Week 8 Reflection

I cannot believe that the past eight weeks have flown by!  I have learned so much about communication and have noticed that I have attempted to change the way I communicate.  By changing, I mean that I try to offer more nonverbal communication.  Also, I learned about the importance of collaboration.  When seeing a group meeting, I now pay more attention to the collaboration and the effectiveness of the group meeting.

I have really enjoyed having another class with my fellow classmates.  A lot of you have been in classes with me before!  I look forward to having another class with you all!  Keep up the great work and I know with the hard work and dedication, everyone will achieve their goals!

5 stages of team development

This week, we learned about five stages of team development.  The five stages are: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning.  The first stage, forming, is: "in this first meeting, team members are introduced to each.  They share information about their backgrounds, interests and experience and form first impressions of each other." (Abudi, 2010).  This stage is where goals and responsibilities are set for each individual without really knowing each other. 

Storming is: "the team members compete with each other for status and for acceptance of their ideas." (Abudi, 2010).  In this stage, this is where most of the conflict and problems are caused.  Each of the individuals in your group will most likely think or belief something else.  It is about how you deal with these problems that will allow your group to "make it or break it".  The next step is norming.  In the norming stage, the individuals in the group are slowly starting to work together and coming up with an answer or solution to the problem.  This stage is where the team leader starts to take less responsibilities and puts the responsibilities on the group members. 

The performing stage is performing, which include: "teams are functioning at a very high level." (Abudi, 2010).  This means that everyone in the group works together as a group to achieve the goals.  The last stage of team development is adjourning.  In adjourning, each individual is going about their own way and looking at the success of the solution and problem in the long run. 

When thinking about the adjourning stage in the cases that I have been involved in, there were several instances that made it hard to say good-bye.  After working together for so long, my third grade team developed several good ideas and we had a system in place for solving problems.  This made it hard to work with a new group when we had such a good system down.  High-performing groups are the hardest to leave.  This is because once you get comfortable with each other and consider everyone else's beliefs, the act of getting a lot done is high.  If there are clear norms and goals that need to be completed, it allows for a schedule and deadline that will help for success later on in the process. 

Working with my colleagues in my masters, I will try to communicate after the class to the best of my ability.  We all know what we are going through and learning, therefore if there are problems that I encounter, I will make sure to communicate to get the help that I need.  Adjourning is an essential stage because it is important to say good-bye and end the group work after spending time and sharing ideas with the group that you work in.

References:
Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

Disagreements

Throughout my life, I handle situations with different individuals different want.  Throughout my education experience, there is always going to be disagreements or arguments.  It is the way that you handle these situations that either hurts or helps the situation.  One of the disagreements would be with a fellow 3rd grade teacher.  As a third grade team, we sit down and discuss the order or what we are going to teach our students so we stay on the same pace.  She thought that it would be best if we teach a certain topic and I disagreed on teaching that same topic.  It was math related.  One strategy that I learned that would help me is to talk out the problem.  Talking out the problem will allow for a positive communication between the two of us.  It will also help the problem to get resolved at a quicker pace if you talk it out and provide several examples to back up your decision.  The second solution that I learned is one of the R's.  The second strategy is respect.  It is important to respect their decision and understand that she has been teaching longer than I have.  Therefore, she has more experience than I do when it comes to planning the lesson plans.

When asking my fellow 3rd grade co-worker, she stated that she listens to what everyone has to say and evaluates each of the reasons that are provided.  Once she has listens to all of the examples, she gets input from other individuals that have more experience and then collaborates with them and brings the information back to us to discuss.

Who Am I as a Communicator?

This week was very interesting to learn about where I am ranked in regards to the tests that were provided.  I related more to the way my mother felt about how I was in my communication ability than the girl that I teach with.  The thing that surprised me the most was the fact that Ms. Rogers, the girl I teach with, thinks that sometimes I am too outspoken with my students.  She is stern with her kids as well, but she stated that I was too hard on my students'.  The reason that this surprised me the most is because these kids need it.  I am only being stern with them because I want them to learn and improve academically and behavior wise.

The other insight that I gained about communication this week relates to my listening skills.  Listening is an important component of communication.  I learned that I need to be more open with what others tell me.  Listening will impact my personal and professional life.  The way that it will effect my professional life is because it will allow me to develop a knowledge of what I can communicate with the parents/guardians.  The reason that it will impact my personal life is because I will be able to be more open with my friends and accept their differences.

The second insight that I gained about communication is that I am more comfortable in small group settings than public speaking.  I have never done any public speaking other than in small groups and in the classroom.  These tests gave me hints on how I can improve my strength and ability to be more comfortable whether in small group meetings or public discussions.

Communication

Throughout this course, we are focusing on the importance of communication in relation to any of the different types of cultures or other differences there may be between individuals.  When thinking about the individuals that I communicate with daily, it is mainly other individuals that I teach with.  I do not find myself communicating any differently.  I am myself at all times.  If I am going to communicate with an individual, I treat every individual the same.  I would never say something around someone that I wouldn't say to any of my friends or acquaintances. 

One way that I could communicate more effectively is the communication with family.  It is important to communicate to my students' family so they know that they are appreciated.  The second way that I could communicate is by being open.  Sharing my views and experiences is very important.  The last way that I could communicate more effectively is by using more nonverbal communication.  Nonverbal communication is more important in every day life that other individuals may think.

Communication

The show that I chose to focus on for this blog assignment is a show called Full House.  This show is on ABC Family.  I used to watch this show when I was a kid, but haven't watched it in over 15 years.  It was very interesting watch the show on mute.  Based on watching the characters in this show, they all seem to have a positive relationship.  The reason being is because all of the characters are smiling and laughing with each other.  They are also using their touching, meaning they are hugging each other.  This means that they are getting along and have a positive relationship.  Having the show on mute, the episode was when one of the younger characters had a bike that was stolen.  Everyone in the family was trying to help find her bike that was stolen.  Instead of finding the bike that was stolen, each of the family members brought home a bike that they bought at the store.  They did not communicate with each other, saying which adult or character will get a new bike exactly like hers' that was stolen.  When the little girl noticed that everyone was trying to help, she hugged every single family member and had a huge smile on her face.  She was very appreciative that they went and bought her another bike that was the same as she had before.

