Hello, there!
My name is Ashley Goff and I am an undergrad at the University of Maine at Augusta, working towards a BA in Liberal Studies with a minor in Early Elementary Education. I work at Peopleplace Cooperative Preschool, a Reggio Emilia inspired preschool in beautiful Camden, Maine. Below is my personal story of my education journey at UMA, finding true love in education at Peopleplace Cooperative Preschool, and my personal aspirations. Thank you for reading! ~ Ashley |
"Nothing without joy" - Loris Malaguzzi
The past six years attending the Univeristy of Maine at Augusta have been truly wonderful and inspirational. All of the professors have truly gifted me with a bountiful amount of skill, confidence, and courage to be an excellent educator. I have practiced and shown my knowledge by creating a multitude of lesson plans that reflect the Common Core State Standards, the Maine Early Childhood Learning Guidelines, Maine's Early Learning and Development Standards, and the Maine Common Core Teaching Standards. Most importantly, my work represents an image of a classroom that is all inclusive and reflective of a least restrictive learning environment for our exceptional learners.
Attending UMA has been a very enriching experience, that has pushed me to break barriers I did not think I could possibly do. Another part of my life has been enormously affected by an opportunity that I am so glad I accepted back in 2014. After feeling lost and uninspired, I decided enough was enough with working retail, being a barista, and not loving what I did all the time. A coworker of mine at the time knew that I was going for my Early Elementary Education minor and told me that the preschool that her sister works at was potentially hiring for next fall. I was nervous, I had only taken a couple education courses. I knew I wanted something different, and I was extremely interested in looking to work with children before I graduated.
I decided to take that leap of faith and apply at Peopleplace Cooperative Preschool, and I can honestly say it changed my life. Not even an exaggeration.
Maybe it was pure luck that I would work with the best children in midcoast Maine that first year, and maybe it was even more coincidence that I would be working with the most supportive group of teachers that I have ever met. Three years later, I've decided that it's not pure luck, but rather that working with this age group, ages three to five, is a blessing and the hardest job I've ever faced. My first year was so hard. I wanted to quit, I asked myself am I making a difference? I learned a lot in such a short amount of time that it was almost always overwhelming. I had to take time to really reflect on what I was seeing in the classroom and also make connections to what I was learning in my college courses. The philosophy the school follows is Reggio Emilia, founded by Loris Malaguzzi in Italy (more on that in my philosophy of education).
Nothing can replace hands on learning experience. I can attest to that personally. Our students at Peopleplace learn through play, which is everything they will ever need at this age. Everyday I learn right along side my students and friends. We grow socially and emotionally together with each new and different personality and interest. Yes, we do learn literacy and basic mathematic skills, but at the natural developmental pace of the child, worked from their interest, blended into their play, to create this beautiful constantly emergent curriculum. That is exactly what I hope to bring to my classroom.
The past six years attending the Univeristy of Maine at Augusta have been truly wonderful and inspirational. All of the professors have truly gifted me with a bountiful amount of skill, confidence, and courage to be an excellent educator. I have practiced and shown my knowledge by creating a multitude of lesson plans that reflect the Common Core State Standards, the Maine Early Childhood Learning Guidelines, Maine's Early Learning and Development Standards, and the Maine Common Core Teaching Standards. Most importantly, my work represents an image of a classroom that is all inclusive and reflective of a least restrictive learning environment for our exceptional learners.
Attending UMA has been a very enriching experience, that has pushed me to break barriers I did not think I could possibly do. Another part of my life has been enormously affected by an opportunity that I am so glad I accepted back in 2014. After feeling lost and uninspired, I decided enough was enough with working retail, being a barista, and not loving what I did all the time. A coworker of mine at the time knew that I was going for my Early Elementary Education minor and told me that the preschool that her sister works at was potentially hiring for next fall. I was nervous, I had only taken a couple education courses. I knew I wanted something different, and I was extremely interested in looking to work with children before I graduated.
I decided to take that leap of faith and apply at Peopleplace Cooperative Preschool, and I can honestly say it changed my life. Not even an exaggeration.
Maybe it was pure luck that I would work with the best children in midcoast Maine that first year, and maybe it was even more coincidence that I would be working with the most supportive group of teachers that I have ever met. Three years later, I've decided that it's not pure luck, but rather that working with this age group, ages three to five, is a blessing and the hardest job I've ever faced. My first year was so hard. I wanted to quit, I asked myself am I making a difference? I learned a lot in such a short amount of time that it was almost always overwhelming. I had to take time to really reflect on what I was seeing in the classroom and also make connections to what I was learning in my college courses. The philosophy the school follows is Reggio Emilia, founded by Loris Malaguzzi in Italy (more on that in my philosophy of education).
Nothing can replace hands on learning experience. I can attest to that personally. Our students at Peopleplace learn through play, which is everything they will ever need at this age. Everyday I learn right along side my students and friends. We grow socially and emotionally together with each new and different personality and interest. Yes, we do learn literacy and basic mathematic skills, but at the natural developmental pace of the child, worked from their interest, blended into their play, to create this beautiful constantly emergent curriculum. That is exactly what I hope to bring to my classroom.