ECE Classes

Several of the groups that I participated in were continuing education classes that is required in the early childhood field. Now looking back onto the classes I can see the common task was to learn certain material that was needed to take back to our centers or classrooms. Often the adjourning phase was a game that tied everything together that we had learned in the class. It was nothing big but it reviewed what we had learned. During some of the longer classes, saying good-bye was not saying good-bye. We exchanged numbers and/or emails to help to keep in touch with each other. We could use them as resource or for networking in the field. The classes were valuable but it was not hard to leave because it usually was a long class (Abudi, 2010).

The leader or the teacher of the class made us become norm by assigning an activity that corresponds with the topic she was currently discussing. We had to work as a group and discuss answers together. It felt awkward at first but after a few discussion activities we usually begin to gel together as a team. There was one event that had several classes in one week where we stayed for a week in a hotel with no televisions. We had a core group that we got to know. We ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. By the end of the week it was bitter-sweet that we were leaving each other. We had a closing event that Saturday night that was fun and engaging (Abudi, 2010).

When I finish my master’s degree in this program I will feel accomplished and I will celebrate. I am not quite sure how I will celebrate but I will celebrate. I will probably will take a great vacation as a graduation present to myself. Adjourning is so important because it is celebrating a proud accomplishment. It brings joyful closure to a project that is meaningful to either one person or to several people (Abudi, 2010).

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.

Communicating with Bilinguals

When I worked as a teacher at Child Development Association I had to really pay attention to how I communicated with parents who spoke English as a second language. I had to use simple words with them so they could understand me. I slowed down my speech because I wanted to make sure that they were understanding and processing the information correctly. When they spoke I had to closely listen to what they had to say and have patience when they had to think about the right words to say to get their message across. I had a co-worker that needed help with her English writing. I had to proofread her writing to make sure she was grammatically correct. I also had to be patient with her because her Puerto Rican accent would get in the way of me understanding the English word she was trying to say. She may even ask me what something meant and I would have to find a synonym that she understood.

 I communicate differently with my son than I do with the children in my childcare center. I can keep separate how I deal with my child versus someone else’s child. When I answer the phone I sound my most professional. My voice changes and if it is a potential parent then I go into a sales mode. There are many ways I communicate with different people and different situations. Am I being just me all the time? I think I am, but in different ways.
 

Speak Like Dr. Umar Johnson

     One of today's speakers I like to listen to is Dr. Umar Johnson. Dr. Johnson is a Certified School Psychologist of Pennsylvania and speaks nationally and internationally about the predicament of African and African American people across the world. He is planning to open up a school for black children to learn the skills they need to economically compete with other races in the world (Dr. Umar Johnson, n.d.).
     I love how he speaks because he speaks with authority and urgency of his cause. He sometimes dresses casually or in a professional suit depending on his audience. He speaks intellectually and knows how to respond instantly to someone that disagrees with him. I wish I could speak like he does in front of an audience so smoothly. If I could speak like him I would have probably been more effective building my non-profit organization because I would be able to speak with authority and urgency about my community (Dr. Umar Johnson, n.d.).

Dr. Umar Johnson. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.drumarjohnson.com

Revolutionizing ECE

I desire when I work with children and families from multifarious backgrounds that I understand their differences and remove my own biases from the relationship. I hope to subsume their culture into the center and their child’s classroom. I love history but I do find it arduous to be intrigued in someone else’s ethnicity if it does not relate to me subjectively.

The mission I would like to attain in the early childhood field related to equity is building an ECE program in low income neighborhoods that has all of the assets of high income ECE centers. I have seen there is a big variation between centers who are low income versus high income. It should be a level “playing ground” when it comes to education and it is not. I think educating our children under five and continues through to high school will help to mend the social injustices.

I would like to thank the professor and my fellow classmates for their perspectives and inputs into my perspectives. I have really grown in this class and have learn about subjects that matter to people that I never really thought of.

Family from Benin Africa

I actually did have a family that is from Benin, Africa. We noticed that he may not know much English and knew his home language only. We tried to find out what language his family spoke. Mom would not tell us but Dad told us it was benin. I tried to look it up but the main language spoken there is French. Benin may be an almost lost language (Benin). I would try to get some common benin phrases such as, lunch time, sit down on the carpet, nap time, outside time, etc. I would try to research the culture of Benin and include pictures in the classroom. I would also try to talk to his pictures and have them bring in family pictures. Lastly, I would teach his classmates about Benin as well so they can learn a different culture. These suggestions will benefit me because I will understand how to teach appropriately. Also it is beneficial to the family because they feel included and important as well as the child.

