Journal Entry #19

Blog 19: Reflect on your time with the child you worked with. What succeeded and why - refer to Dewey and other readings? What did not succeed and why not - again, try to find a reason based on the readings you have done for this class. If you could work with this child again, what would you like to do next time to develop what you today's experience?

I found it a challenge working with one child as opposed to a classroom full of children. For example, the color chart was kind of boring with one child, whereas with a group it would have it would have been a collaborative effort. With only one child, the activity went very quickly and smoothly. This was great, but it’s also fun to have a large group of children questioning and giving input, keeping you on your toes.

At the same time, some things worked better because she was only one kid. Particularly, the documentation was a lot easier. It also made her feel important to be receiving so much individual attention. There were a lot of aspects to this project, particularly the blending of colors for the background, that were successful because I was able to pay so much attention to Tianna.

With regards to Dewey, I think this was a very successful project. Dewey talks about taking the child’s experience into account, and this is something I feel I excelled at with Tianna. I am very aware of the situation she lives in with a single parent family where two of the three children are special needs. I used this knowledge to make the activity engaging for her and exciting in terms of the individual attention she received. I was also aware of what instruction she needed. Because Tianna is artistically gifted, she did not need much instruction, so I let her do the project without weighing her down with needless information.

This project was a success. The only thing I might have done differently was the color chart, and I’m not sure how to do that different with only one child. If I worked with Tianna again, I would try to do an activity where her painting skills could be advanced. This project worked with chalk pastels, a new material for Tianna, but her favorite medium is paint and it would be great to further develop that with her.