Time Well Spent

I cannot believe the time has come and I have completed my Masters.  The last year and a half to two years have gone by very fast!  Not only have I learned a lot from this class, but I have also learned a lot from taking this entire Master's class.  The first thing that I have learned is about all of the -ism's that take place in education.  I did not realize that there were that many -ism's that students face when they were in elementary school.  I also learned how to deal with the different -ism's that children are facing. 

The second thing that I have learned throughout my entire Master's course is making sure that my classroom needs to meet the needs of the different diversities.  By doing this, I should create a bulletin board that can be viewed by the students and their families.  Doing this will allow for the students and the family to know that I appreciate each and every one of them.  Also, it will allow for the classroom environment to be positive.

The last thing that I have learned throughout my Master's is that children learn the most about themselves at the early childhood stage of their life.  This means that when they are in preschool, the children need to be focused on and have a positive influence.  This will have an impact on how their life is later on in life.

My long term goal would be to get involved in organizations in Arizona and other international organizations.  In doing this, it will allow me to learn about different organizations and help make an impact on others lives.  Getting involved in organizations will also allow me to be able to get my fellow colleagues interested and wanting to get involved in organizations.

Dr. Professor Dartt,
First off, I want to thank you for grading our papers hard.  In doing this, it offered me with constructive criticism to help add detail to my papers.  It also helped me become a better writer.  Secondly, I want to thank you for responding to my questions and e-mails in a timely manner. Thirdly, I want to thank you for creating the newsletters that you sent out to us weekly.  The newsletters gave me a lot more detail on each of the assignments that were due each week.

Dr. Colleagues,
I want to thank all of you for being positive towards me and giving me the advice and help that I have needed throughout my classes.  We all deserve this privilege of having our Master's.  We have all worked super hard for the last year and a half.  I look forward to communicating with you guys beyond our Master's.  If anyone ever has any questions, my personal e-mail is ezze1cm@cmich.edu.  I look forward to hearing from you all!

Some of my famous quotes are:
"Children must be taught HOW TO THINK, not what to think." -Margaret Mead
"How one handles success of failure is determined by their early childhood." -Harold Ramis
"For children play is as natural as breathing and as necessary." -Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld

Exploring Roles in the Community

The first organization that I chose to focus on is the Arizona Department of Economic Security.  The reason that I chose to focus on this organization is because is close to where I live.  I live and am a third grade teacher in Arizona.  A lot of the students and families here live in poverty where the economy for these families are not very supportive..  This organization gives information to the community not only for children and their families, but for the older generation and for individuals that have disabilities.  The website that I found this organization at is: https://www.azdes.gov/dcyf/adoption/

The second organization that I chose to focus on is Michigan Department of Human Services of Child Welfare.  The reason that I chose this organization is because my hometown is Michigan.  This organization allows you to contact different Foster Care's in Michigan.  Not only can you contact the different Foster Care's, but there are applications that adults can go to to get a foster child.  This allows the children that are in the Foster Care Facility to be taken care of.  The website that I found this information at is:   http://www.michigan.gov/dhs/0,4562,7-124-60126_7117---,00.html

The last organization that I chose to focus on is Child Family Health International.  The purpose of this organization is to help the children get the medical needs that they need to survive.  This is important because it is important to keep the children in the world healthy and safe.  Knowing that I can have an impact on these children allows me to want to reach out and help the children that I can.

The only job opportunities that I am interested in are jobs that relate to children and making an impact on children.  Teaching or working in a children's hospital would be the only job opportunities that interest me.  There are several different skills that you would need to be successful at these professions.  You would need to be a people-person, knowledge on the different religions, knowledge on the different medicines and also the strong communication with the parents or guardians of the students.

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

The first international organization that I chose is Save the Children.  The reason that I chose this organization because the website showed a video of children all over the world that are struggling to make it through each day.  There are children around the world that do not have clothes or food to make it through the day.  I would love to donate $18 a month to help save these children.  It makes me realize that I should not take for granted what I have and that I should help the children when they need it.  I also chose this organization because I want to bring awareness to other people so they can help out with children too.

The second international organization that I chose is UNICEF.  UNICEF provides children and families several important factors to get by in life.  UNICEF helps with: growth and survival of children, education, HIV/AIDS prevention, protecting children, and several others.  UNICEF is known world wide and really targets the children that need help.  I would love to be a part of this organization so I can make an impact on these children around the world.

