Farewell

I had obtained a wealth of knowledge while taking this course. I have learned so many things from all of you as classmates and I have learned that we all share the passion. I encourage everyone to keep pushing, despite the obstacles that may occur we all have to keep our goals in line. Thank you for sharing all that you have. You have allowed me to be aprt of your work world as well as your personal world. If any of you would like to keeep in touch my personal email is mzkharisma@gmail.com. Please feel free to contact me about anything .May God continue to bless each of you.

Adjourning Relationships

The adjourning phase can be difficult. I often think about how it will be when I leave my current job to excel in my career. I believe that it would be very hard not only to leave my colleagues but steer away from the environment in which I performed the best. Leaving my current job will be my first real job that I have to leave. I have thought about taking the professional way out by letting my principle know when its time to report if we would like to keep our position for next year. Adjourning from my colleagues will be a difficult task because I have developed personal relationships with them.

To adjourn from my colleagues that I have been working with will be difficult but a rewarding experience. I say this because by us adjourning from each other, we will have the opportunity to advance in our careers and take all that we have offered each other along on our journey. It will be difficult because we will no longer be able to view each other’s insights or share personal stories that contribute to our growth. I have overall had a rewarding experience with working as a team with my colleagues.

Conflict Strategies

In the beginning of the current school year, I encountered a small colleague on my job that I had difficulty overcoming. I have an assistant as well as a one to one mentor with me in my classroom. There was a lot of mix up because it was confusion about “roles”. The mentor was completing assistant duties and my assistant began to get upset which caused horrible tension in the room. I can honestly say that I was in a difficult position. When it began to affect my students and the atmosphere of the classroom, I knew that something had to be done. I took it upon myself to reach out to both parties and come u with a compromise. This action took a few weeks to complete. Slowly but surely things began to work themselves out. I started to be specific when I needed certain things to be done. I started to figure out ways to not let them figure decisions out because they were both headstrong. As soon as I began to implement tactics to reduce confusion, everything fell into place. I often used the Escapist Strategy. Avoiding direct conflict was perfect. I began not to care to listen to the comments they made about each other, and they noticed, so they would stop. I also found that Cooperative Strategies also worked. Whenever something positive would happen, I would be sure to praise them both as well as include them in on the situation. This created a better atmosphere most of the time. My situation has improved tremendously and through reading the course materials, I have found more ways to implement conflict resolution strategies.

Effective Communication

This weeks assignment realy gave me an insight on how I communicate.I think the assesments that we took was an excellent instrument to use for this particular assgnment. To my suprise, many of the results I recieved did describe my personality and character traits when it comes to communication. I was able to recieve constructive critism in a sense about how others may interpret my communication skills. This allowed to me strategize and come up with alternate ways that I can communicate with others so that I wont come off as being negative. This assignment also gave me an opportunity to see ho others veiwed my actions as well.

Communication Methods

I do communicate differently with people from other groups or culture. I have learned to become accustom to others  sensitivity and demeanors. I enjoy interacting with people of different groups because I learn so many new things. I have always been taught not to limit myself to my comfortability so I don't. It is quite natural to watch my demeanor and actions according to my atmosphere.

For instance, in my work atmosphere I maintain professional at all times regardless of how comfortable I may be. I may be selective of what I say or do around parents or administration. I know that I am completely in my comfort zone when I am around my friends and family.

Three strategies that would help me communicate better would be applying the platinum rule, becoming sensitive to cultural differences and ways to limit cultural myopia when it is evident. Learning about these strategies this week really opened my eyes in recognizing what is harmful and helpful when establishing lines of communication.

Teen Mom

I chose to observe the show "Teen Mom". This show is unique because it has several different stories that are rotated throughout the show. I rarely watch tv because of my strong addiction to music ;). However when the tv is muted. The first thing I sense is drama! One girl is flustered and raising her hands. I am assuming that she is fussing with her boyfriend over a phone call or a text message because she is wrestling to get his phone The couple appears young so I can only imagine the harsh words they are saying to each other. Every scene that I observed is either serious or drama filled. ( I couldn't wait to turn the volume up to hear what all the chaos was about) As soon as I turned the volume up I was completely correct about the young couple fighting. The young girl was having a hard time trusting her boyfriend and had accused him of talking to his ex girlfriend. She demanded to see the messages and that is when the big fight happened. I'm pretty sure I wont be tuning into this show anymore. I received a slight headache.