After watching this Full House episode with the volume on, it was a little different.  Watching Full House with the volume off still allowed me to understand the story line, but it was great to hear the conversation between the individuals in the family.  I made the assumption that they all got along great because their were smiles.  When the family members were buying the new bike for Michelle, the little girl, they all were mad at each other.  Each of the other individuals in Michelle's family were mad because they wanted to be the individual to help her.  Now that everyone had the same idea, they argued about the bike.  At the end of the show, another family with another little kid came to their door with her bike.  The bike was her old bike that was stolen.  Her family hugged the other family that brought the bike to her.  After watching the show with sound, it allowed me to pay attention to the little comments that are said.  If I were to watch the show or movie that I knew well, the communication factor would definitely change.  For a show that I watch all the time, having the volume on mute would not change much.  I would already know the plot and story line of the show, which would not change much.  It may make me analyze the listening and nonverbal cues more, but I would be able to figure out what was going on quicker than watching a show that I have rarely ever watched.

Communication

The person that I chose to focus on this week for the blog assignment is my mother.  My mother is a high school math teacher at a school in DeWitt, Michigan.  She has been teaching for close to thirty years.  Throughout her thirty years of teaching, I have had the experience to hear several different stories that involve her communicating with others.  Not only does she have a strong communication with her students, but she communicates with the others that she works with and with her students' parents.  One primary example that I would like to share occurred this summer.  She is the head of the math department in her school district.  During the summer, she has other teachers in her school and other schools around her district call her and ask for help.  One day, another teacher that teaches math at the same high school that my mom teaches at, came over to our house.  My mother sat and helped develop the curriculum that needed to be taught and helped her with her lesson plans and worksheets.  This took a lot of time out of her day.  She did not have to do this, but this is a great example of communication. 

My mother contains many behaviors that make her effective.  The main behavior that she has is openness.  She is willing to help anyone as long as they will contribute some efforts.  I want to be open like my mother.  I am a first year teacher, but as I continue my years in teaching.  I want other teachers to feel that they can come to me for help for anything, whether it is school related or related to something else.

Professional Hopes and Goals

I have learned a lot since the beginning of this class.  One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families of different backgrounds would be that the teachers are educated in the different backgrounds.  By this, I mean that teachers need to do research outside of what the families and students tell them about their culture.  This research needs to be done before they meet the child and their families.  This will allow for a more successful learning environment.  It seems as though a lot of teachers these days do not show interest in all of the different cultures and they do not do extra research to educate themselves.  This will only help meet the needs of all of the students in your class.

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to diversity, equity and social justice is to make sure that I know as much as I can about every student in my class.  By doing this, I will conduct research on my own, communicate with parents/children and communicate with other teachers.  Communicating with all of these individuals will allow me to learn about the different cultures.  It is a must that all cultures should be treated the same in any class setting.

I just want to thank everyone for being open and establishing a great line of communication from the beginning of the class that continued throughout the entire class.  Without this type of communication, the success of this class would not have been there.  Even though we do not know each other, sharing stories and sharing advice was very helpful to me!  I hope to get the privilege of having another class with you guys sometime down the road of my Master's program.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

            The name of my families country of origin is mainly from Ireland and then America.  My dad’s side of the family came over to the United States from Ireland, in which I am 50% Italian.  There are several ways that I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive to the families.  The most important way I would prepare myself is to do research on the district or county origin that I am teaching in.  While conducting research, I would make sure to do research on the different types of cultures that I could be responsible for.  Doing this would allow me to have background knowledge or the different cultures.

            The second way that I would prepare myself for the different cultures, is to make sure that I communicate with the parents.  Communicating with the parents is very important.  It allows you to learn about the background of the family, what traditions and customs they may have and important information to learn about the family and the child.  This will also allow me to draw a connection between the teacher and the parents/student.

            The third way I would prepare myself would be to communicate with the child.  Communicating with the child would allow the child to feel that the teacher/me, really does care about them and their culture.  As a teacher, it is important to learn as much as you can about the child.

            The fourth way I would prepare myself is by being open and communicating with the staff that I work with.  You can learn a lot from the staff and administration that you work with.  Being a first year teacher, it would allow me to not know as much about different cultures than what other teachers that have taught there know. 

            The last way that I would prepare myself is to be open to learn from anyone and learn in any way.  It is important to take it amongst yourself to continue to learn about the different cultures.  If you are not open and willing to learn about the different cultures, you will not have success teaching.

            The main way that I hope the above ways will benefit the family and I is because I want all of the students to feel comfortable in the classroom.  If they are comfortable in the classroom, the learning will be easier.  It will also allow for a better learning environment for everyone, allowing everyone to feel comfortable learning from each other.  I also hope that these five ways help me learn to develop and grow a relationship with each family.  This will allow for a stronger communication between the parents and kid, parents and teacher and teacher and student.  a

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

There have been a few experiences that I have experienced that relate to bias and prejudice.  One of the most important examples was in relation to my father.  I am very close with my family.  My father has been asked several times if he is a member of the KKK.  He has dark, thick hair and a thick mustache.  He jokes around at times, but is very serious when he needs to be.  He has been asked at church, shopping, school and several other examples if he was a member of the KKK.  There have been several of my sister's friends that will not come over because they say he was either in the KKK or looks like he was in the KKK.  My father was not in the KKK and it is very offensive to him that he is judged based on his looks.  People will not take the time to get to know him because of his looks.  My sister's friends will not even listen to her and believe that he was not in the KKK.  It is also judgmental because they are stereotyping the individuals that are or were in the KKK.  This is not appropriate.  

This example diminishes equity is several ways.  One of the ways that it diminishes equity is because it makes the individuals that are in the KKK feel less superior to other individuals.  Not only does it make those individuals fell less superior, but it also makes my dad discouraged and feel as though he is being judged.  If people do not take the time to get to know someone, even if they are or were a member of the KKK, that does not mean that they are a bad person.  

This incident brought up several emotions.  The main emotion that is brought up is frustration.  The main reason that it brings frustration is because they are judging my father without even knowing him.  It also brings up the emotion or dislike.  

The people that would have to change would be the individuals that are judging and stereotyping my father.  My father is not doing anything wrong, therefore he does not need to change anything. 

