Thinking about going back to school!!

Well I have been out of school since the end of October when I completed my Master's and have decided I have to much time on my hands!! So-I am thinking about going back and getting something that will give me more background for curriculum and teaching online so I can help others. What does everyone thing? Good move or crazy?? I welcome all thoughts from my peers, friends and family.
Hope everyone is having a great Christmas season
Best to all

http://www.wordle.net/delete?index=7213408&d=KJGN


Just an after thought for my final farewell to my dedicated colleagues

Final Farewell !

Blog Assignment: Time Well Spent

At least three deeply felt learning’s from this program

 

This has been a long journey for me that started more years ago than I can count (took time off to raise my children, get my daughter through college and we both graduated the first time together, me with my Associate Degree and here with her Bachelor’s, watched my son go to war and come back and finally get back to college myself). Without the support of my family I’m sure I would never have finished-but they kept me grounded and made sure I never gave up! So here we are at the end of a chapter of my life and I can truly say I am ready to take on the goals I have set and will tackle whatever comes my way. The things I have learned from working with Walden University and all the great professors and colleagues throughout my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees have really added up, but the most deeply felt would have to be the knowledge passed to me from others in my field. I have learned that I must keep discovering new knowledge in my professional life because everyday something changes. I also learned that everyone needs a solid support team to help them succeed because just like children we also need praise/recognition in order to validate what we do! Having people around you that have similar goals for helping children and families is a great way to make things happen and over the course of my time at Walden I have learned that we are a large group that can make a difference.

 

At least one long-term goal

 

 

 

The long term goal that I have is to change how families obtain services in my area when it comes to finding care for children and having resources available for my families to use and have people available that can speak many languages to help every family. My area is very diverse and transient so I need to make sure everyone is welcome and that I can help them no matter what they need. I would like to branch out on a larger scale within the next five years to include the east coast area and I feel this is possible with the right people on my team.

 

A farewell message to your Instructor and colleagues

 

I would like to say thank you to all the wonderful professors and colleagues I have worked with during my time at Walden University. I can truly say we did this together-we made it to the end and are better teachers, professionals, parents, friends, and advocates for all we have put into our learning experience. For this last and class I would like to say a big thank you to my colleagues for reading my posts and sharing feedback that helped me to grow. To Dr. Teri, I would like to extend a BIG Thank you for helping me to grow in my research methods, APA skills and really learning how to take your feedback and put it into an exciting project that I hope to see to fruition in the near future. I will keep everyone posted here as to how it is going. Best of luck to everyone and I hope we can stay in touch. I would love to get together at some point and really get to know everyone. I will not be at graduation this time as I went for my Bachelor’s and there is no way I can go again-so here’s to seeing you in the future!!! Love to all!!

Do not hesitate to get in touch in your in the D.C. Area-would love to network together!

                

Week 6 EDUC-6990

Blog Week 6:

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

This week our job was to research International organizations that work with Early Childhood Issues and there are many excellent organizations that do hard work to help children around the world and it would be a pleasure to work for any of them-but the ones I chose to look at are listed here.<p>

1)      United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)<p>

2)      United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)<p>

3)      Save the Children<p>

The first organization I liked and would enjoy being a part of is the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) because they are a strong force in the field of Education and issues related to young children around the world. Their mission is to protect children everywhere and in all ways to include, education, health, safety and many other layers of basic needs for children. Children not treated equally in many countries and UNICEF works to change this obstacle. An individual can have a major impact on children’s lives by being a part of this organization. There were many jobs listed, but the only one I have most of the qualifications for is the child protection specialist, they have this job listed for various locations and the requirements would be “responsible for the development, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Child Protection programme within the country programme (UNICEF, 2013). This would be a fulfilling job by helping children that need more resources and support for their survival. <p>

The second organization I looked into is Save the Children because they stand for making changes in children’s lives that will last. They are a leading force in their commitment to change for children and their families around the world. Save the Children does not care what your gender, religion or any factor is-they will help. This organization helps with food, medicine, and education. Save the Children will go help with natural disaster or manmade disaster to help children work through their daily struggles (Save the Children, 2013). The job that I found interesting here was a Specialist, Early Childhood Development, the requirements for this are to have a Master’s degree, on the job experience, working as part of a team, and knowing another language (this is the only part I would need to work on). I have worked in foreign countries before so I know firsthand how vital it is to understand the differences that come with interacting with another culture. So at this time I would not be able to carry out this job I will keep it in mind for future reference. <p>

