Professional Thanks and Support

I would like to take the time to say thank you to my professor and my classmates. Thank you for helping me become a better educator, communicator, and a better colleagues. I appreciate all your comments, insights, and questions that help me have a better understanding in this course. I have learned so much from each one of you. I hope to work with you all during the spring semester. Please stay in touch my contact is sophy.f.marsh@gmail.com
 Happy holiday and good luck!    

Adjourning in Teamwork

This week I learn a lot about the five stages of team development techniques such as forming, storming, norming, preforming, and adjourning. Adjourning is to move from one place to another as well the processing of moving to another environment for new experiences. This week’s reading makes me realize that I like to move around so that I can learn, I can experience new things, and interact with diverse individuals. The insight that I get is that if we have a great leader that understand the staff, we will be able to take our experience to a new place where we can influence our new group members.

Moving to Connecticut from Florida was the hardest good-bye for me because I was leaving friends and families behind. Many of my high school friends were sad because I will no longer be a part off their social circle. Our life is changing and many of us do not like change because we get comfortable in our comfort-zone. At that point I learned that people deal with their feeling in a different ways such as show emotion by acting out or others many start ignore the saturation as if it never happened, and so forth. The next place that was hard to say good-bye to was Chase Elementary school in Waterbury, Connecticut. Everyone was so sad that I was leaving including me because we were a family. Everyone work very well together by supporting each other, we respect each other, and we understand each other’s diverse background. After that I never work in place were I feel this connection, usually I get a negative feeling where everyone is quick to past judgment. I believe that any group that has high performance will be the hardest to leave because they are usually the one with the clearest establish norms. In fact we discuss forming and how we think that we need each other as a team member. I believe that every successful team relies on each other and work collaborative to get great result. At Chase Elementary I use to feel like I can do anything because of my team member, their support make it harder for me to be leave but we also I have a responsibility to our self to do what is best for us as an individual in the group.

The close ritual I take with me is that I have the ability to work effectively with other groups collaboratively to make a difference in a child life academically. The insight that I get is that we should listen to team members and respect the idea as well as their differences.  When we take the time learn, to understand, and to process we are taking the time to help make a difference within our circle and children and families lives. As a professional in this field it is our job to understand each other values as an individual and we might also need each other as a resource so that we can get our task done. I have not put any thought into the way adjourn will affect me while working on my master program, however I feel like I get great support from everyone in the course as well as we respect each other’s work, ideas, and each other differences as an individual. We learn from each other and we understand each other’s value, norm, and diverse background and for this reason I say we are a strong successful group that is well knowledgeable in our areas of study.  Adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because adjourning help teams to move from one place to another place with knowledge. Many leaders may say understanding adjourning techniques can help lead, manage and facilitating teamwork for a better result in the work place. Therefore it is important that each group member understands the reason they are broken a part so that everyone can have a proper good-bye. It was hard when I have to leave my group but I understood that it was time for me to go.

 

Understanding Disagreement and Conflict

Conflict is a clash of unpleasant words between two individuals. We will have disagreement with friends, family, and colleagues even if we do not want too; because each individual have a different personality and different value or belief.  Las time I had a disagreement with someone was one year ago at my work place and it was because my belief was different from that of my colleague. I believe as professionals working in the education field we should conduct themselves as respectful educator therefore I confronted her about the behavior in the work place and her dress code. According to O’Hair & Wiemann (2012) conflict is not simply an argument; it is a negative interaction between two or more people. Therefore I believe that when I confronted my coworker I may have approached her in a negative manner because she was very frustrated with me. Based on what I learned about conflict management our disagreement could turn out to be more positive, as opposed to negative which caused us avoid each other until I left the Job. The strategies I learned that can help me manage or resolve conflict is productive conflict. This strategy can help me foster a healthy debate, a better decision making, and foster relationship growth. Another strategy that can help me manage or resolve conflict is the 3R’s. This strategy can help me be more compassionate and have empathy during conversation. I learned that if we are aware of our action as well as the way we interact with other individuals we will be able to participate in last conflict during conversation. The insight that I get is that nonviolent communication sometimes referred to as a compassionate communication is that it can create, support, and empower communication by giving and receiving from both person. If I have to ask my coworker input of the disagreement we had she may not respond because her personality is on a negative side. Therefore I will put some of nonviolent communication skill in place to better communicate with other as well as avoid having conflict during interaction. Another insight that I get is that we are responsible for our own action and that was one of the nonviolent communication skills that emphasize personal responsibility for our action and the choices we make when responding to others (The Center for Nonviolent Communication, n.d.). Overall I have learned a lot over the past few weeks on how to become a better communicator throughout my career and my personal life.

