My Supports

 

My everyday supports:

-glasses/contacts

I use these daily to see correctly. If I did not have them I would not be able to drive, read, cook, clean my house, work in my garden, or teach effectively.

-planner

I use this planner to write down everything! All of my appointments, practices, lesson plans, important information, directions to places, etc. I know that cell phones can do all of those things but I like the support of my planner. I have often said that if I ever lost it- I would be lost!

-my Mom and Dad

These two are daily supports for me. I talk to them everyday and see them most everyday. They are my personal cheering section. It is really neat now because at this time of my life I am able to give back to them all they have deposited in me over the years. Without their support I would probably be depressed and unproductive.

-my best friend

She is also an educator and we are able to share with each other and vent to each other. She is someone who knows everything about me and she still chooses to love me anyway. We currently are roomates and it has been neat to have someone there to cook dinner or to watch movies with. Also, recently I had major surgery, so she has been a trmemndous help in doing certain things for me until I get my strength back. Without her, I would probably be depressed and have a lot of pent up frustration.

 

I imagine for me it would be really difficult to have some kind of language challenge. As a military child I have lived in lots of different countries and amongst different languages. I know how I felt coming into a country where English was not the prominent language outside of the military establishment. It was scary, confusing, and not fun. If I could not speak English, I would need a personal translator with me at all times, visual aids, and it would help to have all signs and textbooks to be in my language and in English simultaneously. If these things were not available, I would feel like I did when I was living in a foreign country before- scared, confused, and not enjoying the new country I lived in.







My Connections to Play

 

“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning…They have to play with what they know to be true in order to find out more, and then they can use what they learn in new forms of play.” ~ Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood)

 

“For a small child there is no division between playing and learning; between the things he or she does ‘just for fun’ and things that are ‘educational.’ The child learns while living and any part of living that is enjoyable is also play. ~ Penelope Leach (psychologist and author)

 

I loved to watch Mr. Rogers. I mean, really loved. I played with Barbies only because I loved to dress them up in pretty outfits. my mom would sew Barbie clothes for me with material she had left over from the pillows and dresses she would make. So naturally that fed into my insatiable desire for fashion now... My mom and I would go on an outing every other Saturday- yard sale-ing! I found an old medium size chalkboardat a yard sale and my mom bought it for me. I would gather all my papers (usually brochures I picked up at the bank or grocery store, etc) and line up my stuffed animals and teach them with my chalk board and dollar general chalk. Other than going outside to play- this is what I did. I would play fort with my brothers with the couches, sheets, blankets, and flashlights.

 

 

 

Growing up my mom and dad would support my play by joining in with me. I would teach them like they were students and give them tests and grades. Other times, they would leave me to myself and my brothers to play out in the yard, where we usually played a game in which I was the boss. I loved to play and pretend with my brothers. They would get thier action figures and I would get my barabies and we would play together. I would mix dirt and sand and all kinds of earthly objects into a pot and feed them "stew" like my mom did. The list goes on of all the fun things I did as a kid that came natural to me.

Play today is as important to kids development as it was when I was growing up. The difference is the type of play has changed from a more physical and interactive play to a more sedentary play with computers and video games that do a lot of thinking for you. My hope for youth of today is that they would discover the joy of companionship with a best friend, even if that best friend changes every week. And discover outside more and explore again, using their imagination as it comes to them and not as it is portrayed for them on a screen.

 

 

Play, in my life, was the way I learned. I learned how to socialize and build realtionships. I learned how not to act as well. I learned that I can't always win or be the boss, and to be okay with that. As an adult, I have learned to take life in stride, to relax more and also to look at children and know that they deserve the opportunities and more, that I had growing up. I also can use my experience with play to help create activities to help my students to use their imagination and develop critical thinking and problem solving skills.



 

 

 



Relationship Reflection

Relationships are important to me because they help to make me the person I am. Having people around you that share a common ground and support you when needed, only helps you to be stronger. I currently have close relationships with my Mom and Dad and a few friends that I consider family. These relationships are positive in the ways that we all respect each other for who we are, we trust that we each have the best interest of the other in mind, and we encourage and offer support always in anything we set out to do. Developing these relationships was easy because we are all open and loving people. Maintaining  them took some work. You have to be intentional when in a relationship. It is never safe to assume anything.   

 Commuincation from all sides is important. Face to face conversations and speding time together are the ways in which these relationships have become what they are today. Aside from growing up in my parents home, I have developed a realtionship with them as an adult. Everyone is not perfect, so trust does get broken at times and things get said that should not, but that is where the relationship part comes in. Is it stronger than the hurt you feel? Could it ever go back to the way it was. Sure. Forgiveness. One key to all of my relationships is the need for constant grace. Like I said, people mess up. Who am I to shun them when they do?

