Time has flown but Time was so worth it! WE did it!

Good Evening my fellow beautiful educators

I want to say thank you to you all. I am trying to upload my video that I made for you all! I have learned so much from this program. I have learn about self reflection the most.  I have found out the biases that I face and how to deal with different situations with families and children when it comes to biases. I have learned that I still have so much to learn and that excites me so much! I have learned how to deal with families differently and how to respect each individual family and child. I have learned that some families will trust right away and some  I will have to be there support with their own time. Lastly I really had a chance to learn about research.  I had a chance to learn about reliable sites and how to present a paper with my thoughts and citations to backup my thoughts.

My main goal is to be consistent with that I have learned. I know that I want to continue to learn and grow with more education. However I really want to work on being consistent and take what I learned and use it as much as possible. I do not want to step away from anti-bias work but to continually use it everyday.  I want to create an anti-bias classroom that can support all learners.

I am unable to upload a video on this page. I made one and it is not allowing to upload. So I just want to take the time to say thank you. I wouldn’t be who I am today without all of your help. I have grown as an educator by learning from all of you. I have grown in the sense I am starting to use what I have learned from you guys into my classroom. I am so grateful that we all had a chance to collaborate even though I am ready to step away from the computer I am going to miss you all. You were my outlet and help me see things in a light that shines on education and making a difference.

WE did it! I hope to see some of you all walking at the graduation. I hope you all keep in touch. I am always here to learn from you all and give whatever advice I can.

I wish nothing but greatness for you all!

Much Love

Amanda

Three International Organizations

Website: https://www.unicef.org/

I will always love this website. I believe that I have support since the beginning of getting my Masters. However every time I go into the site I find more amazing things that they are doing that are supporting children and families. UNICEF ( 2017) states, “UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS” (pg.1). So they have a lot of jobs that are available to help support the different areas of healthy development for young children. So one can have experience with health and nutrition while other applicants can look as educators. In the future I would like provide education to young children. I would love to travel and help with teaching English and Math. I would also love to collaborate with others on the team to see what is best for the young children. I would need the skills that I have which is Masters in Early Childhood and experience working with all different cultures of children.

Would you want to teach in needed areas?

https://www.icaf.org/

ICAF (2017) states, ” We serve American children as their national arts organization to foster their creativity and develop empathy among them and with their peers worldwide through the universal language of art” ( pg.1).  I found this very interesting that there is an organization around the world that shows different languages through art. This would help children that are having trouble learning a language and can draw how they feel during this process. There is not jobs at this site however they do show ways we can join the organization and make it apart of schools or child care programs. They also have different resources that help understand the importance of art being universal to all languages and how to use this in the classroom.

http://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/lang–en/index.htm

ILO is the International Labour Organization and I wanted to show how children are working at such a young age. ILO (2017) stated, “The main aims of the ILO are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues” (pg.1).   There is some jobs that are available however I am not qualified for them. You have to be able to travel the world and know more than one language.  Also I have I do not experience in the field of labour working with children or adults so I woudn’t be much help.

I know that I may not be suited for this job I love that people are working to support any person no matter what age with the labour force throughout the world .

Communities of practice

www. NEA.org

I wanted to choose this because it main goal  is the children. It provides resources and strategies to help children learn about different issues that young children are facing.  I like that they give different organization that support different issues and shows way that these organizations are helping children and families.

Currently there is no jobs available that I saw. The way to help NEA website is closed down. However I would love to join the different organization that support healthy child development and finding ways to donate and get involved.

I believe that I need to have the skill of understanding what healthy development means in young children.  I know about healthy development and I think I would be good at job working with parents and children.

 

https://maec.org/

In 1991 MAEC was founded and was non- profit dedicated to increasing access to high quality education for culturally, lingustically, and economically diverse learners (MAEC, 2017).  This organization focus on equality and to achieve social justice.  MAEC offers stimulating work environment; challenging, innovative and meaningful projects; and the opportunity to work with professionals who are well-regarded in their fields of expertise(MAEC, 2017).

Family, School, & Community Engagement Specialist is a job that I would be interested. I would learned a lot from taking my Masters about community engagement. However I want to take more classes and interview different colleagues to get a better understanding to so that I am more qualified for this position.

What job would pick?

http://www.tolerance.org/

This is an organization that helps teachers. It has different webinars to help teachers with different issues with young children. Also different professional developments. I love that they have lessons plans for teachers to teach different issues to young children.

