Sharing Web Resources

Blog Assignment: Sharing Web Resources:

The website that I chose last we0ek was  NAEYC (http://www.naeyc.org). NAEYC is The National Associate for the Education of Young Children, There mission is "NAEYC's Mission is to serve and act on behalf of the needs, rights and well-being of all young children with primary focus on the provision of educational and developmental services and resources." NAEYC  goals are 
Their Vision for the organization is as followed:  Improving professional practice and working conditions in early childhood education, Supporting early childhood programs by working to achieve a high-quality system of early childhood education and Building a high-performing, inclusive organization of groups and individuals who are committed to promoting excellence in early childhood education for all young children. The organization offers a great amount of  resources and a lot of different topics to choose from. NAYEC'S Objectives are as followed:

• Providing professional development opportunities and resources for those who work for and with young children
• Convening individuals and groups with diverse perspectives to generate new knowledge and understanding of issues affecting the education and development of young children and their families.
• Setting and publicizing standards that promote excellence in early childhood education and early childhood professional preparation.
• Implementing systems to recognize early childhood education programs and early childhood professional preparation programs that meet NAEYC standards and guidelines.
• Building public understanding and support for activities and services that promote the healthy development and learning of all young children and their families.
• Advocating for public policies-and funding-to support a comprehensive system of high-quality early childhood education for all young children and families.
• Fostering the development of a network of high-performing, inclusive organizations that share the goal of promoting excellence in early childhood education for all young childrenakd

 This is an organization that you can join and become apart of. It allows excellence in high-quality early care and education.  This Organization accredicts childcare center that operate by their beliefs. The Website allows you to access education to best cellar books and provides access to different articles of a variety of topics it allows you to gain some professional development.

When looking for articles I found that you have to become a member which I plan to do a little later in the semester. But while browsing through the website I can across the topic of family involvement. Under this tab that provided information on their principles of  effective family Involvement, There are six that the organization is accustomed to :

• Principle 1: Programs invite families to participate in decision making and goal setting for their child
• Principle 2: Teachers and programs engage families in two-way communication 
• Principle 3: Programs and teachers engage families in ways that are truly reciprocal 
• Principle 4: Programs provide learning activities for the home and in the community
• Principle 5: Programs invite families to participate in program-level decisions and wider advocacy efforts
• Principle 6: Programs implement a comprehensive program-level system of family engagement

Since learning more about this organization I have began to understand how to work in the classroom better. It provides a lot of resources for me to go to gain more knowledge about different situations. Becoming apart of this organization would be of great benefit to me because it something that is stressed about In my State.
 

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

Part 1: Establishing Professional Contacts
  For this part of the assignment I used http://www.naeyc.org/resources/partnership/globalalliance
to look for other professional colleagues in other countries. I emailed a person in Africa and In Haiti, But I have not heard any information back from either person. My Plan is to try emailing again on Monday and possible picking 2 other people to email in case I never receive an answer from anyone. in the email I explained that I was a student and an educator looking to futher my knowlege about their educational programs in their countries. I asked if they would be interested in discussing some of the issues and trends that they may be facing at this time in the Early Childhood Education Programs. If I'm not able to make contact with anyone by WED. I will have to render to using the alternate assignment.


Part 2: Expanding Resources

I chose to learn more about NAEYC because it is an organization that I started to become familiar with during my undergrad years. It is also a program that has accredited every childcare center that I have worked in including the Public School Setting that I am in now. I would like to become a member so I can gain accesses to their great resources. It is a program that is highly look among educators in North Carolina and I feel this would be a great benefit to me since I am an educator in this area. I feel knowing more about this program will help me to better implement their policies and standards in my classroom.

MY SUPPORTS

Daily Supports 

1.  Emotional Support

   • Each Day I have to call my mother or my mother calls me just to check on me and see how my day went at work.

     • Each day my boyfriend helps relax me mentally. He knows that I am an over thinker and tend to stress over situations easily sometimes. He is always there to tell me that everything is going to be alright after along day. He is there for me to vent to when I need to get things off my chest. He knows how to make me smile whenever I am down regardless of the situation.

       • Instagram and Face book are my social support just about everyday . This type of social media allows me to take my mind of negative things that may have happened throughout the day. Most of the time they help me to relax by giving me a good laugh from a video or picture. A laugh can brighten up your day and take your mind off the stressful things in life.