Some of the special characteristics that exist in these relationships that make them a bit more like partnerships are that we believe the best about each other in every situation instead of assuming the worst. We give encoragement always and opinion when asked, and most of all we are for each other.

Having close relationships in my life, I feel have prepared me for being able to communicate with other people without feeling embarassed about what they might think about me or what not. This is a great tool for me to have as an early childhood educator because I can recognize the need for relationship among the families of my students. I am open to the families and very willing to learn about who they are and support them for that.Having these strong relationships in my life have also preapred me to look for the best in every family that I come across.

Quotes about Children

"If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall begin with the children." -Mohandes Ghandi, poltical and spiritual leader in India

"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children." -Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa

"Every child you encounter is a divine appointment." -Wess Stafford, President, Compassion International

"Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see." -John W. Whitehead, founder, Rutherford Institute

 

Testing for Intelligence?

As an educator, I have commited myself to looking at "the whole child" and not just one aspect of the child in education. I consider the home environment and social, emotional, and mental aspects of the child in addition to and possibly as indicators of their success, or lack thereof, in school. I am not an advocate of testing children for intelligence unless it is something the parents desire for their child. I witness my preschoolers and kindergartners suffering because of requirements we have put on them to learn and show their learning through standardized testing. This goes against their natural development. I know that it is not standard for preschoolers and kindergarteners to take standardized tests but they do- in the form of local school assessments given at the beginning, middle, and end of the year towards a school improvement goal. They are graded on a rubric that the rest of the school (1st-3rd) uses. It sets them up. As far as testing in the elementary grades period- I don't agree with it. There are curriculums with worksheet after worksheet after worksheet given to the student and then at the end of a unit- an 8-14 page multiple choice unit test! The stresses of it on students, not to mention teachers to cram information down the students throat that they "should" know from previous grades, and for students to recall it all at a moments notice is not realistic. Then to measure the effectiveness of teachers based on the test scores? Ridiculous. I believe that in order to test a child's knowledge of a concept, alternative forms of assessment should be allowed, like book reports, or powerpoint presentations, or an artistic expression, etc. The pressure is too much surrounding standardized tests like Terra Nova for a third grader. 

I lived in South Korea for three years during my high school career and had it not been for the exceptional, supportive teachers and family I had- I would have had a hard time coping with the stress of my AP classes. I went to the military school however. Korean children experience something in school that makes my little nervousness about tests look like small potatoes. I did have the opportunity to visit many public schools through playing sports but I never got to experience how school was for them. I knew it was a serious thing as I walked through the market on Saturday and saw bus loads of children and students in uniform with bookbags walking to and fro. I learned that education is very important and college is even more important. Many Korean children attend public school as well as private school in order to get the skills necessary to score high on an entrance exam. "Higher education is a top priority for many Korean families and the percentage of university graduates is among the highest of any country in the world" (Cramming in Korea, 2011, p.19).  Many Korean children are in expensive private education with 88% of those being in elelmentary. These private establishments are referred to as "cram-schools", where students study and cram information pertinent to scoring high on tests. High test scores are desired and many parents send their children, elementary and high school alike, to study abroad- a very expensive feat which is one of the reasons for the low birth rate in South Korea. "Much of this exodus is driven by parents' desire to have their children become fluent in English, a highly prized ability in a country well aware of its need to compete in a globalized economy. But some seek to free their children of the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the Korean education system with its overwhelming emphasis on acing standardized, multiple choice tests" (Cramming in Korea, 2011, p.20).

If we differentiate instruction and tailor education to each student's needs so they can acheive success on their level, how can we expect them to do well on a standardized test that is just that- standard. We do not teach standard children. These tests do not include tailoring or differentiation. All students take the same test and are scored the same way. The idea and practice of standardized tests contradicts what we are encouraged to do inside the classroom. I understand we want all children to be successful, but when they get out into the real world- no one is going to make concessions for them. So are we setting them up for failure? Are we providing and allowing students to get accustomed to unrealistic expectations of assistance? People (society) will not go out of their way to make accommodations and modifications just so someone can feel successful.