Effective Communication

Someone that I think exudes competent communication within a particular content is my prinicple. I see her communicate with parents colleges and staff in the county as well as the school system.It seems as if she is sensitive to everyones needs which includes listening and defining solutions to all problems and implementing new strategies to make our school a better environment.I would model some of my own communication behaviors after this person because I have seen nothing but positive results. Effective communication takes practice and much effort. 

Professional Hopes & Goals

One goal that I would like to have when working with children and families from diverse backgrounds is to expose them to all possibilities that they may not be aware of. In a sense, share the privileges that I have learned to enable them to grow. Whether it is exposing them to a new language or teaching children other ways of learning. My goal for diverse children and families is to promote overall growth.

A goal that I would set for the early childhood field related to diversity is increasing the awareness of differentiation to our educator. This course has opened up so many windows for me and has exposed me to many new methods. I believe the early childhood field of education should offer courses or workshop such as this to inform educators of diversity equity and social justices.

Wishing all of my colleagues a successful year and the best in all of the future endeavors.It has been a knowledge fulfilled journey and I look forward to working with you all in future courses.

Welcoming Families From around the World

The country I choose is Senegal, West Africa. I choose this because I have never had the opportunity to  teach a child, nor serve a family from Africa.

 5 ways in which I will prepare myself to be culturll responsive to families
1.Research and develop ways to intergrate technology with other countries.
2. Develop and effective way of communication with the family
3.Provide a comfortable learning eb=nvironment for the student
4.Collaborate with famlies to provide support for all families
5.Accept suggestions for effective communication by the families means


A brief statement describing what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and families?

I hope these preparations will establish effective means of communication with familes so that all common goals can be reached. This will bebefit families as well creating an open environment that is suitable for all diverse groups.

The personal side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

My strongest memory of a prejudice was on a film called the A "Bronx tale", which is one of my favorite movies. The story is about  an Italian American boy who grows up in the 1960s caught between the strong influences of his blue-collar father and a Mafia chieftain. This movie depicts many scenes of diversity. The young boy quickly falls in love with an African American girl who is from another part of town. They are from two different worlds and they have to hide their love because of their backgrounds. This is happening in the world today not only with biracial couples but with LGBT's as well. I find it unjust to discriminate against people because of where they come from or because of who or what they like. In order for this particular incident to change into an opportunity for greater equity the surrounding people would have to get rid of any biases that they have for any races and well as not hold the present people accountable for what happened in past history. Mafias evolve over time. Most members are taught young not to like the opposite group. 

Micro aggressions

This weeks assignments has given me the opportunity not only to learn about micro aggressions but reflect on how I may have participated in it as well. I regret to say that I have offended my dearest collegues with this behavior. We were talking about a reading program that had newly been introduced in our curriculum and she shared with me how different it was when she was teaching. I made the remark "how was it back in the day?" I made a reference that she was old. Her facial expression changed and all.I felt so bad and immediately apologized for my remark. I spoke without thinking and I could have caused damage in our realtionship. I now realize how fatal simple words can be because of this weeks assignment.

My Family Culture

The three items that I would take with me would be a photo album, my bible my iPod. I would take my photo album because my family takes so many picture of every moment we share together, from dinners to weddings to baby showers. Pictures tell so many stories and savor so many memories. I would take my bible because all of my strength has stemmed from this book. My faith my courage and my life depends on his word and I take it wherever I go. Lastly music is my escape. Everyone has a way to relax and music is my favorite. Music can put me in any mood that I desire. If I could keep just one of the items, it would be my bible. I feel as if this was a great exercise because it has caused me to examine the most important things in my life that have had a great impact on my life.

