Taking care of children is an honorable job. In that, you must an honorable person. It is not safe to assume that every teacher is honorable. We all know there are those people who will do just enough to get by to qualify, but as a teacher or a care giver to a child- that is not enough and it shows through eventually. A code of ethics is necessary to keep people on track with how to conduct themsleves when working with children and other professionals. Here are some statements from two different codes of ethics from two different organizations that I personally feel are important. Although they are different organizations they share a goal for people working with children- and that is to be honorable, fair, and equipped.

NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) Code of Ethical Conduct
(I-1.1) To be familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continuing education and training.
-I feel as an educator, I owe it to myself, my students, my colleagues, and the parents of my students, to stay abreast of the current issues, trends, and technology in the early childhood field. It makes me a better educator and a good resource for my school and district.

(P-1.9) When we have reasonable cause to suspect child abuse or neglect, we shall report it to the appropriate community agency and follow up to ensure that appropriate action has been taken. When appropriate, parents or guardians will be informed that the referral will be or has been made.
-This is so important and I feel my obligation as an educator. It takes a lot to put yourself out there and follow your gut feeling about child abuse whether it be against a parent or a colleague. I've had personal experience with this, many times, and anonymity is not guaranteed. That being a fact, it will not stop me from reporting when I feel it is necessary.

(I-2.7) To share information about each child's education and development with families and to help them understand and appreciate the current knowledge base of the early childhood profession.
-One mistake, of many, I made as a new teacher was that I expected the parents to know what I was talking about when I would explain how their children did in my class. I just decided that there were things about early childhood that were common sense and everyone knew. Well, I learned that common sense is not common. And I needed to help my families understand their child's progress from a developmental standpoint in family- friendly terms, not pedagogical jumble. I have gotten better at this, but I have a long way to go.

DEC (Division for Early Childhood) Code of Ethics
Professional and Interpersonal Behavior
#5 We shall use individually appropriate assessment strategies including multiple sources of information such as observations, interviews with significant caregivers, formal and informal assessments to determine children's learning styles, strengths, and challenges.
-Children are not cookie cutter designs, they are not all the same and they do not learn the same or process information the same. It is imperative as educators that we recognize this and put practices in place that will encourage the specific learning style of each child. Using appropriate assessment strategies is so important to knowing how each child can be successful in school. Some may not be able to take a test, but they may be able to share the information through a skit, or a song, etc. Observation is key in early childhood. So much is learned just from watching the child interact with others, work independently, etc. This is all permissable data that can be used to determine the best way to teach a child.
Professional Development and Preparation
#4 We shall support professionals new to the field by mentoring them in the practice of evidence and ethically based services.
-I think this is imperative for new teachers. I was thrown in with no help my first year. I was faced with teachers who had been teaching for a long time who looked at me as the "new-smiling-always-want-to-try-new-things" bubbly inexperienced teacher. That was fine, I didnt mind that, but no one helped me. I was not familiar with the practices of the school, the way things flowed, and I got in trouble for things I didn't know about. Not the greatest first year experience. It caused me to go into survival mode and keep to myself. I would hope that all schools, administrators, and veteran teachers would welcome in new professionals and provide them with the necessary tools and information needed to function as a vital part of the school community.
Evidence Based Practices
#1 We shall rely upon evidence based research and interventions to inform our practice with children and families in our care.
-Observation and documentation are essential to the educator. There must be evidence for what is being suggested or observed. Interventions and results need to be documented and evaluated to determine the best way to teach children so they are successful. In addition, it covers yourself and keeps families in the "know" about how their children are performing in the classroom.

Every good professional, parent, teacher, doctor, etc...needs resources from which to pull from. Those resources caould be books, websites, journals, or other people. This week in class I learned about a plethora of resources that were available to me as an educator. I have listed them below along with a few resources I have used and still use today. I hope you find something useful to expand your knowldege...

Resources I learned about:
*NAEYC on child abuse prevention http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf
*FPG Child Development Institute http://www.fpg.unc.edu/
*Zero To Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families (my favorite!) http://www.zerotothree.org
*Voices for America's Children http://www.voices.org
*Journal of Child & Family Studies
*Early Childhood Education Journal

Resources I have Used:
*Early Childhood News (news, class ideas, teacher and professional resources, parenting info) http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com

*What's Going on in There?: How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life by: Lise Eliot
*Inspirational Quotes & Quotations on Early Childhood Education for Teachers http://www.successdegrees.com/inspirationalquotesaboutearlychildhoodeducationandteaching.html

Some really good quotes/ statements about preschool/ children/teachers I have run across.....