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

One microaggression that I experienced this week was in relationship to racial microaggressions.  I am a third grade teacher at an elementary school in Arizona.  The school that I teach in is not very diverse.  The makeup of the school I teach at is about 50% Hispanic, 40% African American and the last 10% other.  When I was reviewing their morning work this morning, I had almost every student raising their hand.  I called on one student and one of the other students yelled out, "your racist".  This was very upsetting for me because I am far from that.  I felt very judged when the student told me that.  Even though it was a young student, it was still very upsetting.  Every other student in my class disagreed with her and continued to say that I have never acted that way at all.  It was nice to have the rest of my class back me up, but it still was very hard to hear one of my students say this.  I had a talk with that student one-on-one about why she made that comment.  She said that she feels that she never gets called on and that is why she said it.

My observations this week allowed me to step back and really focus on the positive and the negatives in the different situations.  I did not realize that there were as many stereotypes on individual people as there are.  The stereotypes are also not all visible, there are several that are "hidden messages".

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

After talking to three people about culture and diversity, I have realized that people see both diversity and culture differently.  One of my friends that is a teacher in another school district in Arizona was one of my interviewees.  After asking him what his definition of diversity is, he stated: "Culture is a particular behavior or practices that are developed and shared among people. His definition of diversity is: "a variety and wide range of whatever is being mentioned." This friend that I asked is another gender.

The second person that I asked was my friend that also teaches in another school district in Arizona. She is from my home state. When I asked her what her definition of diversity is, she stated: "the difference in things, more popularly in nationality. If something is diverse, it is different than other things." When I asked her what culture meant to her, she stated: "Culture is a way of life that is influenced by family, tradition, religion, and nationality."

The third person that I asked was my college roommate for two years. She now teaches high school business in a city in Michigan. When asking her what her definition of diversity is, she stated: "diversity is different for others." Her definition for culture was: "thoughts and beliefs that are related to one's family."

It was very interesting to see what other individual's definition of culture and diversity was. I asked three teachers the two questions and every definition was different. The aspect of culture and diversity that is focused on in every definition is the relationship to, and beliefs of the different families. For example, different cultures have different beliefs and traditions. The main aspect that has been omitted was in relationship to family diversity. When people think culture, they automatically think grouping individuals into their culture group. It is important for outsiders to know that there is more to culture than grouping people within just their culture group. Being able to hear other individuals definition of culture and diversity, it allowed me to see how deep of a understanding individuals have in regards to culture and diversity.

My Family Culture

If a catastrophic event happened and my family and I had to quickly move to another country and take only three things, the three things that I would bring are: my cell phone, picture album and a book.

My cell phone is important for me to bring, because that is how I would be able to keep in contact with my family.  I am really close with my family.  Being able to let them know what is happening and where I am located, it would allow for my family to be able to send anything that could be used to help my family and I or just to talk and be open with my family.  My family is located all around the entire United States, so that is why a cell phone is so important to me right now.  Not only is it important to call my family members, but it has internet access and allows me to keep up to date on important news going on around the world.

A picture album would have pictures of my family and friends.  The photo album would contain pictures from when I was a baby up until my life now.  This would remind me of memories and to still feel close to my family, even if I am not in touch with them.

A book is the last thing that I would bring with me because almost my entire family read's in their free time.  It is a relaxing time for us and allows us to let the worries go.

Each of the three items mean a lot to me.  They all relate back to my family.  I have a very close family in which a lot of us have a lot of the same interests.  That is why the three of these objects would be important for me to bring to another country if a catastrophic event happened.

If I arrived to the other country and I was told I was only able to keep one item, I would be very stressed and frustrated.  The one item that I would keep would be my cell phone.  My cell phone has pictures of my family on it and I would be able to contact my family using my cell phone.  It may be a lot more difficult to use my cell phone, but I would do whatever it took to contact my family members.
I learned that it is very important to value your family.  If something happened and you had to leave almost everything behind and go to another culture, it would be harder to communicate with your family.

When I Think Of Research

Coming to the end of this course, I have learned a lot about the importance of research and what makes research studies valid.  I also found the three different types of triangulation very interesting.  With research, it is very important to make sure to include a variety of information from different sources and different professionals and individuals.  This will make your study the most valid.  The last thing that I have gained is the importance of qualitative vs. quantitative research.  Each of these research types entails different types of information that needs to be acquired.

Before this class, I had never really done any research on early childhood topics.  I also did not break down the aspects that are included in a research study.  My views have changed in nature in the fact that I know that there are two sides to every study, and it is very important to use the information of different sources and individuals to make it the most valid.  I also did not realize that there is a lot of biased out there on any topic.

The most important thing I learned about was the planning of research in the early childhood field.  The planning is very important when considering a research study.  It is important to know what type of research you are going to conduct.  I chose to focus on direct observation and interviews.  There is preparation that needs to be done before you interview an individual.  The interviewer needs to make sure that they make sure they know everything is confidential and also that the interviewee needs to feel comfortable.

I did not face any challenges.  There is a lot of information that is out there regarding my topic, which is play.  The only challenge that I may have encountered would be the cultural differences and backgrounds.  I would have made sure to communicate and make sure that the children's families felt comfortable.

The one way that my perceptive has changed of the early childhood profession is that there are many different ways that are effective to conduct research.  You get your best results from varying the types of research.

Research Around the World

This week I chose to focus on the website titled: "Early Childhood Development Virtual University Sub-Saharan Africa.  This university focuses on the ECD capacity and also the leadership development in Africa.  There are also several different organizations tat support this university.  

There are several different international topics that this university focuses on.  One of the most important topics is related to curriculum in schools.  This university develops curriculum in the schools based upon the resources that they have in Africa.  Also, this university has created several different masters programs.  Another topic is related to involving fathers in their child's education.  Another topic that is focused on through this university is providing care for children that are in Uganda that are 8 years old or younger that have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDs.  There are several other topics that this university focuses on, but the last topic I will explain is focusing on the quality of child care.

The surprising fact that I gained from reading through this site was the issue of HIV/AIDs in Uganda, especially in children that are 8 years or older.  It was very interesting and devastating to here that children this young have to suffer through these horrifying diseases.  Another noteworthy piece of information that I found interesting is that this university is really focusing on how to increase leadership in the schools around Africa.

