ECE AROUND THE GLOBE!

When I first began to think about who I was going to be interviewing I must admit I was a little nervous about sending out a random email and asking someone questions about their early education journey.   As I was perusing though the website options for the alternative to part one I remembered that I had two family members in this field! I have an aunt in Barbados that is a nursery school teacher and and aunt in St. Kitts who is the principal of an elementary school.  I've downloaded a texting app called "Whatsapp" that allows you to text people in other countries free of charge to both parties.  While I'm interested in learning more from both of them in regards to their experiences in this field, finding a third person that I do not have any ties to has suddenly become more intriguing than scary.
  In regards to which organization I decided to study, I picked Harlem Children's Zone.  I picked this because when I was in high school I interned in their fiscal office and other than that sadly I do not know much about what they offer.  I know they have a multitude of programs in the city and they provide many services for children and adults, but that's barely scratching the surface.  As I was going down the list of possible organizations I found it sad that the one place I should know the most about I honestly knew the least.    I could navigate through the zero to three website with ease and can't name three programs the organization I worked for when I was 16-18 provides for the early education community.  That's going to change!

MY SUPPORT SYSTEM

Having a strong support system makes all the difference in accomplishing daily tasks.  Support can come from everywhere throughout your day.  Between family,friends, coworkers, and even the children in my care, I am constantly surrounded by various support systems.  My biggest support comes from my mother, who without fail sends me everything from good morning texts with everything from prayers (reminding me to put faith in God in regards to all I do), youtube videos, and jokes at 630am makes sure to check on me throughout the day as well.  She even talks to me when I leave my second job at midnight to make sure that I have someone to discuss my day with and to make sure that I make it  to my house safely.  I don't remember us being this close before I began living alone, but she's always been extremely supportive.  In fact the other day, I had a dream about becoming an astronaut and called her to tell her about it, to which she responded "well you said that a lot when you were younger, i don't see why you can't still make it to space".   I don't know anyone else on the planet that would have responded with support to my wanting to visit the moon.  I can picture my dad and brother laughing in my face or waving me off if I even brought that up.  Another huge pillar of support in my life is my mom's youngest sister (she's one of 22 kids, I call them the original Brady Bunch), my aunt Jennifer.  My aunt is just as supportive as my mother, they both encourage me to succeed and celebrate my accomplishments daily.  I'd rather not discuss how difficult it would be to exist without their support, because currently I cannot imagine that and the thought itself is overwhelmingly scary.   Support also comes from my coworkers, I can't count the number of notebooks I have filled with information learned from other teachers.  I can't imagine being a successful teacher without support from coworkers.  Sometimes I might not understand or agree with what I'm being told, but I always feel comfortable enough to express my feelings.  Sometimes, coworkers and above do not like being told that their way is not the correct way, but one thing that I've learned after taking three classes at Walden and not getting to physically see any of my colleagues was that keeping quiet doesn't help anybody.  I've had extremely informative conversations, debates if you will, in regards to topics and how I've responded and how others responded, all while remaining respectful and open minded.  I didn't even realize until now that I can officially add Walden to my support system list.  Being a teacher without a support system would be extremely hard.  There have been times where I was not prepared to deal with certain behaviors or not able to reach a child academically and felt frustrated because in a sense I was failing the child.  The only way to help, was to seek help from people who had gone through similar situations in classrooms for years before me.  
A challenge I came up with would be aving any terminal illness.   I know my family would be my support system through that, I got a tooth pulled a few years ago and my parents got me a bell.  Even if I'm sick now, my mom urges me to come over and stay with them.  Which is comforting, even though my mom thinks the solution to every ailment is tea haha.   Constant support and encouragement from my family would be enough to help me continue.  Becoming seriously ill is out of your control and that's why I would need the support, I wouldn't survive without that lifeline.  Without it, knowing I wasn't well enough to make a difference in my classroom or that I didn't have anyone rooting for me would kill me.  I can't even imagine, I tried, I really did, the mere thought of losing my support system and not being able to contribute to the one thing I am extremely passionate about is depressing

MY CONNECTIONS TO PLAY

QUOTES:

(That remind me of my childhood) 

“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.” – Mr. Rogers

"In play a child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior. In play it is as though he were a head taller than himself"

Lev Vygotsky
Russian psychologist
1896–1934

From what I remember, I really enjoyed playing with.....

... I still play with my Super Nintendo, I encourage my God son to play with pots and pans to make music, my little cousins love playing with my huge Barbie selection, and playing with sticks with my class is the most fun part of each day!

