Our assignment this week discusses the importance of supports in your daily life and environment. In order to stay positive and be successful in your career and life, regardless of what you do, where you're from, etc., you need to establish a support system. This support system will encourage you and support you through the ups and downs, good and bad. Your support system can consist of colleagues and coworkers, family and friends, your spouse or special person in your life, etc.
My daily support system consists of loved ones and coworkers. Beginning with my loved ones, my first support would be from my boyfriend, Mike. I have spoken about him on several occasions in this blog. We have been together 7 and 1/2 years and have lived together in our house for almost 4 years. He is my best friend and one of my biggest fans. He knows exactly what to say to help me de-stress and put a smile back on my face. He celebrates my successes with me and helps me get through my lowest lows. He encouraged me to challenge myself and achieve my goals by going back to school, offering to help me as much as possible and pick up the slack around the house to help me not stress too much. We support each other in our careers, encouraging one another, listening to one another share the highs and lows, venting as needed, and giving advice as warranted. He is wonderful and I am lucky to have such a great person in my life.
My immediate family (mom, dad, and brother) are also a huge part of my daily support system. Even if we cannot see each other daily we try our best to stay in contact somehow, even via a simple text message with something funny or words of encouragement. I am thankful to have them in my life and to have parents who have always encouraged me to set high goals and work hard to achieve them.
My fourth grade team is another integral part of my daily support system in the educational field especially. This is my third year in fourth grade and I am so fortunate to work with three other individuals who continue to inspire, encourage, support, challenge, and help me on a daily basis. Carol was my first grade teacher when I attended school at Bellmawr Park and she was moved to fourth grade the same year I was hired full time for fourth grade. She is a wonderful mentor with a wealth of knowledge and experience she is willing to share. I am sad to say she is retiring this year and we will miss her wisdom and laughter greatly! In addition, Renee is the special education in class support teacher who works in the inclusion classroom with Carol. Renee is also a wonderful resource and she is kind, caring, dedicated, and willing to help anyone and learn new things daily. Kyle is the new fourth grade teacher this year. Kyle and I actually grew up together so it is so much fun to have a fellow friend whom I grew up with working with me. I am trying to help him daily as the other teachers have helped me as I know the first year can be extremely challenging. Together we make a great team and stick together to face the challenges each day presents and provide the best classroom environments possible for all our students.
I think there are many benefits to these supports, such as being able to share thoughts and ask questions in an environment in which you are comfortable and will continue to be a lifelong learner. In addition, it is important to not only support one another but be comfortable enough to challenge each other to be the best versions of ourselves possible. By doing so, we are committing to our role as an important person in the life of each child. If I were to lose these supports in my life, I feel as though I would be lost! Each of these people support me and my life in such a way that I have become somewhat dependent on them and vice versa. They are a key part of my day that I look forward to sharing experiences with daily. Without these wonderful supports in my support system, I would not have access to the resources and knowledge I am lucky enough to be around. In addition, I think that my outlook and attitude in many aspects of my life may be altered. Having a support system in every aspect of your life provides you with a completely different outlook on your career, on family, on friendships and love, and on life. Without these supports, I would feel lonely, I would feel more unsure of myself and my thoughts and abilities and be longing for a friend or colleague with whom I could work as a team.
There can be many challenges you may face in life and in terms of supports. A challenge I have faced on many occasions in my life is loss and grief. Losing one of your supports like a loved one can be a major blow to your system. It impacts and effects every aspect of your life, including your career. I have unfortunately experienced loss and grief more often than I would like to say in my 27 years of life. IT has definitely made an impact on me in many ways and posed many challenges. The reason I discuss this challenge is because this year I have a student in my class who also is experiencing this as her younger brother died before starting first grade due to drowning. This happened three years ago but she still has a very difficult time with it. For the first time, this year she is starting to deal with it, open up and break out of her shell. I have related to her in many ways and made it known to her that I have experienced similar loss and understand where she is coming from. I know this can be a challenge anyone can face and at times you can be overcome with sadness, losing motivation for any aspect of your life. If you are to lose a support such as a brother, sister, parent, spouse, etc., it can be life changing and alter your outlook on your career and your life. I am thankful daily that I get to spend time with the wonderful children in my class who can pick me up when I am feeling down. I am blessed.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
My Connections to Play
This week in class we are focusing on the topic of play in early childhood education - it's importance, it's benefits, and more. In order to better understand the meaning and importance of play, we have to examine our own experiences, interpretations, and benefits of play that we have been exposed to since childhood.
