Reflective Practice Guidance Logs

Course name: Guidance - Individual Child - ECEP 132 - 003

To: Christine Cox

Student Name: Yunfan Jiang (Fiona)

Date: Apr 11, 2011

Table of contents

Observation form…………………………………………………………………3

Log 1………………………………………………………………………....…….4

Log 2……………………………………………………………………………….8

Log3………………………………………………………………………….…….12

Self-evaluation………………………………………………………………….…16

Bibliography……………………………………………………………………….18

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Observation form

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Reflective Practice Guidance Log

Log #: 1Part 1 – Objective Observation

(Clearly identify the problem. Examine the “context” of the problem)

Date: Mar. 18, 2011

It was early in the morning. I was sitting on the carpet and supervising a few children

while playing with them. A teacher was filling out some daily forms at the entrance while

keeping the children in her sight.

S and his father arrived. I greeted his parent and S. After S’s father took off his coat, the

teacher held S’s hand and brought him into the play area. When S saw his father was

leaving, he began to cry and tried to go over the barrier.

Part 2 – Decision(Clearly identify the guidance strategy and state why the chosen strategy is appropriate

for this child and the situation) (Provide Reference)

Guidance strategy : redirection

Reason: S kept on crying and tried to go over the barrier when he was separated from

his father. This behavior is very typical for child who has separation anxiety. Separation

anxiety is normal among older infants, not only those who come to the daycare for the

first time, but also those who have been here for a long time. Although S is not a new

comer for this daycare, such behavior still happened. The separation anxiety is not good

for his health, so I should distract him from this situation. “An adult can be most helpful

by immediately doing something to distract the child from the forbidden activity and

steering her toward a different activity” (Marion, P133). In addition, according to the class

notes, redirection works best with younger children. S is only 17 months old. Therefore,

the redirection strategy is suitable for him. I decided to redirect him to an activity and try

to make him feel happy.

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Part 3 – Actions(Clearly discuss your actions (what you did and said),

the child’s response and the results of the guidance strategy)

I went over and crouched down before him. I put my hand on his shoulder, and said to

him gently, “S, your dad has to go to work. He will be back soon. Do you want to play

with me?” However, he had no reaction to what I said and kept on crying and struggling

to go outside. Then, I began to look for his favorite toy, a rattle which can spin, but I did

not find it in the toy bins. I tried to provide some other toys to attract him. They all did not

work. Finally, I found the rattle in a child’s hand. I exchanged another toy for this rattle.

I raised this rattle and said to him happily, “S, look, what is this? Your favorite toy!” S

stopped crying and looked at me. I went over and spun the rattle in front of him. The

spinning rattle attracted S. He stared at the rattle and began to spin it by himself. He

spun and stopped the rattle repeatedly and looked so happy.

Part 4 – Reflection(Clearly discuss your strengths and needs and the changes that you would make if

needed)

Strengths

- responded immediately

- took actions immediately

- soothed child with gentle voice and

body language

- child eye level

- made appropriate judgment according

to the situation (exchanged with

another child for his favorite toy)

- used happy facial expression to

attract child’s attention

Needs

- I did not be ready for possible

separation anxiety

- I did not pay more attention to the

child who was being separated from

his father

- I did not talked to S about his feeling

- I did not talked to S about his

behavior

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Discuss the changes that you would make and why you would make them. (If any)

How would you PREVENT this from happening next time

The next time:

1) I would be ready for possible separation anxiety. I thought only new comer could

possibly be in this situation. Because S stayed in this daycare for a long time, I thought

he had no trouble in separating from his dad. In fact, some children still expressed

separation anxiety for some reasons (e.g., health status, mood, etc.)

2) I would pay more attention to the child who is being separated with parents. If I had

prepared his favorite toy in advance and attracted his attention before his dad left, this

behavior would have been avoided.

3) I would express my understanding of his feeling.

4) I would incorporate behavior rule into activities.

5) In daily life, I would do my best to establish close relationship with them to ease

separation anxiety and implement redirection strategy as needed.

Supervising ECE Signature

Dear ECE Supervising Teacher: Please read and review the guidance log. Select the

appropriate box below.

o This log is accurate based on your observations.

o This log is somewhat accurate.

Please explain : _______________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

o This log is not accurate based on your observations.

Agency Name: Victoria Park Childcare Center

Phone Number: 416-445-0287_______________

Name of ECE: (Please Print) ___Janie Li_______________________________ _

ECE Signature: _____________________________________

Date of Signature: ________________________________

Thank-you!

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Signature for log 1

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Reflective Practice Guidance Log

Log #: 2Part 1 – Objective Observation

(Clearly identify the problem. Examine the “context” of the problem)

Date: Mar. 24, 2011

It was free play time. I was sitting on the carpet and supervising the children. Child L

picked up a book from book shelf and sat on my laps. She opened the book and let me

read for her.