The last organization I explored is World Vision (2013) they are a humanitarian organization that has built their mission on helping children and families around the world. They work to stop poverty, injustice, and to make lives better for those that are living in poor conditions everywhere. World Vision can be found anywhere there is a crisis and they are advocates for all those in need no matter their race, gender, religion, and ethnicity (World Vision, 2013). I would gladly work with this organization because I am trying to really advocate for those that need someone to speak for them and they have jobs listed that looked interesting to me, but the one I found most intriguing was for a Grant Officer-All Children Reading (World Vision, 2013), it calls for a person that is able to lead assigned grant funded projects, oversee the implementation process of grants and provide reporting on financial compliance and outcomes for children served (World Vision, 2013). I done some work with administration, but would need more education or job experience when it comes to the part of grants. I am willing to explore this job more to advance my knowledge and help more families worldwide. <p>

 

References

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.unicef.org/

Save the Children. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

World Vision (2013) Retrieved from http://www.worldvision.org/

 

 

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

The Office for Child Care

 

The organizations that I would like to be part of in the future are: 1) The Office for Child Care, I chose them because they have goals that are similar to mine for children and families in my community and beyond. The office for child care supports low income working families by helping them with financial issues and promotes children’s learning by making centers raise their quality for all children. By helping families with the expense of child care parents are able to obtain better jobs and move forward in their lives which helps them leave the low income bracket behind.

No vacancies found at this time.

To work within the Office for Child Care I would need to have excellent communication skills, the ability to work with a group of peers and be knowledgeable about the various diverse backgrounds of families in need. Having my Master’s degree is a plus, but I will need further experience with my communication skills.

National Education Association

The second organization I am interested in pursuing is the National Education Association. They are the nation's largest professional employee organization, is committed to advancing the cause of public education. NEA's 3 million members work at every level of education—from pre-school to university graduate programs. NEA has affiliate organizations in every state and in more than 14,000 communities across the United States. I am interested I them because they have so much influence in what happens with children and education. I did not find any jobs in my area that I could do at this time; I will need more experience with running a center or other organization.

Children’s Defense Fund

My last place of interest is the Children’s Defense Fund because they are after the same things I am when it comes to children living in circumstances that they cannot control. Their goal is to make things better by improving programs for children and making policies that truly help the families that are often overlooked. The Children’s Defense Fund works to help all children regardless of their race, income, or where they come from. I would like to work for them as an advocate and by working with children that are under privileged. The skills I would need for a job with this organization are to be able to run meetings, communicate with government officials and have a better understanding of computer skills. At this time I did not find any jobs that I am qualified for-but hope to change that as I continue working on my professional skills after finishing my degree.

 

The National Association For the Education of Young Children

The National Association for the Education of Young Children is an organization that I have belonged to for many years and have always wanted to be a part of by working with the accreditation team. By working with them I can help build more quality programs for children everywhere. I would like to work with them after graduating and at this time I have the skills to carry through on this goal. This organization is what it means to help families and children be successful in the early years because of the quality of centers that are required to be part of the organization.

I did not find a job listing, but I would like to be part of this group in more than volunteering for conferences and activities that I do right now. I have helped in previous years for my local chapter and plan on talking with the representatives they will have at the conference this year. I believe I have all the requirements to work for them at this time, but am willing to do whatever training I might need.

 

 

Week 2 Post

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

I am interested in this agency because they will be able to help me contact more people that can help me with my goal of helping families in the low-income bracket. They have a wide range of agencies that focus on different areas of need. The social services department works to make every family and individual gain independence from any problem that could happen. This agency does not cost anything for families which makes it appealing to everyone. There are no jobs available at this time in this local area.

Even though there are no current jobs I think I would be a good fit for this agency because of my training and diverse background from living in many places. I could see myself working in the areas of teaching parents about how to get involved with the schools and other groups in their community. Sharing resources with families would be a great way to expand my knowledge and help the families at the same time. Skills I will need to continue improving will be speaking in a group and writing proposals.