Uplifting Stories

This week I chose to focus on Option 2.  The topic that I would chose to focus on in the early childhood field with doing only research on the present would be the idea of play.  Play is very important, especially in the early childhood field.  There are several positive contributions that would occur doing research on play in the present time.  

One of the most important positive contributions would be to develop a child's well-being.  This means that allowing children to play will develop their: social-economic development, psychical development, mental development and several others.  

Another positive contributions would relate to the children and the student.  The teacher would have the chance to watch the students play and would learn about the child, just by learning.  Not only would the relationship between the student and the teacher grow, but the relationship between the parents and the child would become stronger.  

The last positive contribution would be to learning about how each of the children learn.  Each child may like to play with different toys, and this is targeting a specific area of development.  All-in-all, it is important to allow children in the early childhood field to have time throughout school to play and learn on their own.  

My Personal Resource Journey

Hello fellow colleagues!

I chose to focus on is the importance of research.  I chose this topic for many different reasons.  In the education field, there are always laws that are changing and new standards that are always being changed.  Different states have different laws, which conducting research is important to maintain this knowledge.  Especially the state that you are teaching in, it is important to know the different laws and content that needs to be covered.  The last reason I chose this topic is because with research, you are constantly learning.  It is important to always continue to learn, no matter the field.

I have several personal experiences related to the importance of research.  I lived my whole life in Michigan, except for the last week.  I moved to Arizona a week ago for a teaching job.  When I was in college, a lot of the schools in the United States were following the GLCE's for elementary school teachers.  Now every state is following the Common Core State Standards.  Each state has their own Common Core State Standards, also each grade has their own Common Core State Standards.  Living in Michigan, I have always done research on the GLCE's and Common Core State Standards in the grade that I was teaching/subbing in.  Now that I will be living and teaching in Arizona, it is important that I conduct the research appropriate to know the standards for 3rd grade in Arizona.  It is also important for me to research different laws in Arizona, so I make sure I follow all of the laws.

The one thing that I learned from the research chart was learning about the different techniques that are used for research.  I found defining the words in part one of the research chart very informative.

One thing that I would suggest for my colleagues is no matter the state that your living in, make sure to do research on all of the laws in the state that you are living in.  You may not think that these laws may affect you, but they will in time.  Are there any suggestions anyone can give me for what to conduct research on or what I should research to help me in teaching in Arizona?  One of the most important object to research is the Common Core State Standards in the state and grade that you are or will be teaching in!

EDUC 6163 Week One

Hello fellow classmates,

I look forward to working with you all during this class!  I hope that our communication can continue throughout this class!  Good luck everyone!

Chelsea Ezze

International Blog Final

One of the consequences of learning about the international early childhood field is the idea that I did not receive a response from any of the three international organizations that I contacted during Week One.  The only information that I was able to learn about was the international early childhood field is what I was able to read about.  Sometimes you learn more hearing from someone that is in the actual field and get their perspective.  Therefore, it would have been nice to have a conversation with an international organization or professional on certain topics and learn their views.

The second consequence of learning about the international early childhood field is not getting the updated information.  The website contained information that was from a few years ago, which was not current.  Therefore, I was not able to tell by the numbers if certain issues in certain areas have increased or decreased.  

The last consequence of learning about the international early childhood field is getting another individuals view and ideas on how you can change the area around you.  Say there is an area in the world that is not struggling much with poverty, talking to that individual about what they have done to maintain a low number of children and families at poverty, this will give me an insight on what I could do to try to help lower the poverty in my area.

My one main goal in the early childhood field is to be able to communicate with the countries around the world and see what organizations that have going on and see what they do to lower certain issues that are a major issue where I live.  It is important for me to be a voice and help out as much as possible in whatever I can help out with! 

International Contacts Part 3

I have not received any e-mails back from the three organizations that I contacted from Week One of this class, therefore I am completing the alternative assignment from this week.  

One insight I learned from viewing the UNESCO's website is reading an article on events going on in education throughout this organization.  UNESCO is an organization that: "works to create the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, based upon respect for commonly shared values." (UNESCO, 2010).  This means that the UNESCO organization is trying to help the world with human rights, poverty and several other issues that are common throughout the world.  The long term goal of this organization is to: "Contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information."  (UNESCO, 2010).  This means that in the passing years, this organization is going to reach out to the community around the world and get the help that will be needed to eliminate or decrease the main issues in education.  I believe that this is important because not only are they trying to help decrease the number of issues in education, but the community outside of the education field needs to be aware of what is going on and how the little things they can do can help.  This relates to my professional goals because I want to do whatever I can to help make families around the world more appreciated, even if they have less than the typical average family.  Just because a family has less than average, does not mean that they are not as smart or cannot handle going to school.  

Another insight that I gathered from the UNESCO website is looking at the Global Reports in the Natural Science aspect of the UNESCO organization.  This UNESCO organization mainly originates in Brazil, China and India.  The natural science aspects is trying to reach out to the world and come up with ways to make the world and universe a more "greener" place to live.  This is important because the more we pollute and do not take care of the environment around us, it will lead to other problems years and decades down the road. 

The last insight I gained from researching this website is after reading about what UNESCO does for people and communities.  This organization had a tab on their website dedicated to the media portion of the organization.  I believe that it is important to have the media that they do on this website because it shows different meetings that have been held and what they have discussed with the world.  This is important to have this type of documentation.  


References:

UNESCO.  (2010).  Early Childhood Care and Education.  http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

Sharing Web Resources

The section that I chose to focus on this week from Week One's electronic newsletter was the CDF Speakers Bureau.  CDF stands for Children's Defense Fund.  The Speakers Bureau shows a list of several different individuals that are speaking out about several different topics.  A few of the topics that these individuals are speaking out about are: Poverty, Federal Budget, Health and Mental Health, Education, Child Welfare and many more.  The outside links lead to information on different problems around the United States that have the Children's Defense Fund as a part of their state.

The section that I focus on today does not give any information on child equity.  One of the important things that I learned from this website is I learned more about Marian Wright Edelman and why she was so important to the early childhood education field.

International Contacts Part II

I have contacted the three international contacts from week one again this week, I have yet to get a response from any of the individuals.  Therefore, I am completing the alternative assignment for this week's blog assignment.  I also do not have any additional about information on equity from my international sources.

