"Thank You"

I would like to take the time to say thank you to each and every one of you for sharing your wisdom and experiences. I have read discussions, blog post as well as comments you all have posted for the last 8 weeks. They have been informative and appreciated so much and I can truly say I have learned something from reading your post. As we all continue at Walden University I wish you all continued success. I’m fairly new in the early childhood field but I must say I have figured out my purpose through my passion for children.

 

“If you can’t figure out your purpose figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you right into your purpose.” ~Bishop T.D. Jakes~

Examining Codes of Ethics

Examining Codes of Ethics

The code of ethics I chose this week that I found meaningful to me are the following from the NAEYC and DEC code of ethics articles:

Taken from the DEC Code of Ethics:

*We shall demonstrate the highest standards of personal integrity, truthfulness, and honesty in all our professional activities in order to inspire the trust and confidence of the children and families of those with whom we work.

From Professional Collaboration:

*We shall honor and respect the diverse backgrounds of our colleagues including such diverse characteristics as sexual orientation, race, national origin, religious beliefs, or other affiliations.

From Enhancement of Children’s and Families Quality of Lives:

*We shall recognize our responsibility to improve the developmental outcomes of children and to provide services and supports in a fair and equitable manner to all families and children.

These were meaningful because as an educator I must always demonstrate the highest integrity and remain professional at all times. Professional development is viewed and valued as an ongoing process guided by high standards and competencies for professional performance and practice (www.dec-sped.org). I treat children and parents with respect and not judge anyone by their socioeconomic status, race, religious beliefs, or color because those things have nothing to do with the child’s development, learning ability and how I teach. Children’s families play an important role in their lives, when they are involved the child does well in school once they leave early childhood schools. I have to do what’s best for the children and their families. Getting families involved more is near and dear to me. For some reason some parents of early childhood students where I teach are not very involved. I send letters home, do conferences and make phone calls. I’ve been working on different ways to get more parental involvement. I always give families support and much needed information, if I don’t have answers for questions they may have I find someone who have those answers. In order for me to be an effective teacher who gives her all I must do all of these things, I have to know my responsibility is the children in my classroom and I have to remain professional at all times and provide services and support to families.

Taken from NAEYC Code of Ethics:

*To be familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continuing education and training.

*We shall involve the family in significant decisions affecting their child.

*To use assessment information to understand and support children’s development and learning, to support instruction, and to identify children who may need additional services.

The reason why I decided to enroll in school to get my Master’s Degree is because I wanted to gain more knowledge about early childhood, I wanted to make sure I’m up to date on anything that may have changed since I graduated about 4 years ago. I also attend conferences and education training provided by the company I work for, this way I gain knowledge and get new information that I can use to become a better teacher. I like getting suggestions from veteran educators who has been exactly where I am today. One day I will be that veteran teacher who can offer suggestions, ideas and useful information to new teachers. I can be a mentor to someone starting out. I inform families in all decision affecting their child, I also make sure they are present for meetings discussing their children. We are responsible for nurturing children and supporting them in the classroom. Our paramount responsibility is to provide care and education in settings that are safe, healthy, nurturing, and responsive to each child (www.naeyc.org).  My professional life is important to me because I’ve worked so hard to get where I am today. I have to use any and all information needed in order to support children along with their families so that they get the best quality services and are prepared for school. Whenever additional services are needed I provide that to families, when things are happening in the community I also provide that information. When everyone come together and work together for the sake of the child it provides a positive outcome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

 The Division for Early Childhood. (2000, August). Code of ethics. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.dec-sped.org/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Course Resource Section for Early Childhood:Things You May Find Helpful

Resources for the week:

NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap

NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf

NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf

NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf

NAEYC. (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf

NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf

Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller

FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, N . 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://community.fpg.unc.edu/sites/community.fpg.unc.edu/files/imce/documents/FPG_Snapshot_N33_EvidenceBasedPractice_09-2006.pdf

Turnbull, A., Zuna, N., Hong, J. Y., Hu, X., Kyzar, K., Obremski, S., et al. (2010). Knowledge-to-action guides. Teaching Exceptional Children, 42(3), 42-53.

Three additional resources:



 

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ecd/interagency-projects/eccw-partnerships

http://louisianabelieves.com/early-childhood

“Managing An Early Childhood Classroom” By: Wendy Koza—This book have suggestions for classroom management, ideas for maximizing space in the class, short/long term planning and recommendations for children’s growth and development. The book is very teacher friendly it has templates, patterns, and ready to use lessons.

