Using the NAEYC Standards for Professional Preparation, compare these standards to the twelve characteristics described in L.J. Colker’s Twelve Characteristics of Early Childhood Teachers.  Choose one of the standards that you feel you have the most confidence in terms of the knowledge, skills and dispositions required to meet that standard, and share your comparison of this standard with the twelve characteristics of early childhood teachers in your post.  Which characteristics are critical for meeting that standard?

Multiple theorists have championed the role of play in the classroom.  Choose one of the theorists mentioned in Chapter Eleven and provide a brief summary of his perspective on play.  How would this translate on a practical level in the early childhood classroom?  Share a teaching strategy, activty plan, or environmental model that reflects the philosophy of your chosen theorist in regard to play.