This organization is more of a resource to help teachers. I wanted to share.

Much love

Amanda

Community of practice in MD

 

Happy Saturday everyone!

I am from Maryland so I decided to focus on communities of practice in the state of Maryland. When done well, family engagement practices can support the healthy social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development of young children, regardless of ethnic or socioeconomic background.

Below are the 3 organization that I research that is connected to young children and families. I enjoy being a teacher and support these different organization. However, there is no jobs that I am interested in. I do however want to share with my families the different organization that are in Maryland that are trying to give support. I want to share this awareness so that it may help a family in need.

 

One organization I looked more into is Maryland early childhood family engagement framework.  I found that this organization is family oriented and family engagement is very important. The overall goals of this organization: (1) recognizing the importance of family engagement as a core component of early care and education; (2) setting forth common goals for family engagement efforts; and (3) summarizing effective family engagement strategies and resources (MFE,2004).

 

Another organization that I focused on is Division of Early Childhood Development (DECD). This organization provides grants to the Judith P. Hoyer Early Child Care and Family Education Centers (Judy Centers) and administers the contract for the Maryland Family Support Center Network.  Again, the most important goal for this organization supports families and works on providing service and resources to children and families.

Located in Maryland neighborhoods marked by high numbers of pregnant

and parenting adolescents, families with low incomes, low birth-weight babies, high school

dropouts, and high rates of unemployment, the centers provide comprehensive, preventative

services, which include:

 Quality developmental child care while parents are on site;

 Adult education and employability services (Goal 4);

 Health education and referral (Goal 6);

 Developmental infant and toddler assessment and referral (Goal 6);

 Home visiting (Goals 1, 2 & 3);

 Peer support (Goal 6);

 Service coordination; and

 Outreach, collaboration, and resource development (MSDE,2014).

 

The last organization I chose in Maryland is Raising a Reader. The Raising a Reader (RAR) program is a family engagement and early literacy initiative with a track record of improving early literacy school readiness scores of children, helping to ease their transition into kindergarten by preparing them for school (MSDE,2014). This is an organization that is highly involved in the county that I work for.  This organization creates different workshops for families how to help their child learn early literacy. RAR helps families to develop, practice and sustain the habit of reading to their children, supporting families in developing skills as their child’s first teacher (MSDE,2014).

 

MSDE. (2014). Best Practices to Engage Parents and Guardians in Early Education Programs and Services. Retrieved March 18, 2017, from http://earlychildhood.marylandpublicschools.org/system/files/filedepot/3/famengagelegislativereport.pdf

 

Maryland Family Engagement (MFE). (2004). The Early Childhood Family Engagement     Framework: Maryland’s Vision for Engaging Families with Young Children. Retrieved March 18, 2017, from http://earlychildhood.marylandpublicschools.org/system/files/filedepot/4/md_fam_engage.pdf

Thank you for your support

I just want to start by saying thank you all. You have helped me grow as an educator. I have learned about different points of view and how to deal with situations. Your posts and responses have help me know that I have a community that I share my biases and not be judged. I have learned more about myself from this. I know that I have some biases that have but I now know how to be mindful. I also learned ways to help my children explore biases. I used to be the teacher that would stop the bad talking without discussing the reason why the words were being said.

My professionals hope that I have are to keep all the strategies that I have learned this course. Another hope is to continue to keep in contact with my support group to share my successes with being an anti-bias educator. I want to continue my growth as anti-bias educator by continuing classes and research.

I know I had it at the beginning but thank you. I am grateful for you all!

Till next time

Karimi

UNICEF is the best!

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope that everyone is well and safe.

I love the UNICEF organization. UNICEF is committed to doing all it can to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in partnership with governments, civil society, business, academia and the United Nations family – and especially children and young people(UNICEF,2011). I know I get caught up in everyday education but it is sad to think not every child has educational rights. I love how this organization is spreading awareness and showing how we can get involved. I also love that it translates to connect to everyone around the world. I decided to visit the El Salvador website. A lot of my students that I work with are from El Salvador and still have siblings/family members that are still there. I want to make more of a connection to my families and show them that I am also keeping up with their culture.