The third international organization that I chose is Street Kids International.  I chose this website because this organization helps the children that are forced onto the streets.  The kids that they find on the street, they provide education too.  There are so many children around the world that are not getting the appropriate education.  I would like to be one of the individuals that takes in these children and teaching them.

For the Street Kids International, they are looking for individuals to volunteer to work with these children.  This job would be considered a Youth Internship.  The skills that I would need to have this job would be: patient, understanding of the children's problems, good people skills, encouragement and strong education background.  When I say a strong education background, I mean that the individual needs to be educated and know what you are going to teach and the different ways that you are going to teach.

National/Federal Jobs in Early Childhood Education

After researching several organizations in the Early Childhood Education field, there are several organizations that stuck out to me.  The first organization that interested me is Child Care and Development Block Grant.  Within this federal organization, they take the federal's money and pay for child care.  The families that cannot afford child care for their children, this is the federal organization that would help them.  Some jobs that I would be interested in for this organization would be the accountant.  I am very good at handling money.  Within this job, you would need to learn how to handle money, be trusted with money and also make sure that you are funding the right families.   

Another organization that I am interested in Head Start/Early Head Start.  This is also a federal funded organization.  Within this organization, they better the social and cognitive development of each child while focusing on each child's education, health, social issues and several others.  There are several jobs that I would like to have working for this company.  The jobs are: child nurse, head start teacher, and counselor.  For all of these jobs, you need to know how to interact with children and the parents. 

The last organization that I am interested in is Part B of IDEA.  This section of IDEA promises that children with disabilities are able and getting the appropriate public education that they deserve.  The job that I would like to have under this organization would be the individual that impacts a child's life.  I want to make sure that every child gets the appropriate public education that they deserve.  This job also takes allowing the child and their families to know that the disability that the child has will not hinder them from going to the appropriate public education. 

Reflecting on Learning

I have learned a lot throughout the eight weeks of this course.  One of my biggest hopes as an early childhood professional would be to get the parents of the students in my classroom to get involved in their child's life.  Several of the families are split families or live in foster homes.  I would really like to find a way to get the parents/guardians involved in their child's life.  In doing this, it would help the child academically and it would build the communication and relationship between the teacher, student and parent/guardian. 

Another hope that I have is that all families will get along and their will be absolutely no prejudice or bullying.  By getting the parents involved and allowing to know what is being taught and current events in the classroom, this will also build a bond.

I just want to say thank you to all of my fellow classmates!  I enjoyed having this class with you guys!  There are several familiar names that I have had the opportunity to  communicate with throughout my whole master's program.  I want to thank everyone for all of the suggestions and comments that you have offered me.  I wish everyone the best of luck in their education and teaching career!

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

After looking at the UNICEF website, the area of the world that I chose to focus on is Italy.  The reason that I chose to focus on Italy is because I am 75% Italian.  I have always wanted to go to Italy and explore their country.  I also chose Italy because I do not know anything about Italy and I am very interested in learning more about their country or education system. 

One of the challenges that the children there face is poverty.  "The poverty risk in Italy is 27.1%" (D'Ambrosio, 2003).  Although, when there are bigger families, the poverty rate is slightly higher.  This leads to a high unemployment rate.  The unemployment rate in Italy is between 64-66%. 

Another challenge that children in Italy face in divorce.  There are not many cases of divorce in Italy, but when there are, the children suffer severely from the social frustration.  "Mothers are usually awarded sole-custody on the basis that the mother is a key figure in childcare, and fathers are expected to remain informed about their children's upbringing and education." (D'Ambrosio, 2003).

The last challenge that children in Italy face is abuse.  There have been several cases of abuse that children suffer from.  Not only do the children suffer from abuse by their parents, but they also suffer the effects of seeing their parents being abused by their spouse.  All of these factors will affect the child's social being.  They will have a harder time communicating with others, even with children at their age. 

I did not realize how much the education system is like the education system here in the United States.  The one thing that surprised me is the poverty rate.  I figured that the poverty rate would be a lot higher than it is. 

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

Sexualization is realizing or becoming aware of your sexuality.  It is common that men become aware of their sexuality before women do.  I think that sexuality should not be a topic of discussion in school, especially at the early childhood stage.  When children become aware of their sexuality, this is the start of when young children start to get made fun of.