When I was younger I played with everything from sticks outside to my rock and shell collections, all the way to barbies and action figures. I loved dressing up and pretending to be a doctor and dressing my younger brother up in turn giving myself a sister. My mom even has pictures of me somewhere playing with pots and pans.  My parents grew up in the West Indies and often reminisced about how they made their own toys, from milk carton cars to grass dolls. Their upbringing and strong feelings to wards children needing to play and explore influenced my love of playing and getting as creative as possible. I'd make dolls out of clay and paper, plan extravagant trips for our toys, pretend the living room table was a spaceship.... Anything. I played for a long time, when most people were turning away from toys my Christmas list was still full of requests.

     Play today is much different because parents today seem to think kids are fragile. I hope I'm able to explain that correctly.  I remember going to the park, climbing over rocks, falling down skinning my knee, getting back up and making friends. What I've seen recently is parents limiting play locations to playgrounds and indoor play spaces. There's not as much leeway to go exploring as I remember growing up, then again the world is crazier than it used to be so I understand the need to be safe and contained.  There's also a lot of playing on IPADS, which upsets me. Apps are not substitutes for running around outside, socializing, and playing. It's infuriating that so many parents have given up on letting their kids be kids and have settled for plopping them in front of an iPad to get their daily dose of playtime. 

     I've always loved play. My parents encouraged it when I was younger and they're both still playful now. We played dodgeball in my house last thanksgiving! I play scrabble with my mom occasionally, we all take turns playing with younger generations.  My brother lets my younger cousins play games where he's the "bad guy" and needs to be captured.  I'm thankful I was born into such a playful family. I play basketball with my godson and video games by myself, play will always be apart of my life. The parents of my students always always always make comments about how much fun I am and how they love watching me play with their kids because you can't tell us apart (myself at age 26 and 3-4 year olds ha). Play is important for all ages, whether you have access to toys or need to get creative, you need play to flourish and learn. 

References 

http://www.oneperfectdayblog.net/2013/02/21/quotes-about-the-importance-of-play/

http://www.museumofplay.org/education/education-and-play-resources/play-quotes

RELATIONSHIP REFLECTION

Relationships are important to me because they help you gain a better understanding of who you are and what your place is in the world.  A relationship can help build you up or knock you down, you can learn about skills you didn't know you embodied or you could learn about your weaknesses.  Everyone that you have a relationship with is important, from the family you are given to the friends you choose.  Every relationship that I maintain is important to me.  I don't make a habit of keeping anyone around me that does not have a positive effect on my life.  Along my personal journey I have had to let go of family and friends alike that brought me down.  Sometimes people use their relationship with you to manipulate you and see how much they can take, which is horrible, but that journey is also one I appreciate because it helps to build strength in character. 
 My most important relationships are the ones with my family.  Over the years I have added friends to that list as well, but I'm referring to my immediate family.  My mom is one of 22 and one of them I include in my immediate family as well because she helped my parents raise me since they both worked full time.  I could not imagine not being able to communicate with them, they provide everything from advice to support on a daily basis.  Even though my brother only answers his phone once in a blue moon, I appreciate him as well.  It took me awhile to realize how important family was, I had a long stage where I thought that I only needed my friends.  Boy am I glad that I grew out of that!  Especially now that I live alone, I spend more time bothering my family than I do any of my friends.
I met my best friend when I was eight years old.  Her version of our meeting starts at age ten, in fifth grade, but that's something I've been working on letting go... Even though she is wrong haha.  I love my best friend! She was the reason I initially realized I was interested in the early childhood education field, despite my mother telling me for years to become a teacher.  I could talk to my best friend about everything and nothing at the same time for hours.  She's also married and has a son, and the relationships I have with her new family (as well as her old family) are ones that I cherish as well!
My friends from undergrad have also turned into my family as well.  I started school early during the summer before fall semester and was apart of a science program where I was able to meet some really great people.  The lessons learned from age 17 through graduation at 22 were incomparable to anything I've ever experienced.  My roommates have taught me more than I could have ever imagined learning from anyone, my friends I speak to on a daily basis.  Every once in a while I'll even get a random text or email from someone with a random memory or simply checking in on how I'm doing.  I appreciate my undergrad relationships.  It's amazing to have gone through the early stages of adulthood and finding myself with such great people. 
I've also gone to a ton of concerts, my friends that I've made concert hopping are also considered family now.  We've road tripped, had amazing luck stories, hung out with stars, lived backstage at concerts, and experienced a slew of other extremely rad moments that nobody else would ever understand or believe.  We're a group of misfits that found each other one by one and we all love each other.  
I also appreciate my relationships with my coworkers.  Both in school and at the hospital.  The wealth of information I learn from them is overwhelming.  Living in New York City it has been impossible for me to live and only have one job, so I spend most of my time working.  Between teaching, overnights in a hospital, tutoring, and babysitting, I am always busy.  Being around my coworkers for most of my week has been a joy for the most part.  When they aren't being crazy and letting work get to them, they are all amazing people.  I have one in particular that knows literally everything about everything and inspired me to finally get my masters! 
My biggest challenge is making time to maintain these relationships.  Everyone above (minus my family and best friend) is constantly upset with me because I put work first.  As much as I would like it to, catching up and not working does not pay my bills and a lot of the people in my life don't understand my dedication.  I love them, I know that they love me, but I have to do what makes sense.  These relationships will change if I end up being in a position where I need more than a conversation because I chose to hang out instead of work and lost my job & home.  That's my biggest problem with relationships and partnerships, there aren't enough hours in a day to please everyone.  I try, I really do try, but I can't keep up most of the time.  
Having a partnership, to me, means you are working towards a common goal.  Everyone in my life wants each other to do and have better than they do.  One thing about the relationships that I have is that, while they may seem selfish when they don't receive enough attention, they want whats is best for me and they remain supportive.   
Being an early childcare professional has helped to develop and enhance my patience.  I believe that has helped my relationships in life more than I could have every imagined.  I'm able to problem solve and listen better, I don't get upset as easily...  If you can solve a dispute between three year olds, watch a four year old learn how to read, and spend a year preparing young minds for kindergarten while paying attention to all problems and maintaining a relationship with their families your chosen relationships and family relationships become much easier.  I love all of the classes that I've been apart of, I even keep in contact with some of the families till this day.  I went to a birthday party upstate a week ago, I babysit previous students, and tutor others.  I'm thankful for those relationships as well.
 