Virginia Department of Social Services, www.dss.virginia.gov

Another great agency is the National Association for the Education of young Children (NAEYC), I have belonged to this for many years and it helps me to gain new information from their site by listing new information that is important to the field of early childhood. It has helped me connect to professionals across the United States during conferences and online interactions. They now offer learning opportunities online that are focused on areas that change often. Job opportunities (both paid and unpaid) are available at most times.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) http://www.naeyc.org

This agency is great because they work with the problem that I am interested in pursuing during this class and beyond. This Office of Child Care (OCC) supports low-income working families by providing access to affordable, high-quality early care and afterschool programs. OCC administers the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) and works with state, territory and tribal governments to provide support for children and their families juggling work schedules and struggling to find child care programs that will fit their needs and that will prepare children to succeed in school. Even though they work toward helping families in the low-income bracket more help is needed and I hope to be part of their team. I have contacted them already and look forward to starting a new phase of my career, adding it to my full time job at the center I currently work at. I would be doing volunteer work to start and continue learning new ways to help in my community.

Office of Child Care, www.acf.hhs.gov

All of these agencies and many more are available to me and I plan on looking into more as time goes on so that I will have more CoP’s for resources.

Reflecting on Learning

 

Over all my years working with children and their families around the world, it is my deepest hope to be able to work on a level of advocating that will get me involved with international help for those I work to understand and protect. I have worked briefly with NAEYC at the local level to help with workshops for both families and professionals just like me. I would like to not only be a full time advocate working for NAEYC or another organization that works with families around the world. I would like to get back into traveling in order to help be part of the foundation of new organizations that work with children that are not given the opportunity to go to school because of situations beyond their control. For the time being I will work within my community to gain more knowledge of how to complete my goals and continue working with child services organizations to build my professional resources that I will need later.

I would like to thank all my classmates for their continued support and help during class and all the great ideas and insights given. I hope we can continue to keep in touch after we graduate and it would be awesome to be part of a group advocating for our families and children. We have one more class and we are done with this part and on to really putting our new knowledge to the test of what we learned-we will be a force to be reckoned with in society!!!! Best to everyone and hope to see you at graduation.

Week 7:EDUC-6358

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

This week we had to look deeper into a region around the world that was of interest to us and I chose to look at East Asia and the Pacific region which includes areas such as: Vietnam, Mongolia, and Myanmar to name a few. Since starting with Walden back in 2009 on my Bachelor’s degree I have learned and research many topic that both hurt and help our children everywhere and it never ceases to amaze me how children end up being the victims in every situation. Children in this region suffer from malnutrition, unhealthy water resources, since 1990, the proportion of people in the region with improved sanitation has risen from 49% to 66% – but this still means that around 670 million people do not have access to proper sanitation facilities. On top of this, some 236 million people, or 12% of the total population, lack access to clean water. (http://www.unicef.org). In many of these areas children are subjected to war zones that they have no way of escaping and often are made to fight for their survival and that of their families. Living in these conditions affects not only a child’s physical and mental health but most definitely their emotional health to an even greater degree. The East Asia and Pacific region encompasses one-third of the world’s population – or around 2 billion people. It also contains over one-quarter of the world’s children – around 580 million children in total. The region stretches from Mongolia in the north to Tonga in the south, and from Western China to the Cook Islands. The smallest country in East Asia and the Pacific, Niue, has 1,700 people while the largest, China, has 1.3 billion people. There are around 30 million children born in the region every year.

“In every country, in every culture, there is violence against children,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “Whenever and wherever children are harmed, our outrage and anger must be seen and heard. We must make the invisible visible.” The damage to children caused by sexual and physical abuse is often very serious and lifelong. These children are more likely to be depressed and experience other types of mental health problems, to think about or attempt suicide and to engage in more high-risk behaviors than their non-abused counterparts (http://www.unicef.org/eapro/media_21211.html). The region has significant diversity – in peoples, cultures, environments, economies, political systems and potential. It includes some of the fastest-growing economies in the world as well as ten of the least-developed countries – six in the Pacific and four in East Asia. The Pacific is a distinct sub region within the wider region, with its unique characteristics, dynamics and challenges.

This region has many challenges that can affect children’s emotional well being and development because many are living in a war zone and do not have their basic needs met adequately. They are in many areas not given the resources to become educated as we are in the United States and other countries.

Doing the research this week has helped me to gain better insight into what we in America have and many take for granted and how children around the world have to fight for the smallest right that should be freely given to them. The children in this region need us to help them get what is rightly their and stand up for them in any way we can and that starts with being a child advocate for children everywhere. We need to hold the governments accountable for what is happening in all countries and not fall for the lies they spout daily and that many believe at the expense of children.