Therefore, I chose to focus on Harvard Universities, "Global Children's Initiative" website.  One thing that I learned from this website was from reading an article on reducing toxic stress in babies.  Carol Gerwin states: "The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) wants primary care doctors to screen their youngest patients for social and emotional difficulties that could be early signs of toxic stress." (Gerwin).  This article states that there are many children that are growing up that are showing sides of stress.  Doctors need to spend time on children and monitoring these toxic stress options. 

Another insight that I gained from this sight is that there are several different activities that can be done with children around the world to yield a healthier development.  One of the organizations or activities around the world that I found most interesting is Science of Health and Development Initiative.  This initiative states that: "When children's biological systems develop in an environment of positive early experiences, they have a greater chance to thrive and grow up to be healthy adults." (Gerwin).  This is important because doctors are trying to enhance the genes, social experiences and environmental experiences that can have an effect on a child's health.  

I did not find any information on podcasts on the Harvard website, therefore I read several different articles and learned from the articles.  



References: 

Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/)

Sharing Web Resources Continued

The electronic newsletter that I chose for this class is named the Children's Defense Fund.  The focus of this organization is on the children and helping the one's that are at poverty or low-income classified.  Therefore, this whole newsletter is important to my field as a teacher.  The section from the electronic newsletter that I chose to focus on this week was part of the Financial Report from 2010.  This report talks about what the president of the organization, Marian Edelman is focusing on.  It also focuses on Key Achievements of the organization, promoting the health of children and the impact that this organization has already had since the past.  I chose to focus just on what Marian Edelman had to state about the organization and what needs to be done.  After reading the section written by the president of this organization, there were several pieces of information that are very eye-opening and hard to consider.  Marian Edelman states: "every 11seconds of the school day a child drops out. A majority of children in all racial and income groups and over 80 percent of Black and Latino children cannot read
or do math at grade level in fourth, eighth, or 12th grade." (Edelman, 2012).  As teachers, we need to reach out to the community and give them tips on how they can help better these children for the future.  She also states that every child in the world deserves the right to a quality education, no matter what the circumstances are.  Another very disappointing fact that Marian states is: "Our country and
our states are spending three times more on average per prisoner than per public school student." (Edelman, 2012).  The world is focusing more on the individuals that have problems later in life, which if giving the young children the idea that what they are doing is okay.  Focusing on the misbehavior of the prisoners is being shown more on television, which children are watching and seeing these occurrences.  

One of the main ideas that Marian Edelman, the president of the Children's Defense Fund, is the community is focusing more on individuals that are causing trouble later in their lives and they are not helping out the young children.  This fact is very heart breaking.  "We must, particularly right now, make sure that we end those massive tax giveaways to the richest two percent, when 15.5 million children are languishing in poverty." (Edelman, 2012).  Having that many children in poverty around the world can drastically decrease if teachers, professionals and the community know the importance of early childhood and start helping them and their families at such a young age.  This part of the newsletter that I focused on this week does not deal with economists, neuroscientists, or politicians.  

One thing that I learned from exploring this e-newsletter is that as a community, we are not paying enough attention to the troubles that young children are having.  This is allowing for more of the world to be in poverty.  Once a child or a family is below poverty, it is much harder for them to get above the poverty benchmark.  


References: 

Edelman, Marian. Children's Defense Fund (2012) : Health Care Coverage for All of America's Children, Ending Child Poverty, Child Advocacy Programs. About Us. Retrieved June 1, 2013, from http://www.childrensdefense.org/about-us/

Communication With International Contacts

I have sent several e-mails to the international professionals and organizations that I contacted in Week One. I have not received an e-mail back between any of the professionals or organizations.  Therefore, I focused on the alternative section of this week's Blog Assignment.

I chose to read about poverty in India.  The first case study that I read about was "Poverty and ill health pushed Banwari out of school and into work."  This article was about a 17 year-old child that is a family of ten.  Banwari had to drop out of school because his parents could not afford to pay for his education and his father also was sick.  "According to Banwari, his family had to take out a loan for setting up the loom.  However, the income from the sale of carpets is helping the family to pay off the loan." (Childhood).  He had no choice other than to help his family out by working and weaving carpets.  In this case study, the family was able to keep only one of their children in education and the other children had to work by creating carpets.  One thing that I learned from this case study is that in India, a lot of the families are bigger families.  I also learned from this case study that they hired other people to help them sell their carpets, when they did not have the money to put their children through school.

Another thing that I thought was interesting is the children helped out a lot around the house.  "It is often the case that children either miss classes or drop out of school completely because they to need help with family work or go out and find a job." (Childhood).  Very few children in India tend to finish school, they are used to do work around the family.  

The last thing that I learned about India from the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre's website is that the schools are trying to offer free food to the children so that they want to attend school.  "The idea behind the Midday Meal Scheme is that it provides an incentive for children to attend school, and for parents to send them to school - the scheme has boosted school enrollment and attendance, as well as contributing to children's nutritional intake." (Childhood).


References: 
Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre’s  (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/)

Resource Sharing

I have yet to receive an e-mail back from the three organizations or professionals that I contacted in Week One.  The organization that I selected was Child Defense Fund.  This organization was originally started by a woman named Marian Wright Edelman.  She spent the beginning of her career defending individuals liberties of people and families that were struggling with poverty and discrimination.  This organization creates policies and programs from children to help them overcome and deal with the issues by giving these children and families the health care, child care, nurturing environment, proper nutrition and appropriate education they need.  

One of the current issues that caught my eye from the newsletter is the issue of protecting children and not guns.  The e-newsletter that I chose focused mainly on the children in the early childhood education setting.  One important fact that I found very interesting is that: "A child or teen dies or is injured from guns every 30 minutes."  (Children's, 2012).  This is a crazy statistic.  The world needs to be more aware of children and less worried about using guns.  The newsletter also states that a few years ago, there were more children under the age of 5 that were killed in a year than a police officer on duty in a year.  It is important that the government stresses the importance of the safety of children and not bringing guns anywhere near children unless it is an absolute necessity.  

There was nothing else in any of the resources provided that talked about gun safety, especially around children.  