Benin. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ethnologue.com/country/BJ

"Big Momma"

I remember working for an afterschool program where I cared for children ages 4 to 12 years old. There was a heavy set dark-skinned girl who was crying on the field. I asked her what was wrong. She said that a particular girl kept calling her “Big Momma”. I confronted the girl and told her how mean her statement was and how much it hurt her feelings. The girl looked at me with such confusion. It looked as if she did not know how much that statement hurt her. I hope I did not get onto her to harshly because I know how it feels to get picked on during that age. Even though the “bully” did not understand her microaggression it was very unfair to her to feel less than a person because of her weight. It was unfair to have to sit there on that field and miss out on playing with other children because her feelings were hurt. I myself was hurt and imagined myself as that child who was bullied because I was considered a “cry baby”. I now know that I was just highly sensitive. I did not stand up for myself when I was younger. When I was talking to the girl bully that was probably the little girl inside of me finally defending herself. The bully will have to change in this scenario because she has to learn how her words can affect others feelings. I as a teacher had to teach that to the bully.

Is Intelligence Genetic?

           I was at work and my boss (white) said something that shocked me. She thinks intelligence is genetic. Now at first this statement did not bother me. However, once I thought about it I related the statement to the past slave owners and supporters of Jim Crow laws back in the United States history. When there was a nation of slaves that were forbidden to read or write whites thought we were unintelligent. However, it was our environment that caused blacks to appear unintelligent. However, a lot of inventions that blacks did not get credit for were out of intelligence of black people. Fast forward to today, a large percentage of our black children are reading below their grade level. Why? It is not because of a lack of intelligence gene. It is because of the education system not conducive to how a lot of black children learn. Everyone has a form of intelligence that is a skill that each individual has developed. We could be intelligent in medicine, mechanics, farming, teaching, engineering, etc. What is a person mostly interested in and passionate about? That could be their intelligence once developed (Runston & Jensen, 2005).          

Runston, J & Jensen. A. (2005).Thirty Years of Research on Race Differences and Cognitive Ability. Retrieved from https://www1.udel.edu/.../30years/Rushton-Jensen30years.pdf

Culture and Diversity

According to Debra, culture is the traditions, values, and the way of life. Debra pretty much summed up the same definition I would have come up with. Janet Gonzlez-Mena takes it a bit further by defining culture as rules that are made up as we grow that makes us diverse with so many different perspectives of life. However, culture can go much deeper because culture can be made up of individual characteristics and experiences of that particular person’s life.

Debra’s definition of diversity is what make us different as people. I can see her point of view of diversity. For example, this country is full of diversity. We all come from different walks of life that maybe different from our own. People might say we are a country that is a melting pot but actually we are a tossed salad because we tend to keep our identity such as a tomato or a cucumber. However, we are tossed around in the same bowel influencing each other taste and texture (Evans, 2009). Diversity is often looked at by what race, ethnic group, gender, age abilities, social class, etc. We can categorize ourselves through these characteristics of diversity.

Considering the racial tension that has been going on today, this is one aspect that has been omitted because people did not want to talk about the division of race especially between blacks and whites. Racism has been forced to be discussed and to open the dialogue between two races of people in order to hopefully seek understanding. For example, Alston Sterling, Philando Castille, and police officers have been shot and killed because of this verbal omission (Donella, 2016).

After asking about the different definitions of culture and diversity, I now can see its importance in my job. Parents have different views and traditions that are important to them. We as educators have to respect that.

  

Donella, L. (2016).Two Days, Two Deaths: The Police Shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/07/07/485078670/two-days-two-deaths-the-police-shootings-of-alton-sterling-and-philando-castile

Evans, J. (2009). America as Melting Pot? We’re Really More of a Tossed Salad. Rerieved from http://www.ethicsdaily.com/america-as-melting-pot-were-really-more-of-a-tossed-salad-cms-14446

 

Building ECE Research Design

What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?

I have realized that planning a research study requires a lot more than just obverting. I have to consider a lot of components that may negatively affect each other if not considered (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).

In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?

I like to do research on my own however, I now realize the importance of having other people’s perspective included in the study. I am usually a loner in research. I usually get agitated when someone else puts in their two cents (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).

What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?

I have learned the difference between qualitative and quantitative design. I like how one gives the facts and the other tells you why it might be fact. I have learned that having more than one researcher could help you validated your research. Also, I have learned that planning for a research study should be outlined first before implementing it so you what to consider in advance for a successful study (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).

What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?

The challenges I encountered was not quite understanding the concepts in the textbook. Quite a bit of it was going over my head. I had too often find a Youtube video that would explain the concept visually for me because I am a visual learner.

What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?

When I do read studies from ECE researchers I now understand how in depth and time consuming conducting a research let alone planning one really is. I will trust the data they will collect and see how it can be implemented in the classroom.