There is a student in third grade that has a very high pitched voice.  He hangs around with girls all the time, in which he is always constantly made fun of by other students.  I have heard other students call him "gay" and other stereotypical terms.  He is very bothered by this but does not know the meaning of "gay".  There have been several students that make fun of him saying that "you like boys".  Several students say this just because of his very high pitched voice and his hand gestures.

Another student that has been exposed to sexuality at a young age is a third grade student in my class.  There is a girl in my class that has parents that are of the same sexual orientation.  When she has been seen with both of her female parents, kids make fun of her and say that she is going to date someone of the same sexual orientation.  During school, she only talks to girl.  The only girl that she will communicate with, she is always very close and touchy feely with her.  That girl is starting to get confused and frustrated with it.  It is hard to explain to the student what is going on without making fun of or stereotyping the young girl in my class.

The last example relates to a student that is constantly touching himself.  It is hard to say, but a third grade student cannot control his hands.  Not only is he constantly touching himself, but he is taking girls hands and putting the other students hands where  it is inappropriate.  Having to communicate with the parents, it is hard and somewhat embarrassing to explain to the parents what is going on.  The student does not think it is a problem what they are doing.

The child's social life will be hard for them when they get older.  They will constantly be made fun of and counted out when it comes to activities.  They will also tend to have a higher chance of negative behavior in class.  After learning a little about sexualization, I did not realize that students at this young of an age will notice their sexualization.  It has made me realize the signs that I need to look out for.  It also has made me realize that I need to make sure to communicate to parents when I become suspicious.

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

There are several consequences that you would face as being considered different than the majority of people that you are surrounded by.  The first -ism that I have encountered in my first year of teaching would be racism.  In racism, there are a lot of challenges that these families face.  One of the main challenges that these families would face would be the social aspect of life.  The children would have a hard time "fitting in" to their school environment.  It would also be hard on the families of the student.  Not only would it be hard on the students, but it could be hard on the parents.  I have a student in my classroom that has faced several racist comments by other students in my class.  The parents of both students do not get along and they have made the problem so big that they have brought it to the school administration.

Another -ism that I have faced during teaching is sexism.  I have a set of parents of one of my students that has parents of the same sex.  When they have came in for parent teacher conferences, they have had other parents and other students make inappropriate comment towards them.  It is hard for me as a teacher to criticize and deal with these situations.  Especially when there are students talking to other students in class about the problem.

Observing Communication

The setting that I chose to focus on for this week was in the Kidz Klub Classroom at my school.  I observed for 45 minutes before school started.  The children in the Kidz Klub Classroom ranged in age from 3-years old to 12-years old.  I only focused on the communication between the workers and the children ranging in age from 3 to five years of age.

The one thing that I noticed are that these children ask the adults a lot of questions and like to have someone playing with them constantly.  These children actually played with life-like toys and acted as if they were a doctor, cook and a teacher.  The adults acted as the children and the young children acted as adults.  They were having so much fun!

The one thing that could have been done to make the communication more effective is if the younger children played more with the older children.  There seemed to be different groups in the classroom.  This means that the children around the same age played with certain toys and they did not communicate with the older children and the older children did not communicate with the younger children.  The younger children could learn a lot more from the older children than what they will learn from the adults and vice versa. 

The communication interactions could have lowered the young children's self-esteem.  The one time that the young student went to talk to the older student, they pushed the little one away.  The adults should be the ones to encourage all of the children, at all ages, to communicate with others.

One thing that I have learned about myself is that I want to make sure that I allow and encourage the older students to help, communicate and play with the younger children.  Doing this will allow for me or the teacher to sit back and observe more communication with all of the children.

Creating Affirming Environments

If I was opening my own Family Child Care Home, I would want my setting to be in a location that was in a low-class or poverty environment.  I would want my setting to be in a poverty location because I want to make an impact on the families and children in the surrounding environments.  I would make sure to include different staff of different ethnic and religious backgrounds.  Doing this would allow for all of the children to feel welcome.  Not only would it allow for the children to feel welcome, but it would allow the families to feel welcome. 