Reference:

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

The Center for Nonviolent Communication. (n.d.). The center for nonviolent communication. Foundations of NVC, NVC Model, and NVC Concepts. Retrieved from http://www.cnvc.org/

 

 

The Type of communicator Am I

For the past few weeks I have learned a lot about communication and how to effectively communicate with others. We discussed schemas in communication as a cognitive formwork that help organize the information we send out to others. In fact young children can develop schemas and identify to different items as the same. For example cow and goat can be part of their schemas concept of see one animal and after see another animal with similar look can have the same name for a child. My evaluation as a communicator is based on how I build relationship through communication as an educator. For example the similarity between how others evaluate my communication style is that I am a great listener and I like to process my information before I respond. I believe when we understand the information we received we are able to reply with an effective response.

The activity for the discussion made me realize that schemas is one type of prejudice. I was able to identify her from her career, her salary, the kind of vehicle she drive, and so forth without knowing her personally.  Therefore it make me realize that I am no different from someone that is judgmental or prejudice. Another insight I get this week is that my communication anxiety is moderation which is call situational. I never thought my communication style would be situational for someone that is concern about the communication I am received. The next insight I get this week is that my listening style is people-oriented. In fact this listening style help me build relationship with others. I have the ability to interfere with proper judgment during a conversation. When we able to effectively communicate with other and understand the information received is a great life skill a person can have throughout their career. As a professional in the early childhood field I would have to learn how to become a better speaker and listener. Each of the insight I gained this week can influence my career and my personal life when interacting with others. Overall I have learnt a lot about the way I communicate with

Communicate Across the Nation

This week blog assignment takes me back to my childhood. My grandmother was the head of the family and she kept everyone together, guide us in the right path, and provide for us. I can say the way I communicate with other individuals is because of what she thought me when I was a young girl. Children in Haiti are not allowed to call an adult by their first name even if you do not know that person. We have to refer to them by their last that if it someone you do not know, otherwise everyone is aunt, uncle, grandma, and grandpa. My grandmother was very big on fostering positivity and respect because she always says that “everyone is someone’s child and they deserve the same amount of respect as any of us”. My career allows me to communicate with many type of people therefore I have to demonstrate an excellent communication skill to everyone and treat them with respect.

The insight I get is that a good communicator is aware of their strength, their weakness, and the way they listen to other individuals. As an early childhood educator my goal is to communicate effectively with the students, families, colleagues, and the communities effectively so that I can provide quality services throughout my career as an educator. The first strategy I could use to help me communicate better is effective listening skills. This will allow the speaker feel that he or she is being heard and understood. I believed that knowing how to focus during a conversation is very important because we also show respect to the speaker and we can received the information accordingly. The second strategy I could use is to know how to manage stress during a conversation because I believe stress during conversation is a factor. I would like to be able to identify what cause the stress so that I can take a moment to collet myself before continue with the conversation. I learn that if we take a moment to calm down when we are stressed about something and take a deep breath and look at the whole saturation, we can effectively receive the information during the conversation. The third strategy I could use is how to manage my emotions during a conversation. In many cases we are not emotional aware when communicating with others. It is very important to understand and empathize so that both parties can benefit from the conversation. Overall it was great to identify ways that can help me communicate effectively with other individuals with a variety of backgrounds.

Non Verbal and Verbal Communication TV- Show Activity

I feel like this week’s assignment was a little bit challenging because I had to watch unfamiliar television without sound. I am always up for a challenge so I chose to watch “The Carrie Diaries – TV show”. The show is about a young girls who lose her mother through cancer and live with her father and her younger sister. Her dream is to become a writer in New York City where big things happen. Thanks to Netflix I was able to watch five episodes without sound which was hard and my assumptions about what they are saying was wrong as well. I thought the three main characters were one big dysfunctional family. However they turned out to be one big cohesive, loving family. The non-verbal communications I obverse were their body language, facial expression, and a lot of hands movements. The insight I get from watching Carrie Dearie is that teenagers communicate with each other by doing a lot of yelling, their tone change throughout the conversation, such as high tone to low tone. They also expresses their feeling through non-verbal communication by walking away when they do not agree with the other person or locking themself in their room when their feeling are hurt through an event that happen.