References:
Children's Defense Fund (2012, ): Health Care Coverage for All of America's Children, Ending Child Poverty, Child Advocacy Programs. Protect Children, Not Guns.Retrieved from http://www.childrensdefense.org/programs-campaigns/protect-children-not-guns/

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding ResourcesThisThe

Part 1:
I was really interested in contacting other professionals or organizations in the early childhood field around the world.  I found the websites for Part 1 of the blog very helpful.  The first website that I looked for people to contact was on the NAEYC website.  I first wanted to contact people in Europe.  The first person that I contacted was a Secretary of the German National Committee for Early Childhood Education.  The second person that I contacted was from the same NAEYC website.  Juan Sanchez works for the World Association of Early Childhood Educators.  I searched for an organization on the UNICEF website and I chose to contact the UNICEF organization in Italy.  

I have not received any e-mails back from any of the organizations or professionals from these organizations of which I have contacted.  Therefore, I completed the alternative assignment for Part 1.  I listened to several of the podcasts from the website that is named World Forum Foundation Radio.  The first episode that I listened to was Deevia Bhana, she is a professor of a university in Natal South Africa.  Listening to this podcast, I learned a lot.  Her focus is on childhood sexuality.  She focuses on sexuality in children from ages 6 to 9.  There was a girl in school and she had HIV/AIDS, she was scared that other kids were going to make fun of her.  So Deevia Bhana was someone that kids could talk to if they were in these situations.  She is working on a book about childhood sexuality.   She wrote this book to inform children about sex and HIV/AIDS.  Bhana states: "Focusing on and listening to the voices of young children by understanding their fears and to work with them as gender and sexual beings."  These are important issues to talk about with children at this age group.  This is about the age that children are smart enough to understand what it means and how to eliminate the chances of this happening.

Another podcast that I listened too was from Maysoun Chehab.  In her organization, "we train early childhood caregivers on best practices."  In the organization Maysoun is involved in, they make the parents and the teachers aware of wars and other psychosocial events around them.  They train parents and teachers on the emotional effects on the impact of children, which she makes sure to state that it is important to impact the parents so they can help their child.   

Part 2: 
For this week's blog assignment, I chose to focus on was the Children's Defense Fund.  The reason that I chose this organization is because I was not familiar with this organization and was interested in learning what this organization was about.  I was originally going to focus on the Head Start program in the United States, but I have done previous research and know about this organization, so I chose to study an organization that I did not know about.  I also chose this organization because the e-newsletter was the most organized for me.  This organization has a newsletter every month that contains several mini newsletters within that one monthly newsletter.  In the monthly newsletters, they talk about beneficial people that have impacted this program and also fundraisers or organizations that help raise money for this organization.  Aside from the electronic newsletter, the section that I chose to focus on was "Our History".  Since I did not know anything about this organization, the first thing I wanted to do, was to learn about what this organization was about.  This Children's Defense Fund originated out of the Civil Rights Movement.  Mrs. Edelman was the first black woman to work to develop programs for low-income families.  In which she founded the Children's Defense Fund.  The Child's Defense Fund states: "we have become known for careful research on children’s survival, protection and development in all racial and income groups and for independent analyses of how federal and state policies affect children, their families and their communities. (Child 2012).  This organization is branching out not only to help the African American families that are low-income, but to every other family and culture that is considered low-income.  The main goal of this organization is to have the children and family be out of the low-income and poverty class by providing the help, child care and nutrition that the students need. 


References:
Children's Defense Fund(2012, ). Children's Defense Fund (CDF) : Health Care Coverage for All of America's Children, Ending Child Poverty, Child Advocacy Programs. About Us. Retrieved May 10, 2013, from http://www.childrensdefense.org/about-us/

(2011, ). World Forum Foundation. World Forum Radio | World Forum Foundation. Retrieved May 10, 2013, from http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio/

National Association for the Education of Young Children | NAEYC. Global Alliance | National Association for the Education of Young Children | NAEYC. Retrieved May 10, 2013, from http://www.naeyc.org/resources/partnership/globalalliance

UNICEF - UNICEF Home. UNICEF - At a glance: Italy - Contact us. Retrieved May 10, 2013, from http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/italy_contact.html

"My Supports"

Throughout my life, I have had many support systems.   The most important support that I have had throughout my ENTIRE life would be my parents.  My parents have been my back bone throughout my life and I would not be the person that I am now if it was not for them.  My parents attended every dance recital, piano recitals, cheerleading games and competitions, college lacrosse games, and other extra curricular activities that I was involved in.  They were my biggest cheerleader from birth through college, and even now.  My parents have supported me emotionally, financially,  socially and every other way possible.  They supported me financially through college and through my masters.  Without my parents, I would probably not have went to college.  I would not have had the money to support myself going to college and getting my Elementary Education teaching degree.  Also, my mother was the one to encourage me to be a teacher.  My mother is a high school teacher at a local high school around my home.  She was always there to give me advice, tell me stories that impacted students lives and the gratitude that she got out of being a teacher.  Therefore, my mother was the main reason that I wanted to become a teacher.  If my parents were gone, I would not be emotionally stable.  They have always pushed me harder and encouraged me to do and be the best I can.  Without them, I would try to strive for the best and make sure what i was doing would be something that they would want me to do.  

The challenge that I chose is to look at my life without my parents.  I would not have all of the nice things that I have now if it was not for them.  My dad is the "Mr.Fix it" in the family.  Anytime my sister or I have car problems, he is always the one to fix the problem, unless it is something that he cannot fix.  My other was the one in the family to help with the homework.  If my sister or I had questions on homework assignments, my mother would drop whatever she was doing to help us.  Without her, I would not have had the help on homework assignments and I probably would not have progressed in school the way that I have and am.  To sum it up, if my parents were not the type of people they are, I would not be who I am today.  I would not be as emotionally stable, financially stable and academically stable.  They are the BEST thing that has happened in my life and I could not picture my life without them!  I love them both so much and could not thank them enough every day for everything that they have done for me!

My Connections to Play

Below are a few of my favorite quotes that regard play and the importance of it.

“It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.” -Leo F. Buscaglia

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” -George Bernard Shaw

“Play is so integral to childhood that a child who does not have the opportunities to play is cut off from a major portion of childhood.” -Musselwhite

“If you want to be creative, stay in part a child, with the creativity and invention that characterizes children before they are deformed by adult society.” -Jean Piaget


Below are a few pictures of what I think demonstrates essential play for younger individuals.