Another element that I would make sure to include is different toys or manipulatives.  Doing this would allow the children a variety of toys to play/learn from.  The children could have toys that they played with, that was only from their culture/religion.  Incorporating these toys would allow the children and families to want to come to the Family Child Care Home. 

The last element that I would like to include would be field trips or activities that required the families to get involved and go into the community.  Doing this would allow the Family Child Care Home to branch out to others in the community and for those involved to realize that they want to be a part of this organization.

I will make sure that every child and family feels welcomed each and every day.  I would do this by getting out in the community as much as possible and making sure that the families were involved.  I would also teach about the different cultures.  Doing this would make the families feel welcome and comfortable.

What I Have Learned

One of the main hopes that I have when working with children and families from different backgrounds is broadening my horizon to the different backgrounds.  Learning about the different families backgrounds would allow me to become a stronger and better teacher.  It would also allow me to incorporate things into the classroom that I would not have done before knowing the different backgrounds. 

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field is that every student is able to see evidence of their backgrounds in the classroom.  Not only making them feel comfortable, but allowing me to put different aspects of everyone's background throughout the classroom.  This will develop a stronger and more healthier classroom environment. 

Lastly,  I just wanted to say thank you to my colleagues.  Our communication and sharing of stories have been very open and I have felt comfortable sharing my stories and experiences.  Also, thank you for understanding and giving me advice on what I have shared.  Good luck with the last few classes of your masters and I look forward to having another class with you all again!!! 

Trauma

This week was a very hard and touching week for me.  I have a few students in my classroom that suffer from trauma throughout their home environment.  It is hard for me to see them suffer, which also directly effects how well they do in school.  Below is a poem that I wrote about trauma.  Not only does trauma have an impact in their home environment, but many other factors as well. 

Trauma happens in everyone.
Whether it is shows a huge impact or only in one.
I have adjusted to the impact that it has
Not only on her, but the others it makes sad.
Being an educator, it is my job to support every child
Even if it drives me wild.
Trauma has a major impact on many students at young age,
Which we all need to work to save.

"We Can't Say That Stuff in Class"

Yesterday I was at the grocery store, making my biweekly grocery trip.  I came across a woman that was shopping with her husband and she was on crutches.  The reason that she was on crutches was because she only had one leg.  There was a family of four that was down the same isle as myself and the lady that was on crutches.  The littlest child, probably around five years old, pointed to the lady on crutches and loudly said: "what's wrong with that girl, she is legless."  The parent must not have heard the child say it, because the same child pointed to the lady on crutches again and said: "mom and dad, that lady is legless."  The mom turned to the children and said: "that's not nice, she has one leg.  But she can still get around just like we can."  Then the dad chimed in and said: "she is no different than any person here.  She is the same as everyone, she just has one leg."  After the parents said that to their child, the child could not stop staring at the lady.  The lady on crutches did hear the child say that she was legless both times because she looked at the family both times, but did not say anything. 

The message that was communicated from the mother and father to the child is that: even though she may look different and not have two legs like almost everyone else has, she is still the same as anyone.  This is great to hear the parents say and make sure that their child does not have any stereotypes. 

An educator would have said the same thing.  The educator may have also gave several other examples.  They would have tried to have the students act like they were in that lady's shoes.  The educator would ask the student how they would feel being made fun of if they only had one leg.

Gender, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation

One of the scenarios that I chose to focus on this week was in relationship to the use of homophobic terms.  My parents taught my sister and I from a young age the importance of not using homophobic terms.  Throughout my sister's elementary school years, she was a huge tomboy.  No one would be her friend and she was judged all day, every day at school.  To me, it seemed as though the young children that were making fun of her did not realize that it was a bad thing.  My sister would come home crying every day because no one would talk or play with her.  After my parents talked to the teacher several times about the situation, the teacher said that she would address it with the class.  The problem continued until she was in five grade.  In fifth grade, my sister changed her appearance and she had several people that were trying to talk to her and be her friend.  Even though I was not in her situation, it was still very hard for me to see her like this.

If I was informed by someone that they do not want their children interacting with them then I would try to find the reasons why they did not want me interacting with their child.  I would make sure that I would do all that I could to treat them the same and I would not judge at all.  Just because they have different sexual orientation than others, does not mean they are any different than me or other individuals.  Lastly, I would make sure to respect their decision after talking to them if they really did not want tme teaching or interacting with their child.