Sharing Web Resources

The organization I selected to explore during this course is the Society for Research in Child Development.  Their website is: http://www.srcd.org/  The focus of this organization is to, “stimulate research in child development…[and] disseminate research findings” (Society for Research in Child Development). 

After reviewing the website, I went on to read the organization’s newsletter.  There was a section devoted to new teachers participating in service learning that I found to be quite interesting.  The newsletter talked about professors assigning more authentic service learning opportunities to students going into education.  They urged that instead of having the participants keep track of the number of volunteer hours they earned professors should give projects that encourage interaction and learning.  I thought this was a great point.  When I did my undergrad work I was required to do observation hours in a variety of settings.  The classroom teacher simply signed off that I was there.  Encouraging volunteers to become active participants instead of passive observers is a great idea.

I was expecting to find a bit more about the new research on best practices, etc. while reviewing the website and newsletter.  In the weeks to come, I hope to explore more so that I can fully utilize and appreciate this new resource.

Society for Research in Child Development.  The Roots of SRCD.  Retrieved from: http://www.srcd.org/about-us

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

Establishing Professional Contacts

For our blog assignment this week we were challenged to make contact with two early childhood professionals outside the United States.  I began wracking my brain for individuals I knew before moving on to the resources provided.  The first person I contacted was a professor I had in my undergraduate studies at Eastern Michigan University.  Her name is Dr. Baiyee and she is originally from Cameroon, Africa.  She knows many people from many different backgrounds.  It is my hope that she will be able to help connect me with individuals who many help with the blog assignments for this course.  I am waiting to hear back from her.

When I was unable to think of anyone else, I delved into the weekly resources.  I used the OMEP website and emailed a woman from Finland and another from Sweden.  I have heard great things about the educational systems in these countries and would be interested to learn more.  Neither woman has contacted me yet, but I am hopeful that even if they are unable to help they may be able to point me in the right direction.

Expanding Resources

This week I explored some different resources and finally decided on one that I’d like to look at throughout the course.  I chose the Society for Research in Child Development.  I chose this organization for two reasons.  One is that I am a firm believer that we need to stay current with information regarding best practices and what works for children.  The second reason I chose this organization was that often Early Childhood makes people think of fun, play, and little ones.  While these are parts of Early Childhood, I think it’s important that we still present ourselves as professionals.  I had a very close family friend tell me this week hat she thought it was crazy I had to get my Master’s degree…who needs a Master’s degree to teach Kindergarten?  I think if we were able to present more resources and research to back up our good practices people may take our field more seriously. 

My Supports

The biggest supports to my emotional well-being are my friends and family.  They support me in all that I do through their encouragement and assistance.  On a daily basis, they give me someone to share my life experiences with and that is one way that I process my day.  Two of my biggest supports would be my Mom and my boyfriend, Tony.  I talk to my Mom on the phone daily.  Days when our schedules don’t match up, I feel a little out of whack.  She is the person I share daily successes and hardships with. 

Tony is my rock.  He immediately calms me, without even trying.  When I leave work at the end of the day, my mind will be reeling with things that happened and things that need to get done.  As soon as I see him it’s as if those things melt away.  I am able to take a step back and process things better.  He makes me realize that the things I worry about as big things are really just little issues that don’t matter in the long run. 

If I didn’t have their support, I would be a much more emotional person.  When things would go wrong, I would struggle to sort through them on my own.  Life would be very overwhelming without someone to share my burdens and celebrate successes.

Another support in my daily life is lists.  I am an annoyingly organized person and always have a “to do” list a mile long.  To my recollection, I have never actually completed a “to do” list as I am always adding more as my day goes on.  List making is a support for me because I have a horrible memory! 

If I didn’t have the support of making a “to do” list and putting sticky notes everywhere, I would be very unorganized.  Many events and projects would be forgotten as I would have nothing to keep me on schedule.  I also think I would lack motivation, as my lists are always a reminder of what I need to get done.  Friends would grow frustrated and my boss would not appreciate missed events and deadlines.

My Connections to Play

Play is our brain's favorite way of learning.  - Diane Ackerman

Children at play are not playing about. Their games should be seen as their most serious minded activity.  - Michel de Montaigne

My essential play items as a child included playdough, a water baby, wooden blocks, and Barbies.  I loved playing with things that allowed the use of imagination.  Creativity was always encouraged in my home.  I was also a little on the bossy side, so things that allowed me to be in charge of the way we played were a plus.

When I was younger, my play was supported by my parents.  My Mom would save large boxes at work and bring them home to let me create and imagine.  My Dad would always encourage me to get outside and play with friends.

In my mind, play has changed as technology has increased.  Instead of getting outside and running around, children are watching YouTube videos and playing on iPads.  I think that play has also become more solo and less collaborative.  If you think about it, this is our society as well.  People prefer to text as opposed to dial a phone and if they are forced to make a call, many relish in being able to leave a voicemail.  We do as little face-to-face interaction as possible.  Think fast food drive thru, Redbox video kiosks, and self-scan checkouts.  My hope is that young children will get back to real.  I wish that they would have the opportunity and be encouraged to explore open-ended materials and play collaboratively with other children.