El Salvador was one of the first countries to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and, as such, has come a long way from reforms and efforts aimed at giving the centrality and priority that Salvadoran children and adolescents deserve (UNICEF,2011). One of the challenges that El Salvador is poverty. With the lack of money with means there is not a lot of resources. So, children are not getting the best care because of the lack of money. Another challenge is the violence. El Salvador has a history of dealing with situation with violence. This causes issues to the children because it teaches them that they should be violent with each other. This doesn’t teach a healthy social development and problem solving.  Unequal income, lack of opportunities for decent employment and access to quality education and health services, as well as persistent violence, have affected all areas of national life, family, school, community and economic and social relations(UNICEF,2011).

As I said at the beginning, I love UNICEF. It is helping so much all over the world. It is keeping up to date with different issues with articles. I found this website so detailed and UNICEF is an organization that I am happy I joined. I am going to show the children at my school this website so we can learn ways to connect with their families.

Thank you

UNICEF (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/

Let’s Talk About Sex … Baby?

Sexualization is something that is part of most children’s lives. It is exposed in TV, social media, peers, etc. and it is changing how child now view their bodies. When I was growing up I was not allowed to leave the house with anything that showed to much skin and I didn’t want to either. However that being said my parents kept me away from Tv or movies or music by keeping involved with playdate and outside. However times have changed.

The elementary school I worked at before didn’t have a uniform so some of the outfits that came in were crazy. I was in a Kindergarten room and I asked one of the girls why want to dress like that. She told me, “ I want to be pretty like the Beyoncé and I want to show my skin like her”.

How would you react to that?

Another example that I had a student once that was very into pageants. She would show her friends her all dressed up and a lot of makeup. I overheard her told her friend to be pretty girls should make up. She continued by saying “We need to look hot with makeup otherwise you will never get a boyfriend!” I came over to the children and talked about how we do not need makeup to feel beauty.

How would you approach that situation?

Another example my family friend was 7 years old and took his “girlfriend” to his room. He said we have to kiss and touch each other since you are my girlfriend. When he got caught he told his parents that he was listening to music that talks about sex and he learned his move from different songs.

I believe that sexualization can cause issues when it comes to healthy development.  I have had a child tell me that she can’t have carbs because they will make her fat and she wanted to be thin like Kendal Jenner. So I believe that some of our children are seeing these role models and wanting to stay small like the pictures they see. So if they are not getting the correct foods then the child can’t develop healthy.

I have learned the impact social media and TV has on children’s development. As an educator is important to not shy away from these learning experiences for my children. It would be an injustice I am doing to my children is I ignore these situations. I want to make sure that I am providing that safe questions where they can ask “ why does this song say this or am I pretty this skinny?

I learned that strategies to help parents work with their children in positive and meaningful ways from Diane Levin stated:

Here are a few examples of the strategies we elaborate on in the book that help parents work with (rather than against) their children in positive and meaningful ways:

• Know the media your child is seeing so you can have real conversations together about it and make informed decisions about what limits to set that you can explain and discuss with your child.
• Create rituals and rules about the media in your child’s life as well as when, how and what shopping occurs. This helps avoid constant nagging and stress. Children do better when they know what is going to happen and when.
• Work to establish safe channels of communication, where your child knows she can talk to you about what she sees, hears and thinks without being embarrassed, ridiculed or punished. Children need a safe place to process what the sexualized environment exposes them to — and parents can play an essential role in providing it.
• Have give-and-take conversations that help you find out about what your child thinks and feels, so you can base your response on your child’s understanding and needs.
• Reduce gender stereotypes. Help daughters (and sons) develop a broad range of interests, skills and behaviors that get beyond the narrow focus on appearance that the sexualized childhood provides.
• Work at all levels to create a society that is more supportive of children’s healthy gender and sexual development. This includes promoting public policies that reduce the sexualization of children and limiting the power of corporations to market sex to children.

 

Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf

Why can’t I be me?

Hello my name is Alex. I have been made fun of because I love doing “girl” things. I love dressing up and feeling like a beautiful boy. I am made fun by all the boys because I sing Frozen and that I dressed up as Elsa for Halloween. The girls love how I dress and invite me to play sometimes. But none of their parents will let me come over.

Hello my name is Chrissy. I am made fun of because I love doing “boy” things.  I play football everyday and I always have loved wearing my jerseys. I never have wore a dress. The girls do not want to play with me because I play to rough and I am not into make up and dolls.

Why can’t these two children like whatever they want to like without being mistreated? The parents do not want these children to play with their child. Why is that?