          

          

          Practical Support

         When it comes to practical support the only thing I use on a daily bases is a planner. I use a planner on my phone and an actual hard cover planner. In that planner I have all of my event that I may have scheduled for the day such as meetings or things that I need to get done. On my phone I have reminders to take my medicine or to return someones phone calls. 

         Physical Support 

         As far as my practical support I would have to say it would be my coworkers in the classroom with me at work. They help me get through the average workday at work. From watching the children, changing papers, assisting me in group time, helping with bulletin boards and so on. 

         Each of these supports allow me to make it through a typical day. They allow me to remember things and just make it through life. If I did not have these supports life would be very difficult. Not having support from significant others or family would make things very challenging. If I did not have these items it would be very difficult to function in life. Everyone needs some on to talk to about all situations in life. Without those type of resources it would be difficult to maintain confidence in your self. 

         
         

         Specific Challenge

         The challenge that I chose to share was having to do home visits with students and parents. This challenge is actually about to become a reality in a few weeks. I just got a new job teaching Pre-K in the public school system and one thing that is required for me to do is home visits. With this challenge I would need the emotional support from my mother and boyfriend, the physical support of my assistant and practical support I would need a schedule and list of address to tell me where and when to go too certain locations. I would need all the supports from my daily environment. Being able to have that emotional and social support will help me to go into these seditious with an open mind and they will allow me to go in confidently.  If I did not have any of these supports it would be very difficult to make it through the day. If I did not have my assistant there to help me with just advice on how to approach different situation I probably would go in extremely nervous. Not having the support of My mother and boyfriend would make it seem like I was in the situation all alone and it would be difficult to press forward. If I did not have the use of my planner I would not make it to any of my scheduled appointments and I probably would be without a job. Having these supports will allow me to go about different situation with a positive attitude and confidence in myself.

          

          

          

          

      

My Connections to Play!

Quotes that represent my play!
“Play is…more than just fun. Plenty of play in childhood makes for happy, smart adults – and keeping it up can make us smarter at any age.” Stuart Brown (author of The Neuroscience of Play)

 “It is in playing, and only in playing, that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self.” ~ D.W. Winnicott (British pediatrician

Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.

Fred Rogers
American television personality
1928–2003

Essential Play Items for Me!

  

 

My Supporters of Play!

Growing up play was a huge factor in my household. I remember being around the age of 4/5 and each day my mother made me go outside and play. She use to tell me that playing outside was going to help me grow up to be a strong adult. My mother would set up a schedule that included me going outside I know for majority of the day. She would have me get up, eat breakfast, have school time, go outside, eat dinner, go back outside until the streetlights came on or when it was to  dark for me to see my own hand. Even if my mother took me to a babysitter while she was at work, she would tell them to make sure that they took me outside to play. As I got older I remember my mother letting me have a Nintendo 64, but I could only play it for a certain amount of time and then she would send me right outside to play.  Another way play was supported through my childhood was through sports. I loved all sports so at the age of three my mother began to put me in optimist club for basketball. As I got older my mother kept me in sports from basketball, softball and volleyball. She made sure that I was very active. 

Play today vs. Play in my childhood....

In my opinion, play to day is a lot different from play when I was growing up. It is very obvious that play is not supported like it use to be. I remember growing up parents use to make all of their kids go outside and play regardless of if they wanted to or not. This day in age its so many video games, computer games, computers, ipods, PDA's and cell phones that most children stay in the house and their parents do not make them go outside at all.  It seemed as if when I was younger more children were healthy, unlike now where childhood obesity and diabetes is on a rise. The role of play in the school systems has changed a lot since I was a child. I remember going outside anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour in grades K-5. Now in most elementary school kids are only outside for about 20 minutes if that, with the exclusion of Pre-K.

I think people have failed to realize the importance of play because they are so caught up in trying to compete with other countries. The American lifestyle is not that of China or other countries where all their kids do is school because that is what is enforced from day one. I fear that the future of play with children is going to eventually disappear if parents, administrators  and communities are not informed of the importance of play. I fear that children will not have a imagination at all. Without play I can see an increase of drop outs, behavior issues, health issues (which we are already seeing) and pregnancy. Play allows children to develop skills that they will use later in life. Play helped me with decision making skills, social skills, emotional development, how to make friends, problem solving and a number of other things. Being that I learned those skills through play it has helped develop me into the intelligent woman that I am today. Play in a way helped build my character as a person. I wonder how life would be if I never had experienced play at all?