 

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research: International perspectives on theory and practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

 

 

 

 

Nigerian Storytelling

          In Nigeria, they have a tradition of storytelling these classical tales that were passed down from generation to generation. These stories are cultural and give the children in the community a sense of culture and belonging. Now today Nigerian children are more engaged in technology and television shows overseas. The culture of storytelling is not as popular and considered boring to the children. In the Umuchingo community, they have decided to reintroduce storytelling at annual festivals and in their childcare centers. To make the stories interesting they had to get the children to participate in the story through clapping, rhyming, and singing. They also encourage parents to story tell at home so they will become accustomed to the tradition (Ezirim, 19190).

          It is very fascinating to do storytelling to children without the book itself. I have tried this in my classroom before from three year olds to school-agers. It is a wonderful way to promote and encourage imagination instead of a video game, TV, or even a picture book to do it for you.

          I have also learned that this site is a Virtual University that has its own Masters program. The Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) collaborates with other people in other countries to increase the country's societal and financial development through lecturing the necessities of the children and their families and communities which cultivate them (Ezirim, 1990).

Ezirim, M. (1990). Integrating Indigenous Knowledge in ECD Training and Services, Retrieved from http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php

High Turnover Rate in ECE

The topic I would like to research is the teachers’ high turnover in the early childhood field. I want to go further into depth why there is such a high teacher turnover rate. Why is it that after a year almost half of the staff hired a year ago has changed? In my center alone there has been about thirteen turnovers within the last year. In one month four people quit and two people terminated within two months! What is going on? As I consider some of the reasons such as lack of experience, burn out, family needs, and health, I wonder what can the industry do to combat these issues? How can we research this issue and come up with a reasonable solution? If these issues could be solved it will benefit children so greatly. Teachers form relationships with teachers and that bond should not be constantly broken several times throughout the year. Children will have closer bonds with teachers and develop trust and security. They need that for social and emotional skills, language skills, and cognitive skills. Also, teachers teach differently. One teacher could be boring and another teacher highly energetic. That can make the difference between whether a child is developmentally challenged because of the educational inconsistencies (Noriko Porter, Washington State University, Department of Human Development, Instructor, 2012).

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Noriko Porter, Washington State University, Department of Human Development, Instructor. (2012). High Turnover among Early Childhood Educators in the United States. Retrieved from http://www.childresearch.net/projects/ecec/2012_04.html

ECE Still Need Improvements of Quality Teachers

          I have been in the ECE industry for about thirteen years and I have seen the improvements but I think there needs to be more improvements. I think it was wise to require the lead teachers to hold some type of credentials from a CDA to a college degree. However, if a teacher holds a degree in ECE for ages birth through five years old they will not make as much money as the public school teachers (Hourly Rate for Industry: Early Childhood Education, n.d.). I finally have by degree in Child Development but the only thing that is stopping me from going back to teaching under the age of five years old is money. We are not compensated enough in this field and there is only twos ways to fix it. One way is for all childcare centers be funded by the government or another idea I have had for years.
          Low compensation and burn out has lead to high turnover rates of teachers. At the center I work for we had a month where we turned over four teachers! We also lost a parent because the teachers kept changing. This center is the number one center in its franchise and we cannot keep teachers.
          Also, more effective training is needed. Management should be doing the training not other teachers. Management is going to show you the correct way. I have a plan to provide a solution to these three issues that need to be improved to upgrade the quality of our teachers even further. I just have to get there.

OMG! I never had to buy a book for college upfront! It was always a digital e-book or it was sent to via mail and it was part of tuition. So I cannot do my chart yet because I just bought the book.

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Hourly Rate for Industry: Early Childhood Education. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Industry=Early_Childhood_Education/Hourly_Rate#by_State

Brazilian Preschool Classroom

In the video, World Endeavors: Brazil Volunteers 9: Daycare Center Classroom, it showed a typical preschool classroom that had limited resources. They have a couple of tables, a chalk board, one box of broken toys, and two shelves of arts and crafts. The teachers do the best they can with their lessons plans that they make from scratch. Being in a center like this I can imagine how hard it can be for children to learn at their best potential and for teachers to teach at their best. Watch the video below for a visual viewing.

 

World Endeavors. (2009, July 28). World Endeavors:Brazil Volunteers 9 Daycare Center Classroom. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmWKL3AEtrc

"KaKenya" Woman of Strength!

KaKenya is a young girl from Maasai, Kenya that decided to continue in school instead of dropping out at 12 years old and becoming a teen mother. She told her father that she wanted to continue school. He agreed if she goes through her woman ceremony. During her woman ceremony, she endured the most painful genital mutilation. She was in pain for weeks, but she did attend high school. After graduation she received a scholarship to a college in Virginia. She is the first girl in her village to attend college and earn her PhD. Afterwards, she returned back to her community to help her people. She found out that it was illegal in Kenya to mutilate girls and they had the right to own land. She founded an organization called KaKenya Center for Excellence. Girls were able to go to school and not get mutilated anymore and gave them their self-worth back (KaKenya Center for Excellence, 2016). Loved this story!