UNICEF, 2013. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html

East Asia and Pacific region: http://www.unicef.org/eapro/activities.html

http://www.unicef.org/eapro/factsheets_on_eap_health.pdf

 

Week 6 Blog

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

 

Everywhere we look today we see sexualization in early childhood from what the children say to their toys, and what they watch each day on television. Over the years I have seen this issue go from something not talked about or even seen in many of my classes/preschools to being an everyday occurrence that many times needs to be addressed in some way. When we turn the television on our children are bombarded by ads for sexually explicit materials and of course they are going to ask questions and when they don’t get a good answer at home they come and ask us the next adult they can talk too.

In my personal or professional experience I have had many times where I have seen young children exposed to this type of an environment and my examples are listed below.

The first example is when I worked at our local before and after program and it was time for our annual boat regatta and the children wanted to wear very short shorts and tube tops (the top that barely covers a girls chest) for the team outfit and my young co-worker said it was fine but being the oldest member of the staff I put my foot down and stated that it was totally inappropriate for children of 9-11 to be wearing something like this for the whole community to see. I felt they should wear at least a t-shirt that covered everything.

Second, I have had children in my three to five year old class come to school wearing make-up and outfits that I would expect a young girl to wear if the parent’s decided it was okay. Some of the outfits barely cover their bottoms and make-up is that no child needs to wear in my opinion.

Lastly, I have had children in my class talk about what their parents are doing at home and I even had a little boy tell me about an operation his father had on his private area and that he was doing much better and he said this in front of the dad. I have to say we just looked at each other and then he took his son out of the room to talk to him in private. It was a very uncomfortable situation, but I think the father handled it better that I would have because I was speechless.

Everywhere I look today I see young children (mainly girls) wearing clothes that should not be made for someone as young as two or three and I feel the parents are setting the children up for trouble when they buy these types of things for their children because we have so many people in the world that will take advantage of a child for the simple fact that they are preying on someone that doesn’t understand why it’s wrong. Today’s movies and cartoons that are made for children are not really safe for them to watch because of the content and many parents don’t know what they are getting into or simply give in to the children when they say they want to see something.

“Girls and boys constantly encounter sexual messages and images that they cannot understand and that can confuse and even frighten them. They learn that sex is the defining activity in relationships, to the exclusion of love and friendship” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). When it comes to my concerns with sexualization of young children and how to lessen the negative impact on them would be to start with having parents find a way to really focus on what their children are watching, listening to in music, clothes they wear and the toys they are asking for. We as the adults that spend the most time with these young children need to find a way to help them understand the differing views they see everywhere. Children can learn that by accepting the views they see around them it can sometimes lead to sexual abuse, pedophila or prostitution in extreme cases (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). It is necessary for the adults to take time to talk with children about safety with their bodies and about how we are the same but different in many different ways. We need to be ready to talk and answer questions in a simple way to help children understand their identities and to help keep them safe from all the hype they see everywhere they look.

Week 5

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

Our lives have the many isms affecting everything we do daily and the one that is my biggest nemeses is “racism”, I say this because it affects all our interactions with the families and children we care for daily. Even though I have lived in many places and with many different families I know I still have issues with racism. I will be honest saying that the areas I need to continue working to improve are racism and classism. Even though I have lived around the world and interacted with many cultural differences I still have moments when I feel one group is getting something that another group is not.

When we let any of the isms interfere with our classrooms, it will affect the whole child because they will not feel safe, loved, included in the group, and they can feel agression from another child or group. Some consequences that can occur with the families that are cared for daily might be unequal treatment in the classroom, not wanting to help certain children with activities, not comforting a child because of their race or social class. A child that is from a different race might not get the same attention as another child that is the same race or has the same social economic status as the teacher, caregiver, or peers. Anyone that has lived the military life or moved often can understand how a child might feel because they are always coming across as different to the children in the new classroom. I can relate to children that come from another country or even when they are just different that the majority of the children in the class because I have been there and I know how affects children’s feelings and can make them act out or become withdrawn from the group. We need to find a way to help all children feel welcome and one way is to show them that it is a great thing for us all to be different because otherwise the world would be very boring with everyone doing the same things. I work to learn some of each language that my children know so that I can at least greet them and their parents daily and I can tell this means a lot to them and adds to their feeling of being part of the whole group.

