Time Well Spent

Time Well Spent

Looking back on this time I have spent trying to earn my masters degree and make it through this class I realize that my passion for teaching has increased.  I must admit there were times that I felt that I wanted to throw in the towel and keep moving forward.  Some of you might not know but I have MS and since Sept. of 2012 I have been in doctor’s care for severe pain.  There were days that I was literally at my computer crying while doing my work because my hands hurt, by back and spine were hurting, or because I was too tired to think straight from lack of sleep.  But it looks like we made it!!!

Trying to decide which 3 deeply felt things that I learned that I got from this class was hard because I feel like I learned so much.  First, I must say I learned how to do APA (American Psychological Association, n.d.) the right way in most ways.  This teacher made sure that if we had not learned it before we were going to learn it now.  To some this might not be a big deal but to me it was something that I had been avoiding and needed to tackle.  Next, I learned that you have to have a “PASSION”.  I thought that just by sharing my desires with my students, my family, and my colleagues was enough.  Well it is not you have to be willing to go forth and try to accomplish goals.  Never stop.  Wanting to see equality in education was something that I have wanted since I was a teenager and I had my first experience at seeing that some of the schools we competed against were different than mine.  We must remember and pass on to others the fight that other parents, students, and teachers had to endure that made Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Brown vs. The Board of Education ( A Century of Racial Segregation, n.d.) a reality that came with pain, embarrassment, and accomplishment as these people fought for children everywhere to have the simple right to attend quality schools. I did not understand it then and I don’t understand it now.  Finally, I learned how to lean and depend on my colleagues.  Many of you helped me get from stage one to the finish line.  We emailed and tried to figure out how to fix problems and that meant a lot to me.  Leaning on others has always been hard for me because it meant that I was notdoing something right.  Well sometimes you have to lean on others in order to be successful, so for that I thank you!

Goals

My long term goal is to continue to fight for the equality that every student deserves.  I feel that if one student can take a computer home then ALL students should be able to take home a computer regardless of where they live or how much money their parents make.  I want to work with our local government officials like Bev Perdue (Bev Perdue for North Carolina Standing up for Quality Schools (n.d) that share in my passion and they want children to receive funding from our government that does not get cut every time they need more money to fix the roads.  I want to work with leaders like NAEYC who strive to make sure that teachers and administrators have the foundations that they need to make their classrooms successful (NAEYC, 2013).

Thank you and Good Luck!!!

I don’t really want to put my face on a webcam (not feeling to pretty these days) but I did want to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to my instructor, who is probably tired of receiving help emails from me, and my colleagues some of which it seems like we have been together for years.  You guys are my inspiration and you have always been willing to help.  I wish everyone great success in their journeys as I know I will be seeing some of your names in some of the higher places talking about education.  Good Luck and Be Blessed!!!

                                                                        Here is My Wordle Link!

Wordle link: <a href="http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/6628295/Equality_in_education" 

          title="Wordle: Equality in education"><img

          src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/6628295/Equality_in_education"

          alt="Wordle: Equality in education"

          style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd"></a>

References:

A Century of Racial Segregation 1849–1950 - Brown v. Board at Fifty (n.a.) (n.d.).      Retrieved: March 22, 2013.  http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-        segregation.html.

American Psychological Association (APA), (n.d.) (n.a.).  Retrieved: April 24, 2013.

            www.apa.org/.

  

Bev Perdue for North Carolina Standing up for Quality Schools (n.d).  Retrieved: April 3, 2013. www.bevperdue.com/issues/education.

National Association for the Education of Young Children | NAEYC Institute 2013.      (n.a.). Retrieved: April 23, 2013. www.naeyc.org/.

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

ISSA (International Step by Step Association) is a membership organization that connects professionals and organizations working in the field of early childhood development and learning. ISSA promotes equal access to quality education and care for all children, especially in the early years of their lives, and supports family and early years practitioners' empowerment (ISSA).  This program opens up doors for teachers across the world to connect and try to make differences in places like: Bucharest, Romania, Czech Republic, Budapest and Hungary.  Although these place our out of our nation I feel that this organization is designed by people from our nation to help makes schools better for children all over the world.  I feel that by joining this organization I will have the opportunities to see how to make the changes in my local area and beyond.  I could not find any jobs available but joining this team will be a great way to connect with others that share in the passion of quality education, safe places for children to learn and play, and getting teachers what they need to make a difference in the lives of our children.

-UNICEF (The United Nations Children's Fund) is an organization that works globally on many issues involving children.  For example, they are working hard at working with the children in Syria that have to endure days of violence in their homeland and within their families.  UNICEF is helping to gather water and food for these families while trying to help the children deal emotionally with the devastation that they witness everyday. 