Thank you

I appreciate the wealth of knowledge shared between everyone in the class via our blogs.  Thank you everyone!  Over this course I have saved your sources and learned so much about so many topics and I am extremely appreciative! Best of luck!

 Kara Cashwell,
During this course I had the pleasure of discussing various issues with my colleagues, some we all agreed on and some we were able to politely discuss our opposing views and come to an agreement.  For that reason, the first person that comes to mind that I would like to thank is Kara Cashwell.  I even wrote about how much our week six debate helped me in feeling more secure and assertive with being able to express and explain my beliefs at work, listen to feedback, and be more open to understanding where someone else is coming from.  I appreciate you for sharing your opinion while still being open minded to listening to mine.  I also really enjoyed reading your blog entries and discussion posts!  Wishing you the best on your journey!

Kind Regards,

Sherria Green

Lisa Brownell,

During this course I looked forward to reading your blog.  Your entries are always full of information that I can take with me and utilize in my own research and at work.  You explain everything and support your findings with superb sources, and I am extremely grateful to have gotten to learn from you a second time.  I have also saved (and fallen in love with) your Dr. Seuss quote, "a person is a person no matter how small". Thank you for always making your entries interesting and descriptive, while getting straight to the heart of the discussion quickly.  Wishing you the best on your journey!!

Kind Regards,

Sherria Green

Education, creativity and learning!

       I enjoyed learning about Piaget's view on education and learning, so what better way to end this chapter of my Walden University journey than to use quotes from Jean Piaget.  I will be taking everything I learned from this course along with me as I continue my way through this exciting field. Everyday in my classroom is a refreshing experience and my time at Walden is enhancing every moment.  The deeper I get into this journey the more I am able to assist my colleagues and feel more comfortable leading my class.  Piaget encouraged creativity and letting kids take the time to learn on their own and giving children the tools necessary to aid them in finding out who they are and how they learn.  That belief is what I pride myself on, helping my class learn how to question everything and to think for themselves without being told how to think and accepting everything for face value.        

        I've enjoyed this course and appreciate everything I have learned so far at Walden. Wishing everyone the best of luck as they continue on their journey, hope you enjoyed my blog as much as I have enjoyed reading through yours!

The principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done; men and women who are creative, inventive and discoverers, who can be critical and verify, and not accept, everything they are offered.  All while remaining creative and thirsty for more knowledge. 

-Jean Piaget 

"Play is the answer to how anything new comes about"

-Jean Piaget 

Reference 

Jean Piaget Quotes. (2014). Jean Piaget Quotes (Author of The Psychology of Intelligence). Retrieved June 28, 2014, from http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/12064.Jean_Piaget

Standardized testing

Considering a commitment to viewing young children holistically, in my opinion, should not include standardized testing.   There are children that can recite everything they learned over the course of the year with their eyes closed and hands tied behind their back that get nervous when they are expected to sit in a timed exam knowing their advancement into the next grade depends on their scoring.  It has a negative impact on their anxiety, it can be overwhelming, and stressful to make children take multiple exams on various subjects.  