    

When I was younger, I loved playing with Barbies.  My sister is a year and a half younger than me, and we always played with barbies daily.  We would change their clothes, do their hair and play "house" with them.  In playing house, we learned different things that needed to be done in a real house hold.  My parents also played house with us and they would ask my sister and I questions.  For example, my mom would ask "did you make dinner?" or "did you do the dishes?"  She was playing the role of the mother in a house setting.  My parents, sister and grandparents were constantly encouraging me to play with new toys.  This helped me learn cognitively about other toys and the benefits that could have.

Play today is very different than play when I was younger.  I am only 24 years old and there have been many new inventions that have came out that relate to children at a young age.  Just think what has happened with technology.  Now in a lot of kindergarten classrooms and elementary schools, each child is supplied with an iPad in which they get to keep and use for the whole year.  There are several different types of games on the iPad that the children like to play when they have free time or "play" time.  When I was younger, we had toys like: Hot Wheels cars, barbies, Leggos, blocks, American Girl Dolls and several other toys.  I hope that teachers and parents incorporate more hands-on activities when playing rather than sitting on an iPad and playing games.  Although the children are learning when they are playing these games, but this leads to the idea of obesity.  When children sit around and watch tv or play games, they tend to have a higher chance of being on the obese side of the spectrum.

It is very important that parents play with their children each day.  By playing with their child, you can talk to them about what they are playing with and ask them questions to get them to think.  For example: what color is this, what's this shape, where does this belong, and so on.  This will benefit children when they grow older because they will have had the experience working and seeing these types of toys.

Relationship Reflection

Relationships are very important to many in many different ways.  Having the family that I do, I can trust them with anything and know that they will always be there to give me advice or support me in any way.  If it were not for my family, then I would not be the person that I am today.  My parents helped me financially throughout schooling and always encouraged me to do better.  Throughout high school, my parents were always available to help me with homework and support me when I was cheering (all four years in high school).  Even when I was at my lowest point, they always made me think of the positive things in life and the great future that I was going to have.  Aside from my family, I have a group of really close friends that has been there for me through thick and thin.  So to me, relationships are all about being there for someone: emotionally, socially, financially and maybe even physically.  If you cannot be honest with someone, there is no way that you will grow a relationship with anyone.  Below are a few pictures of some very strong positive relationships that I have in my life.

The first two people that I have the strongest relationship with is my parents.  They have been there to support me from birth to now.  They helped me with homework, supported me while I cheered and played lacrosse in college, gave me advice on other relationships when I was down and several others.  If it was not for my parents, I would not be who I am today.  I appreciate what they have done for me.  There are times that we argue and disagree, but these arguments only make the relationships stronger between us.  The main factors that lead to our relationship was the love and support they are still providing me.

My grandparents relationship with me, my mothers parents, have been there for me through everything also.  They would stop what they were doing to watch me cheer or play lacrosse.  I also remember that for the first few years that I was in school, they would come over to my parents house every morning and watch me get on the bus every morning, and they would make sure they were at my house to see me get off the bus every day.

My sister and I have had several arguments.  She is a year and a half younger than me, and she always thought that she was better than me.  Every relationship has there ups and downs, but my relationship with my sister has been the one in which we argued the most.  As we have gotten older, I am able to talk to my sister about things without her judging me as a person.  The most dramatic event for me was my sister moving to Florida.  She got a job working with the Detroit Tigers, so she has been living in Florida for about 3 months now.  I can always call her and talk to her, but her moving away really made me realize how much I talked to my sister and how much of an impact she had on my life.  

Last but not least, is my best friend Lily.  I went to high school with her, but was not really close friends with her until about a year ago.  We started hanging out again because we work together.  We have so many things in common, for example; interests, working out, school, career, and going to country concerts.  She has been a lot through her life and has dealt with it all on her own.  When I am going through tough times, she is always the first one that I go to confide in.  If I did not have these people in my life, I would not be as strong of a person.

Again, all relationships have challenges.  These challenges may be something to a little fight or to a physical fight.  I have never encountered a physical fight with any of my friends or family.  There have definitely been some verbal arguments and disagreements.  But working together to solve these problems is what I have learned that make relationships grow.  In a relationship or partnership, there has to be communication, trust and honestly.  If there are not these three things, the relationships will fail.  As many times as people have screwed me over and made me not trust them, it made me realize the actions of some people which helps me to learn and not deal with that in future relationships.  Special characteristics that make up a successful relationship is: honesty, trust, dedication, humor, passion, and communication.  

The most important way that relationships would impact me in the early childhood education field is because I am one of the most dedicated individuals.  I want to make sure that I grow a relationship with the children in my class along with their parents.  It is important to know what the children like or if they are involved in any extra curricular activities outside of school.  This will allow the child to know that you care about them outside of school and it will also allow the parents to see that you really do care about their child.  Throughout my student teaching experience, I went to several students' sporting events or dances.  I could tell the difference from the beginning of the year to the end of the year with my relationship with the students. I am also a very honest person and will tell someone when I do not like an idea and will encourage something else that I may think will work.  

Quotes for Children

Before I started my masters, I never really cared to look at quotes.  Since the beginning of my masters, I have enjoyed reading different quotes, especially related to children.  These are some of my favorite children's quotes.  

Testing for intelligence

Viewing children holistically means that the teachers need to focus on the progress of each student in an ongoing fashion throughout the year and throughout the rest of their school career.  Children, especially at the young age, are not strong test takers.  I know that I am still not a strong test taker and always get nervous before and during the test.  This is common with a lot of children throughout the world.  Ongoing assessment is something that is important for young children.  I feel that schools are focusing too much on giving tests and the results of the students from these tests.  Once they are tested on one topic or concept, it is not taught or focused on much more throughout the year.  The one thing that I think should be done to test the whole child is to have ongoing assessment for each of the four major content areas.  These assessments could be given once a month on each of the topics to see what the children are learning and what they are not learning.  If teachers are focusing too much on giving them tests after a chapter to review what they learn from that current topic, how will we know that they remember what they learned in the previous chapters?