When I was reading this book, Child A walked towards us, he held one end of the book

and tried to take it away. L pushed A, screaming, “mine, mine”.

Part 2 – Decision(Clearly identify the guidance strategy and state why the chosen strategy is appropriate

for this child and the situation) (Provide Reference)

Guidance strategy : Choices

Reason: Child A tried to take the book away from L, while this book was had by L first. L

pushed A to keep her book. A conflict between two children appeared. Although their

behaviors are all not appropriate, that does not means they did that intentionally. In fact,

for infants, they tug on some items just because of their interests and curiosity. In this

case, we can find that they are all interested in reading book. In general, it is not

possible that a child is interested in only one book. According to the class notes,

“Allowing children to make choices build their self esteem and have some control/power

in their world”. In addition, one of our goals is to help children learn to make wise choices

(Marion, P121). Therefore, I chose choices as guidance strategy and decided to give

him a chance to choose book.

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Part 3 – Actions(Clearly discuss your actions (what you did and said),

the child’s response and the results of the guidance strategy)

I hold the book, kept eye contact with child A and shook my head. I said to A calmly and

slowly, “If you want to read a book, you can pick it up from the book shelf. Would you like

to pick up your book by yourself or do you want me to help you?” He withdrew his hand

and turned around. He walked to the book shelf and pick up a book. At the same time, I

said to L gently, “You get the book first, you can keep your book. Please be gentle to

your friend.”

Child A went back soon and looked at me. It seemed that he also wanted me to read the

book for him. I praised him with a smile. I said, “I am so glad you are able to choose

book by yourself. You want me to read this book? Wait your turn, please.” He looked at

me for a few seconds. Then, he walked away.

Part 4 – Reflection(Clearly discuss your strengths and needs and the changes that you would make if

needed)

Strengths

- Spoke with children gently, calmly and

slowly

- found the reason of behavior from the

perspective of a child

- stated my expectation clearly

- provided appropriate choices while

made the choices manageable

- stated my attitude clearly to

inappropriate behavior

- gave positive approval when this

inappropriate behavior was corrected

Needs

- I did not express my understanding of

the child’s interest in book with

positive attitude when talked to him

- I did not talk about the feeling if

snatched by someone else

- I did not talked to children about the

solution for conflict

Discuss the changes that you would make and why you would make them. (If any)

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How would you PREVENT this from happening next time

The next time:

1) I would express my understanding of his interest at first with positive attitude. For

example, I could say “I know you like reading book, and reading is good for you. If you

want to read a book, you can…” I think these words can demonstrate my respect for his

interest and helps him build his self-esteem.

2) I would talk about the feeling and say “You feel sad when somebody takes your book

away. L felt sad too when you did so. ” I think the conversation like this can help A make

sense of empathy.

3) I would talk to children about solving the conflict.

4) I would incorporate self-regulation into planned or emergent curriculum in daily life,

such as picking up what they want from the proper place (e.g. book shelf, toy shelf, etc.)

instead of from other children’s hands, waiting turn when do one-to-one activity.

5) I would do more observation to know their interests. The more I know about this child,

the more effective and wise choices I can provide. Therefore, when he want to take the

book or something else (e.g. toys) from other children, I can provide some choices that

he is very likely to accept while ensure all the choices are manageable.

Supervising ECE Signature

Dear ECE Supervising Teacher: Please read and review the guidance log. Select the

appropriate box below.

o This log is accurate based on your observations.

o This log is somewhat accurate.

Please explain : _______________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

o This log is not accurate based on your observations.

Agency Name: Victoria Park Childcare Center

Phone Number: 416-445-0287_______________

Name of ECE: (Please Print) ___Janie Li_______________________________ _

ECE Signature: _____________________________________

Date of Signature: ________________________________

Thank-you!

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Signature for log 2

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Reflective Practice Guidance Log

Log #: 3Part 1 – Objective Observation

(Clearly identify the problem. Examine the “context” of the problem)

Date: Apr. 1, 2011

It was free play time. A teacher was changing diaper in the washroom. Another teacher

was reading a book for a child while I sat beside the toy shelf and played with child V.

Some toys was scattered on the carpet. An empty toy bin was beside the shelf and

upside down. Child S came over. She put one foot on the bottom of bin and tried to

stand on it with the support of toy shelf.