            Now after watching the show with sound it was a different experience where I can make more sense of the characters. My assumption about the plot is that Carrie is fighting with her younger sister Dories being late for school. I was wrong; they were fighting about their dead mother’s hand-bag that Carrie wanted to take to school with her. What I like about this show is that the girl’s father show excellent effective communication skills. He listens and understands each girl independently and come up with a solution that solves the issue by letting Carrie pick another item from their mother’s things.  If I knew the show and I use to watch it before I will be able to predict what is going on between the girls and their father or my assumption could be correct. Overall my experience was great but I was hoping to have an “aha” moment because I love watching teen show but it was just a story about a girl who want to enter adul

Someone Who Demonstrates Competent Communication

Communication is about sending and receiving message information among social media, colleagues, family’s members, and so forth. It is very important when exhibiting effective communication because both you and the communicator can benefit from the information that is shared among us. When I think about a person when demonstrates competent communication particular context is Yverose Romulus. She was my Academic advisor and we became friends. She exhibited great listening skills where she always gave me her full attention during our weekly chat. She always has great feedback that helps academically, in my career success, as well as personally. Her thought are very clear and straight to the point. Another thing I love about Yverose is that she doesn't personalize the communication we have as if it was all about her as well. It is always a pleasure to talk to her about career path as well as personal matters. Yverose passion for working with individuals shows a great deal of putting other people fist. For this reason I will want to model some of her communication behavior. Being an effective communicator is about achieving goals influence someone life, and appropriate approach behavior. Therefore my goal is to be an effective communicator throughout my career as an advocate in the early childhood field.

Professional Hopes and Goals

The Perspectives of Diversity and Equity course gave me a difference perspective on equity, culture, diversity, and social justice. One thing I learn is that as an early childhood professional I need to cater for diversity in this field because each child represents the diversity in the classroom. One hope that I have when working with diverse children and families is to leave a positive impact on their life. When working with families and children that are culturally diverse we need to understand them as an individual as well as encourage independence throughout their transition into their new environment. I remember when I came to the United States, I had one teacher that used her own free time to help me learn English and today those time that I spend with her pay off throughout my education experience. I know how important it is to help someone achieve their goal; therefore I want our experience together to be as effective as well as be in a respectful manner with a positive atmosphere. One goal I have for the early childhood field is to understand diversity within the early childhood education environment because as a professional in the field we have a responsibility to stay knowledgeable in the areas that matter. We face so many challenges that question our ability as a professional; however when we make a child feel that they matter, we are helping them grow with confidence throughout adulthood. Overall as a professional in this field I will keep an open-mind in all cultural diversity background so that I can provide effective services that will impact their life in a positive way.

I would like to say thank you to all my colleagues for helping enhance my knowledge in equity, diversity, and social justice. I had a great time learning from each one of you throughout the past eight weeks on areas that will help me excel as a professional in this field. I enjoy reading all your posted and your feedbacks on my post as well. I wish you all the best on your career path and good luck in your journey.  

 

Welcoming Families From Around the World

The country of origin I choose is Somalia. Somalia is one of many countries in Africa where they had no working government between Jan. 1991 and Aug. 2000. In fact Somalia people were reinstating a new transitional president in 2004. Somalia located in the Horn of Africa, lies along the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Somalia culture is very different from the United States culture therefore is very important that I prepare my classroom for the arrival of the child as well as increase my knowledge regarding their culture so that they can feel welcomed and accepted.

The way I will prepare myself to be more culturally responsive toward the new child and the family is as followed:

1)      I will research the language, custom, traditions, and the history

2)      I will put up picture around the room so that the child will feel that he or she belongs.

3)      I will invite the parent and the child to attend school event where many cultures are displayed in a positive way.  

4)      I will create a list of common words and phrases used in Somalia for me to use when communicating with the child as well as for the teachers and staff to use with the child and their families so that we can provide an effective communication with the child and the parents.

5)      I will ask the families how they prefer to communicate with the center as well as if they can come by the center to volunteer to teach some of their culture and tradition to the staff and the children.

