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The following portfolio documents the education and skills I have acquired during my time in the Early Childhood Education program at Fanshawe College.

My name is Zachary Shimla, I am currently a Educational Assistant that works at the Catholic School Board here in London. I have about 4 years of experience working in the school system, and have 10 years of experience working with adults with developmental disabilities.

The reason I chose this program is because I aspire to become a teacher within a kindergarten classroom. I felt this this program would give me plenty of information in the area of child development, and give me plenty of opportunity to grow as an educator within the school system. During my time working at the school board, I have come to love working with young children, and helping them learn and grow. Currently I am working in a full day kindergarten room with a young boy who has autism spectrum disorder and have enjoyed seeing the growth he has had since September.

I look forward to my placement experience coming in May. I will be doing it at the before and after school program at the school I work for. The educators there are terrific with the children, and are very welcoming people. I look forward to building a positive and responsive relationship with some children I do not get to work with regularly. I also look forward to furthering my education after this program, to expand my understanding of child development.

Zack

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Courses:

Childhood Development 3-6: ECED-3038

Childhood Development 3-6: ECED-3038

Child Development 0-3: ECED-1075

Artifacts:

Op-Ed Paper

Weekly Reflections

Attachment Case Study Assignment

Reflection

I have chosen these three artifacts as they demonstrate the knowledge I have acquired through this program in multiple areas of child development. These artifacts show my understanding and skills in child development such as the importance of attachment, child development for children with autism and multiple other areas such as epigenetics.

Child development is an important area of the field of early childhood education that all educators should be informed in. Child development is impacted in environmental factors, how we interact with children, how they interact with others and play. As an educator, I will support children of all different developmental stages to grow in all aspects of development.

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Courses:

Curriculum and Pedagogy 0-3: ECED-1076

The Reflective Practitioner: ECED-3044

Artifacts:

Music and Movement Presentation (Group Project)

Assignment 2- Reflecting on The Universal Beliefs about Early Education and Care

Reflection:

I have chosen these two artifacts as they demonstrate different values within program and curriculum. As a musician I value both music and movement very highly, I believe benefit a lot from the positive aspects of music and movement. I also believe that there is no best way to educate children. Being able to reflect and discuss different approaches to early childhood education is very important in this field.

As an educator, I want to incorporate many of the approaches I have learned into my educational model. Every model has their own unique benefits that children will gain from. Providing children with different styles of curriculum will offer more opportunities for development and growth, while also encouraging different methods of pedagogical documentation for myself and other educators.

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Courses:

Promoting Pro-Social Behaviour: ECED-1053

Promoting Pro-Social Behaviour: ECED-1053

Child Development 0-3: ECED-1075

Artifacts:

Assignment #1-Guidance

Assignment #2-The Importance of Social Emotional Learning and the experience created to go along with it

Secure Bonds Newsletter

Reflection:

I chose these three artifacts because they represent the knowledge I have acquired around responsive relationships. These artifacts showcase the importance of building a positive relationship with children, while also working alongside of them to create a positive learning environment, and encouraging the growth of self-regulation to build positive peer relationships.

As an educator, I will continue to empathize and grow positive and responsive relationships with the children I work with. Being that safe and reliable person to a child can truly benefit them. Educator should always aim to create a welcoming and positive environment in which all children can learn positive social skills and know that they can rely on the educators.

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Courses:

Educational Perspectives: ECED-3003

The Reflective Practitioner: ECED-3044

Artifacts:

Reflective Theorist Comparison #1

Assignment 1- Envisioning Quality

Reflection:

The two artifacts I have chosen demonstrate my willingness to learn about new perspectives and theories. Learning is a life long task to always further yourself and better your philosophy and practices.

As an educator I look to always learn to improve my understanding and approaches for different situations. For example, I want to always better myself in the area of trauma informed practices as they can benefit children going through challenging situations.

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Courses:

Child Development 3-6: ECED-3038

Canadian Families Change and Diversity: SOCI-3003

Professionalism, Ethics and Advocacy: ECED-3040

Artifact:

Case Study Assignment

Discussion 2

Elected Official Letter

Reflection:

The two artifacts I have chosen demonstrate my knowledge in advocating in multiple facets. Both artifacts showcase my knowledge of advocation in different scenarios and aspects. The discussion focuses on the challenges of people immigrating to Canada and how we can do better. The case study was a scenario of support both a child and their family that came from Syria to Canada.

As an educator, I want to be an advocate for all children and their families. From newcomers to Canada, for people of different cultures and to families of children with disabilities. Having a person there to inform and educate them on their options is vital for some families to get the resources they need.