Final Blog

Throughout this course, I got the opportunity to see how far into depth research goes. I became familiar with the aspects and the benefits of conducting research the proper way.Ive learned that conducting research causes strategic planning and design. However, the planning methods and designs were one of the the challenges that I encountered. Be cause my topic was so broad, confusion came in on what method to choose to properly conduct research. As an early childhood professional , I now understand that it is much more work than the obvious. Before taking this course, I would have never imagined how much of an impact research has in the field of early childhood. I have thoroughly enjoyed this course and reading my classmates insights on the research process.

The current international research topics that I found were entitled: working together in early childhood settings, Thinking in the context of the EYLF, Articulating early childhood and building confident learning. Some exciting new facts that I learned from exploring this website was what type of organization Early Childhood Australia is and what they advocate for. It is similar to our early childhood organizations in the United States. The mission statement of their organization is to ensure quality, social justice and equity in all issues relating to the education and care of children from birth to eight years. I also found great news archives from the media release section of the website, entitled children deserve bipartism support for quality early education and care. Noteworthy information that captured my interest was the partners that Early Childhood Australia works with such as the government, opposition parties and departments. They also partner with early childhood professionals, parents, grandparents, other carers of young children and various lobby groups.

Early Childhood in Australia

The current international research topics that I found were entitled: working together in early childhood settings, Thinking in the context of the EYLF, Articulating early childhood and building confident learning. Some exciting new facts that I learned from exploring this website was what type of organization Early Childhood Australia is and what they advocate for. It is similar to our early childhood organizations in the United States. The mission statement of their organization is to ensure quality, social justice and equity in all issues relating to the education and care of children from birth to eight years. I also found great news archives from the media release section of the website, entitled children deserve bipartism support for quality early education and care. Noteworthy information that captured my interest was the partners that Early Childhood Australia works with such as the government, opposition parties and departments. They also partner with early childhood professionals, parents, grandparents, other carers of young children and various lobby groups.

Research Topic

If I were to conduct a small research topic, it would be the difference in academic achievement with parent involvement. During my short period of teaching, I was able to identify what a difference it makes when a parent is involved in their child's education. If this research can be presented to families consistently, I believe it would make a huge difference.

Research: Defining a topic

Defining research has truly been a task for me. I must say it is quite interesting to find out out how important it is and to define quality research. The topic that I have chosen to research is to define what a it takes to construct a quality early childhood education program that promotes excellence and that will establish a secure place for early childhood education. I choose this topic because upon entering my first year of teaching there has been treats of diminishing pre-k in the public schools. I believe the early years are the most important and should be established everywhere. Early education makes so much of a difference in the later years. There has been so many negative images painted regarding early childhood education. I would like to define what it takes in all aspects to develop a quality program that promotes excellence. Conducting research on this topic should be a strenuous task because it is so broad. I am willing and ready to accomplish this task. If there is any additional information that any of my colleagues would like to offer to make this task smoother , I am open to any suggestions. Thanks for reading!

Final Blog:::

Post at least three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field for your professional and personal development.

 Throughout this course, with many attempts, I was unable to build a relationship with an international contact. By reading my colleague’s blogs, I was allowed to gain insight on the information their contacts offered. One reward that I received was gaining knowledge of what many educators around the world are doing. Not only are they teaching but advocating for an improvement in education I also learned many ways to utilize resources through the active blogs of my colleagues. I was able to explore many websites and look into articles that peeked my passion. At the beginning of this program I had a set of goals that I wished to accomplish. Utilizing the many resources I was able to explore other options and I found other issues in education that peaked my interest

One goal for the field related to international awareness of issues and trends and the spirit of collegial relations is to always keep abreast of current relations that occur worldwide. It was a great idea to engage and build relationship with these international contacts. We as educational advocates can use techniques that are proven to be effective in the field of education. I have had a great experience in this course and have learned so many new insights. Thanks to all my classmates for the continuous support and I wish you all well upon your future endeavors!!!

Three insights I gained from the website this week was:

Teaching preschool children about the environment – How important it is to encourage young children to learn and engage with energy and environment issues in a playful manner by discovering solar and wind power through play and hands on activities. Young children are curious by nature, eager to learn and sensitive to natural environment. Early childhood programs should introduce young children to sustainability issues in ways that are appropriate and relevant to their needs and age.