One job that they have that I would love to do is: Information Manager, Education in Emergencies.  The requirements for this job are: Advanced university degree in Education, Social/ Behavioral Sciences, Geographic Sciences, Humanitarian Affairs, Political Science, Information Technology, Information Systems, Engineering, Communications or related technical field.
• 5 years progressively responsible professional work experience at the national and international levels.
• Substantial experience in emergency and crisis situations.
• Experience of humanitarian needs assessments, surveys, humanitarian performance monitoring and evaluations.
• Experience in UNICEF or other UN agency or large INGO and experience in West- and Central Africa would be an asset.
• Fluency in French and English (written and spoken).

In order to apply for this job I would have to learn to speak French, work for 5 years at the national and international levels, and take evaluations in humanitarian assessments, surveys, and performance evaluations.  I would love to do this job and expanding my knowledge in these areas would only help me make this a reality.  It is in line with my desire to help all children receive quality education.

-One last source that I would like to more into would be UNESCO (United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, 2011).  This organization focuses on building relationships through culture, education, and communication.  Some of their goals are to focus on Africa and Gender equality (UNESCO, 2011).  Some of us know that women in different countries aren’t treated fairly and given the same opportunities in life or education as the men.  This organization helps to close the gap on this problem. 

            One of the jobs that I found interesting was the Project Officer (Capacity Development for Education for All).  This job works with national counterparts to promote participatory nationally driven efforts to enhance capacities in planning processes, management functions, and organizational structures to improve educational quality and increase educational opportunities for all (UNESCO, 2011).  The requirements for this job that I don’t have would be the 4 years worth of field experience in this type of educational work.  I feel that I have most of the other requirements which were: Planning, Programme implementation, and programme monitoring, and evaluation.  The education level is to have a masters degree in an education field which I am glad to say I am almost finished with.

All of the resources above are resources that I would be proud to work with.  Not only do they reach out to students world wide but they reach out to their families as well.  Either one of these jobs would give me the opportunity to expand my knowledge of how to give quality education to all students and how to make our world a better place to live by providing safe, equal, and functional schools for students to attend. 

                 

References:

Website: International Step By Step Association. (n.d.). Retrieved: April 9, 2013.   http://www.issa.nl/index.html.

Website: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). Retrieved November 28,             2011, fromhttp://www.unicef.org/

Website: United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).             (2011). Retrieved: April 11, 2013.  Retrieved from   http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/about-us/who-we-are/introducing-          unesco/

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

One site that I looked at is called Access Quality Education. The mission of the National Access Network is to provide comprehensive, up-to-date, nation-wide information regarding efforts to promote equal educational opportunity, especially in regard to the financing of public education, and to promote meaningful educational opportunities for all children, especially those low-income and minority children currently being denied this opportunity.

I like this program because it does what I would love to do and that is to reach out to all students to help them receive equal and quality education. 

Their link led me to the NC School jobs link (http://schooljobs.dpi.state.nc.us).  Here I was able to look at potential jobs.  One job that I found of interest was a counselor job in Alamance County.  With this job you would be required to assist students with school, home, and beyond school issues.  At this time I would not qualify for this position because it requires you to have a NC Teacher’s license. 

Resources - National Education Organizations is a site that takes you to many links that you choose upon preference.  The links are all education related and have in-depth descriptions of organizations and programs that are working for the better success in schools and with teachers.  Once at this site I clicked on the link for Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.  This site opened up doors to discuss different curriculums that teachers and schools could use and how they could help students of all backgrounds become more successful learners. 

I did not find a job at this site but it did direct me to how to start a Professional Interest Community.  These communities help to develop the whole child while guiding the teacher into continuous training.  I would like to be a part of that community so that I continue to learn and reach out to my community in an effort to give the children all that I have so that they can learn with success.

National School Boards Association allows you to contact or join your local school board.  This will give you the opportunity to encourage positive changes within the state.  The board works together to ensure that the schools in their district are receiving high quality of care.  The board in Orange County, NC consists of 7 members that serve four-year terms.  The only opportunity they currently have is for a superintendent.  This isn’t a position that I would like to apply for, however, I would love to be a part of the board.  This would give me the opportunity to serve my community and try to build the foundation for equality in the classroom.

References:

Access Quality Education: National Advocacy Organizations.  Retrieved: March 29, 2013.

            www.schoolfunding.info/advocacy/adv_nationalorg.php3.

National School Boards Association.  Retrieved: March 29, 2013. www.nsba.org/. 

NC School jobs link.  Retrieved: March 29, 2013. (http://schooljobs.dpi.state.nc.us). 

Resources - National Education Organizations.  Retrieved: March 29, 2013.     www.capso.org/resources/resnatedorg.html

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

Three local or state organizations or communities of practice that appealed to me are:

-NAEYC.  This is an organization that helps teachers receive resources to deal with many different aspects of teaching.  From offering assistance and training on special needs children to offering workshops on how to make your classroom run more efficiently.  This organization reaches out to teachers everywhere to make sure that teachers have a voice in their careers.