My goal is to help the child and the family to have a successful transition into the new environment. Many immigrants come to this country with no resources and usually fall into the low-income status. Therefore I hope I can be beneficial to them by providing the family resources and help to have their child become an early educator so that they can continue and build a successful life style.  In fact just by understanding each other’s cultural background we both can benefit through effective communication as well as building relationship for a better outcome.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

The social media is full with prejudice, bias, and oppression. For example in the Foster television show, Kelly experience bias against her because she is a foster child and went to a youth detention center and was therefore the first person people asks about selling drug in her school. Sometime I think it is human nature to pass judgment without knowing the whole story. Another recent incident of prejudice was the Treyvon Martin trial. I had a hard time following the case because I felt that it is unfair for the parents of Treyvon Martin. They did not get justice for their son’s murder. However we are living in a country that promote freedom and fairness to all, and at the same time we are putting everyone into categories or groups. Treyvon Martin was black; therefore bad things can happen to him without any consequences. I believe that many of us are living with implicit bias where we are saying I am not races, prejudice, or bias when we are in our mind. In many cases when we try to hide our true feeling it still comes out unexpected. That is what happened with Treyvon Martin trail.

 The diminish equity in the foster group is that they are a family and they will stick together. The TV show shows how one group of people stays together even though others will judge them because they are a gay couple with children. They have an open relationship with their children so that they can be comfortable with being how they are as an individual. The felling I have in this subject is that we will face many challenges when we are different from one another because we do not like anything that is not like us. If someone has different religion believes we past judgment. The incident leads me to believe that Mr. Zimmerman should go to jail as well as be more open minded when dealing with diverse group of people. I try not to feel angry or sad about the Treyvon Martin trail; but I know if it was one of my family members I would feel very angry. The way we can change these incidents is to be positive equity and not have racism, prejudice, or bias thinking during the interaction. Overall I have learned a lot on how Bias, Prejudice, racism, and so forth play a big part in the society. 

Practicing Awareness of Micro-aggressions

Micro-aggression is the ideas that interact between those that are from different culture, race, or gender. Micro-aggression can be intentional or unintentional towards people of color, people, and so forth. It is a verbal behavior that we use against other people with different background such as sexism racism, classism, and ableism. For example we are dealing with micro-aggression on a regular basis because the thought of interacting with someone from a different background disable us from communicating with no judgment. I have many experiences where people treat me different because I come from a different country. One experience I had is when I went into a store and I was not acknowledged as a valued customer because of two reasons, I was black and I did not dress with my best outfit. The message I get is that white people are more valued customers than back people and also I felt like I did not belong. As an immigrant in the United States I am always a target for micro-aggression because people do not like anything that is different from them. Therefore they behave in a manner that can show they have power over other people that are different from them.

This week course resources help me to a clear understanding of micro-aggression. Dr. Derald Wing Sue discuss five categories on micro-aggression such as social psychology factor associate with micro-aggression, condition needed to prevent micro-aggression, psychological dilemma associate with micro-aggressions, forms of micro-aggressions, and micro-aggression itself.  I learn that micro-assault is a verbal or nonverbal act that takes place to hurt someone else intentionally. In many cases people would make racial comment to target another race. My observation on micro-aggression makes me realize that it is very important to think before we act. For example when Dr. Derald Wing Sue discuss micro-aggressions are brief everyday indignities, it may be verbal behavior or environmental. For this reason I say majority of us are stereotyped against one background. We usually prejudge before we know the whole fact or story regarding an individual’s background.  As a result I learned that it is very important to keep an open mind when interacting with other people that are different from us.

Reference:

Laureate Education (2011) "Micro-aggressions in Everyday Life" (approximate length: 27 minutes) In this program, Dr. Derald Wing Sue presents a lecture about the concept of micro-aggression in everyday life.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

The question here is how much do we know about our culture? I do not much about my culture because for the past twenty years I have been living a different culture. I learned that culture is what we make it to be. For example my husband and I have to deal with being from different cultural-backgrounds and our unique ways of doing things. When I ask my mother to defined culture, she said culture is your belief, your values, your likes and dislike. When I think of my husband and I living a collaborated culture, were we put both culture background into practice such as we eat the food we like, the music we listen to, and the thing we value the most, e.g. family. When I ask how would you defined diversity? My mother’s response is that we are living in a diverse environment now were we experience other families belief, values, norms and so forth. I learnt not to ask your parent to help with school stuff because it makes you feel like a kid again.