The topic that I chose to focus on is the educational system in India.  In India, they do not have many written tests for the students.  "Portfolios provide a meaningful view of a student’s progress in learning. The concept of portfolio preparation should be thoroughly discussed with the students so that they understand the purpose 

of the portfolio." In India, they keep track of how their children learn by keeping a portfolio of all of their work throughout the year.  Their work is then assessed at the end of the year.  This decreases the amount of stress and frustration in the children.  

I believe that having children in all grades take pre-tests at the beginning of the year and then post-tests at the end of the year will prove to the teachers and the students what they have learned.  This may take extra time out of the school year, but it will show the progression in each of the children throughout the year.  I also think that having schools go later, like until 5pm on Monday through Friday, will allow the teachers to cover more detail.  In most schools now, they focus on mathematics and reading/writing.  If science or social studies are taught, it is for one or two days out of the week and for a short period of time.  Lastly, I think schools should focus more on exercise.  The schools should give them challenges to do outside of school that require them to be active outside of school.  

Kapur, K. (2008, 21). IAEA - The International Association for Educational Assessment. Retrieved February 14, 2013, from http://www.iaea.info/documents/paper_2b71209fa.pdf

Poverty around the world

The stressor that I focused on this week for this assignment is the issue of Poverty.  Poverty affects more people than it should.  Poverty relates to individuals or families that lack their own possessions and money.  My best friend has had to be on her own since she was 14 years old.  She was raised by her mother and she had never met her father until a few years ago.  I have been best friends with her since kindergarten, and I have always helped her in any way that I could.  She comes from a family with two other siblings, an older brother and an older sister.  Her mother raised the three kids, helping them with all she had.  Once my best friends mother was left after the birth of my best friend, it was a very hard time for her family.  My best friends mother did not have a job and had very little money.  She had to support three small children in a trailer park and with the little money that she had.  My best friend's mother would do little side jobs whenever she could to make at least a little bit of money for the family.  Throughout school, my best friends mother did not have a car.  So from elementary school up to 5th grade, all three kids had to walk to school.  The school that they went to was the same school that I attended.  Each of the schools were over a mile from their house, which made for a long walk to get to school in the morning and after school got over.  My parents would go pick up and take my best friend and her siblings to school a few days a week, every week,  for 5 years.  When my best friend turned 14 years old, she got her first job and had to move out of the house.  Her mother could not afford to pay for everything when my best friend was 14.  Ever since my best friend turned 14, she has supported herself.  This means that she has lived on her own since 14, bought her own car, and worked to support herself.  She now has two kids, graduated from college, and works two jobs.  She has become very successful now working two jobs and supporting her family.  Ever since elementary school, I have always done anything that I can to help her and her family.  To this day, I do not know what I would do without her.  She is one of the strongest friends and women that I know.  There was not much that my best friend could do when she was young to help her cope with this situation.  My best friends mother now has a car, but still no job.  My best friend tries to support and give her mother money when she can afford too.  It is a very eye opening experience to see someone that I am this close to go through something as serious as being considered in poverty.  

Poverty is a very interesting topic, but also a very disappointing topic for many families around the world.  I chose to focus on poverty in Spain. "The poverty risk rate of people under 18 in homes were nobody works is 62%; in those homes with 1 person working is 29% and in those with 2 people working is 16%." Hearing this number is very eye-opening. These numbers have increased in Spain from 2008 to where they are currently at in 2010.  This allows the children in Spain to become at a lower chance to go to school or be effective in school.  Not only does it effect children on the academic level, it also effects them on the emotional level.  "Many times they witness fights and see the consumption of alcohol and other drugs increase among their parents."  To reduce the number of families in poverty in Spain, families need to be extra cautious about the way they act at home.  This will have a direct impact of the kids when they are at school and at home.  

http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/society-science/child-poverty-catalonia-increased-185-238-between-2008-2010


Many times they witness fights and see the consumption of alcohol and other drugs increase among their parents. 

SIDS facts in Germany

The topic that I chose for this weeks blog is SIDS.  SIDS stands for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.  SIDS is a death to an infant that there is usually no explanation as to why they died.  The baby or infant could appear to be a healthy baby, but die usually during their sleep, which is why SIDS is also known as a crib death.  There are several different symptoms that are said to be the main cause of this SIDS health disorder. Some include: 

• sleeping on the stomach (in the prone position)
• mother who smokes during pregnancy; smokers are as much as three times more likely than nonsmokers to have a SIDS baby
• belonging to an economically deprived or minority family
• mother under 20 years of age at pregnancy
• prematurity or low weight at birth

This topic is important to me because I do not have any kids right now, but when I do have kids, it is important to know the type of things to not do to prevent this from happening to a newborn or infant.  It is also important to know that not only if someone smokes, but just being around smoke could enhance the chance of their baby suffering from this health disorder.  The last reason why this topic is important to me, it will allow me to help others around me that have young ones and warm them about the symptoms and causes of SIDS.  

The area of the world that I searched on information about SIDS is in Germany.  These are some of the facts that I found interesting about SIDS in Germany.

         * In 2002, there were 359 infants that died from SIDS.

         * SIDS is the leading cause of death after the post neonatal stage.

         * Risk factors were identified, such as prone sleeping position, smoking of the mother during   

            pregnancy and heat stress.

         * SIDS occurred most frequently at the age of 2–5 mo (59%) and, as described in other studies on 

            SIDS, male infants (60.4%) had a higher risk than females.

         * Co-sleeping with an adult has a higher risk of SIDS in the infant.

This information provided above goes to show that  even the little actions a woman does while she is pregnant, she needs to be very careful throughout pregnancy and at the infant stage.  Just being around smoke will not only increase SIDS, but also other health disorders in the baby.  The information that I have learned about will help me in my future work because when I have a baby, I will be extra careful to not be around smoke.  If I working at a child care facility, I would have to be very careful and constantly checking on the child and making sure they are breathing.  I would also do my best to make sure that I did not lay the baby on his or her back to sleep.  Working in a child care with babies or infants at such a young age, I would just make sure that I paid close attention to them, even if they looked like they were okay.  

http://www.schwanger-in-bayern.de/fileadmin/content/sb_themen/gesundheit/sids/results_of_gesid.pdf

http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/sudden+infant+death+syndrome