When I was in high school I went to what was called a "portfolio school".   Where everyone else had to take many regents, outside of math and English, we had to put together a presentation under a rubric created by the school that gave each of us a chance to utilize everything we learned over the course of the year and present it to a board of teachers that were not necessarily the ones we learned from.  That to me was a true assessment of what was learned over the year. I believe that is the type of assessment kids should have to undergo. There were options on how you could present what you learned, it was always fair because you were presenting to teachers that did not know you but knew the material that u needed to know, and it wasn't as stressful because you were showcasing exactly what you knew. As opposed to a three hour long test full of 100 random questions that you might not be comfortable with. 

As I was finding information that would support my opinion I stumbled across ascd.org. The website explained why standardized testing did not measure children holistically. "Recognizing the substantial pressure to sell standardized achievement tests, those who market such tests encounter a difficult dilemma that arises from the considerable curricular diversity in the United States. Because different states often choose somewhat different educational objectives (or, to e fashionable, different content standards), the need exists to build standardized achievement tests that are properly aligned with educators' meaningfully different curricular preferences.  The problem becomes even more exacerbated in states where different counties or school districts can exercise more localized curricular decision making" (www.ascd.org).  How can you measure kids on a whole and everything they've learned over the year with one test when the curriculum varies by school? It simply does not make sense. 

In 1975 the Netherlands created a national curriculum for everyone to follow (http://Eric.ed.gov). Along with Sweden and Germany the educators believe that standardized testing does not always tie into what they teach during the school year. I Originally tried to find more information on St. Kitts and Barbados (my parents islands of origin), but wasn't able to, but I also have family in Europe so that was my next step. Apparently the consensus (of the internet at least) is that only America doesn't seem to understand that the standardized testing of children is ineffective and unfair. 

I loved that my high school gave us the portfolio option. I believe children as young as eight and nine would be able to decide on a project and showcase what they learned over the year and explain it to their educators. Giving them a choice and allowing them to show their strengths allows the educators to witness their weak points and explain them to them and decide if they learned enough over the year. A standardized test doesn't let you know what you messed up on, you just get placed in a percentile.  

References 

1. http://Eric.ed.gov/?id=ED304455

2. www.ascd.org

Stressors

There are so many possible factors that could effect a child's biosocial development.  Being a child, learning everything from how to speak to how to socialize and play with others can be effected by your surroundings and situation.  Poverty, malnutrition, war, family chaos, and disease are just some of the factors that could negatively effect a child's upbringing, mental, and physical stability. One of the biggest stressors, in my opinion, happens after experiencing a natural disaster. 

       My parents are both from the West Indies, and both still have a ton of family that still live on quite a few of the islands. In October of 1995 there was a huge hurricane in St.Thomas (US Virgin Island).  The hurricane did so much damage that my aunt had to send all three of her children to come live with us here in NYC while her and my uncle rebuilt their house. The youngest was five, then seven, and the oldest was I believe 14. They stayed with us for almost a year, my mom had the two youngest join me at PS87 and the oldest was in high school. 

       I was eight at the time and had never even had a successful sleep over at a family members house, I could not imagine seeing my home blown away then having to leave my home without my parents, friends, school, and come to a new city to start over.  To throw salt on the wound, they all caught the chicken pox from my brother during their stay. 

    I remember them crying and missing their parents and home. Now, they will tell u it was because eight year old me was mean to them and they missed their mom because I scared them when I tried to play doctor and tell them that they could scratch off their chicken pox... But I don't remember any of that! That kind of loss takes a huge toll on everything, and as sad as they were they all worked really hard. My school even went as far as to link my third grade class with my cousins kindergarten class and made me her reading buddy! Not only that they introduced me to my seven year old cousins teacher and she allowed me and two friends to spend some lunches with her helping grade papers and she even got permission to take us out to lunch once. The school realized that my cousins needed to feel cared for and loved and I needed to feel as if I still mattered because of all of the sudden changes. It was a tough time for them, but it all worked out in the end. I even remember being upset and crying when we took them to the airport and they were so happy to leave. 

    I chose to learn more about possible stressors for children in Thailand. I had no idea they experienced so many stressful issues issues. "These include malnutrition, exclusion from education, trafficking, child labour and other forms of exploitation. Too many children have missed out on the benefits of Thailand’s development – particularly the children of ethnic minorities, migrants and the very poor" (unicef.org).  The country has been improving since the 1990s, in regards to making sure children are taken care of and educated, but some still manage to fall through the cracks.  The right to an education should be a right not a privilege, food is not made available for everyone that cannot afford to obtain food, trafficking continues to get worse, the children not in the class that automatically gets the help needed deserve a chance to excel. Which they won't be able to do if the country doesn't crack down on making sure everyone is taken care if no matter their background.