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/single-view/news/teaching_pre_school_children_about_the_environment/

Better monitoring in sight for the well being of young children-  this article provided information on the Holistic Early Childhood Development Index and how it intends to overcome the existing fragmented perspective on early childhood by adopting a vision of monitoring children from the prenatal period to age eight measuring the following elements: Legal protection of children, social problems and welfare, cognitive and social emotional development, access to quality and care education and health and nutrition.

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/single-view/news/better_monitoring_in_sight_for_the_well_being_of_young_children/

Every child has the right  to education-This article provided information about how children who have access to school often suffer from poor quality education and leave school without having acquired basic skills. Several points were bought up in this convention stating that states have legal obligations to ensure the right to education.

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/single-view/news/every_child_has_the_right_to_education/

The website that I have been following is the NAEYC at http://www.naeyc.org/.

I love this website because it offers so much information to teachers and I have gained so much from this website as a beginning teacher. This website provides outside links  for various materials for teachers and parents such as basic kits for preschool teachers, It offers professional development workshops all over the world and books on ethics for the early childhood educator. This website gives you an opportunity to join to gain access to many other things as well.

Exploring the article this week, I found an amazing publication on finding the education in educational technology with early learners. This article went into how to provide guidance for using technology in early childhood programs. I was not able to find any information pertaining to the issue of the week. I did gain new insights on how to implement technology in an early childhood setting.

International Contacts

This week, I listened to a pod cast from World Forum Radio (http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio/) 

 Susan Lyon was intrigued by a small child’s conception of the word “city”, and began pondering how children think. She initiated the Innovative Teacher Project, and began working with the Presidio Child Care Center and the San Francisco public schools.  She is now working with an Italian architect to rehab a San Francisco structure into the first Italian immersion preschool. Susan worked with children with disabilities. She shared her insights on how children see the world and how much of her inspiration comes from children. She brought the exhibit the 100 languages of children to Northern California. She also started the innovative teacher project where teachers present their schools and discuss initiatives for teachers. 

I was unable to contact Susan. I visited Harvard University’s “Global Children’s website(http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/).  I was able to learn some important information about the Global Children’s Initiative.  There three-fold focus was 1. Reframing the discourse around child health and development, 2. Supporting innovative, multi-disciplinary research and demonstration project and 3.Building leadership capacity in child development research and policy.  I also learned that their focus concentrated on three different areas: 1. Development in early childhood, 2.Child mental health, and 3. Conflict solutions for children in crisis. 

Poverty in Kyrgyzstan

I was unable to establish any International connections however I did find some information about poverty in the country of Kyrgyzstan. Approximately 60% of the population in Kyrgyzstan make their living from agriculture. In 2001, 47% lived below the government poverty line, while 13% were living in extreme poverty.In 2001 18% were unable to afford basic food needs, 65% of children under 1 years old lived in poverty. Growing poverty levels in this country has led to children working in a range of jobs. 24% work full time or part time and their have been reports of child prostitution and trafficking.
The reason I choose this county was because of my lack of knowledge. I seem to be very inquisitive of things I have little knowledge about.I have found that this is a low functioning country. If any of my colleagues are reading my post and have any suggestions or helpful strategies for me linking u with any international contacts feel free to leave any suggestions. Thanks!

Web Resources

The organization that I choose was NAEYC which stands for The National Association for the Education of Young Children which was founded in 1926. This organization is the world's largest organization working on behalf of young children with nearly 80,000 members, a national network of more than 300 state and local affiliates, and a growing global alliance of like-minded organizations.NAEYC  works to raise the quality of early childhood programs and to continue building the Association as a high-performing organization, strengthened by diversity and inclusion.