Nevertheless, Play is a vital activity in the lives of our children. It should be utilized more. The importance of play needs to be addressed across the U.S. because it is more important than people realize.Play is an effective way for children to accumulate a vast amount of basic knowledge about the world around them, knowledge needed for later learning in language, math, science, social studies, art, and medicine” (Wardle, 2010).

Resource

Wardle. F. (n.d). Play as curriculum. Retrieved Ausgust 1, 2010, from http://www.earlychild
hoodnews.com/earlychildhood/artile view.aspx?ArticleID=127

 

Relationship Reflection

Why Relationships/Partnerships are Important!
Relationships and Partnerships are very important to me because without having the life would be boring. Without having relationships and partnerships I feel as if though you would not be able to do anything in life as far as having a job. Having relationships and partnerships allow you to view the world in a different perspectives.They will help you to see things from different cultural perspectives and understand the trials and tribulations that we may be faced with in life. Friendships and partnerships allow you to share important information and knowledge about different things. Having these relationship allow me to be able to talk to someone about issues that I may be having and they allow for a great support system. Having a relationship means being able to trust that person and that person be able to trust you. It's so important to have people in your life to help you when you are in time of need or when you just need a shoulder to lean on. With these type of relationships I think that it is important to have great communication skills within your relationship. Realtionships and partnerships important to me because they are essential to life.

Some of My Positive Relationships/Partnerships

This is a picture of me and my brothers and sisters. We all share a special relationship with one another. My relationship with both my sisters and my brother are positive ones. They all support me with the decisions that I make in life. If I get off track they are quick to address me about so that I can get back on the right path. When I am feeling down and out I can call them and have a conversation with them. Anytime that I need help all I have to do is call. If I just need someone to talk to, I know that I can just call on them. They are my backbones and we take care of each-other. The way that we maintained our relationships are by first Communicating, then  developing trust. By learning each other  on a personal bases throughout the years has allowed us to maintain our close relationship.

 This is photo of my mother and I. I believe that we have a very strong relationship. Our relationship is positive because we are able to talk talk to each other about problems that we may be experiencing. we also help one another out when we are in time of need whether if it's helping out financially or with groceries. Being able to Communicate with one another has allowed for us to maintain a positive relationship. Having her to support me in all the things that I decided to do in life. She always supported me with academics and sports. My mom always offered me encouraging words which allowed me to get through a lot of tough times. In order to maintain such a positive relationship we have had to respect one another and each others life style. We continue to support each other with all situations through out life. By showing each other affections, listening to one another, being loyal and honest with one another, spending time with one another and being able to forgive each other are some of the factors that have contributed to helping us maintain a positive relationship.

 In this photo is a picture of my cousin/best-friend and her mother. My cousin and I have been together as friends since elementary school. We even went to college together. Her mother has always been there for the both of us. The relationship between my cousin and I has always been a positive one, but like any relationship there are ups and downs. Our relationship is so positive because we support each other, we communicate with each other about everything. We are able to trust one another, we spend time with each other, but we know when we need to give each other some space. Our relationship remains positive because we support each other and we remain loyal to each other. If one of us does something to upset the other person we take responsibility for our actions apologize and move forward. My relationship is son strong with her mother because I show her respect and he she see me showing respect to her daughter.

 In this photo is a picture of  my aunt, uncle my cousin and her son and I. I have a positive relationship with each and everyone of these people in this picture. My aunt and uncle are like my rock. When ever I need someone to talk to spiritual or just to get things off my chest I can go to them. They are always together so its like we share a co-relationship because I always talk to them both together. My honesty to them and them being able to trust me always for our relationship to continue to run smoothly. When ever I am in need they are there for me. When it comes to my cousin son we are very close. I use to keep him when he was younger. Our relationship is so strong because I always showed him affection and always made it comfortable for him to come and talk to me about anything. As far as his mother she has been a part of my life since I was a baby. Our relationship is so strong because she showed me affection and that I could trust her when I was growing up. I am able to talk to her about anything and the fact that she listens to me allows me to put trust into her. She has always supported me with my music, sports and school.

 

 This is a picture of my grandmother and grandfather. Our relationship with one another has always been a supportive one. If it was not for their love and support I probably would not be where I am today. My grandparents and I support one another on all different levels. We support each other financially and  spiritually. Another reason our relationship has remained so positive these last 24 years is because I show them the utmost respect, were loyal to one another and we have great communication sills. My grandparents have show their love and support to me by helping me out with school,, coming to my graduations and by supporting me in everything that I do.