Blog: Observing Communication<p>

A few days ago I observed a mother and her child in the grocery store having trouble communicating with each other. The toddler was very upset and hysterical. You could see the mother was getting very flustered and trying to calm the child. She paused then calmly asked “what's wrong” and searched for an injury. The child became more upset. The mother then held the child close and eye to eye she said “Are you hurt? The child shook NO. “Are you thirsty? The child shook NO. “Are you hot? The child shook NO. The mother then calmly said “I don't know what is wrong please tell me so I can fix it”. The child then calmed down a little and thru the sobbing muttered I can’t find my sticker. I was very impressed that the mother remained calm and really went down the child's level to find what was causing the fuss. I could see this interaction was soothing to the child. I think interactions like the one I witnessed will help the child learn affective communication in the future. I learned that although the loss of a sticker seems small to an adult in a child’s eyes it is a big ordeal. I think in our day to day lives we often forget just how important little things are to children. By the mother really trying to figure out what was wrong and not yelling at the child, I feel it help the child to calm down and be able to let the mother know what was upsetting them. When we communicate with young children we need to always remember to get eye level with the child and stay calm which then helps the child to know you are not upset and it has a calming effect and they will then be able to tell the mother or adult what is bothering them.

Creating Affirming Environments: Week 2

Blog Assignment: Creating Affirming Environments: Week 2

 

For this week’s assignment I am opening a Family Child Care Home. There are many factors that need to be thought out when opening a center-the areas and elements need to be consistent with the needs of all children. The areas will need to be well defined and have a welcoming environment.

In order to have an anti-bias environment for my family I will need to have materials for the children that honor diversity both within and beyond their own identity groups (Derman-Sparks, 2010). Some of the materials I would need are; multicultural books for the ages I will care for (infant to four year olds), the books will need to have real life pictures to help reflect scenarios that the children can relate to. I will need to have dolls of many cultures that portray native dress and customs to help children feel more at home and a variety of puzzles that also depict the families that I care for in my home. I will also have an area set up for families that includes important information in multiple languages if needed, it is important to know some of the languages for the families that I will be working with daily. My creative materials need to reflect colors other than your basic white, black and brown. There are many different skin tones that need to be seen and used with paper and paint. I need to use materials that do not reflect one primary group of people because it teaches children that they are not as important as the dominant group (Derman-Sparks, 2010). Posters showing families from all races, ages, and genders will also be displayed in my home. My home center needs to reflect an atmosphere that is welcoming to everyone and shows that I am building an anti-bias environment for learning and sharing.

I want my home center to embrace all my families no matter where they come from and I will blend all cultures throughout my whole home so all families know they are welcome and that includes having separate areas for every family and child because individual space is important for each child. These things are vital for any center to show the families that they are your focus and you will go above and beyond to have the right environment for everyone.

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

 

 

What I Have Learned: Week 8

 

One hope that you have when you think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds (any format and any length) <p>

 

The one hope I have for working with my families and children is to really immerse myself in learning about each families unique differences and bringing them into my classroom as best I can. I want to be able to help all children no matter where they live or what their family situation might be. Children have no control over their young lives and it is up to us to help them succeed and give them the tools for this success. I would like to help children get the education they are afforded even if they are not able to pay because again the children have no control over this and each and every person should have an education. <p>

 

One goal you would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice (any format and any length) <p>

 

A goal that I have for the early childhood field would be to help bring more awareness to everyone the importance of educating all children around the world. Education is supposed to be equal for all and here we are in the 21^st century and we still haven’t made it equal for all. I would like to have centers available in each community that caters to children no matter their race, gender, disability, or any number of other injustices that we dole out whenever we see fit. We must overcome our biases to help our families to reach the goals that they set for themselves and their children. <p>

 

 

A brief note of thanks to your colleagues<p>

 

Lastly, I would like to thank my colleagues for their continued support during this class; I truly appreciate your comments and suggestions as they are helping me to grow. You have all shared many great ideas and stories that I will remember. We have shared our biases and hopefully we are learning from each other as well as growing to be better people and educators. Here’s to another class down and two more to go, hopefully I will see you next week in our next class. Best wishes to each and every one of you in your continued journey. <->

 

 

Start Seeing Diversity

Start Seeing Diversity<p>

 

