Early Years Childcare

My Reflective Journal

Entry #11, 4 November 2009

I got a visit from my University Mentor today. As my Setting Mentor has been fantasic with her guidance so far, I wasn't very worried about the visit. Until I found out she was going to observe me with the children for  over half an hour!

Just earlier that morning, the children had been ignoring my requests. I felt as though they were intentionally getting back at me:
  • M'n usually seems attached to me, but she seemed to be sulking at me and ignoring my instructions. I had refused to give her a toy which another child was already playing with.
  • 'n, who had been well-behaved the past several days, ignored me when I tried to talk to him, and threw to the floor anything which I held in front of him. I had refused to give him his favourite green train which another child was holding.
Luckily, my University Mentor seemed like a really nice person, and rather than looking for fault in me, she actively gave advice and suggestions on my EYPS course. I still felt like a lab rat under a microscope when I watched her from the corner of my eye scribbling things down though.
 
Moving Forward
My next visit from my University Mentor will be on the 3rd of December. Naturally, I hope to be more on top of things then, hopefully even showing off strong, meaningful relationships with the children.

2 comments:

I'm a full-time mummy 6 November 2009 at 11:42  

Is your uni mentor hovering or standing near you during the observation? Probably the children (like Megan & Arun) felt jealous that you have another person with you? Like you are not giving 100% attention to them so they ignore you those kind of thing?

Mark 6 November 2009 at 19:59  

Haha, she just sat down in the corner, and didn't follow me when I moved out of her vision.

You may be right about Megan, as I think she's usually jealous of the attention I give the others, but Arun's not the jealous type, plus he was definitely ticked off about "his" train. :)

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About

A reflective journal concerned with communication and relationships with children during my work placement for the Early Years Professional Status (EYPS).

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It's 2 degrees Celsius! Can't we skip outdoor play just for once? Even the kids keep going "Cold! Go in! Go in!"
I normally write the posts after a long tiring day, so please point out any mistakes you see. :)