Additional Course References II

Friedrich Froebel: It was very interesting that he founded his own school and had the school be focused on kindergarten.  I knew that Froebel was a great contributor to the field of early childhood education, but I did not know that he had this much of an impact on early childhood education.  
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/pioneers-our-field-friedrich-froebel-founder-first-kindergarten


This resource gives all individuals information on the early childhood field.  Talks about and gives details on the different programs that are associated with early childhood, not only for educators, but also for the parents or families of the children. 
http://www2.ed.gov/parents/earlychild/ready/resources.html


I never knew how much of an impact the younger years had on a student, but this website focuses on the impact of studies done in the earlychildhood field.  
http://www.nea.org/home/18163.htm

Course Resources I

Part 1: Position Statements and Influential Practices

• NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://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, fromhttp://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, fromhttp://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, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/snap33.pdf
  
  Note: The following article can be found in the Walden University Library databases.
• 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.
  Use the Academic Search Complete database, and search using the article's title.

Part 2: Global Support for Children's Rights and Well-Being

Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf

Websites:

• World Forum Foundation
  http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us
  This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. Make sure to watch the media segment on this webpage
• World Organization for Early Childhood Education
  http://www.omep-usnc.org/
  Read about OMEP's mission.
• Association for Childhood Education International
  http://acei.org/
  Click on "Mission/Vision" and "Guiding Principles and Beliefs" and read these statement.

Part 3: Selected Early Childhood Organizations

• National Association for the Education of Young Children
  http://www.naeyc.org/
• The Division for Early Childhood
  http://www.dec-sped.org/
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
  http://www.zerotothree.org/
• WESTED
  http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm
• Harvard Education Letter
  http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85
• FPG Child Development Institute
  http://www.fpg.unc.edu/
• Administration for Children and Families Headstart's National Research Conference
  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/
• HighScope
  http://www.highscope.org/
• Children's Defense Fund
  http://www.childrensdefense.org/
• Center for Child Care Workforce
  http://www.ccw.org/
• Council for Exceptional Children
  http://www.cec.sped.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
• Institute for Women's Policy Research
  http://www.iwpr.org/
• National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
  http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/
• National Child Care Association
  http://www.nccanet.org/
• National Institute for Early Education Research
  http://nieer.org/
• Pre[K]Now
  http://www.pewstates.org/projects/pre-k-now-328067
• Voices for America's Children
  http://www.voices.org/
• The Erikson Institute
  http://www.erikson.edu/

Part 4: Selected Professional Journals Available in the Walden Library

Tip: Use the A-to-Z e-journal list to search for specific journal titles. (Go to "How Do I...?", select "Tips for Specific Formats and Resources," and then "e-journals" to find this search interface.)

• YC Young Children
• Childhood
• Journal of Child & Family Studies
• Child Study Journal
• Multicultural Education
• Early Childhood Education Journal
• Journal of Early Childhood Research
• International Journal of Early Childhood
• Early Childhood Research Quarterly
• Developmental Psychology
• Social Studies
• Maternal & Child Health Journal
• International Journal of Early Years Education

Famous Inspirational Quotes

I always love searching for quotes, especially quotes that relate to young children and education.  The following few quotes are a few quotes that I found very interesting by Lev Vygotsky and Urie Bronfenbrenner.  

“The child begins to practice with respect to himself the same forms of behavior that others formerly practiced with respect to him.”  -Lev Vygotsky

This quote is very true because a child will grow and learn act according to the environment that they grow up in.  

"It may be said that the basic characteristic of human behavior in general is that humans personally influence their relations with the environment and through that environment personally change their behavior, subjugating it to their control."  - Lev Vygotsky, Mind in Society

"No society can long sustain itself unless its members have learned the sensitivities, motivations and skills involved in assisting and caring for other human beings." -Urie Bronfenbrenner

"The primary danger of the television screen lies not so much in the behavior it produces as the behavior it prevents-the talks, the games, the family activities and the arguments through which much of the child's learning takes place and his character is formed."  -Urie Bronfenbrenner

I absolutely love this quote.  We need to stop letting the children in this world watch so much television at a young age.  What they watch on television they learn from and they think everything they see on television is okay.  Along with Urie, we need to spend more time teaching and working with children on the basic skills and important things in life than letting them sit in front of the TV for hours at a time.  