For the past few weeks I have identified social identities as well as understand family culture. After I spoke with my mother I got a clear understanding on culture. She confirmed what I have learned in my perspectives on diversity and equity course. This course helps me understand the meaning of culture and diversity. For example culture is a strong path of our life and it also influences our views, belief, values, and so forth. For this reason, culture is very important to everyone that shares the same value and belief such as our family and friends. It was nice talking with my mother regarding culture and diversity because when I was growing up my mother was all about status. For example culture is our attitude, our skills, and techniques. Our culture influences our day to day experience.

Overall I had a great experience talking with my mother on this subject because my thinking did not change about culture and diversity. I belief culture is what we make it to be because it is based on the kind of music we listen to, the food we like to eat, and the tradition we follow. All aspects of culture should be considered and understood because we are living in a diverse world where we are interacting with people from all over the world.

My Family Culture

The Haiti culture had its independence in 1807 and the native language is French and Creole. We enjoy eating rice and beans on a regular basis. Right now many children do not attended school due to the lack of funding. In fact most parents are unable to pay for education. This week enhanced my knowledge on family culture. I have lived in the United States for over twenty years and have lost some of my culture tradition. Even though I use to think that my mother still kept a lot of culture tradition, I still do think differently because my social circle is mostly Americans and they have a different culture. I, however feel that they learn about my culture and experience my culture such as eat the food, celebrate New Year’s Day, and so forth.

 When I left Haiti I brought a few things that was dear to me such as pictures of my grandparents, sister, and other family members. The second item was my grandmother recipe book. My grandmother used to make porridge every night before bedtime and that is the only dish I learn how to do well so that I can do it for my children. The third item is the memory of the kind of life I used to share with my grandparents, our value, and what we use to enjoy as a family. Each of this items means a lot to me because they are lifetime memory that I can pass onto my children. The recipe book is something that I can use to show them some of the food that I use to enjoy when I was their age.

If I have to give up any of my items it will be a challenging experience because I do not know if I can give any of my three items. My grandmother’s pictures and her cookbook that she put together mean a lot to me. However if it come to give one up it will be the book not the picture because I want my children to know my grandma. One insight I gain in family culture is that we support each other as well as respect and care for each other. My family take care one another which help them in with any obstacle they face. We believe that together we can achieve any obstacles. Overall it was a great experience learning about family culture and how it can affect our life as individual.

When I Think of Research

           The building research competencies course is coming to an end. This course thought me a lot about how to conduct a research, the value of conducting a research, and understanding research techniques. Research enhances our knowledge of important information that matters. I learned that research has its benefits such as the ability to solve problems or to answer questions that affects our career. The insight that I got from this is that there are many steps that need to take place so that we can have successful results. For example ethical research is based on information content. My thought changed regarding the research process because I thought it would be difficult to conduct an informative research. Finding out that if I follow all the necessary steps it should be no problem to complete a research.  Research allows us to learn about new information as well as think critically.

When conducting research in early childhood, we need to keep in mind that there may be participants in the research process which need to stay protected at all times. For this reason, ethics in early childhood research is very important because it helps researchers understand that children rights need to be valued. The lesson I gain about planning and designing a research in early childhood education is that we are able to identify some of the challenges that is in the field, in addition to understanding and applying our finding as researchers. However I encountered many challenges during my research process such as knowing if the information will be valid, or what kind of result I will have, or did I follow all the necessary steps during my research design. The way I overcame these challenges was by applying the methodology into my research planning so that I can have an effective research conclusion.

This course change my perceptive as an early childhood professional because I had the opportunity to learn about children in the research world and how their rights as humans have to be protected. I also learn about children behaviors as well as their thinking process, which confirms that they are capable of acting more mature than their age. Overall I had a great experience in this course and my professor as well as my colleagues helped enhanced my knowledge of the research process. I have to say thank you to all that helped me throughout this course and good luck in your career path. 