Reference-

1. Situation of children in Thailand. (n.d.). . Retrieved May 30, 2014, from http://www.unicef.org/thailand/overview_2043.html

      Something some of us in this country tend to take for granted is our access to healthy drinking water. My water, at least, has never been dirty or made me sick, to my knowledge of course. I can get relatively clean water from my tap, boil it to make it “cleaner”, then put that water through my Brita filter and feel better about drinking water from the tap. Which has been the case for my entire life. Some children grow up getting water from muddy holes in the ground and other less than sanitary options that aid to getting and keeping the sick and dehydrated. I chose this issue because it is such a huge issue in the world, and even though it doesn't directly effect me I can see the impact that the lack of healthy water is having around me.

The following 5 points of information were taken from www.water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water

and shows how many people in the world, by region are lacking clean drinking water:

1. Africa- 345 million without access to clean water
2. Latin America & the Caribbean- 32 million without access to clean water
3. South, West, Central Asia- 196 million without access to clean water
4. Southeast, East Asia, and Oceania 200 million without access to clean water
5. Developed countries- 10 million without access to drinking water

     Those numbers are scary. Hundreds of millions of people are stuck without any access to clean drinking water. Something that seems so simple that we need to survive and live healthy lives isn't available to them. It makes you wonder about everything else that they must not have access to, this situation is utterly heartbreaking.

     I've always wanted to do missionary work, through any institution that involves work with young adults. Raising awareness and jumping right in to help bring water filtration systems across the world would be an ideal next step, but on a more realistic field in regards to what I would be able to do now I am currently researching foundations that do help out to see if they accept donations or need volunteers for anything local. This issue hurts my heart, especially when I think of babies and young children that have no say in the matter and can't do better for themselves. Summer time in New York City means I will be sure to see fire hydrants openly pouring water out, sprinklers in the park spitting out water, thousands of people pouring bottles of poland spring over their heads in Central Park, without even so much as a second thought about who is not able to have a sip of clean water. I want to be apart of lowering those devastating numbers. So many children die yearly from lack of access to clean water (CDC, 2013), so many children that could have grown up to experience life, become teachers, doctors, lawyers, artists, anything, lose their chances because they end up with diseases due to lack of clean water and end up leaving this Earth earlier than necessary.

References:

1. Water.org. (n.d.) Retrieved May 17, 2014 from http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water/
2. Cdc.gov. (n.d.) Retrieved May 17, 2014 http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics.html   

Birth!

            I don't have that much experience with childbirth, I've never seen one outside of television & I do not remember much from when my younger brother was born, aside from my dad did my hair while my mom was in the hospital and it's probably best I don't share that memory! I've asked my mom about the day I was born a few times, and the trouble she endured along the way, so I'll share that.

            I spent eight months in my mothers womb with multiple fibroids. The fibroids threatened my life daily, and caused my mother to be on bed rest for three months in the hospital. Unfortunately, due to the fibroids, my mom felt labor pains during all eight months of pregnancy. On the morning I was born, before even giving her an epidural, the doctors cut my mom open. From what I've been told, my dad was furious. This whole story makes me scared to even have children, granted that was in the eighties and hopefully doctors aren't so careless now, but still... Yikes! I was born on October 4, two hours after my mom's water broke, a month early, at six pounds. Shortly after I was found to have an extremely high fever that wouldn't go away and was placed in an incubator for 21 days in the ICU because they thought that I had meningitis. Still not sure what was wrong or causing the fevers, but the doctors told my parents that I was going to die. Almost 27 years later and here I am alive and well, clearly born with my mother's (& father's, but he didn't deliver me after being sliced open without medication so I am giving my mom a teensy bit more credit in this department) strong spirit.

           I look forward to having kids as much as the next woman, but that story is scary and often makes me consider everything but wanting to give birth myself. My birthing story is really scary. Just the thought of my mother going through that, then being told that her child was going to die, makes me wish I could take back all of my unappreciative teenage years. My goodness! The fibroids could have killed me in the womb, fighting them and losing could have effected my life and development in any number of ways, the entire situation is insanely nerve wrecking to me. And all I did was listen to the story a few times. Giving birth is such a sensitive issue, any number of things could go wrong both internally and in the hospital or space you deliver your child in.