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Courses:

Understand Child Abuse and Neglect: ECED-3041

The Reflective Practitioner: ECED-3044

Field Seminar: FLDP-1038

Artifacts:

Self Care Plan Assignment

The Child Care and Early Years Act (CCEYA) Schedule 1 Certificate

First Aid and CPR Certificate

Self Assessment Paper and Assessment

Reflection:

The three artifacts I have chosen demonstrate multiple areas of health and regulations. The self care plan empathizes the importance of taking care of yourself regularly, and knowing when to seek professional help. The CCEYA test demonstrates my understanding of different regulations under the early childhood education sector. Lastly, having First Aid and CPR is a key component of safety for both children and co-workers.

Understanding regulations and healthy habits are vital for success within any field of work. As an educator I want to continue to prioritize my well-being while also helping children to also develop positive mental and physical well-being.

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Learning about guidance was eye-opening. Realizing that creating guidelines that incorporate the children rather than being a rule enforcer was riveting.

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I really enjoyed how this came together as a group. Everyone worked well together and I felt I contributed a lot of knowledge of the benefits of music and movement in curriculum during the audio portion of this assignment. I especially had a blast when I got to pull out my son's xylophone and play it for my video contribution.

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Social Emotional Learning is something I hold close to my chest. Helping children to self regulate is what I do daily while working at the school board. Having the opportunity to write about it and its importance in learning and child growth was a valuable opportunity for me.

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Writing this paper was important to me as it focused on an area that I care about. I work with young children in the school system with autism, and having the opportunity to write a paper that connects with child development was important to me.

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This was the SEL experience I created to go with the SEL assignment.

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Image Source: https://edgeofthebush.ca/mother-earth-guiding-a-seasonal-pedagogy/#:~:text=Circling%20around%20those%20four%20colours,Movement%2C%20Relationships%2C%20and%20Passing.

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While I learned that I am not the best newsletter writer, I do feel I was informative on this assignment. I feel that creating a secure bond is vital when caring for children, and I ensure that is my focus daily as an educator and a father.

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These reflections covered the first half block of child development. A lot of these reflections cover different very important aspects of child development.

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Learning and comparing the theories of Erik Erikson and Maria Montessori was very invigorating. Both theories are still very prevalent to this day many years later.

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Howard Gardner was the theorist my group covered for our theorist presentation.

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Howard Gardner was the theorist my group covered for our theorist presentation.

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Image source:https://www.simplypsychology.org/multiple-intelligences.html

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This assignment offered me the opportunity to see how our practices in Ontario compare to indigenous seasonal pedagogy, and the universal beliefs. I learned how beneficial other approaches can be when developing curriculum and pedagogical documentation.

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This case study gave me the opportunity to focus on the challenges of a child and family that immigrated to Canada. It allowed me to come up creative ways to support both the child and family.

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Discussion post below

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During this discussion, I had the opportunity to discuss immigration and how Canada can do better.

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This case study offered me the opportunity to explore attachment beyond the class material. It helped shape my view on just how important the attachment a child has with their caregiver is.

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Self-Care Plan Assignment by Zachary Shimla

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My son and I

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This test taught me some interesting and surprising facts about specific requirements that are needed to be meet by early childcare settings.

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I feel secure always having this and proud of being the First Aid and CPR rep at the school I work at. Although I do always say "I don't want to do first aid today" when a kid wants to do something mainly because I never want a child to get hurt.

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When writing this assignment I mixed up my thoughts and about Ontario already having a governing body for ECE's. But do believe having it more enforced would be a good thing overall. Learning about the 7 actions was very interesting and informative. It offered up actions and a framework needed to make childcare high quality.

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I am happy to say that I was accepted into the Early Childhood Sciences Degree program through the University of Guelph-Humber for this September. It will be a great opportunity to expand my knowledge in the area of Early Childhood Education. While more school sound like a lot of work, I look forward to accomplishing my goals in the future.

My experiences during my placement has been extremely rewarding. I have made a lot of connections with the children, their families and my colleagues. I feel as though I bring a uniqueness to the school age program. Being a male has helped form responsive relationships with the boys there, and has lead to me taking on a role of being that supportive person in times of social-emotional need for them. I will also have the opportunity to experience what their summer program will be like which is a different aspect of what the LCC does.

Zack

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Writing this letter gave me the opportunity to experience what it is like to advocate in a systemic way. I felt as though I managed to write a pretty good letter overall.

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Doing this Reflective Self-Assessment was very interesting. It helped me to see the areas in which I have good reflective practices and the areas I can grow to become a more well rounded reflective practitioner.

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This paper goes on to cover the above assessment tool and goes more into detail how I can improve as a reflective practitioner.