 15

Standard 3: Observing, Documenting, and Assessing

to Support Young Children and Families
I understand and practice
responsible assessment to
promote positive outcomes for
each child.

Observe the different

ways the teachers
assess the students
and take notes of how
they helped the
students to get
positive outcomes
from it.

Have a list of ways to

assess children and
get positive outcomes
form them.

I wrote this goal in the Pre-Practicum course because I have not had much
experience with assessing young children and I wanted to be able to, so when I
work in my own classroom I will be able to assess my children and get positive
outcomes. This goal was difficult to complete because during the time I was there
they did not do a lot of assessments, because it was close to the end of the year for
them and they would be switching students soon. A couple of the classrooms would
do formative assessments and documentation of what the student is able to do.
What I learned from my time at ICAP about assessments is probably the most
important because the other testing they do is summative assessments written by
the government for the children to take. Formative assessments are important for
the teacher and student, because they both get to learn what the child knows, so I
am glad that I got the opportunity to learn a little bit about it.
I was able to observe one of the teachers testing a student on shapes but it
seemed just like a fun little game for the child. The teacher had a folder with
random shapes taped down in a specific color, the child then had to take a duplicate
of the shape that is not taped down and match it with the other one. It looked very
similar to the photo on the right. If the child was
able to get it that way she would then try another
game where the shapes were all the same color,
not a specific color for each shape, so they could
not identify it by color. I find this to be a great way
to test the children while still making it fun. I was
also told that she gives the children these
assessments multiple times throughout the year
so she knows if they are improving or not. This
helps her to know what she needs to add more of, at circle time.
The same teacher also would write down on a notepad some of the things
that the children would say such as big words, large sentences, or even something
unique that they said. She would also take notes on how well the students played
together and any communication between them to show their social interaction. I
think this was a great idea because it is easy for the teacher to jot something down
to put in their portfolios later instead of trying to come up with what the children
said later when one may be asked how they are doing talking or interacting. When
Page 4 of 15

she was taking notes she made sure to also prompt the child once in a while to see
what else they would say or even try to get them to play with another child. When
she assessed her children she made it seem easy, and fun for the child. The way
they use formative assessment always results in a positive outcome because the
child is always learning something new. I learned that a positive outcome does not
mean that they got it all right or that they are up to the standard but it means that
they are improving and growing from where they used to be at, it is positive growth.

Page 5 of 15

Notes on Different ways to Assess Children

and get Positive Outcomes

Keep portfolios and make reports of their work

o

By keeping portfolios/reports of their development and work you are

better able to teach the student what they need to be taught because
you can look back and see what the students did well on and what
needs a little more work.

Assess children by direct observation

o Direct observation is a way to assess young children without them
knowing they are being assessed. It is a good way to always get
positive results because it shows what they know.
o You have to be careful in judging all of their knowledge/development
on this because some things they may just need help to do or
guidance.
o If you want to see how children are interacting socially the best way to
do this is by direct observation over a period of time.
They must learn the information first
o When giving a formative assessment make sure all of the information
has been taught and every child had the opportunity to learn it.
o If the information is not taught to the child, then positive outcomes will
not be possible and you are setting the child up for failure.
Repeat the assessments
o If children took an assessment and did not do well it is the teachers
responsibility to start over and teach it to them again. Once the
information is taught again it is important to assess them again to see
if they improved.
o It also may be important to look back at the assessment and change
some things up because the assessment may have been the problem.
Take context based tests often
o Whether these are done by doing activities or are written tests, it is
important to assess your students on what they know often.
o If you do this, you are able to create your lesson plans based on what
your children do not quite understand fully yet.
Look for signs of success
o When documenting/assessing a childs development it is important to
look for signs that they will be completing the next stage of
development soon.
o If you are trying to assess a childs developmental ability to walk it is
important to look for signs that they may move on to that soon, for
example standing up without help, or waking along with help from
objects.
Document the mood of the child during the test

Page 6 of 15

The mood that the child is in when given the test can determine how
the test will go for that child.
o If you notice a child is not having a good day maybe try to find time
later that day or week to test the child so a positive outcome is more
likely to occur.
Assess children by making it fun and entertaining
o Tests in schools seem to put a lot of stress on children so when you are
trying to assess a child it is important to make it not seem like they are
being tested.
o A good idea is to give a child a fun activity to do but that includes ways
that you would be able to assess the child on how well they are doing.
Have parents tell you how the child is doing at home
o When working with young kids it is important to see how they are
doing developmentally at home as well.
If trying to see how well they are using a fork at school, it is
important to see if they are getting the opportunity at home to
use one
o Or even asking if the child had a good day at home to determine
whether or not a test would be a good idea that day.
Take notes to assess childrens language
o If you want to learn how well your student is talking take a notepad
around with you when the children are playing and you are talking to
them.
o If a child says long sentences or new words write them down and keep
a record of them.
o

Page 7 of 15

Standard 4: Using Developmentally

Effective Approaches
I use broad repertoire of
developmentally
appropriate
teaching/learning
approaches

Take notes of the different

learning approaches to help
different students learn to the
best of their ability by
observing and collaborating
with teachers and observing
the children.