Diversity is how we are different<p>

Instills our beliefs<p>

Values that we hold near and dear<p>

Exceptions to our beliefs as we share with others<p>

Refuse to worry what others think<p>

Say or do<p>

Including all consequences<p>

Therefore, we are to be an individual<p>

You and me will be one and unique in the grand scheme of society<p>

<p>Diversity means many things to each individual. We all have our own definition and for me it includes being true to each race, culture, child, adult’s unique qualities that define a person and instead of changing someone to fit what we believe. <p>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We Don't Say Those Words in Class

"We Don't Say Those Words in Class!"<p>

I have witnessed many young children being reprimanded for pointing out a person’s disability, race, speech or type of clothing being worn. The incident that I witnessed was just recently and when I heard the child I wondered how the person it was directed at would react. The recent incident was when I was at the local grocery store and a child of about 6 or 7 years old was shopping with their mother. While in the checkout line the child blurted out to the store cashier “what happened to your face!” The mother instantly shushed the child and tried to change the subject. The store cashier however was amazing because they answered the child without issue. He took the time to explain to the child that he was burnt when he was a young teenager. He also explained that he had to grow new skin and that is why it’s different. When he was done the child’s curiosity seemed satisfied and even the mother’s embarrassment seemed to be eased.<p>

The message that was communicated was that we should not point out another’s disability in this manner. We should be cognizant of others feeling and not stare or blurt out questions in this way, this could have really hurt the cashiers feeling and made them feel like the center of attention and they are just doing their job. We would not want someone to stare or talk about us in this way.<p>

The way an anti-bias educator could handle the situation might be to sit down with the child after the incident and explain to them that what they did in the store was improper and hurtful to the cashier and it made other in the store uncomfortable. I would need to read books, and obtain pictures to help all children understand that differences are good and we should not ask questions out loud, questions should be asked in private so we don’t offend or hurt anyone. I would also need to review with the children any traits that the person might have and find a way to incorporate learning about burn victims and other types of physical disabilities they may come across. Through understanding how each person is a stepping stone to our society I can help the children by teaching to each topic that comes up in the classroom.<p>

Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation:Week3

Blog week 3<p>

 Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation<p>

 

When we think about all the media that children see everyday going to and from school, it is amazing that they can learn to understand how to play with others on any level. Children are given mixed messages constantly by the toys (how they are advertised, and the messages they get from people around them). Books are still portrayed as gender specific in most cases, but they are getting better and if you look you can find books that have stay at home dads, grandparents as the parents, interracial families and books that children can look at and understand about the many cultural differences that surround them each day. In some ways the society is getting more open minded about gender, sexual orientation, and diversity as a whole-but we have a long way to go before it becomes second nature for both adults and children to just enjoy being alive and not worry about what they are playing with or wearing for the day. Once we all become comfortable with ourselves then we can teach children the same (I hope!). <p>

This week we had to read resources dealing with gender identity and sexual orientation and how it relates to early childhood. Does a child being called a “momma’s boy” count in the same category? My son was called this for years by the children in our neighborhood and the school that he went to in Louisiana. My husband was serving overseas and my son was the only boy in the house, but he played with toys that everyone calls boy toys and did everything a person would expect a boy to do and he did help out with chores of all kinds and play with his sister. I found nothing wrong with who he played with, what he played with or how he interacted with other children. Some would say that momma’s boy and sissy are the same but I’m not sure about that. Also at a school I worked at when I first moved to Virginia there was a little boy of three and a half that wanted to play in the dramatic play area with the dolls everyday and some of the boys would laugh at him and didn’t want to play with him outside or in any other centers, he started being really quite and I had to have a class talk about it being okay to play with all the toys no matter what they were. In my classrooms there is no such thing as boy toys or girl toys-they are just toys that everyone can play with. Growing up I remember hearing the term tom boy and thought nothing of it because I played wherever I wanted and didn’t worry about that type of thing (at least not while my parents were alive). I used to love to climb trees and hunt for bugs and even jump off the roof of our house. When children hear comments about what they play with as being girly or a baby toy it can affect their self esteem, and their social skills in regard to being able to socialize with others. This can make it difficult to go to school when the time comes <p>

References: <p>

Course Media: "Start Seeing Diversity: Gender"

 

Course Media: "Start Seeing Diversity: Sexual Orientation"

 

 

Spiegel, A. (2008). Two families grapple with sons' gender identity: Psychologists take radically different approaches in therapy. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2008/05/07/90247842/two-families-grapple-with-sons-gender-preferences

 

Maglaty, J. (2011). When did girls start wearing pink. Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/When-Did-Girls-Start-Wearing-Pink.html

 

 

 

A Final Thank You

I would like to wish every one of my colleagues the best on their continuing journey with Walden and beyond. I have truly enjoyed getting to know so many dedicated professionals since starting this journey in 2008 with my Bachelor's degree. I look forward to meeting many of you at graduation and I hope we keep in touch after we are finally finished!
Again-Best to everyone in your future endeavors!!

