Wyatt Nelson

Guided Principles

a. The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum

It is very important for the teachers to spend a lot of time on the social curriculum as well, especially in
the early grades. Some of the students need the social skills at school that they do not get at home or if
they have never been in a school type setting before kindergarten. Students can learn a lot of
interactions with other students throughout the day. I think it is important to have students do group
work during lessons and etc. Students need to learn important social skills that will help them in life.
Teachers need to spend a lot of time on the social aspect with the students because they spend a lot of
time with the students. They do learn it at home too, but they also spend a big chunk of time at school
with classmates and teachers.

b. How children learn is as important as what they learn: Process and content go hand in hand

Each student has their own way of learning. Some students are better with visuals and some are better
without. It is important for the student to master and learn the content but there is no one way to do it.
They might not understand one way and decide to do it another way or they might come up with a
whole new strategy that works for them. It is like in math when you ask the students to come up with a
number and they show you multiple ways to make that number. One math lesson I taught the students
had to show me how to make the number seven on their number racks using both rows. They came up
with more than just one way to make the number seven and were able to explain each way they did it. I
think it is also important that as a teacher you stay open minded and give the students options on how
they do their work. Once the students have a strategy that works for them, it will make learning easier
and more fun for them.

c. The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction

I do think a lot of cognitive growth happens through social interaction. Students interact with each other
and teachers all day. They are watching and listening to each other more than we know. They are
learning how to interact with each other. They will start to know when they make another student sad
or when they have done something they know they should not have done. When the students are
playing and interacting, they will learn how to problem solve. It is important that the students have a
chance to solve a conflict themselves, as they get older they will have to do this. They start to learn
vocabulary and how to play with each other. For example when a student learns a new word and comes
to school and starts using, other students will hear it and might start to use it. Interacting with the
students as a teacher allows them to practice talking to adults and it helps them build their decision
making. When they hear another student or the teacher say they should/should not do something, they
will have to think and decide what the right choice should be. All of this can be carried forward as they
go through school and help them in everyday life.
 d. To be successful academically and socially, children need a set of social skills: cooperation,
assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control

Students need social skills all the way through school and in everyday life. As they get older they will
need to take more responsibility with school work and with activities they choose to participate in.
Learning self-control is a big one especially in the younger grades. In my clinical, sometimes a first grader
will blurt out an answer or be aggressive if another student takes away a toy. Others are very good at it,
they will raise their hand until called on or if a toy is taken, they will use words/talk to the student who
took it instead of pushing or trying to take it back right away. The students need to be able to show
empathy. It is important they understand the feelings of other students and adults and that they can
express their feelings.

e. Knowing the children we teach individually, culturally, and developmentally- is as important

as knowing the content we teach

It is very important to know a student’s background. Every student will learn differently and at different
paces. Getting to know the children individually can help you plan lessons in certain ways. It can also
help you with finding the students that need a little extra help in certain areas. You cannot assume that
all the students are at the same spot. It is important to know the content we teach the students, but it is
also important to know if the students are ready for it or have mastered the content before you move
on. It is so important to build a relationship with every student. Spend the first week really getting to
know the students. The content we teach does not really matter if we cannot get to the student. We
have to build that relationship and figure out how they learn best. This also comes with being flexible as
teachers, not all students are at the same developmental stage and we might have to adjust our lessons
for a few students. Always take the time to get to know your students.

f. Knowing the families of the children we teach and working with them as partners is essential
to children’s education

Communicating and working with the parents can have a huge impact on students education. I think it is
important for the teacher to keep the parents included in what is going on in the classroom. When
keeping them informed and updated, it allows them to see how the student is doing and how they can
help outside of school. In my first six week clinical, my teacher would send home weekly letters. She
would also call home and/or send an email home when a student was having a really good day or a not
so good day. Having the teacher and parents communicating and working together will help the school
year run smoother. Knowing the families gives you some background knowledge of the students. If
something is not going good at home, it may transfer into the classroom. Knowing the family, the
teacher can help the student out or spend maybe a little extra time with that student throughout the
day. Getting to know the families is very important because parents and home life play a big role in the
student’s education.