 

Research Around the World

After exploring the suggestion websites for this week’s blog assignment, I found that the Early Childhood Australia website (http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/) to be the most interesting. It is full of valuable information for early childhood professionals that are interested in research based information and staying knowledgeable in the field. On this website we can find topics about Everyday Learning Series, Every Child Magazine, and so forth. Each of the topics has a variety of topics that address some of the issues in the early childhood field. I learned that this website can help me understanding how early childhood operates in Australia. The insight that I get from this website is that they are trying hard to promote a healthy environment for growth through adulthood. Therefore I am going to add this website to my resources as a tool throughout my career in early childhood field.

The insight that I got from this is that they have information regarding the legal aspect of the early childhood field. Their code of ethic is also no different from the code of ethic we follow here in the United States. It was great exploring the website because I was able to learn about different topics that can help me understand the issues and trends in the early childhood field. Teaching young children to be the best they can be is the primary goal, however, as a professional in the early childhood field it is very important to learn how other countries value the early childhood field. Another insight that I got is that they have information about early year workforce strategy. I believe any little help on how to be an effective childcare provider is a plus to an individual caregiver in this field.   Overall it was a great experience exploring the website and learning about how early childhood is changing for the better.

Research that Benefits Children and Families-Uplifting

 

I choose the second options because I had the opportunity to do some extra research on the topic that interests me. It was great to learn about good research and how research can affect children in the long run. As a professional in the early childhood education field it is very important to understand the meaning of conducting research and the use of young children as participants. One insight that I get is that researchers are required to report any child abuse however they also are required to keep any information confidential that regards the child privacy. I also learned that ethical research have great benefits in term of learning about children behaviors, social ability with others, and emotional behaviors. For this reason I would choose the topic of divorce on children because everyday a child face the emotion of having their parents get a divorce.

My findings on this topic is that the divorce rate went up 79% sense 1980 and 2 to 5 children will experience their parents getting a divorce by the time they turn eighteen year old. In this case those children will have a high level of emotional behaviors that affects their life through adulthood. This research was conducted on how divorce is affecting children life as well as their behavior after their experience of having their parent’s separate. The insight that I get from this research is that young children are at risk for confusion from having one parent that no longer is living in the household. I cannot imagine the effect of having your life changed overnight without any explanation, and knowing that it would not be the same for a long time. This research contribution to the early childhood field so that professionals can have a clear understand on child emotional behaviors. Overall it was a great experience learning about divorce effects on children because as a person that grew up with a single parent, I understand the emotional behavior those children are facing.    

 

My Personal Research Journey

I have learned so much the past two weeks about the research process. I know it will be a bumpy ride before I master the research process. However with the help of my professor and my colleagues I will become proficient in how to conduct a research. This week I learned how to simulate research and scan research documents for important information for research report because research is all about collecting information from other researchers as well as conducting experiments for confirmation on the topic in question.  It was a great experience for me because I did not think I will ever have the opportunity to learn how to conduct a research and now I can hope someday I will publish my own article as part of my contribution to this field.

I choose to research children brain development because I work with children from six weeks to middle school and I found each one is different as far as their thinking as well as their learning ability. This Subtopic: Children Their Emotional Process is one of my subtopic that I will research for this week’s assignment. In fact I will needs my colleagues helps during my search for more in-depth information for my writing research report and at the end of the research for results on what make children think differently and when does it change to the adult thinking phase. So far I learned the principles for high-quality research such as ethical, purposeful, imaginative, and so forth. Another insight that I gain is the steps on how to write a research report. Overall I feel like I am getting somewhere with my research learning techniques.

I am looking forward to working with my colleagues as a team for success; therefore I am asking if any of my colleagues have any advice for me or any insight that may help me with my research process. I do not have any additional website that I can share but I have used these three websites for more information about children healthy development and they are www.naeyc.org, www.zerotothree.org, and www.unesco.org. If any of my colleagues can share their sources with me, it would be greatly appreciated.   

Final international resources Professional Learning

For the past seven weeks I have learned so much from my colleague’s international findings as well as my own finding. It was amazingly surprised to find out that children are living in poverty as well as do not have proper education. My goal as a professional is to stay knowledgeable on the issues and trends that affected the early childhood education field, and have my colleagues helped me achieve that goal through their finding about issues and trends through their international resources. One of the website that I explored was Zero to Three, and they were one of the best sites that can help me stay informed about children behavior and their development.