In KaKenya’s story she realized that education was important and would change her life for the better. Even though her mother was not educated she instilled in her children that they should have a better life than her. No matter what country you are born in education gives you a better quality of life (KaKenya Center for Excellence, 2016).

The fact that the men in her society felt like boys were better, KaKenya fought the odds and changed her life and the life of woman in her village. I hated the fact that men thought her scholarship was a waste because it did not go to boy. However, she found a way for her village to get her plane ticket to the USA to go to college. I hope today the men in her village are no longer sexist (KaKenya Center for Excellence, 2016).

KaKenya Center for Excellence. (2016). http://blog.teacollection.com/kakenya-gfc#more-18989?utm_source=GFC&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2016MarGiveBackEmail

Watch her story on TED: https://www.ted.com/talks/kakenya_ntaiya_a_girl_who_demanded_school?language=en

Atlanta Community Food Bank: Our Story

There is no excuse for poverty in our society today. I think poverty is
breed by greed. We have to pay for our own housing, food, and clothes to companies
that are making so much profit to fund their comfortable life styles. Just
because most of us do not have the immediate means or the immediate opportunities
to succeed financially as they do, should not mean that people should stress
even more to live comfortably. Everyone cannot live rich. Somebody has to live
poor for someone to live rich. Why not everyone live on the same playing field?
Oh wait, that is considered communism. Ugh! Why don’t the world just start over
for Pete's sake!

Lagos Women Empowering Themselves

In Lagos, Nigeria there is an organization called Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND). KIND helps women and girls advance in spirit and education so they can possibly one day be leaders for social and economical change. They first are teaching women and girls to be responsible for their own lives, body, communities and eventually the nation of Nigeria. They live in a male dominant society and are trying to gain their basic rights as woman. The change in this regards is moving slowly (Global Fund for Children, 2011).

Looking at the video has opened my eyes to the poverty of Nigeria. What I know of Lagos was not that because I enjoy their movie industry. It is recorded in the nicer part of Lagos. Most of the characters in the movie were women. However, just like any city there is the poor and the rich.

Global Fund for Children. (2011). Empowering Women in Nigeria. Retrieved from http://www.globalfundforchildren.org/empowering-young-women-in-nigeria/

 

 

Hope House Summer Camp: A Father is Still a Father

Global Fund for Children is an organization that is internationally based but it included USA. They help children who are faced with choices of either working or going to school. They even have a fear of being military soldiers or slaves. Global fund for children helps kids go to school and achieve their dreams. They have reached almost 10 million children worldwide. They ask for donations which eventually turns into Cash Grants and Building Services that goes to helping the children (GFC, 2014).


One of the programs that GFC awarded is a camp called Hope House summer camp. It is a camp in Washington DC where children who has fathers in prison have the opportunity for 25 hours out of the year to go visit their father and spend time with their father. This privilege is used as an incentive for fathers in prison to be well-behaved throughout the year so they can see and spend time with their child. I think this is a wonderful program because even though the fathers are in prison they can still contribute to society by positively influencing their own child (GFC, 2014).

This subject did not have much to do with diversity but like I mentioned in my discussion, sometimes it is a bit hard for me to relate to diversity stories outside my culture unless I meet the people in person. It's weird I know. I know I should be learning about other children of different countries but I just have a heart for my own race first. That is just how I feel. You ever heard the phrase fix your own house first before you fix another? Don't get me wrong I take care of children of all nationalities now, white, black, Asian, and Hispanic all the same. I was just related to this story because it was within my culture because I grew up without my father much in my life. I am thankful we have a relationship now. Also, my son had a father that went to jail for almost a year or so twice I think. I am trying to push their relationship together because it is not as close as it should.

GFC. (2014). Finding Hope at a Summer Camp Behind Bars. Retrieved from http://www.globalfundforchildren.org/finding-hope-at-a-summer-camp-behind-bars/

The Global Fund for Children

I first explored the Global Fund for Children website.

I came across a blog about children in Hermanos Ayer in Peru (I think it was Peru) that talked about how they are trying to keep the children in school instead of starting work so young. They have one early childhood program. They are helping the parents with their education and working skills so they can better support their children’s education.

I them signed up on their email list to email me any information about what the organization is doing for the children. I did ask could I send anything other than money and what do children need educationally in the African and Middle East region of the world.

I next went their Facebook page to Like their page and to check out the comments to see if I could connect with a person. The organization is located in Washington, D.C. and they do provide a number and address. I called the number and left a message about how to give tangible donations instead of money. I have also emailed this request.

https://www.facebook.com/GlobalFundforChildren/timeline GFC Facebook

http://www.globalfundforchildren.org/ GFC Website