Gia Shafer

6/8/16

ECE 250 Activity Intentional Teachers

1. Why are you choosing or considering a career in Early Childhood Education?

I have been in the Early Childhood Education field for 15 years. I began as a toddler assistant,

and moved to toddler teacher, preschool teacher, pre-k teacher, assistant director then director. I

chose this field after having a child of my own. I felt a passion to help children grow

academically, socially and emotionally. As well as empower others to see us as professionals

not day care workers.

2. Do you ultimately want to work with children. If so, in what capacity? .... OR ... Do you ultimately
want to work for children. If so, in what capacity?

Since I have worked with children and for children, at this point I want to continue working for

children. As a director I have the opportunity to teach children, teachers and parents, this is the

most rewarding job! I love seeing the children eager to learn and be full of joy when they come to

school. Teaching teachers and parents are rewarding in a different way. I want to push my

teachers to the next level and hold them accountable for intentional teaching, making sure they

follow developmental practices as well as continuing to be creative and keep their curriculum

focused on the individual child. I teach parents by emailing them new ideas and offering services

on an individual need.

3. Identify 3 characteristics of professional, intentional early childhood teachers listed in

Pearson which most closely reflect 3 of your personal characteristics. Briefly describe how each
of these intentional characteristics are reflected in who you want to become, or who you are, as
a teacher of young children.

Relationships- This is the most important characteristic as it lays the foundation for how you will

teach the individual child and interact with their parents and gain their trust. I do this by knowing

each child and their parents and evidence of this is when I great the parents I will often tell them
a story of what my interaction with their child was that day, welcoming new families and making

them feel safe and taking the time to go into the classroom and spend time with our students.

Assessments of children’s progress- This is a vital part of ECE, I believe that both teacher

directed and child directed lessons are the most beneficial for how we asses children. We keep

lower ratios and group sizes, accurate anecdotal notes, portfolios and host two parent teacher

conferences a year.

Leadership and management- My personal philosophy is to make sure I am setting my

teachers up for success, not for failure. I need to hold myself accountable first and lead through

my actions. I inform my team of any new policies and procedures or suggestions from State or

QRIS. As a team we developed our schools beliefs, decided on implementing project based

learning and are currently working on the scope and sequence of our curriculum. I want my team

to know I support them and value the work that they do.