Research weeks 1 & 2

My first two weeks of research are now complete!! Here's a recap....

Week One:

• All about getting to know the kids, so that when I pull them out for assessments they will be used to me and think I'm fun :)
• Let me just say, 3-5 year olds might be my new favorite age
• Kids say the darndest things!!
• These kids are adorable
• I never realized how hard it is to talk to children in this setting!! You can never ask them questions (ie. Can you wash your hands? Will you come in the hallway with me?) and discipline is verryyyy different

Week Two:

• Learning assessments, being trained, being observed, and testing children!
• Constantly reminding myself "don't ask them questions, make these assessments fun, don't say any phrases that aren't part of the script!!!"
• The assessment we played today was called "Head to Toes"
• in this assessment, we play a game similar to Simon Says- when I say touch your head, touch your toes. When I say touch your toes, touch your head. Then we will change to: when I say touch your shoulders, touch your knees. When I say touch your knees, touch your shoulder. Then we test all 4!
• So far, I've learned about 6 assessments. Some easy, some tricky. The ones assessing mathematics and phonological learning require you to be VERY good at remembering the script. Saying "Good Job", etc. is not allowed. Saying sentences about the assessment or rules of the assessment outside the script doesn't make the assessment uniform for everyone, so there's lots to think about!

Overall though I love this research. It is such an AMAZING opportunity. I'm excited to get into the swing of things with testing and getting to know these children even more :)