             I chose to learn more about child birth in India. Apparently in the past, India has had issues with both maternal and child safety during labor. According to the article I read the issues in the past have been due to women not giving birth in institutions or with people qualified to take care of them during this crucial period. This is due to information and lack there of due to social class. Which is typical in most places. There are people here that have OBGYN visits every month of pregnancy and people less informed about how important checking on their health as well as the babies health is every month or even more frequently depending on the situation. I even saw a television program once about a woman who gave birth in a Mcdonald's bathroom and did not even know that she was pregnant. Leading me to believe, she did not feel the need to visit a single doctor in at least nine months. Which is very scary. From the interview, not to judge her by looks alone please don't think that I am doing that, she did not seem very well off both financially and educationally. I assumed she didn't know or care to find out simply because she did not know any better. Which is what I believe the problem with India and other countries where so many people can fall under the radar simply because they don't have the information or funds available to do better.

Reference-

1.  http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2013/safe-childbirth-india.aspx

Code of Ethics

After reading both the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the Division for Early Childhood code of ethics I found each principle to be quite meaningful.  Out of everything, the following three stuck out the most- 

From the DEC code of ethics:

III Responsive Family Centered Practices-

This principle outlines how we as educators need to keep each family in mind. From an educational aspect, in regards to the child's well being, educational path, and guidance, from a cultural aspect by making sure to address and not ignore or exclude anyone as long as it is relevant and respectful. As an educator or child care professional you are to work with the family to ensure that the child receives  the best education and care imaginable.     In regards to my professional life this principle is important to me because I absolutely love learning more about my families and incorporating suggestions from the parents as well as different aspects from different cultural backgrounds into my lesson plans.  Between learning "Gung Hay Fat Choi" for Chinese New Year for one student or teaching them how to play dreidel for m&ms during Hanukkah, talking to my class parents about their cultural background is especially important for me bc it helps to bring the families closer to the classroom and that makes the child enjoy their school experience more. It also helps the parents to trust us as leaders more when we incorporate their lives and as for their input and help in the classroom.  In my experience being closer to the parent also helps us to understand our kids better.  Extending a friendly arm to a parent makes them more comfortable, instead of having a child crying in class all day without any explanation, if a parent is comfortable with us they might let us know said child woke up at 4am bc of a younger sibling and has been awake and angry. The closer you are to your families, the easier the daily tasks with each child get. 

IV Ethical And Evidence Based Practices

This principle is about using research and proven evidence to aid you along your path guiding children and families through early education. Nothing should be done on a whim, especially not with the vast amount of resources available at our fingertips. This principle spoke to me because I am always doing research. I find myself constantly looking up certain behaviors that I don't understand and techniques to better help the children in my care.   It's interesting to learn about previous cases where other professionals dealt with the same issues your dealing with and were able to come up with suggestions that you didn't even think of. 

From the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct:

Section 1: Ethical Responsibilities to Children-

This principle is about knowing how to best help the children in your care. From knowing your stuff to knowing how to properly care for them and understand them.  You have to make sure you are providing a healthy, educational, comfortable setting.  Always remember that the child comes first, you have to teach in a way that they will understand and keep trying until they grasp the concept. This principle was meaningful to me because my first year co-teaching kindergarten in a public school we had a student straight from the mountains in the Dominican Republic that couldn't even speak English, his mother stayed in DR,  and his father didn't know how to help us help him. I had to dig into all of my Spanish language knowledge, step in the bathroom to google certain terms, figure out how he would be able to learn in this classroom and everything I did the head teacher did times five. By the end of the year he was at the top of the class, writing in English, speaking fluently in English, and laughing at my horrible Spanish accent.  Our duty is to make each child want to be in school and to continue learning. 

Resources -

1. Article: NAEYC. (2005, April). <u> Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment </u>. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/NAEYC/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

2. Article: The Division for Early Childhood. (2000, August). <u> Code if ethics </u>.  Retrieved from http://www.dec-sped.org

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION RESOURCES:


1.  Early Childhood Curriculum, Assessment, and Program Evaluation. Building an Effective, Accountable System in Programs for children Birth through Age 8. 

 (n.d.). Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/201440_04/MS_MECS/EDUC_6005/Week 5/Resources/Resources/embedded/ec_curr_assess_programeval.pdf

2. Where We Stand on Child Abuse Prevention

 (n.d.). Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/201440_04/MS_MECS/EDUC_6005/Week 5/Resources/Resources/embedded/naeyc_childabusestand.pdf



3. National Association for the Education of Young Children

 http://www.naeyc.org/



4. New York City Administration for Children Services- Head Start information

http://www.nyc.gov/html/acs/html/child_care/child_care.shtml

I've been researching Head Start programs more and more in the last few weeks, so I figured this website would be helpful (for New Yorkers).