· "I wanted to be a teacher because I had a built in passion that was important to make a real contribution in the world and fix all the injustices in the world."  -Louise Derman-Sparks

·     "We as professionals in the early childhood field have an opportunity to shape a child’s life for the better,and that’s what makes me passionate about this field."  -Sandy Escobido

Personal Childhood Web

Mom- My mother is a high school math teacher in DeWitt, Michigan.  She has been a teacher there for nearing 30 years.  My mother has and will always be my best friend.  I was going through a tough time my freshman year in high school.  I did not have very many friends in high school because I was very shy and tended to keep to myself.  My mom was always the first person that I would go to and talk to about anything.  I am a very smart individual, which my mother knew.  She encouraged me to get involved with a sport or activity in high school, in which I did end up joining the cheerleading squad.  I was on the Varsity cheerleading team for four years and made some of the best friends, in which I still talk to today.  She influenced me from the time I started kindergarten to now to be the best I can be, and that will lead me a successful life.  My mom nurtured me throughout my entire life and still to this day.  I did not have a job until summer after my senior year in high school.  She would always nurture me by giving me money whenever I wanted to hang out with friends or whenever it was needed.  My mother and my father supported or nurtured me throughout my college experience, which was very helpful because I do not have any loans that I have to pay back.  Whenever my mom would come home from school, she would always have stories to share about her students, whether they were good or bad stories.  She would also have tests that I would help her grade.  Hearing these stories and knowing the impact that she had on each of her students is one of the main reasons I chose teaching as my profession.  To this day, my mom still impacts me and supports me whenever I am in need.  My mom and dad are helping me pay to get my Masters, giving me a house to live in until I get my own teaching job and help me whenever I need the help.  If it was not for my mom, I would not be the person I am today.  She always tells me, "Everything happens for a reason."  And "good things happen to those who wait."  I love my mom with all my heart.  

Mrs. Hyde-  Mrs. Hyde was my host teacher when I was doing my student teaching.  Before I went into my student teaching experience, I had only been in an actual classroom a few times and taught a few lessons.  Mrs. Hyde is a 3rd grade teacher at Scot School in DeWitt, Michigan.  Throughout my 16-week student teaching experience, I was only supposed to teach 12 of the weeks.  She made me teach from day two of walking into the classroom.  This was a very scary but exciting experience for me.  The first day after the students left, she handed me all of the teacher books that I needed for my entire student teaching experience and told me that the classroom was mine.  Mrs. Hyde has influenced my life allowing me to take over her classroom for half a year and develop a strong relationship with each of the students.  She was always there for me when I asked her for advice or ways to make my teaching stronger.  I made a lesson plan for each day of the 16 weeks so I knew what I had to teach.  Every week I would make a copy of that weeks lesson plans and give her a copy.  Still to this day, she says that she uses those lesson plans, just modifies them a little bit.  She has showed me that she cared for me by throwing me a surprise party the last day of my student teaching.  She had the kids make me a quilt and each of the students' squares had their own note to me, and I got several other small gifts and gift cards from them.  She always commented on how good I was doing teaching our class, which made me feel very special.  To this day, I am still close with Mrs. Hyde and I am always the first one she calls to substitute teach for her class.  She will always be a reference and someone I can go to with teaching questions once I finally have my own teaching job.  

Lily- Lily is my best friend and we would do anything for each other.  I went to high school with her, in which we had our disagreements every once in a while, but we were always there for each other.  The last year we have grown a lot closer.  I recently was going through a very tough time in my life, and she always knew what to say to help cheer me up.  She always goes out of her way to show me that she cares.  She made me feel special by missing work one day to make sure I was doing okay.  To this day, she is the only person that knows me inside and out and does not judge me or any of my decisions.  