Take notes of the

different approaches I
used and write how
well each worked and
what I did.

I knew a few teaching and learning approaches already for early childhood
classes because I had worked at a daycare for about 3 years in a birth-five
classroom. There we did have the opportunity to teach the children, but I thought it
would be a good idea to learn some new and different approaches then I had
previously used. Working with ICAP on this also helped me realize the
developmental differences between some low income children and middle/high
income children. Working with a diverse population also showed me that race of the
child or family has nothing to do with the developmental process, but sometimes
the culture may hinder or help the process. I am glad that I chose to work more on
developmental approaches because it helped me to get more in depth information
about children who come from different cultures and family situations.
The learning approaches that ICAP used the most was mainly learning
through play and exploration. Many of the children there are either very energetic or
very shy so they both learn best this way. The ones who are energetic are not forced
to listen to sit down lessons for a long period of time unless it involves movement
and enthusiasm so they do not get bored and start misbehaving. The shy ones may
sit and listen but by observing the other students who are engaged in learning and
having fun doing so they will be more likely to join in. most of the students are
kinesthetic learners but some are not so it was important that in the rooms the
teachers would use other approaches as well. Some students would sit and watch
me as I showed them how to do an art activity, while others saw just the end result
and could do it.
Getting the children to sit down and listen to you as you taught is not
something that the children are quite able to do yet so I the teachers had to find a
way to teach them cognitive skills while letting them have fun so they had to
structure their circle time in the best manner possible. The picture on the left would
be a great circle time if the kids at the center could actually sit that still for the
whole time, some of the rooms could do this but most of them could not because
they are so young. The picture on the right is more like what they do there
sometimes they do lay papers out and have the children lay a toy in their hand
down that is the same color as the paper. It also helps that the children are able to
stand up and be moving to do this so the teacher and child does not get frustrated
because they are supposed to be still for a long period of time. Other classrooms
Page 8 of 15

will have them still sit down in a circle or in a small area with a book if it is time for
the teacher to read, this way they can listen to the teacher read and have
something in their hands to mess with. Other teachers will give the kids
instruments, scarves, or flags to play with while they are singing songs so they are
not only listening to the song but also learning other skills
as well. Although some of the
teachers may wish their kids
could sit still in a circle for a
while the way they are doing it
teaches them many things at
once whether it be fine motor
skills, and the alphabet when
singing ABCs and hitting a triangle or using large motor skills
to hop on the shape that you called.
Working at ICAP showed me that each child is truly different and may need to
be taught completely different. Maybe let the child that is not listening step out of
circle time and do a puzzle and then later teach them the same thing just more
hands on and at their best learning approach. Making a child do what you want
them to do is not always the best thing for the child, sometimes we have to watch
and listen to how the child best responds to learning and teach them how they need
to be taught. I took a lot more notes on some more approaches that were used in
some of the classrooms that worked for some of the children.

Notes on Different Teaching Strategies and Learning Approaches

to
Help Every Students Learn

Let the children explore on their own but give opportunities for them to do so
o I wanted to let the children explore the kitchen toy area so I brought
the children to the area and gave them some toy food and utensils to
play with. Once I gave them materials I let them do with them as they
please even if it was just banging toys together they are exploring.
This works really well because the children learn independence
and are able to learn how to play and manipulate objects by
themselves.
o There is a lot of structured play time in the centers so it was good to let
them just get whatever they would like off of the shelves so they could
explore the room and the multiple toy options in it.
It definitely works well because they get to do what they want,
but it can be very difficult to clean up the mess.
Show visuals, actions, excitement when teaching songs
o When teaching the songs some of the teachers had little pictures we
could hang up while we sang so the children got a visual of what was
being sang to/with them.
Page 9 of 15

