Sharing Web Resources

The organization I chose is The National Association of the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The organization works to promote high-quality early learning for all young children from birth to age 8, by connecting practice, policy and research. The vision for the NAEYC is all young children thrive and learn in a society dedicated to ensuring that children reach their full potential. A current issue/trend that caught my eye is that they had Tips for Welcoming dual-language learners on it's site. Some things educators can do just to name a few is to create a welcoming environment in the classroom for the children and their families. Make sure we stock shelves with books from different cultures and ask families to bring photos of children and share some things that interest the child. Also in the class you can play music from their cultures.

Establishing Professionl Contacts

This week I have tried to establish contact with other professionals around the world. Although I haven't heard anything back from anyone I'm still hopeful I will get some emails back soon. The steps I took for establishing contact was I went to the blog resources for the week and started from the top and started reading then I sent 4 different people an email. Since I hadn't heard back from anyone I decided to listen to the radio podcast but of course I wasn't able to; so I went on the website for Save the Children which is a U.S. based non-profit organization working on behalf of children worldwide. While on the website I saw that you can sponsor a child in or outside the United States the cost is $30 a month. The website shows a picture of the child and age. The money given to the organization help change lives of children around the world. They provide programs that focus on early childhood development, health, nutrition, as well as primary education. I saw and read some real live testimonials from sponsors. In 2015 there promise of 87% of al money went toward programs. Save the children help over 120 countries.

"My Supports"

Factors in my daily environment that support me is first and foremost God, my family, a favorite cousin, my church family, friends and co-workers. God created man in his own image, he created male and female. He created me and I'm thankful daily for everything I have in life. When I need support I read my Bible because it helps and comforts me. My family, supports me in everything I do, they encourage me to do whatever my heart desires. They not only encourage me but they care for me, help me with anything I need, understand what I'm going through and when I feel unsure about anything they reassure me.  I have two daughters one who is 27 and a 10 year old. Believe it or not  when I decided to go back to school they both were so happy and excited for me they said you can do this, you were born for this. My cousin who is also a very special friend always encourages me to keep going and not to give up on things I've started; she tells me all the time how smart I am and she's proud of me. It makes me feel so good to hear her say those things and we've been through so much together she's more like a sister to me. I have a guy friend who is always praying for me and he tells me I was born to inspire and teach the future. I thank him all the time and he tells me no need to thank me just make me proud like your already doing. The church family I have offer spiritual guidance to me, they support me and guide, pray with me. I have co-workers who support me in doing a great job they show me things I don't know and when I need help with anything concerning my job they are always there. Everyone has an impact on my life daily and I'm forever grateful.

My Connections to Play

     "Play is our brain's favorite way of learning"-Unknown-               

 

 

"Play builds the kind of free-and-easy, try-it-out, do-it-yourself character that our future needs" -James L. Hymes Jr.-

 

When I grew up in the 70's play was something we did on a regular basis. I learned so much by simply playing. I became a little creative child drawing things I saw outside, I loved riding my big wheel pretending it was a car. I can recall me and some of my cousins riding them to the park down the street from where we lived to race around the track. Sometimes I would take my doll, and pack up my tea set with some water in a mason jar to have a tea party at the park. We pretended to be at fancy places where rich people went to have tea. Those days were so special and the difference in play then and play now is that we could actually go without an adult because everyone knew each other and if we did anything wrong the neighbors would tell our parents or spanked us themselves. My parents and grandparents encouraged us to go outside while they cleaned the house and cooked; we wasn't allowed in the kitchen while food was being prepared. The other difference is that now so many children stay inside instead of playing because technology has taken over with video games coming out with new games monthly, facebook, instagram, snapchat is like the gossip channel. Children at a young age have set up all these accounts to see what their friends are talking about and posting all sorts of pictures often. Technology also has to be monitored because there are some predators out there who will send messages to children girl or boy to see if they can get a response. Throughout my life play has made me who I am today, I've learned so much from playing, I know how to pretend by changing my voice to be someone else; I taught myself how to ride a big wheel and bicycle. While playing with dolls I learned how to change clothes and comb hair. On the sketch pad I learned how to spell because I would practice writing sentences and spell different words. Jacks was how I started counting fast, adding, subtracting all from throwing a ball up in the air while grabbing one then to jacks at a time and so on until I picked up all the jacks without touching another one. Play has been a try it out, do it yourself part of my entire life. In order to learn to do something we try it out first and then soon it can be done by yourself without anyone's assistance. Play lets you be free to build, grow, develop and learn all those wonderful things that will be essential in your day to day life. 