One learning point that I get is that children from birth to three most likely to be maltreated. It was hard to learn that children are facing the hardship of maltreatment on a regular basis. Another, learning point from the past few weeks was that Chinese people still continue to live in poverty. In fact, to know that 4.2 million Chinese children are living in poverty and 8.7 million live in disadvantaged condition was heart breaking because these children should at less get the basics such food, clean water, clean clothes, and a decent place to live. The next thing I learn is that middle school age children are very sexually active because the Nigeria woman does not have any value. The men in that country treats woman with no respect therefore the young children are abused by the men in Nigeria. In this case many young girls are sexual active at a young age because they think it is normal to let the man do whatever they want with them.

As a professional in this field I set many goals for my journey in the early childhood education to educate individuals on the issues and trends that affect children and families. One of my goals is to work closely with other educators and policy-maker to help change family lives as well as children in critical needs. Overall I would like to thank all that took the time to read and comment to my blog post. I am grateful for your insight on the early childhood education as well as adding a great deal of knowledge on the issues and trends that children and families are dealing with on a regular basis. I have learned a lot from that past 8 weeks from all my classmates. Thank you all.    

 

Getting to know Your International Contacts-Part3

The United National Educational, Scientific, and cultural organization have great information about how other organizations are helping to prove educational training for those in need such as Ethiopia, Namibia, and Cote D’Ivoire. The first insight I gained from The United National Educational, Scientific, and cultural organization (UNESCO) is that they provide international leadership to create learning for societies so that there can be educational opportunities for all populations such as children, families, and other organization. The second insight I gained from the website is that Africa is their priority for UNESCO and education is key to the region’s development. UNESCO wants to make sure that children in Africa have a chance of having quality education. Education is the key for a successful life. The third insight I gained from the website is that the UNESCO and the Chinese has Chinese Funds-In-Trust (CFIT) programs, Enhancing Teacher Education for Bridging the Education Quality Gap in Africa. UNESCO collaborates with China to educate the educators with further training in the quality of education. It was great to learn that so many organizations are working together to help educate those fathers in Africa so that children can have quality education as well. My goal is to help make a difference to the early childhood education field as well on the issue and trends that matters the most. As a professional in the early childhood education field, it is great to know that we can get support from other countries, as well as other organizations to help make a difference in children life through education.

Sharing Web Resources

I had the opportunity to explore two website that have information for everyone that works in the early childhood field. As a prospective early childhood learning program founder I found it very helpful. The website that I chose to explore is Zero to Three and NAEYC. They are a great deal of help regarding the learning of how to better teach my students and how to improve my center. In the Zero to Three website I was able to find a section that provides information on this week’s topic of what’s new. They also had a section called Elsevier were we can read information about how the early childhood field is changing. It also has good reading for teachers teaching young children. The NAEYC website also had great information as well. It has information such as week of young children, social media guide for young children, and so forth.

After searching through both websites I found an area that caught my attention in Zero to Three webs that I have reading about overcoming barriers to provide early childhood metal health help. Social and emotional development is very important in children development skills. As an early childhood provider I need to understand the steps to take to better help the children overcome their challenge. They have information about state community that can help us understand what are they are planning to do to make the communities better for children and families. There are many greats reading materials for professionals working with children and families or in the administrative field as well.

The website added to my understanding as a professional in the early childhood field as a whole; however the information that I read from the web this week did not contain any extra information on barrier-awareness, accessibility, and responsive. Some of the information that were similar was the section of the public policy that have some reading regarding how to find help to better service the children and families throughout the community. One insight that I gained this week is that the issues and trends we are dealing with today are going to continue throughout a lifetime because we are going to have more immigrants coming into the country for a better opportunity for themselves and for a better education for the children. Overall both websites have great information and tools, to become a successful early childhood professional throughout our career in this field.