 

Words of Inspiration and Motivation

Quotes from the two people I chose for this week’s discussion:

“In the good years, work very hard to win everything that’s possibly winnable. In the bad year’s work just as hard to keep your losses to a minimum. There are good times, and there are bad times, but you have to stay in the game.” ~Edward Zigler, PhD.~

“So I have a built-in empathy for poor children as well as a deep belief  based on my own life, that just because you’re poor that doesn’t mean you’re inadequate.” ~Edward Zigler, PhD.~

“The effects of a father’s participation for change of behavior on a child or family; or the ways in which these effects on fathers, children, families are threaded together to enable men to become positively involved with their children, mother of their children and families in general.” ~Aisha Ray, PhD.

 

Quotes about passion, motivation, and wisdom from the 5 professionals in the media segment watched during week 2:

“My passion now is as great as it was maybe even greater, because I have seen the wonderful impact that using what I call an Anti-Bias approach has had on not just the teachers, but on the children who have to figure out who they are and understand themselves and uncover their own discomforts and misinformation; my passion to create a safer more just world is there, and I suppose it will be there until the day I die----maybe even after.” ~Louise Derman-Sparks~

“We are professionals in the Early Childhood field have an opportunity to shape a child’s life for the better.” ~Sandy Escobido~

“I think my passion comes from wanting to make a difference.” ~Raymond Hernadez MSEd.~

“I see early childhood education, all education as a civil rights issue.” ~Renatta Cooper~

“At a very young age I realized families need support.” ~Leticia Lara LCSW~

Personal Childhood Web

 This week after watching the video about Mahaley and the nine people in her life I realized all of them want the same thing for her, for her to be happy. They all supported, nurtured and loved her. All of them represented Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory of development because they gave her a stable environment along with loving her. In life we have people who surround us daily who have an impact on our lives. When I was a child the people who cared about me, loved and nurtured me are the following people:

My Mother

 

When I was a child I remember my mother always showing me how to do things, she would always say you need to know this for when you get older. She also showed me how to save money. Her motto was buy what you need, not what you want and save the rest. I was always hugged by her, she would rub my back sometimes until I went to sleep. I get my work ethic from her, she went to work regardless of how she felt and she loved what she did. I am who I am today because of her. My mom would always tell me she want me to live a long happy life.

My Father

When I was a child my father taught me everything I learned and needed to know because he was a school teacher. He would tell me to always remember to continue with my education because knowledge is power. He would always tell me so many stories of when he was in the Air Force, I hung on to his every word. His stories were so awesome and he was a great story teller. He taught me how to work hard for what I want in life. If I ever needed an answer to something I could call him and he would surely know the answer. I joked with him about being a human encyclopedia as well as a CNN news reporter. He’s the smartest man I know. When I got older we were so close. My father passed away a couple years ago and there’s not a day that goes by I don’t wish I could just talk to him one more time. He taught me so much about life and how to live a happy productive life. My father told me he wanted me to have things he only dreamed of growing up, he wanted me to be happy. He also told me to go to school when I was young because he had to wait until he was grown with a family before he was able to go to college and obtain a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary education. He eventually switched careers and retired from the Post Office.

My Second Grade Teacher—Mrs. Sanders

When I was in second grade my teacher Mrs. Sanders showed me so much love and support that I would go back every year to see her. I had a speech problem when I was in her class and she would work with me on pronouncing them. I hated to read because of it but after a while I was excited about reading because she worked with me and I also started receiving speech at school. Mrs. Sanders would always tell me how much she loved and cared about me. I loved going to school just to see Mrs. Sanders and I knew she was going to give me those big hugs. She told me I could be anything I wanted to be when I got older and not to ever let anyone talk me out of doing what I loved to do.

My Childhood Friend—Helen Mitchell

I had a childhood best friend who treated me more like her sister than a friend. We walked to school daily and played when we got home from school. Helen had 3 younger sisters and I loved going to her house. Her mom would invite me over for dinner and she would let us help her cook dinner sometimes. Helen was always so nice and sweet to me, she showed me what being a friend is all about.

All of the following people nurtured me and showed me the real meaning of genuine unconditional love. They are the reason I’m the woman I am today because of the knowledge I’ve gained; I know how to treat people, work hard and love people because of how they loved me.

 

 

 

Happy Me

I'm at a happy place in my life. I've been given another chance to do something else. Sometimes we forget how thankful we are. This is the day that the Lord has made I'm going to rejoice and be glad in it..................