I chose to explore the article "Good Guidance" Teachers and Families. This article is about a parent who moved to a new area and how she prides in being able to form partnerships with teachers in regard to her child's specific needs.This article relates to this weeks topics because it demonstrates how important it is for teachers to assist families with easy transitions into schools. This article influences educators to prepare for changes in demographics and be open to whatever culture they may encounter. The way that the parent expressed her gratitude in this article was simply amazing. As educators, we don't just impact children we impact families as well.


Below is the link for the article mentioned above.


http://www.naeyc.org/yc/files/yc/file/201205/GuidanceM_YC0512.pdf

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

First, I would like to start off saying that this is an excellent assignment. I have attempted to reach out two contacts, Mr. Semeniwormia from Nigeria and Jane Lim from Signapore. I have not received any response fro them as of now, but I will continue to reach out. Has anyone else found any other way to establish contacts, other than via email? If so, any suggestions are helpful. Thanks.

The website that I choose to research is The National Association of Early Childhood Teachers/ Educators. I choose this website because I would like to increase my knowledge about the issues and trends that are occurring in the field of Early Childhood Education.

"My connections to PLAY"

“My Connections to PLAY”

Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.

Stuart Brown, MD
Contemporary American psychiatrist

Play fosters belonging and encourages cooperation.

Stuart Brown, MD
Contemporary American psychiatrist

                       

     

 MY  SUPPORTED PLAY BY ALLOWING ME TO ENGAGE WITH MY CLASSMATES IN PLAY, IN AND OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM. SOME OF MY MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS WERE PLAYING DRESS UP IN CLASS. I SOMETIMES RELIVE THOSE MOMENTS WHEN I SEE MY STUDENTS DOING THE SAME THING IN CLASS. THIS IS WHERE I BUILT MY SOCIAL SKILLS AND WHERE MOST OF MY COGNITIVE SKILLS DEVELOPED. MY MOTHER TOLD ME I IMITATED HER OFTEN AS A YOUNG CHILD.

I FEEL AS IF PLAY IS SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT TODAY FROM WHEN I WAS A YOUNG CHILD BECAUSE OF THE THINGS CHILDREN ARE EXPOSED TO TODAY. SOME CHILDREN ONLY IMITATE WHAT THEY SEE ON TV AND I FEEL AS IF THAT LIMITS THEM TO EXPLORATION OF SELF. EVEN BEFORE CHILDREN ARE PLACED IN A SCHOOL SETTINGS, PARENTS SHUD TAKE THEM TO THE PARK OR LET TEM PLAY IN SMALL GROUPS SO THAT THEY CAN BEGIN TO LEARN SOCIAL SKILLS.THE ROLE OF PLAY BENEFITS YOUR LIFE BECAUSE YOULEARN HOW TO EFFECTIVELEY RESPOND AND INTERACT WITH AN ARRAY OF DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES AND DEAL WITH THEM ACCORDINGLY.

Relationship Reflection

Relationships are essential for growing. Meeting new people, learning from experiences with them contributes to growth. I have positive relationships with my family, my roommates, my mentors and my co-workers.Each of these are positive relationships because of communication. My family instilled great communication skills in me and I have realized that communication is vital for successful relationships. Challenges to developing and maintaining succesessful relationship can be distance and miscommunication. People change over time and events happen in different peoples lives everyday and if you are distant from the people you have relationships with, and you wish to maintain them, the communication factor must be in tact. Special characteristics  that are in these relationships consist of support, constant feedback on situations that are important in each of our lives, time spent, and the level of growth between the two that is achieved.My experiences with relationships impact my work as effective early childhood professional because it maintains a stable pace for all. When the partnerships and relationships are stable, it promotes well being in all other areas. It helps you start and develop relationships with your co-workers, children and parents.

Drawing to an End ---

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.
Albert Einstein

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
Nelson Mandela
Dear fellow classmates,
It has been a great journey thus far. I have learned so much in this course. I wish you all the best on your future endeavors and I know you will succeed in whatever you may do.

Standardized Testing

Standardized Test is unjustifiable when determining eligibility.With all the evolving research, standardized test should not be taking place today. I feel as educators we should be stronger activist when it comes to the administering of standardized test. The distributors were once educators, I hope and they understand that children have different learning styles and capabilities when tested in different ways. For children in primary grades, standardized testing should be eliminated.

