As I was thinking of a topic to research the first one that
came to mind was social and emotional development. I knew I wanted to research something
concerning this topic because I feel that social and emotional development is extremely
important and can be challenging to teach.
This is my fifth year of teaching preschool but it is already my hardest
year when it comes to children with low or few social and emotional
skills. Many of my preschoolers have
very strong emotions and they do not know how to handle them. I have chosen to look at what are the best
ways to teach and encourage healthy social and emotional development in
preschoolers. I am hoping the
information I learn from this research will give me the skills I need to be a more
effective teacher.
Constructing the research chart has been informational but I
still definitely feel like I am out of my comfort zone. The research chart does help me to focus more
on what I am reading and to really stop and make sure I understand what I am reading. At times trying to find research that really
pertains to my topic feels time consuming and discouraging. I am definitely looking forward to all that I
am learning but it can be overwhelming.
One article I enjoyed reading this week was called Practices for Enhancing
Children’s Social-Emotional Development and Preventing Challenging Behavior.
Reference
Corso, R. M. (2007). Practices
for Enhancing Children’s Social-Emotional Development and Preventing
Challenging Behavior. Gifted Child Today, 30(3), 51-56.
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate to your feelings of being out of your comfort zone and unsure of how to approach researching your topic. I think a positive is that your found a topic that is of interest and meaningful to you. I think this will really help to power your research process and enable you to better dissect the material as you are looking to information and strategies to apply with your current group of students. Another positive is that you choose a very popular topic and hopefully it will be a matter of narrowing down the articles to those the best pinpoint your more specific goal. Best of luck!
Oh my goodness Courtney...I feel the exact same way and wouldn't wish this stress level on anyone! I am also researching social and emotional development, but focusing on peer relationships. I found an article that might be of interest to you titled "Learning to Live Together": Training Early Childhood Educators to Promote Socio-Emotional Competence of Toddlers and Pre-School Children" at http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=11&sid=6a7d27b2-ee4b-422f-9639-e76bc690568f%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4111&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d
ReplyDeleteHANG IN THERE!!! We can do this!
Thanks for the article! I can't wait to check it out!
DeleteHi Courtney,
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you that social-emotional development with young children is a challenge and even harder at preschool age. I have over 12 years experience and I have taught 7 of those years in preschool; now I teach toddlers. Social and emotional development is what makes us who we are, how we interact with others, and how we deal with our responds to different situations. My topic is about social-emotional development and its been a challenge at finding valuable resources to continue my search. If I find anything I will share it with you!!