"The preschool years are criritcal, they are the first most fundamental period when children are in fact noticing who they are and are noticing the attitudes and the stereotypes and the discomforts or the positive messages about their skin color, their racial identity, their ethnic identity and so on."
-Louise Derman-Sparks, on the reason for her pasion for early childhood

 

"Parents are led to believe that they must be consistent, that is, always respond to the same issue the same way. Consistency is go...od up to a point but your child also needs to understand context and subtlety . . . much of adult life is governed by context: what is appropriate in one setting is not appropriate in another; the way something is said may be more important than what is said. . . ."

-Dr. Stanley Greenspan on boundaries and consistency

"..to teach details is to bring confusion; to establish the relationship between things is to bring knowledge."
-Dr. Mari Montessori on the principal of education



My Childhood Web

Mom

-Caring, intelligent, loving, nurturing, strong woman of God
My Mom is a beautiful, intelligent, and strong woman who loves theLord and her family. She taught me to believe in myself and she encouraged me to be who I wanted to be. She trained me up in the way of the Lord and that training has shaped me into the woman I am today. She would sing to me and teach me the things I needed to know for school. With my Dad being in the Navy and out to sea frequently, mom juggled two kids and a job at the Base Exchange.

Dad
-Protector, leader, loving, hard working man of God
My Dad, although he was gone a lot when I was a child, always wrote letters and sent pictures from the ship to my brothers and I. He taught me to always keep trying and never give up or just accept what people say as truth but to believe in who I am in Christ. He taught me how to build things (which has been very helpful in my adult life).

Mrs. Vicky (Meme)
-Sweet, caring, compassionate
My Mom's best friend and fellow Navy wife who would watch me while my Mom worked. She reinforced the values my parents were teaching me. She was a Montessori teacher and she taught me how to pick flowers, dust and sweep, and set the table. As well as many academia focused lessons.

Mrs. Olymphia Smart (tutor)
-Intelligent, caring, giving
A teacher I babysat for during my tenth grade year. She was the ninth grade algebra teacher in my high school overseas in South Korea. I struggled with geometry terribly and she tutored me through the whole year. She would spend her lunch hour with me everyday helping me to understand the concepts in geometry. If it had not been for her, I would have failed geometry my tenth grade year. She helped me to feel confident in doing my very best.

 Mrs. Denny and Mr. John Smith (friends of the family)
These were the parents of my best friend at the time, Sara Smith. They lived across the street from us when we moved out of military housing and into the civilian community in Virginia. Although Sara and I had our ups and downs, like any eight and nine year old friends would), Mrs. Denny was crazy about me. Whenever I went over their house we would always do something different like bake cookies or make crafts of some sort. They exposed me to new things that I had not done before. They were my first taste of different culture in a family not my own. Mr. John was a hunter and they had stuffed animals all over their house. I tasted venison for the first time in their home, and some other things I don't remember. I believe that being exposed to this at a young age helped me when I we moved over seas not to shun something just becasue it is different.

Be Kinder Than Necessary...
I ran across a quote a few years back that really changed my attitude toward, well, people in general. "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle." This quote remained anonymous for me until I researched where it came from. Plato originally said it and it has had a few words added here and there by different people throughout the years.
I have applied this concept of being kinder than necessary to my daily life, and especially in my professional life. Dealing with families of little ones can sometimes be very difficult. More often than not, they feel that their child is the only one in your class and they expect you to be superwoman. It is hard to be superwoman to fifty+ students and families everyday, so someone is bound to find something wrong with something you are doing.
I say all of that to say this, it doesn't matter how ridiculous a person is being or what demands they are making on you, or even what they are saying to you. Chances are they are operating out of hurt or a wounded heart and may not know how else to react or behave. If I respond to them the way theyare responding to me , then no effective communication takes place. You just go around and around, repeating the same things over and over again in a hamster wheel conversation.
 I take it upon myself to show them kindness anyway, because that may be what they remember down the road. If it is necessary for me to speak firmly- I do, but always with kind and respect. That act of kindness may also be the thing that reveals to them how ridiculous they're being. I also find the families of my students a lot more trusting of whom is taking care of and teaching their children.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie...

This book has been one of my favorites since childhood. I remember making up songs and writing poems using this phrase. "If you give a horse pizza..." "If you give Barbie a haircut..." As an adult and a teacher, I introduce my students to this book and watch their reactions and take in their laughter. I thought about it differently now, with the help of my best friend, and that is how I came up with the title of my blog. We sat down and thought about all the things that might take place if you gave a child a chance. Still working on it but some of the things we came up with were...
"If you give a child a chance he might be curious as to why, and if he's curious he might be open to explore his surroundings, and as he explores his surroundings, he might find something he's interested in, and if he's interested in it, he might try something new, and in trying something new.....
This could go on for a while. Any input on finishing out this poem about an early learner? Please share!