Mrs. Moule- Mrs. Moule was my 2nd grade teacher and is still my favorite teacher to this day.  She told me when I was little that she had faith in me that I was going to be very successful in life if I set my mind to it.  When I was in second grade, I was advanced in math and writing, but I struggled severely with reading comprehension.  I remember in the second grade that I just wanted to give up and drop out of school.  She worked with me after school every other day on my reading comprehension skills, and they slowly started to increase.  She nurtured me by showing me the support that I needed outside of school to succeed.  She still calls me to this day every once in a while to see how I am doing and what I am doing in my life.  At this time in my life, she impacts my life by calling me every time she hears about a teaching job that opens.  She also puts in a good word for me when there are teaching jobs that open.  And also whenever her or any of the other teachers at the school she teaches at, she always give them my name to call.  This shows me that they think I am a great teacher and can trust me with their students.

Grandparents- My mom's parents are like my second parents.  When I was in elementary school, they would come over to my house every morning and watch me get on the bus.  This made me feel very special that it meant a lot to them to see me go to school.  They were also at my house every day when I got home from school to see me get off the bus and they would both give me a huge hug when I got off the bus.  My grandpa used to have his own air plane, and he would take me and my sister for a ride in the airplane and he would let us make the "all clear" signal for the plane to take off.  As a child, if my mom or dad was not able to help me on my homework, my grandparents would always be willing to help.  They nurtured and cared for me by being there at every important event: dance recitals, piano recitals, cheerleading competitions, college graduation, my high school open house and many more.  They make me feel special by when I have important events in my life, they always call and ask how it went.  They try to get involved in my life as much as possible.  This helps me to know that I have a great support system that I know I can depend on at any time.  My grandparents have been married for over 50 years and that also shows me and makes me believe that marriages can last and to know what happiness and love really is!

 

This is a picture of me on my second birthday!  Of course we had to end my birthday celebration with cake, how else?  Aren't I just too cute?!?!

I did my student teaching in a third grade classroom in DeWitt, Michigan.  This is a picture that one of my students gave to me at the end of the day one day.  It doesn't say much, she wrote that I was "Number one and the best student teacher!"  It is amazing how such little words can mean so much!  This is why I know that I went into the right profession!  So the reason that I chose this picture is because it shows that I have made an impact on her life and have been successful at showing that I care about her more than just school.

This book is my absolute favorite children's book.  If you have not read this book yet, I would highly suggest reading it.  This book is about a little fish, pictured above that does not really have any friends.  His only friend is an octopus.  When a few other fish ask for one of his shiny scales, he will not give them away until he goes to talk to octopus.  After talking to octopus, he finally gives out a scale to several fish in the water with him and he felt overjoyed.  When I was a little kid, this was my first book that I had gotten and I still have it to this day!  I am sure many kids now a days have either heard of or read this book.  

Throughout my student teaching and subbing experience, I have encountered many stories that have touched me, but there is one that sticks out the most.  Throughout my student teaching experience, one of my students had been held back in the 3rd grade two times.  He struggled since the beginning of the year and his grandparents had responsibility of him.  I reached out to his grandparents and asked them if I could give him some one-on-one help two days of the week, which they agreed too.  I worked with him an hour after school for the two days on math, science, fluency and comprehension when reading.  Every day as the semester continued, I started to see small improvements.  I tutored him all year and kept constant communication with his grandparents.  He was able to go onto fourth grade at the end of the year.  I got a phone call from his grandparents in the middle of the summer and they said that they could not thank me enough for what I did for him and them.  Every time I see him at his school when I sub, he always runs up to me and gives me a hug and always tells me that I am the best and that I helped him a lot.  This story makes me tear up, just knowing that spending that little bit of extra time with one kid can go a long way and not only impact him, but their family and others around.  

Week 2

I hope everyone had a great first week of this class and a great weekend!!  Onto week two, only six more to go!!  Let's continue this great communication that we seem to be having so far!  I am so excited to be back in school, it sounds stupid, but it's true!  I can't wait to get my own classroom!

Happy November!!

Good afternoon everyone!  I hope that everyone had a great Halloween!  Well it's into November now, and I should be getting snow sometime this month.  Not looking forward to that!  Hope everyone is doing well!  On to week two of our class!!