 This a picture of my dad (left). Our relationship has not always been a positive relationship but over the years it has began to start transforming into one. The way that we have been working to make our relationship more positive is by him finally being able to come through and follow through with what he says, for example my car  egnine was about to give out ; he said he was gping to buy me a car and by the time I graduated form collage he had brought me a car. Our relationship is also becoming more positive because he is beginning to support me more, our communication level has gotten better, he  beginning to be more loyal to me and he has finally started devoting more time with me. As long as he continues to do these things I believe our relationship will remain positive.

 This is a picture of me and my 22 line sisters from my sorority Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. My relationship with each of this ladies is a positive one. The ways that these relationships that I have with these ladies stay positive is through being loyal to one another. If any of these ladies call me for anything I will have their back. The most important way that out relationships remain strong is through communication. Whether if it si through facebook, twitter, instagram, phone call or a text we stay in contact with each other. We support each other in anything that we decide to do. We remain loyal to each other just by keeping our word and staying to true to one another. If we do not agree with each other about something we are able to talk it out. forgive one another and move on. Because we are able to ad-mitt our wrongs , trust in one another and listen to each other our relationships remain strong.

This is a picture of my boyfriend and I. We have been together for five years strong and we have a very strong and positive relationship. One reason that our relationship is so positive is trust. We support each other with everything that we do. He supported me while I was finishing up my undergrad and he is now supporting me through grad school. He supports all of my dreams and I support his. I support him with his work as being a High-school band director. We support each other with our abilities to play the drum sets for our churches as well. Other reasons our relationship is so strong is because we are loyal to each other, we communicate well, we devote time to each other, we make each other laugh, we encourage each other to do well in life, we express our feeling to one another, we show affection, we follow through with what we say we are going to do with each other, we listen to each other and we forgive each other. We also keep our relationship string by keeping it entertaining for example we try to go on date-nights at-least once a week and always go one a mini vacation at least every month if we can. Another reason our relationship is so positive is because we do not hide anything form each other, we admitt our mistakes if we are wrong and we work it out.

The two picture are of my coworkers in my classroom. I would say that we have friendship and a partnership. We work together in the classroom and so far our relationships with one another has been positive. A reason for our relationship been being positive is number one communication. We have to communication with how we are doing our lesson plans, rules and regulations in the classroom, how we will discipline and etc. Another reason our relationships is positive is because we are trustworthy to one another and we support each other in the classroom. If we disagree about something we are able to talk it our and move on. we also are able to make each other laugh in the classroom especially if its a rough day. We are able to dammit if we have done something wrong or if we need help with something. Continue to do this will allow our relationships and friendships to remain positive and it will allow for our classroom to run smoothly.

challenges to developing and maintaining relationships

From these relationships I have learned that there can be some challenges in trying to develop and maintain relationships. I have learned that it is best that you are honest with the person that you are trying to develop the relationship with. It is good to start off getting to know the person by asking simple questions to get  know them , ask questions to learn about what they like or dislike and this will help you to see some of the things that you may have in common with them. I have also learned that it is important for you to be yourself and remain open. I also learned that giving encouragement to others also helps with maintain a positive relationship, being trustworthy and admitting when your wrong also helps.

Special Characteristics that may make Partnerships:

 From my relationships I believe that the following characteristics will benefit to having a partnership:

• Positive communication
• loyalty
• Listening to each other
• Support
• Encouragement
• Honesty
• Admitting mistakes

Summary
From my relationships I have learned a lot about how to maintain a positive one. I believe having these relationships will he me with being a active, reflective contributor in the early childhood field. I believe this because from these relationship I have learned how to communication better with other people. I have learned how to gain the interest of others and what it take to keep a positive relationship going. As a professional these relationships will help me develop trustworthy relationships with my student and parents of my students. They also will help me with keeping a positive relationship with my coworkers. This skills will allow me to go out and communicate with others in the community to help enhance my classroom. This will also allow me to help other develop positive relationships.

When I think of Child Development

Child Development quotes

"Children have real understanding only of that which they invent themselves, and each time that we try to teach them something too quickly, we keep them from reinventing it themselves."
('The Century’s Greatest Minds,' Time, 1999)

 “Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.”

  Dr. Haim Ginott quotes

 Dr. Seuss, author

"A person's a person, no matter how small."

Even a minor event in the life of a child is an event of that child's world and thus a world event.