This works pretty well but should be used for older children
unless it is a simple picture like a star for twinkle twinkle little
star. They began to associate stars with the song and would
sing it whenever they saw one.
o The songs that we sing with the children are full of actions which keep
the energetic children participating and keeping their attention.
The actions work great and I love them they also help us
teachers to understand what songs they want to sing when they
show us the actions to tell us which song.
o It was important to sound excited when teaching the songs because
the more excitement and praise we gave while singing the more the
children participated.
Acknowledge childs efforts to learn and try new things
o One child is trying to learn to stand w/o help and walk so whenever he
would try to stand by himself I would start clapping and tell him good
job.
I think this works great because the child had a big grin on his
face when he saw us happy that he was standing.
If a child wants to read, draw, count, sing instead of play let them do so and
encourage behavior
o One young girl really liked to read books and sat with me for a long
time while I read to her. When we got done I told her that she did a
good job sitting and reading with me. She did all this while others were
playing.
I think this is great because it is still a form of play and they can
also read, sing, and draw with their peers as well to get social
interactions. This really helps the children gain more cognitive
skills.
Label objects to emerge children in reading and language
o The rooms had objects/furniture around the room that where labeled,
some even had Spanish on them, so whenever the child pointed to the
object I would tell them what it was and point to the label.
I think that this is a great concept because it helps the teacher
teach them new words and it may also help with their reading as
well.
Use redirection to show children how to act or behave correctly
o I redirected children who were hitting their friends to another area of
toys to play with so they would not harm the other children. I also
redirected children who were not listening during circle time and
brought them back to the circle and showed them how the other
children were sitting.
I think redirection definitely helps the younger students realize
the correct behavior to do or are able to take them away from a
negative situation.
Get parents active in their learning

Page 10 of 15

At ICAP the teachers give the parents sheets to fill out about time they
spent with their children on improving their development/learning. This
is a great way to see what parents are working on to help their child.
This helps to bring up discussion about what the child is learning
and how teacher and parent can work together to teach the
child in the same way at home and school.
For a child who keeps hitting do not touch them or they may hit you so block
their hit and tell them to use their words
o A couple young girls would hit their friends and if you tried to
physically take the child away from the situation they would then hit
you, so we found it best to move the child getting hit and tell the girls
to use their words and tell them why they are mad.
This really helped to teach them how to manage anger and to
express it in a better manner. It also keeps the teacher from
getting hit.
Different ways to relax the child and yourself Drain, S.T.A.R, Pretzel, Balloon
o The center had these different ways to get children to relax posted all
over
the
room
and
they
were
to
teach
these
o

techniques to the children and also use them yourself.

This is a good idea for older children and teachers because they
are quite complicated, but they could also be simplified for
younger children.
Determine procedures needed to break down into easy steps, teach visually,
orally, or, kinesthetically, check that they understand, practice, reinforce,
review
Engage small and large muscle groups, senses, and foster curiosity
o We found activities for the children to do that would engage some of
these things. Like bikes, puzzles, touch and feel books, smelling the
food, and letting them play with new and different items.
Page 11 of 15

Integrate learning objectives into play and routine

o Many children need to learn their colors so while they are playing find
different colors in the space that they are planning and ask them the
colors then tell them.
This will get the child to associate colors with many different
things, and will continue to name colors while playing
Independence skills can be taught in the morning while the teacher is getting
ready
Let the child do it
o Some of the children really want to be independent and do things
themselves like putting on shoes or putting clothes on and it is
important that we let them do so.
By doing so we are teaching them self-help skills and also
making the job easier on ourselves.
Let the children model behavior for others to imitate
Physically show child things to teach them
o If a child does not know the actions to the song and are willing to
accept help grab their hands and show them the motions as well as
model it for them so they get the idea.
This is great for those who do not quite have control of their
motions because you can teach them to do it correctly and then
let them try it themselves
Make learning fun
o It is important to make sure the kids are still having fun and if they are
not it is time to switch the activity up because they may not be
comprehending much if it is not fun.
Give positive feedback and encouragement for approximation
Praise child who can do something (be descriptive) so other children learn
what they were doing right
o When a child was sitting at circle time I would say good job sitting
quietly and singing the songs *Name* this way other children hear
and may do the same thing so they get praised.
Use prompting and cuing and then fade them once they learn.
o When teaching shapes, we would ask where is the Square? and have
them point then we would as them is this the square? then we would
point to other shapes. And finally if they could not find it we would say
this is the square. After they learn it more we would only ask where is
the Square?
By doing this soon they will be able to tell you what shape you
are pointing at without help.