I do believe some type of placement test should be given to young adults who are entering college. I am not agreeing with the SAT or ACT because I don't feel as if that should be a determining factor. Placement in the right course is necessary for college achievements. I am not knowledgeable about what they do in other countries but I do believe it would made a world of difference if we developed test according to the teaching styles and learning methods of our society.

In Germany: Despite their lessened exposure to standardized testing (especially in the elementary school years), U.S. Waldorf pupils’ SAT scores have usually come above the national average, especially on verbal measures. Studies comparing students’ performance on college-entrance examinations in Germany found that as a group, Waldorf graduates passed the exam at double to triple the rate of students graduating from the state education system,and that students who had attended Waldorf schools for their entire education passed at a much higher rate (40% vs. 26%) than those who only had part of their education at a Waldorf school. Educational successes of private Waldorf schools may partially reflect the social status of their students.

Violence

A close friend of mine grew up in Compton, California. Her neighborhood was the center of gang violence. She shared with me many stories about killings that she had witnessed as a young child. She said that after awhile she became immune to the violence and that the sight of people getting hurt did not affect her one bit. From the outside looking in, that sounded horrible. She also shared that young children migrated to join these street wars and soon the gangs took over the community. At age 17, she moved to Virginia, which was a totally different atmosphere for her. She began volunteering at local boys and girls club and working with youth. While working there she had so many stories to share, she began speaking to large groups of youth about gang violence. She soon got the opportunity to travel around the world to different communities encountering the same issues she grew up around. Her harsh environment turned her into an advocate against gang violence.

In Central America, 85% of young children and youth make up a street gang. The factors related to the street gangs are high-income inequality indices in the world. Other regional trends that may worsen patterns of gang violence in many

Countries include extreme poverty; highly urbanized populations; growing youth populations facing stagnant job markets; and an absence of political will to fight crime in a holistic manner.

Breastfeeding across the world....

Breastfeeding has always been an important factor in child development. I choose this topic to research because I wanted to know the different veiwpoints of mothers, doctors and child development that stemmed from breastfeeding. I ran across this article from a mother from Mexico , she stated:

"I'm from Mexico and breastfeeding timing goes along with income and education. Lower income and less educated breastfeed longer than 2 years since moms don't have money to buy formula or to provide with any other healthy foods for their children. Moms that are more educated and have better finances tend to breastfeed for only 6 months since they believe that breast milk starts losing it's health benefits after that age when babies start solids. Some will breastfeed up to 12 months just for bonding but after that babies are weaned gradually. The ability of buying healthy foods compensates for the lack of use of breast milk.

Families in Mexico have very close family units and it's not uncommon to live with your parents when you're 30 or live with wife and kids and all your immediate family in the same house. So although children don't get the long bonding period of breastfeeding as in the US, they seem to be unaffected and still have very strong bonds to their family and grow up very healthy too. Children that were breastfed for 2 years or more were not necessarily healthy since their mothers weren't. I think this just shows the other side of the coin :) It's great that moms in the US can be healthy and choose to breastfeed as long as they want! "                

Reading this article, I found several contributing factors to breastfeeding. Income and education were vital factors that I had never considered important in deciding to breastfeed.

A Saudi Birth Story

As I browsed the web for birth stories. I ran across a blog that a woman published in Saudi Arabia about the birth of her 8 children. They were not born all at once. Each child had a different method in which they were born. Here is the link http://saudibirthstory.blogspot.com/p/my-personal-birth-stories.html

Birthing Experiences...

I have not had the opportunity to experience a birthing experience. I have had many planned but it seemed as if I was never there on time or I could not get it the room. I have had the opportunity to watch hundreds of baby stories on television. I often hear stories from my peers who have given birth. What all of these stories have in common is that these mothers say it was an indescribable experience but are able to share all the details. I can share the knowledge of the preparation period before giving birth. I believe 9 months is significant amount of time to adequately plan for a child's birth. Developing a proper diet and exercising all have been important factors in delivering a healthy baby and having a successful birth.