Gaston Bachelard (1884-1962) French philosopher and poet.

Crowded classrooms and half-day sessions are a tragic waste of our greatest national resource - the minds of our children.
Walt Disney 

Children need models rather than critics.

   Joseph Joubert quotes 

These are some quotes about children that I feel can be related to how important a child's development is. The quotes also give a look into how children learn for example, modeling. 

Testing for Intelligence?

 ASSESSMENT YES or NO ???

Considering a commitment to viewing young children holistically (i.e., a commitment to "the whole child"), what, if anything, do you believe should be measured or assessed? Explain your reasoning.

When it comes to viewing a child holistically I do believe that are some things that should be assessed. I say this because you can not always learn everything about a child just by simply observing for example, if the child had a disability that is not visual you would not know that unless someone told you, or the parent has said something about it to you and given you a note from the doctors office. Like I stated before I only believe that some things should be assessed or measured. I feel that today a lot of the assessments being done are not really assessing what the child knows, especially with standardized test. Most of Standardized test id just trying to see how much information the child could remember from class. In my opinion, they should not be used to determine if a child passes or fails because not every person is a great test taker. The child could have passed their classwork all year long, but get to the test and fail because they are just not good test takers. If we are going to asses children and use test, I think that they should be used to show how much a child has improved over time, weather it is development or to see how well they are retaining the information that is being taught to them.
  I believe that a child's health should be assessed when it comes to health. I say this because there has been some research done that shows that children perform better in school when they are physically and emotionally healthy(ASCD, 2012). I also believe that we should asses aspects of a child's development and learning so that we are able to make appropriate learning experiences that will best benefit the child so that we can help them and support them as they grow and develop.  
References

ASCD. (2012). Making the case for association for supervision and curriculum development www.ascd.org educating the whole child . Retrieved from http://www.wholechildeducation.org/assets/content/mx-resources/WholeChild-MakingTheCase.pdf 

School Age Assessments In The UK (United Kingdom)

 
In the UK there school systems operate on a basic curriculum called the ‘national curriculum’, religious education and sex education. The
curriculum composed of subjects and standards used by primary and secondary schools so that children can learn the same things." It covers what subjects are taught and the standards children should reach in each subject." Other schools (academic and private) " don’t have to follow the national curriculum(GOV.UK, 2013). Academies must teach a broad and balanced curriculum including English, maths and science. They must also teach religious education."  The curriculum is organized into blocks of years called "Key Stages(BBC, 2013)." At the end of each stage the child's teachers will assess their performance to measure their performance. Here is an Example Chart of the levels:

Levels 1-3 in Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2, ages 4-7)	Most pupils are at Level 2 by the end of Key Stage 1
Levels 2-5 in Key Stage 2 (Years 3-6, ages 7-11)	Most pupils are at Level 4 by the end of Key Stage 2
Levels 3-7 in Key Stage 3 (Years 7-9, ages 11-14)	Most pupils are at Level 5/6 by the end of Key Stage 3

(BBC, 2013) 

  During Key stage 1 the child will take test and complete assignments over different subjects. The subjects are reading, writing, speaking and listening, math and science. The teacher will then use the work of the child ( spoken work and homework also) to determine what level they are at in each subject. During Key Stage 2, the child will take test on the subjects of English reading, English Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling and Math and mental arithmetic. If a child happens to display higher achievement the head teacher may have have them to take an additional test to determine their true level(GOV.UK, 2013). At the end of this level the teacher will give a report on the child's progress in Science, Math and English. In Key Level 3 the child will be assessed on all the subject areas(GOV.UK, 2013). Finally on Key Level 4 is when the child works towards national qualifications called GCSEs. This focuses on  English, Math, Science, information and communication technology (ICT) and physical education citizenship(GOV.UK, 2013).  The teachers will assess the students work to predict how well they might do in GCSE exams(GOV.UK, 2013). In The final part of Key Stage 4 is their actual GCSE results, published after they finish Year 11(BBC, 2013).

References

 
BBC. (2013). Your child's progress and formal assessments. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/parents/how_is_my_child_doing/ 

GOV.UK. Education and Learning, School life. (2013). The national curriculum. Retrieved from Crown Copyright website: https://www.gov.uk/national-curriculum/key-stage-1-2

Other Thoughts about Assessments

This is a video of a professor sharing his personal experiences with standardized test. He also provides examples of why these type of test may not be the best method to use in  schools.