 

Relationship Reflection

We define relationships as the way in which two or more concepts, objects or people are connected; or the state of being connected. Relationships are very important to me because they have helped me become the person that I am today. In life we come across so many people who bring something to our lives some positive and some may be negative. We take life experiences and learn from them all good or bad. The relationship I have with my daughters are like no other one, I have not only taught them but I've shown them how a woman is suppose to carry herself. I talk to them about life issues that could possibly have an affect on them. I want them to always know that I'm there for them through everything life throws at them. We pray together and that's how I raised them and I'm sure they will do the same when they have children. Communication is very important in relationships, how can someone know what you are dealing with and feeling if you don't tell them. Challenges come in relationships when there is a disagreement or difference of opinion on a particular subject. In order to maintain a healthy relationship we should be respectful of other peoples opinions and feelings on a certain subject matter.

 The relationship I have with my cousin is awesome. Whenever I call her without any hesitation she come. If anything happen in the family she is always there and she doesn't complain about being there. She always ask if I need her to do anything for me. I talk to her everyday about something that may be going one and she calls me to ask my personal opinion or what I think about something. Our relationship has stood the test of time.

 I've known my friend for over 20 years and she's so compassionate and caring. This lady will give you  her absolute last. Over the years I never asked her for anything but somehow she knew if I needed something. This is true definition of sisterhood, she has held my hand through so much in my life including my marriage and divorce.

 Last but definitely not least my bff Guadalupe Hilliard has been the true definition of the word friend. Our relationship started when we both started working for Head Start. We ended up going to the same center location and have been friends every since. She has been my reason for staying at Head Start because she has helped me when no one else would. She's shown me things I never knew how to do because she has many years of experience in working with children. I can recall a day when I was told my room wasn't kid friendly, this was my first year teaching and they wasn't trying to show me how to get it kid friendly. Well Ms. Hilliard stayed after she was already off the clock and helped me move furniture around. I was so frustrated I wanted to go back to working at the bank she talked me into staying. I thank God for allowing us to cross paths because we have a great relationship.

                                                        A Child without education,
                                                        is like a bird without wings.
                                                          ~~~ Tibetan Proverb~~~

Testing

I have no problem with testing but I believe that so many test make children stressed and nervous. I feel if the child is passing all of their classes that’s measurement enough because they are retaining information and using that information. There are so many different test that are required for assessing and measuring children. I can remember my oldest daughter would be sweating bullets before she went to school on test day. I would try everything to calm her down and nothing worked, she got butterflies and would feel nauseous. I think the test measures the child’s mind but the whole child has to be looked at. All children are different and should be treated as such. A child can be a straight A student but clam up on test day and does not do well on the test at all. Does this mean the child is a failure because they did poorly on standardized test? Most schools use standardized test to see what the child has learned academically.

International comparisons as well as disparities within the United States led to passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, a federal law promoting high national standards for public schools (Berger, 2016). On December 10, 2015 the NCLB Act was replaced with Every Student Succeed Act (ESSA) this was to help reduce the amount of standardized testing. Earlier  this year my daughters school had a parent meeting for parents of 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th grade students. In the past when my oldest daughter was in 4^th grade students had to pass the test with a certain percentage as well as pass all classes or they would not be promoted to 5^th grade. Fast forward to now in the meeting we were told that the test is not a pass or fail test anymore so as long as your child pass their classes they will not be required to pass test in order to be promoted to the next grade. This took the stress level down for so many parents and I was one of those parents. The standardized test children are taking now in 4the grade is to assess the student, and the teacher who is teaching the student. They want to know what is the child learning by being taught by that particular teacher and the school receives a score as well. Before we got out for summer break my center manager told the staff that now for the upcoming school year when the classroom is being observed instead of receiving a number grade we will get a letter grade from A to F and the center will receive a grade instead of stars.  

In Germany they don’t penalize children for poor performance and they do not make school level test scores public like the United States does. Germany’s reform efforts included the creation of national standards and standard based test for students in grades 3-8, which sounds like the U.S. approach (www.theatlantic). Germany have test called OECD and since 2000 the test scores have increased dramatically. Germany ranks 20^th for math proficiency, the U.S. ranks 49^th behind Turkey. Are these test really needed if the child pass all classes and the teachers knows the child understands all information that was discussed in class the entire school year? If a teacher knows the child can do the work, and can actually do it with little or no help then why test children on standardized test.

 

References

Berger, K.S. (2016). The Developing Person through Childhood (7^th ed.) New York, NY: Worth Publishers

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/11/great-german-scool-turnaround/413806/