Resources:
South Korean Education http://site.google.com/site/southkoreaneducation/
Branigan, W. ( 2011). Cramming in Korea. Development Asia (April- June p.19-23). Retrieved February 11,2013 from www.developmentasia.com

Consequences of Stress on Children's Development
The stress of a two year old boy that shaped his life forever

 That two year old boy had a mom and a dad who were never married and chose not to be together anymore. He lived with his mom in New York and his dad lived somewhere else. Both of his parents decided they needed to do something with him, as his mother couldn't afford to take care of him and his father didn't want to. So they decided that they would send him to Georgia to live with his father's adoptive parents, his grandparents, from whom his father had run away from because they had abused him. He was well aware of the environment in which he was sending his son into. So they put this two year old boy on a train by himself with his bag and sent him to Georgia. The pullman porter looked after him on the train until they arrived at his destination. Two men greeted the boy at the station, his Grand dad, whom he grew up to know as Dad, and a man named Red. He remembers going with them and them saying he had to go to the doctor. He remembers them putting him up on a metal table and struggling to get down. He heard them saying, "you've got to hold him down." and "he's strong." He remembers a doctor coming at him with what looked like a big long rounded syringe, then he felt pain. Twenty years later, this boy, now a man, asked his Grand dad about that day. His Grand dad was surprised the boy even remembered it. Grand dad explained that when they got him off the train the pullman porter told them that he could not go to the bathroom and his stomach was hurting. So they took him to the doctor for an enima.
To this day this little boy, now a man, is afraid to go the doctor. He will treat himself rather than risk going into the doctor's office. This boy, now a man, does not easily trust anyone. This happened in 1961, and the little boy is my father. The years of fear and abuse my father endured were nothing short of horrendous and as my father explained, he never dealt with it until he came to know Jesus Christ. A healing process had to take place of forgiving those who wronged you and telling them so- even if they never acknowledged the wrong they did. Growing up my father had a issue with trust and with self-esteem stemming from many more things that happened in his childhood. But the stress and trauma of being two and sent on a train by himself to an unknown place in unknown company and the stress of being held down against your will and  then feeling pain, was severe enough for him to remember even at the age of two.

Children in Sri Lanka, affected by war, violence, and abuse coupled with the recent natural disaster (Asian tsunami) has resulted in predictors of PTSD in children. This website shows evidence of the effects of cumulative stress on children's mental health with an article titled Family violence, war, and natural disasters: A study of the effect of extreme stress on children's mental health in Sri Lanka  http://www.biomedcentral.com
My best friend recently went on a mission trip to Sri Lanka. At the time she arrived the 25 year (1983-2009) civil war had only been declared over for about two years. There were armed guards walking around all over the place and it was scary and intimidating. She went with a medical team from Hand of Hope Mission to bring medical and dental care to the families of Sri Lanka. The children were malnutritioned and diseased, they had no clean water to drink and no access to healthcare or school. The families they helped lived in high rise buildings issued by the government with one room apartments. Down the middle of the building was a huge trash chute where all the trash went, but that is where it stayed. There were flies in the homes and the stench was tremendous. Disease was rampant. Most of the families and children beginning at age one or two worked in brick making plants to make a very small paycheck. The most alarming thing to my friend, who is also an early childhood educator, was that no one smiled- not even the children. And when she smiled at them they looked at her with the most puzzling look as if they had never seen a smile before. Maybe they hadn't.

Public Health: Immunizations
The public health topic of immunizations has always concerned me. Immunizations are important and have saved millions of infant lives since becoming a priority in the U.S.   In the military it is mandatory for the service member and his family to be current on all immunizations. I still have my shot record from birth. I remember growing up, I earned money as a babysitter for years. One family had a baby and they wanted me to watch him for them. They did inform me that the baby was not vaccinated and my mom said it would not be a good idea for me to watch him for both of our safety. This year and previous years I have had multiple students whose parents choose not to immunize them. The military issues a pardon for religious beliefs. I am always leery of these children because it never fails- they are always sick. Nasty thick green stuff coming out of their noses and hollow sunken eyes. It worries me. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do about it. Maybe I am over reacting but I feel that if you are going to come to school, you should be immunized, as we all know that a classroom can be a cess pool of germs.

Other countries do not have the priviledge that we have to get vaccines to protect ourselves and our families. However, according to the World Health Organzation (WHO) , China has adopted their Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) which includes vaccines for six major diseases. Ninety perent of children receive EPI vaccines. China has expanded the EPI to include six more diseases. The Chinese government passed a law in 2005 for all vaccines to be given for free, but the challenge has been in making sure that township and village doctors get properly paid for administering the vaccines.

Knowing the importance of immunizations has made me a little paranoid as far as my classrom is concerned. I will change my practice in the future to include a plan to be intentional about keeping a clean and disinfected classroom. I will use this information in furthering my research on this topic of immunzations and the effects it has on not only children, but families, and communties.