Week 6

·         Blog Assignment: Week 6<p>

This week you read about the five stages of team development: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Consider the adjourning phase for several of the groups in which you have been involved. Think about which aspects of the groups made for the hardest good-bye. Are high-performing groups hardest to leave? Groups with the clearest established norms? Which of the groups that you participated in was hardest to leave? Why? What sorts of closing rituals have you experienced or wish you had experienced? How do you imagine that you will adjourn from the group of colleagues you have formed while working on your master's degree in this program? Why is adjourning an essential stage of teamwork? <p>

 

After reading about the five stages of team development this week, I do think that high-performing groups would be the hardest to leave. I say this because when you think about this type of group, it would be a group where the people in most cases have become close and very similar to how a family works together. When I worked for the county as a SACC teacher, I was part of a five person team that I thought was working great together-but all good things must come to an end. I found out that one of the head teachers was taking credit for what the rest of were doing and making it look like she was the only one working, therefore we ended up in a very uncomfortable situation that became too much to handle and three of us decided to make formal complaints and then leave. This was still very hard to leave since we had been working as a cohesive team. This type would probably be hard to leave also because it seems that everyone is pulling their part and have realized how important each member is to the team. So far I think my SACC team was the hardest to leave because of the friendships build and what I thought was a great set of team members that shared ideas and resources. I wish that we had been able to get together away from the worksite and just relax and talk about how much we had learned from each other when it was time to leave. <p>

 

When it comes time to adjourn from the colleagues that I have worked with in at least one class since starting at Walden (received my Bachelors in October 2012) and then continuing on with my Masters degree that we will finish this year, I will say it’s going to be very hard to say good-bye. I have learned so much from everyone and maintained a solid routine over the years by asking what works for others and trying it out for my own use. I am really hoping that I will be able to keep in touch with at least some of my colleagues to see how our goals work out after this part of the learning is done. I know that I will always have questions and hope my new friends will still help me to learn as we continue to grow outside of the classroom/online community. Routines are important and so is closure in all parts of our interactions with others. <p>

Conflicts and Communicating

Blog Week 5<p>

This week we are talking about conflicts and how to work through them without anyone getting hurt or in general how we are dealing with the situation. The conflict that is affecting me and my family currently has to do with my granddaughter’s school. My granddaughter started kindergarten this September and there have been issues from the beginning with not only the teacher, but the principle also. My granddaughter will be six in June, so this makes her the youngest in her old class and new one, the problems started when she was placed in a chair at circle time (because she talks to others), not allowed to have recess most days and not allowed to eat or finish her lunch. Both teachers are telling us she is spitting on children (something she has never done), she is also messing with her classmates papers in some way, we are not saying she is perfect-but the school is telling us that she is misbehaving EVERYDAY! My daughter and I have had meetings with not only the teachers, but the principle and they tell us that she is doing better one day and then horrible the next. The principle has also been caught lying to us about what she said she was going to do with my granddaughter. She told us she was going to take care of the teacher that was labeling my granddaughter as a trouble child and did not. What we are seeing is the school protecting the own and not putting the children’s safety and well-being first (we have talked with other parents with the same type of problems with this school). <p>

I guess what I am trying to say is we have tried to work with the school and stay calm, but no matter what type of strategy we go in with-it doesn’t work. We have tried to be cooperative with the school, but as I said, they say something and do another. We thought after moving her to another kindergarten class thing would be better, but after one week, the emails and bad cards started coming home. My granddaughter is at the point where she does not want to go to school at all! We are educators here-any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as to how we work with this school and get her back to enjoying her learning experience. She is also experiencing bulling from the children that are in both her classes (present and old), most of the children in her classes are 7 or almost seven-to me this is too old to be in kindergarten! Is this the new norm? To keep your child out of school until they are this old? We are running out of options and are now thinking about homeschooling her.<p>