Part 2 – Decision(Clearly identify the guidance strategy and state why the chosen strategy is appropriate

for this child and the situation) (Provide Reference)

Guidance strategy : redirection

Reason: Standing on the plastic toy bins is not allowed in the daycare. It possibly leads

children falling down if the bin tips over or damages the bin. For infants, they could not

be aware of what activities are dangerous. So I should protect her from possible injury or

startle. According to the notes, the redirection strategy is suitable for distracting a child

from the forbidden or dangerous activity and it works best with younger children. S was

only 16 months old. Therefore, I thought the redirection strategy was suitable for her. I

told her the plastic bin was not used for standing. Then I redirected her to look outside

on stairs.

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Part 3 – Actions(Clearly discuss your actions (what you did and said),

the child’s response and the results of the guidance strategy)

I went over quickly and held S gently. I crouched down at S’s eye level and said to her

calmly, “S, the toy bin is for toys. Feet down, please.” But she still stood on it. Then, I

said, “Look, who is outside? Let’s have a look.” I pointed to the window. S looked back.

Some preschoolers were playing on the playground. We could hear their voice. She

went down from the bin. I held S’s hand and brought her to the soft stuffed stairs under

the windowsill. She climbed up the stairs and stood on her toes to look outside. I left S

on the stairs and went back. However, I found another child was trying to stand on the

bin.

Part 4 – Reflection(Clearly discuss your strengths and needs and the changes that you would make if

needed)

Strengths

- took actions immediately

- gentle action and voice

- child eye level

- positive words

- used happy facial expression to

attract child’s attention

- used substitute to solve problem

Needs

- I did not scan environment frequently

and correct the situations which

possibly led to inappropriate behavior

- I did not put the toy bin back to shelf

immediately after S went down to

prevent other children from climbing

- I did not clearly tell S she could climb

up stairs instead of bin

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Discuss the changes that you would make and why you would make them. (If any)

How would you PREVENT this from happening next time

The next time

1) I would scan environment frequently and correct the situations which possibly lead to

inappropriate behavior. For example, I would turn over the bin immediately after I found

it was upside down. When the bin is upside down, it looks like the step and lures children

to climb up. In addition, there are some other objects children like climbing, such as

small chairs. Therefore, I should pay more attention to such objects.

2) I would put the toy bin back to shelf immediately after S went down to prevent other

children from climbing.

3) I would clearly tell S that she should climb up stairs instead of bin if she wants to

stand high. S was 16 months old, and she could understand what I said.

Supervising ECE Signature

Dear ECE Supervising Teacher: Please read and review the guidance log. Select the

appropriate box below.

o This log is accurate based on your observations.

o This log is somewhat accurate.

Please explain : _______________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

o This log is not accurate based on your observations.

Agency Name: Victoria Park Childcare Center

Phone Number: 416-445-0287_______________

Name of ECE: (Please Print) ___Janie Li_______________________________ _

ECE Signature: _____________________________________

Date of Signature: ________________________________

Thank-you!

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Signature for log 3

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Self-evaluation

While I was working on this assignment, I found it provided so many

learning opportunities for me. During this process, I learned how to incorporate

the knowledge in lectures into the practice.

I worked with infants in the field placement. In the daycare, there are a

variety of situations that need to be dealt with every day, such as grabbing toys,

transition difficulties, dangerous activities, separation anxiety, and so on.

Therefore, implementing guidance strategies is a very important part of my daily

work. How to implement these strategies efficiently is also what I often think of

profoundly. I hope I can improve my strategies constantly by reflective thinking.

My strengths include careful observation, logical thinking, child eye level,

gentle voice, close relationship with children, responding to children positively,

etc. Each time I implemented the guidance strategies, I tried to find the reason of

their behavior and showed my respect and understanding to their interests and

needs. For infants, they could not be aware of what activities are dangerous.

They also could not totally understand why they should follow rules. Therefore, I

redirect them from forbidden or dangerous behavior according to their interests. I

also provide some simple choices for them while ensure all the choices are

manageable. Some older infants can understand what I said, I would clearly state

the rules to them while explain the reason why they should follow the rules.

My needs involves in how to implement strategies more specific to each

child and how to make what I said as simple as possible to be understood by

children. Different child has different temperament. Sometimes, I found that the

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guidance strategy suitable for one child was not necessarily suitable for another

one. The main reason for this is lack of understanding their temperament since I

worked in the daycare for a short time. Sometimes, I sought some information

from my supervising teacher. She gave me some suggestions about how to take

corresponding actions according to each child’s temperament. She also talked

with me about my expression way to children. She said that infants were too

young to understand complicated language and asked me to make what I said as

simple as possible. So I need do more work on these two aspects in the field

placement of next semester.

Recording guidance information in reflective guidance logs is not only a

simple documentation process, but also a reflection process. This assignment

made me think more about my practice. I believe my guidance strategies will be

more and more efficient through such a learning process.

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Bibliography

1. Class notes

2. Marian, Marion. Guidance of Young Children . Toronto: Prentice Hall, 2010.

112-142

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