Sadly this story was true.  When I was working at a day care I had this situation in own of our 4 year old rooms. Each family  came in and had a meeting with the director and the 4 year old teacher to discuss Alex and Chrissy situation at school. The other parents didn’t talk to these families and the children were not allowed to come over to their house. When the director asked another 4 year old why they were’t allowed to play with Alex or Chrissy. The child said, ” My mommy said they are sick and I do not want to get sick”. The two families decided to leave to a different school. I wish I had the strategies that I had now to help them know they are respected and that their children are awesome just how they are.

How would you address this situation with the child saying ” my mommy said they are sick and I do not want to get sick”?

 

Observing communication and interaction

Today is January 27, 2017. I am observing the P.E. teacher for 30 minutes. I am the main teacher in the classroom and this is the special time. I wanted to step back and see how other teachers in my school are communicating with the pre-k children. I have a diverse classroom. I have

Today in P.E they are dancing of different music.

When I walked into the room, the teacher had different signs around the room that was is both languages. The two languages are Spanish and English. She also had different posters that had different types of children playing and exercising. Also, when she was giving directions she was making sure that she had pictures of what they were doing. This is helping the children create a connection by putting a picture to a word.

I have one child that needs to moving always. Inside of getting angry with my student she created a special area where they can go crazy in gym. I really like that she took the time to see the needs of my children to succeed. In this area, there is mats and hoops.

So, when the children started to dance I saw a positive interaction between the P.E. teacher and each of the children. She would go around as the children were dancing and the P.E. teacher gave positive comments on their dancing and provide the vocabulary to what to different movements.

I thought that the P.E. teacher could have used different music from different countries. She was just playing a couple of new songs that are popular today. In the next few times the children can learn different dance moves from different cultures.

I saw some effective communication between the P.E. teacher and the children. The P.E. teacher was very positive when talking to the children. She would guide the children to start saying “I can” “ I can try” and had the children step away from “ I can’t”. She would walk around and communicate with each child. She was big in helping the children create new vocabulary.

She would pick different music that the children like. She was making a connection to the children and that is important when creating communication.

However, when a child would get upset she would just send the child to the mat area to calm down. She doesn’t create conversation with them. So, I was in this situation, I would have the other children continue moving their body. I may choose a child that following directions to help lead the class while I go speak to the child that was upset. I asked the P.E. teacher why she didn’t address that child. She told me, “I do not have the time. I have objectives to meet and I do not want to ruin the flow of my class”.

• What do you think about how that P.E. teacher answered?

 

I really have learned that every interaction is important. I need to continue to learn not to brush away important learning experiences. When a child is upset, I want to take the time to create the communication and help build their language. As I am building their language we are creating a relationship. I also need to continue to work on listening. I have notice that I may ask guided questions to help come to an answer. However, since I started my Masters I realized this and I have started to try to keep my mouth shut and allow child to communicate. It is a process and I am working to continually to change

 

Creating Affirming Environments

First, I hope that everyone brought in the New Year safe. I am happy to be back and learn from you all. I also get a chance to share experiences that I have been through.

Well on to the assignment where I am going to share what I have learned from this week’s media segment, touring the day care, and this week’s reading. First I want to provide diverse, anti-bias materials like book, music, DVDs, dramatic play props, puzzles, drawing materials, blocks and Legos and posters on the wall. In the media segment, I loved that she had different color skins throughout the house. She had different dolls and I really like the mirror and bags of different skin colors ( Laureate Education,2011).

The next part are the strategies that I would use in my classroom to support anti-bias education in my classroom. I would provide and support discussion and activities about people’s attributes. During circle time I may start bring out different dolls that use a wheelchair, hearing aid, and glasses create opportunities for stories and conservation about people with physical challenge( Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010). I will bring in other sets of dolls with different diversities to promote discussions and allow my children to ask questions in their safe environment. I want to encourage my children to express their emotion and discuss different ways to solve conflict. I also want to make sure that I teach children about stereotypes. However that does make me nervous because I do not want to cause any offense to anyone.

This brings me to my next important part is partnering with families. In the media segment I loved how Ariana’s care center was so family based. I really liked the message board. This board was where parents would share messages about the child good and bad to help keep communication ( Laureate Education,2011).  I also really liked the cultural shelf. It really showed that she valued all the differences in her program. Ariana takes time to value her children’s needs and differences. I want to take some of her ideas and put them in my classroom next year.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Welcome to ani-bias learning community. Baltimore, MD: Author

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves.Washington, D. C.: National    Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).