5. Critical Issues in Early Childhood Education by Nicola Yelland



6. Global Perspectives in Early Childhood Education.  Diversity, Challenges, and Possibilities.

     By: Marika Veisson



7. The Early Childhood Care and Education Workforce Challenges and opportunities: A Workshop Report.

By: Committee on  Early Childhood Care and Education Work Force: A Workshop; Institute of Medicine; National Research Council.



The above selection varies from general information on Head Start programs through how to handle major issues from abuse to problems in the classroom.  There is also information pertaining to diversity and the role it plays in the classroom as well as the website for NAEYC who are responsible for helping decide the curriculum that we use for each age group and deciding what works and what doesn't work.  It is important to keep the above resources handy because they all are ful of information on how to be a better educator and child care provider, all while keeping the children safe and on the path to success. All of the books can be accessed in the Walden University Library.





 
 

Passion for Education!

This week I chose to learn more about Lyndon B Johnson, the founder president of Head Start and Jean Marc Gaspard Itard who was said to be considered the founder of special education.  I was able to find a quote from Johnson, but as there weren't any quotes from Itard, I selected a passage from his book "An Historical Account of the Discovery and Education of a Savage Man" which is a book about Victor who sparked his interest in this field to begin with. 

Below are two very powerful quotes from Lyndon B. Johnson in regards to education.  I agree with a lot of his ideas, it was extremely hard settling on only two quotes.  We have to be better as a whole, find out how kids learn and continue to enhance the education system so that it can benefit everyone.

"Books and ideas are the most effective weapons against intolerance and ignorance"
-Lyndon B. Johnson

"But more classrooms and more teachers are not enough. We must seek an educational system which grows in excellence as it grows in size. This means better training for our teachers. It means preparing youth to enjoy their hours of leisure as well as their hours of labor. It means exploring new techniques of teaching, to find new ways to stimulate the love of learning and the capacity for creation."

-Lyndon B. Johnson


Below is an exerpt from Jean Marc Gaspard Itard's book "An Historical Account of the Discovery and Education of a Savage Man" which is a book about what drew him to Victor, a naked 12 year old deemed idiotic found wandering naked in the woods, and what kept him trying to help Victor as opposed to dismiss him as everyone else had done.

“I did not assent to this unfavorable opinion; and, in spite of the truth of the picture, and the justness of the representations, I conceived some hopes, which were grounded on the two- fold consideration of the cause, and the possibility of curing this apparent idiot-ism. I could not proceed Without stopping an instant to dwell upon these two considerations. They still bear on the present moment; they result from a series of facts which I am going to relate, and in which I shall be obliged to mix frequently my own reflections”.

- Jean Marc Gaspard Itard

Both of the above tie in with how I try to teach and continue learning how to teach.  You have to want to learn how each individual child learns.  Teaching isn't a 9-5 job that you drop at the door, late nights and early mornings researching different ways to get messages across to children who may not grasp it is the only way to be efficient.  When the problem is deeper than simply not being able to understand something you need to be willing to find out the next steps necessary to help the child.  That's what drives my passion for education and the people I chose to learn more about!

Late childhood web

I posted my web last night and I just realized it never published, sorry guys! I tried blogging from my phone and learned my lesson!

:)

PERSONAL CHILDHOOD WEB

My personal childhood web consists of four people. My parents, my aunt Jennifer, and my brother. All equally important to my growth and all who have influenced me and helped me to be the person I am today. 

My brother Zane

My parents, happily married for a million years. 

My parents and my moms youngest sister, my aunt Jennifer. 

  

My parents are my biggest influences. They both came to New York from the West Indies full of dreams. They taught me to always strive for better. They both pushed me to finish school. Inspired me to try everything from piano to every type of dance. All while supporting me in everything, whether I succeeded or wanted to quit they were always in my front row cheering me on.  We've had our ups and downs and typical arguments, but I've never felt more loved and supported by anyone in life. 

  Growing up my brother was my least favorite person on Earth.  Being a child actor and a easy straight A student I felt as if I was always in competition with him.  Which inadvertently inspired me to strive to be a better student and try to impress my parents with my grades and extra curricular activities. 

My brother taught me to have fun. He gained attention from his agent by embracing his love of entertaining people through performance. He would pretend to be Michael Jackson and perform for anybody that would listen to him. He inspired me to be myself and embrace the moment. My wears whatever he wants to, does whatever he want to, and spent our entire childhood dancing and singing for anyone who would listen. 

My aunt Jennifer is my rock. She came from the West Indies when I was a baby specifically to take care of me and hasn't left my side for the past 26 years. It's almost like having a second mother. Sometimes I even call her before calling my own mother. She keeps me grounded, teaches me lessons I may not want to hear or learn. Through unconditional love and understanding she has helped me to be a better person. 