Page 12 of 15

Standard 5: Using Content Knowledge to Build

Meaningful Curriculum
I use my own knowledge
appropriate early
learning strategies, and
other resources to
evaluate
developmentally
meaningful and
challenging curriculum
for each child.

Work with students to see

what they are being
challenged with what they are
doing and that they are
meeting the standards. I also
plan on learning some of
those standards.

Observation notes on
how well some of the
students are doing
with what they are
being taught and how I
could make them be
challenged if they are
not already. Lists of
ways to challenge
students.

Many of the children were already being challenge with what they were being
taught, but of course there were still some of those children who did need to be
challenged because they were ahead and still being taught the same information
that the others were taught. It was really interesting to see the different levels that
some of the kids were at and learn how the teachers were challenging each
individual child. Most of the time I observed and asked questions about how some of
the children were being challenged, because they already had ideas of ways to
challenge them, but I also came up with my own list of ideas some that I put to use
myself when I was with the child. Seeing some of the students do really well on
things is great, and means that they need to be challenged, whether that means
giving them more information, teaching them the most effective way to do things,
or letting them learn a new topic.
The children all start nap time by watching nursery rhymes that can be
educational and teach counting, letters, shapes, etc. By watching those videos, they
start to learn some of those concepts so once they start understanding and singing
along you can challenge them by teaching them those same concepts but in a
different manner or more complex way. It is important to continue to challenge the
children because they are never done learning new things and it is our job to give
them the opportunity to learn the new information or concepts. Included below are
the notes that I took about ways that we challenged the students or ways that I
would challenge students who understood higher up concepts.

Different Ways to Challenge Students

For the children who understood their numbers and letters by just saying
them it is important to use other teaching strategies to help them learn them
as well such as flash cards, matching, writing, and coloring.
When the children could identify the color of every object I pointed out (red,
yellow, blue, pink, purple, green, orange, black, white) it was time to
challenge them some more.
Page 13 of 15

I Started by introducing new color names (brown, gray, turquoise,

maroon, violet, cyan, etc.)
o Once they master many color names teach them about mixing colors
to make other colors (red and blue make purple).
Some of the children know their ABCs so the next step would be to help them
be able to identify the letters when shown to them.
o Once they are able to identify the letters then we would begin to
introduce the sounds of the letters
o If that is accomplished, then begin to teach the vowels
One child is being toilet trained and will go every time they are asked to go
so to challenge them the next step would be to get them to tell you when to
go by saying let me know when you need to go to the bathroom even if you
use that as a reminder.
A few of the children are good about washing their hands after using the
bathroom but they do it very quickly so to challenge them I had them sing
their ABCs while washing their hands.
o The next step I would do is teach them how to get all of their hands
clean (fingers, palms, between their fingers, back of their hand, nails)
One child was really good at counting to 10 so we introduced new numbers to
her (10-20). Once the child would master that more numbers would be added
on.
o Once children learn how to count they need to learn how to count
objects so they associate their numbers with counting
Some of the young children are learning how to share and learning what is
theirs and not theirs is part of it. One child when you tell her that a toy is
another childs she will bring it to the teacher. One way to challenge her
would be to have her give it back to the child and not the teacher so she
learns that it is another childs toy.
o Another way to teach them about sharing and learning when things are
theirs and someone elses is to have two children take turns playing
with toys as a way to challenge them.
A few of the children are able to put a jacket on by themselves and zip it up
and others have a difficult time doing that. So in order to challenge those who
know how and help the others. The teacher should have the student who
knows how help the other one put on and zip up the jacket.
A young boy is still learning to stand without help by himself and to walk, he
has already mastered crawling, pulling himself up, and walks with assistance
of stationary objects or holding hands.
o A few ways to challenge him is to keep having him stand up and then
remove your hands from him so he stands without help.
o Once he is able to stand without help he will be closer to being ready
to walk so start by holding both of his hands and helping him walk,
then only use one hand as to challenge him.
One child kept telling me that a child took her toy and she is used to the
teacher going and getting it for her. So she needs to begin to learn problem
solving skills now.
o

Page 14 of 15

Now when she comes up to a teacher have her go up to the child and
say that was my toy, can I have it back please or simply my toy. If
the child still wont give it back, then you may step in.
A One-year-old girl loves looking at books but just continues to flip the pages
without much thought of what is on the pages or we open the book to one
page and walks away after that page.
o So whenever she comes to me with a book I will challenge her to look
at a few pages for a longer period of time, to help with her attention
span.
o

Page 15 of 15