Play allowed me to learn without learning.  I was tricked into learning about measurements when I baked with my mom.  Catching frogs in a pond was a science lesson full of inquiry and hands-on fun.  I think that adults need to play just as much as children.  When I do things that are playful, I find myself feeling free and having fun.  We need to get back to that!

Relationship Reflection

Forming close bonds and relationships with others is so important.  If you think back on the amazing things you've done in your life, you inevitably think about the people you did them with or the people who helped you get there.  As humans, we strive for connection.  There are many people in my life with which I have a strong connection.

My mother is an incredible woman.  She is so caring, open, strong, and helpful.  When I was little I asked her for an easy bake oven.  She laughed and told me I didn't need to cook with a light bulb because we had a real oven.  I was given a box of brownie mix and told to try.  Making mistakes is learning in my mother’s eyes.  I have always admired her ability to stand back and watch instead of constantly direct me where to go.  When I moved out, our relationship was a bit off for a while.  One challenge for us was that I was no longer there to help out around the house.  I had a hard time freeing myself from feeling guilty for living my own life.  Talking things over with her, even with the conversation was difficult, was the only way we were able to move past it and become close again.

I am much older than my 3 younger siblings.  This has always made for such a cool dynamic.  I was 11 when my brother was born and 14 when my twin sisters came along.  We have always had a close bond, but it has been more like a parental bond than a sibling bond.  I love taking them places and spending time with them.  My biggest challenge with my sibling relationship is not being able to be there all the time.  It is so hard to be away and miss band concerts and sporting events.  They are so young that they don’t always understand why I can’t come home all the time.  It has been hard to be away, but I have been able to bring some positive changes about when I return.  I have recently picked up running as a hobby.  My brother loves to run with me, now, and my sister called me today to tell me she joined cross country!

Another positive set of relationships in my life are with a few important friends.  I have found that friends come and go, but there are some that stick around because the friendships are worth the effort to maintain.  My friends Kyle & Melissa have taught me that you don’t have to be blood relatives to be family.  They have opened their homes to me and I love spending time with them.  They have also taught me that it is okay to ask for help, which is something I struggle with.  My friend Meg is a fellow teacher and my running partner.  She and I have been training for a half marathon for the last 9 weeks.  I love that she pushes herself to try new things.  She inspires me to set new challenges for myself.  Christy is another friend who I have a close relationship with.  We often get after each other about little things, but she is so honest and I love that about her.  She keeps me in check and I do the same for her.   

The biggest challenge with friendships is growing with them.  People change, so relationships change.  When Meg had a baby, our friendship changed quite a bit.  We were at different places in our lives and the way we spent time together and the things we did had to evolve with this change.  People moving, changing jobs, getting married…all of these lead to challenges with relationships.  I think that being open and reflective is so helpful to relationships.  If you can admit that you’re wrong or be willing to talk through a problem that is key.  The ability to adapt to a situation and be open to new things helps me to make connections with the families in my classroom as well.

Quotes about Young Children

"The best teachers are those who show you where to look but don't tell you what to see."
-- Alexandra K. Trenfor

I love this quote, because I think it is so important to encourage a child's natural curiosity.  Children who are inquisitive are great thinkers and problem solvers.  I hope to encourage and inspire my students to be lifelong learners.  My job is not to tell them all the answers, but to guide them with great experiences and questions.


Children's games are hardly games. Children are never more serious than when they play.
- MONTAIGNE, Essays

 

This is another favorite quote of mine.  Play is work for children, and too many adults do not realize this.  When children are playing, they are exploring and learning to make sense of their world!

Assessment

Assessment and young children is definitely a tricky subject.  I do think that there need to be assessments of some kind in order to measure achievement and growth.  Assessments also allow a teacher to track developmental delays.  I think that assessments should give a picture of where a child is so that you can take them to the next level that makes sense for them.  Some areas that I think should be assessed or measured include physical skills, social/behavioral skills, and cognitive skills.  All assessments should reflect age appropriate skills and be very hands-on and informal.  Many assessments on the growth of young children can happen through observation or informal game play.  If the results of an assessment are not used, the assessment is useless.  Gaining information and compiling facts should not be the end game when assessing children.  I feel assessments should be used to find a current level, track growth, and help inform a teacher’s instruction.

I chose to look at the assessment of school-age children in Sweden.  From the information I gathered, Sweden has recently moved to their assessment system looking a lot like that of the United States.  In 2011, they implemented National testing in 3^rd, 6^th, and 9^th grade.  They also added different grading standards as a way to gauge student progress (Swedish Institute, 2012).  Sweden shows a commitment to educating the whole child that few other places do.  Schooling is free and they provide free school lunches on a daily basis to all children.

My school recently went to online assessments 3 times a year for all children grades 2-5.  We were given the option of adding Kindergarten and first grade to this assessment schedule as well.  I fought hard to make sure that my students did not have to participate.  An online assessment seems to be more an assessment of a child’s computer skills, reading skills, and patience than anything actually helpful.  When I work one-on-one to assess my Kindergartners I gain valuable information.  I can tell if they are nervous, they show me how quickly/confidently they can respond to my questions, and I can easily find their “next steps” based on their current level.  When children are given cookie-cutter online assessments their teacher gets a printout.  Does that data actually tell them anything?  Do they actually use it?  I struggle to believe either of those answers is yes. 

Swedish Institute. (2012, June). Education in sweden: Lessons for life. Retrieved from http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Education/