My family is my web and I love them all dearly. My ultimate goal in life is to become so rich that my parents, aunt (altogether I have 26 aunts and uncles whom I love so much, but am not as close to), and brother won't have to work. Thankful to have such a strong support system. 

"Soy sauce"

SR is a sweetheart! He told me that his name was soy sauce,  which is a nickname his mom calls him. He loves the color orange, laughing, and learning new things.  He is full of surprises, he can name every single one of Thomas the tank engine's friends, count & name colors in Spanish, tell you how many sides any shape has, and will always ask how your day is going.  The other day he asked me if he could keep me forever.

    One day he was having a hard time dealing with being in class and he started crying and asked me for a hug. Seemed simple enough. I gave him a hug, he cried for a little while longer on my shoulder then looked at me and said "thank you Ms. Sherria I needed that".  It took everything in my to not start bawling. 

    Recently he's been into making cards for his classmates where he practices writing their names and drawing in colors he knows they love. I caught a snapshot of this picture last week because I haven't seen him draw something for himself in quite some time. The fact that he attempted to use his sounds to spell the word "house" was the icing on the cake.

My passion for teaching is fueled by kids like SR.  Which, lucky for me has been all of my kids in the last two years.  They're all human they have their moments, life can be stressful whether you're 3 or 100.  Each day I'm given the opportunity to work with children and can save a story or two like the one above keeps me going. 

overheard conversation at the snack table 3/5/2014

LS- KS, why are you brown and I'm white?

KS- (flips hand over to show off palm) Look, I'm kinda white too LS, so we're still the same.

LS- Oooo okay (smiles), well what's your favorite train to ride?

***I am going to cry my eyes out in June when they graduate, sweetest kids ever.. Everyone is the same***

- The above was a status I posted quoting two kids from my class. My aunt was a preschool teacher for over 15 years and is now writing a book compiled of everything from hilarious memories to quotes from children she has saved over the years, and after listening to some of her stories I began to keep a log as well.  As of right now, I am not planning on trying to get a book published, but reminiscing on conversations such as the above gives me a reason to smile and keep going regardless of what obstacles I am facing.  I try to write down a funny story or cute quote every day. 

This is me.

Fun fact, I've worn big glasses since I was 2 years old... Made school a tad difficult in my younger years as some children can be mean, but I love them!!!! My class gets a hoot when they aren't able to sleep during rest and I show them my baby pictures :)

Favorite quote:

"If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn"

-Michael J. Fox

This is my favorite quote, I've had it saved on my phone for quite sometime. One of my biggest struggles in dealing with looping a class and having students that I had last year is trying to disregard what I know about how my kids learn and adapting to my new co-teachers teaching styles, which doesn't always agree with what I know works with certain children.  Their ideas are amazing and will prepare our class more for the beginning kindergarten with new teachers that aren't familiar with their skill set or personalities as of yet, so I agree that breaking them out of their comfort sometimes is necessary.... But... Well let me give an example-

I know one teacher does not like the way I read stories. I am well aware that stopping (asking questions) to make sure that they are paying attention and learning is important, but for some reason when you stop they lose focus even more. One or two might understand a question, but the next three might panic after being asked a question and say something random or that they don't know.  When I know that they know the answer!  Or the class loses focus as a whole, one comment can set them off into a fit of giggles (with me especially) and then the purpose of the book gets forgotten. So I prefer to read with as much energy and pizazz as I would if I was reading to my three year old godson in my living room, and then discuss it afterwards.  Which is not warmly received by another teacher, a teacher also equipped with a reading certificate who I respect because she is always on the ball and she knows her stuff.  Her discussing not liking the way I read to the class confuses me and leaves me torn and discourages me from wanting to read with them (this is also the first complaint I've ever received), even though I know the kids enjoy it and take more from it...  

     I love my class, they zone out & get nervous very easily, but last year half of them couldn't even sit through a story without crying or needing to hold a train. I know getting into character helps them remain focused. 

Hello all!  My name is Sherria and this blog is dedicated to keeping the world updated on my joruney through early childhood education via my graduate school studies at Walden University and my preschool classroom where I co-teach with two other wonderful teachers.  While I have tampered with blogging before, I've never been apart of an online learning community & between you and me reblogging pictures I like on tumblr was a cake walk compared to trying to set up and give out my correct information on here.  Now that I have finally gotten this page set up correctly I cannot wait to begin sharing my experiences with you.  Be prepared to be bombarded with artwork and funny classroom stories, in addition to our guided discussions of course.  Happy studies classmates & friends, best of luck!

-Sherria :)