Final Blog Assignment

Final Blog Assignment

I wish continued success for all of my colleagues. I have learned so much and have grown professionally because of what you have shared throughout the course of the term. Well I have learned that a consequence can be a negative and or a positive…with that said, one consequence I have learned about the field of international early childhood is that professionals from the United States and from abroad both share in the inequalities of early childhood and struggle to provide an equal education to all….another consequence is they way politicians fail to see the bigger picture and invest in youth….and finally I have learned that another consequence to working in the field of early childhood can push educators into taking roles they didn’t necessarily plan on taking i.e., becoming a resource,  an advocate and ect…

One goal I have as it relates to the field of international awareness is to try and unite with educators from abroad and listen to what does and does not work for them and form a community within my district so that we can modify some of our findings so that they apply appropriately to the students and families within the community I work in so that we can work towards children having an equal education and access to the resources that can provide a better quality of life.

Nicky

Blog Assignment: Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

Blog Assignment: Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

As an early childhood educator, living in the state of New Jersey, I have learned that the opportunities for being an educator in general are very difficult due to budget cuts and tenure. As a result of these budget cuts, thousands of highly qualified teachers were laid off. As a teacher who was laid off last year because of tenure/seniority, I was upset and angry because I knew that I was and still am very passionate about teaching and I truly have a love for watching children progress in their learning and want very deeply to be a part of their successes. And I knew that there were many teachers still working but literally said they had enough with the field of education, and that they were going to miss months of work to use up all of their sick time before they retired. It is this behavior that disturbs me as both a  parent and an educator, and it leaves me with the question as to what message are we sending to new college graduates and novice teacher who have the passion and a.re effective but lack the years of experience.

In the district that I work in, we are required to obtain 500 professional development hours and attain them within two years, and develop a professional development plan in which we set our own professional development goals and we must work towards those goals and achieve it within four years. As an educator, we are life learners, so I think it is appropriate for use to continue to interact with our colleagues, and attend workshops which covers various topics that enhances us as teachers.

As a professional working in an urban district, I have learned that one of my challenges is getting the at home support I need from families. For example, if a child is having behavioral and or academic problems, I want to be able to work with the parents/families so that the child knows that we are a team and we are working together to ensure their success. However, I have learned it is very difficult to get many parents to come out to back to school night, and for parent teacher conferences. One of my dreams is to have families more involved in their child’s education and take the time to get to know me and what I expect of their child and if those expectations aren’t being met, I would love for us to be able to work collaboratively and keep the lines of communication open via e-mail, phone, letters and ect…

Some of my professional goals are to continue to attend workshops so that I can continue to learn my craft and be informed of new trends in education and how they may impact student’s life. Another professional goal of mine is to open up my own daycare center, and as a kindergarten teacher, I know what parents want to see, and as an educator, I know what children need, and it is the love that I have for teaching that motivates me to pursue my goals.

Nicky

blog 5 Blog Assignment: Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

Blog Assignment: Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

For the sake of this blog assignment, I read and explored http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative. I learned so much after exploring this website, but I will only focus on three new ideas/ insights I gained about early childhood systems around the globe.

For example, according to  http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative,The mission of the FOI initiative is to produce transformational thinking about how to enhance human potential by supporting the healthy development of young children, with a particular focus on disadvantaged children and families. The work of the FOI initiative is centered on two core priorities: (1) forging cross-sector connections that foster new, innovative interventions and fresh thinking to significantly increase the impact of current early childhood programming and (2) accelerating innovation through a small portfolio of committed “Idea Groups” working in partnership with a cluster of community-based demonstration sites and state policy collaborations to develop, implement, and test new intervention models and innovative policy ideas.   I am happy to hear that there are programs around the world that focuses on the well being of children of early childhood age so that they can have a healthy start at life.

Another insight I gained was in regards to early childhood development and to educate the leadership of key international agencies. If leadership have a better insight of early childhood development, then they can be more objective in the way programs are developed, and carried out.

Finally I learned that a priority has been made to generate and apply new knowledge to address the health and developmental needs of young children in a variety of settings that include various stages of planning, fundraising, and implementation of the following:

• Assessing quality in early childhood environments and programs in diverse global contexts;
• Piloting assessments to measure child development outcomes linked to malaria control strategies in Zambia; and
• Expanding effective interventions to improve preschool quality in Chile.

As an advocate of early childhood, I am happy to see that countries across the world are doing their part in trying to ensure the overall development and well being of children so that they can grow into productive citizens.

Reference:

 http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative.

Nicky

Sharing Web Resources

Blog Assignment: Sharing Web Resources

The website of the early childhood organization/ news letter I selected is http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/every_child_magazine/every_child_index/about_bullying.html.  I followed one link that stood out to me because it is a major issue for my state which is bullying.

According to the website, bullying occurs when one child or a group of children deliberately hurt or pick on another child. ‘Children who are bullied will feel sad, alone and frightened, and can lose their confidence for learning and playing with others. Children who bully may feel temporarily important or popular but bullying is likely to be a symptom of feeling isolated, afraid and not good enough’ (Dolby, 2010, p.4). Both children need help from protective adults.

One solution to this problem is for adults to always listen to children and acknowledge their feelings and to educate our youth by providing them with strategies on how to direct their anger, and their need to feel accepted/self worth.

If a child tells you that another child is hurting them or won’t let them join in play, always listen and be curious about what has happened. Show that you understand how the child feels.

‘Thank you for telling me, now I understand why you have been upset and haven’t wanted to go to school.’

 As educators, we need to provide an ear to our students and make them feel safe and know that it is ok to discuss their feelings; for some children talking to an adult outside of the home is more beneficial than speaking to someone inside of the home and we need to make ourselves available so that each child knows that school is a safe loving and nurturing environment.

This website/newsletter has also provided me with information to assist me in being empathetic to the diverse social/academic needs of students.

Reference:

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

Nicky