-Childcare Services of NC.  This service offers a lot of assistance the staff members at NC schools.  They offer assistance with tuition reimbursements, bonuses for staying at your school for longer than 6 months, and information on finding affordable health insurance.  This was important to me because sometimes as a teacher I feel that we are the last to be considered when changes are made.  Most people don’t think about how much a teacher is making or if she can afford the simple things in life that may be offered to others.  This program opens up doors for the teachers and allows them to have a resource that can help them expand their goals.

-Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health.  This organization reaches out to families that have children, parents, or siblings with mental health issues.  It is a resource that offers assistance in finding proper care and information that will make the home life easier.  This resource can be used for staff members at schools as well as a tool that will help students become more successful inside of the classroom.

            Job opportunities that are of interest to me would be:

-Working as a Kindergarten teacher in a public school.  In order to be able to work at this job I would have to go back to school (again) and receive my licensure from NC (Employment).  This would require me to practice inside of a classroom for a period of months while completing more class work.

-Working with Childcare Services doing Statewide Contracts (Child Care Services Association).  This position would help teachers choose curriculums that are best suited for their students and their programs.  This job would offer me the opportunity to reach out to many teachers and schools and help them choose curriculums that would help their students learn, play, and grow.  In order to receive this job I would have to be willing to travel more than what I am able to do at this time.

            I am confident that I will be able to find a job or organization that will suit my needs once I have finished my degree.  I have had the opportunity to reach out and expand my resources of contact people.  Throughout my learning process I have met and talked with many people about changes that they wanted to see in the early childhood program.  I am optimistic that I will be able to build a team of people together that would want to see quality education for all students.  This is my goal for the future.

References:

Child Care Services Association.  Retrieved: March 11, 2013.

www.childcareservices.org/.

Early Childhood - Get Connected.  Retrieved: March 11, 2013.

www.tapartnership.org › Communities of Practice › Early Childhood.

Employment - Public Schools of North Carolina.  Retrieved: March 11, 2013.

www.ncpublicschools.org/work4ncschools/employment/.

National Association for the Education of Young Children | NAEYC.  Retrieved: March 11, 2013.  www.naeyc.org/.

Thanks Week 8

Thank you all for sharing such personal and compassionate thoughts through out this course.  It has been a pleasure working with you and I wish you all the best in your future classes.

Good-byes

In my opinion high –performing jobs aren’t the hardest to leave.  I feel that the hustle and bustle can sometimes be overwhelming and meant to be short term.  Groups that have strong norms are often hard to enter into so you often feel like the outsider if you weren’t at the beginning stage of development.  You can sometimes find yourself wishing for the completion of the task.

I feel that the hardest stage for me to say good-bye in is the performing stage.  I think that when we are all working hard and doing our best it makes for a fun place to be and a hard place to leave.  I also think that the norming stage is hard to leave because you are learning about everyone and the way that they do things.  The more that you learn about people the closer you get even if you don’t like the way that they handle certain situations. 

The closing rituals that I have experienced have varied depending on the situation and the location.  I have experienced parties, rewards, and simple good-byes when situations came to an end.  I know that some people like to show how much they have appreciated you by throwing parties while others feel like you have done your job so it’s time to move on to the next adventure.

I think that by adjourning from the group of teammates that I have formed will be bitter sweet.  Bitter in the sense that I will no longer have the group of colleagues to bounce ideas off of and to build a strong foundation for my teaching experience.  Sweet in the sense that I will have received a degree that will hopefully open new doors for me in my future. 

Adjourning is a natural part of any relationship and project.  There has to closure in order to move on.  It may not mean that you are leaving a person or a job but it means that you have completed one task and you’re graduating to the next. 

Communication and disagreements

  

One situation that I experienced was where I felt like the truth wasn’t being told at work.  There was a colleague that constantly told things about people that weren’t true which led to hostile feelings and frustration.  There were people that wanted to quit over this one person.  Our boss didn’t see the deception until it was too late.  People started going to the office to talk about their issues and that’s when our boss realized the severity of the situation.  Because the staff didn’t know how to handle this person there were a lot of words and emotions that were passed from person to person that weren’t nice and kind.  Once our boss saw the issue for what it was she was able to handle it and gather the troops back into a positive environment. 

            I think that the strategies that could have been used would have been for the staff to share their issues with the boss before the situation got out of hand and from there discussed with the lady that was at the center of the conflict about how they didn’t care for the way she was conducting herself around them.  They could have sat down and talked about ways to walk away from her when she started conversations like that and they could have come together as a group to find positive ways to redirect her attention so that it wouldn’t be so negative.  I think that if we had gone to the boss as a group before it had gotten so bad then the situation wouldn’t have progressed so negatively.  The 3 R’s would have been appropriate…Respect other people, respond with positive words and actions instead of negative ones, and show positive reciprocations instead of negative interactions. 

References:

The Third Side.  Retrieved: July 26, 2012.  http://www.thirdside.org/