Getting to Know your International Contacts-Part 2

The Global fund for children website is a good resource for those professional that are interested in working with international children and families as well as other international organizations. As an early childhood professional and a graduate student it was helpful to learn about other countries that are having similar issues and trends in the early childhood education as well as children and families living in poverty. Their model is to get small amounts of money into the hands of innovative community leaders who are working with the world’s most vulnerable children and youth (The Global Fund for Children 2012). I was able to watch a documentary about Josephine Ndao, she is a Global Fund for Children’s program officer for West Africa. She was talking about her experience regarding her recent trip to Nigeria and Burkina Faso to visit current and prospective GFC grantee partners. One insight I gained from her podcast was that middle school age children are very sexual active. I know this is an issue that affects every country and every family with teenagers living in the household, but it is usually a factor with children that was exposed to sex at a young age. For example many children in Haiti are victims of sexual abuse from a member in their household or a close family friend. Another insight I gain is that women in Nigeria do not have any value. one of the girls in the video say that Nigeria men think that woman are good for sex only and for this reason most young girls start having sexual activity at a very early age. Watching the podcast makes me think about Haiti, the same thing is happing in Haiti where young girls are sexually activity with men that could be their father. Another insight I get from the website is that they want to make a difference in the children life. They want to help children get better education, they want children to move out of slavery, as well as they want children to have the opportunity to live in a better environment.

Center on the Developing Child Harvard university website is about learning the issues and trends matter in the early childhood education field. They have many articles that can enhance our knowledge as a professional in the early childhood education field such as working page articles, they are great to read and I had the opportunity read a few from my previous classes and I taught they were very good to read because it make you think out of the box. Most of the information from the Center on the Developing Child Harvard university website is about children and families from all over world. We get to learn about their life style as well as their culture, values, and many more.

It was nice to learn about fourth grades students from The Nueva School that want to make a difference by working together to help improve the issues and trends that are affecting children and families on a regular basis. Those are motivated to raise money to help GFC’s Catapult project. According to Global Fund for Children (2012), the group of children spends three days making handcrafted bookmark to sell and raise about $466 which help about 340 girls in India through education and life skills training. Overall I learn a lot by exploring both website and that a little bit of help does count.

Sharing Web Resources

For the past few weeks I have been exploring NAEYC website by reading different articles, information about program accreditation, and announcement about issues that early childhood professionals should be aware. For example this week I get to read about tips to help children cope with disasters and summer safety tips. As a professional that is working on opening a learning center for young children, I will need to know every bit of information on how to effectively teach the children and keep them safe. NAEYC website is going to help me stay knowledgeable in the early childhood field and help my learning center become one of the best early childhood development learning center in the country. My goal to help make a difference by helping young children learns as early as infancy age through kindergarten grade level.

  The website has many ideas and resources that can help goals to become a childcare provider. There are many resources that I use and learn from for example I was able to take a look under position statement on curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation. I was able to read the information. This information will be a great asset to my center because I can use this information to improve the way we teach the children. Another great resource the website has is the newsroom. I was able to read about the economy and how it is going to be for the field of early childhood. The president is putting the early childhood education first for funding. After reading the article I feel like there is hope for quality programs because most program that do not make the quality standard is because they do not have funding for materials, to hire a highly qualified teacher, or proved more resources for parents and children in critical needs.

NAEYC website is one of the effective website that provides professionals with solid information to better their career in the early childhood field as well as teach young children. The news insight I get this week is that early childhood is going to be more recognize by the government and they will work harder to provide the kind of resources the field need to continue servicing the children and their family. Overall I enjoy reading and learning about early childhood education field and how to better teach children and how to keep making a difference.

 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

The childhood poverty research and policy center website gives me great insight on poverty in China. China is a country that I dream of visiting someday because it is a country that has a lot of culture and is well known globally. The first insight I gained from the website is that in 2001 five percent of the population lived below the national poverty line (CHIP, N.D.). I cannot imagine anyone living below the poverty line; it means that they can go days without eating. The second insight I gained is that poverty is due to far-reaching process of the economic and social transition. In the 1988 people that lived in the west was 3 times more likely to be poor and by 1998 they were 6 time more likely to be poor (CHIP, N.D.). In fact it seems that things did not get better for those who lived in the west. The third insight is that the Chinese people still continue to live in poverty. In fact, 4.2 million Chinese children are living in poverty and 8.7 million live in disadvantaged condition. Another insight I got is that the Chinese people value education and good health. They do not need to have a lot of money to make sure that their children have the best education or know how to read and write. For example CHIP, N.D. stated that about 85 percent of the population aged over 15 is literate. That tells me the Chinese family do not let poverty stop their children from learning, dreaming big, become an educator, or to be all they can be

. It tells me they are a fighter and achievers.

Reference:

CHIP (N.D). Childhood poverty research and policy center. Retrieved from http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/