1. First, I begin with two important quotes about play:
1. First, I begin with two important quotes about play:
- "Through games and activities, a skilled teacher can introduce something unknown to a hesitant learner and allow the student to practice until mastery is achieved. Structured classroom play can appeal to all styles of learners: visual, aural, and kinesthetic," (Rivera, 2009, p. 52).
- Being a very visual and hands on learner, this quote really stood out to me. Growing up, math was a challenging subject and always left me feeling frustrated. When I had the opportunity to use manipulatives and play games to practice a topic, I would feel more at ease, confident, and understand the concept more. Even as an adult, I am the type of learner that needs to see it and do it to best understand it. I attempt to provide all such types of opportunities for learning throughout the day in my classroom.
- "Play can enliven that which seems uninteresting, add humor, and infuse creativity into rigid and and dry topics," (Rivera, 2009, p. 52).
- This quote takes me down memory lane to my primary grade and elementary school years. Some of the best school memories involved wonderful teachers who provided opportunities for fun and exciting games and projects to help us better understand the topics at hand. By participating in hands-on projects, crafts, and other learning experiences, I can still remember skills and concepts practiced in such ways to this day.
2. Next, I will share a few pictures of the essential toys and games to my childhood. These toys and games were items I played with on a consistent basis growing up. They are items that provided me with a variety of fond memories with my parents, cousins, friends, and brother.
- As most young girls do, I always loved playing with Barbies! I had quite the collection and loved the classic Barbie pink convertible, as well. My cousins and I would sit and play with Barbies for hours on end in our Barbie playhouses, changing their clothes and shoes, brushing and styling their hair, and having "parties". Many a rainy day was spent each summer in my cousins play room with Lisa, Jordan, Meagan and I playing Barbies!
- Another popular past time of my childhood was Nintendo! Who didn't love to play Nintendo!? Super Mario Brothers 3 and Zelda were among my favorite games that I would play with my mom, dad, aunt and cousins. We attempted to keep and use our Nintendo throughout my years growing up, even though new gaming systems were coming out each year until we had to finally retire the system as it was impossible to fix and play anymore. That was a sad day! :(
- I come from a very sports-oriented family and from a young age I had a genuine interest and love for sports, in general. By age 7 I began playing softball and completely fell in love with the game! I played until I was 19 years old for fast pitch teams, and remained on a few slow pitch teams into my early twenties. Now I miss it on a daily basis and would love to possibly go back to playing and eventually coaching someday.
- Another popular and necessary toy and tool of my childhood were art supplies! I absolutely loved to draw, color, cut, and craft drawings, pictures, and projects as a child from very early on and this love continued throughout my childhood into adolescence and adulthood. One of my many joys of teaching is the ability to be creative and make things as samples and posters and more for my students and classroom.
3. Thirdly, I will discuss and describe ways in which people in my life supported and encouraged play during my childhood years.
- As a child, some of my first memories of play took place at my Aunt Deb's house in Philadelphia, where she lived across the street from my parents and I. My Aunt Deb would babysit me during the day while my uncle and parents worked and her children, my cousins, were in school. We would eat breakfast together, spend the morning playing dolls, dress up, school, and more, eat lunch and take a break for some of my shows and her shows, work on some academic and learning based activities such as practice workbooks where we would practice numbers, letters, colors, and more, and lastly while she would do some house chores during the afternoons I would nap or play independently.
- Upon entering Kindergarten in the city, I remember only being in school for half day and having a very strict teacher. We were often sitting at tables and writing or drawing. Minimal play time was allotted. We moved to New Jersey before starting first grade and that was a total change! My teacher was wonderful, allowing me to explore and play while learning and taught me confidence in my own abilities, even teaching me how to read! I am fortunate enough to work with this teacher now in my district together in fourth grade, which is an amazing feeling as she was my first inspiration to become a teacher.
- My parents also played a key part in my play years. Dad and I always had the connection with sports and Nintendo! Mom and I would play dolls and Barbies, draw and color, play games, and read together. My love for reading definitely comes from the times when mom and I would snuggle on the couch and read books together way back when.
- Overall, the roles of play have influenced me into being more sociable with others (even though I am shy by nature) and prepared me with a variety of academic and life skills I still carry with me to this day.
4. Fourth, I will discuss the similarities and differences between play when I was a child as compared to play in our current society and field of education.
- I think it is very evident and obvious that play has changed drastically in and out of school from my childhood until present day. When I was a child, life seemed less busy. Parents seemed more likely to take time to sit and work with their children, play with their children, and experience life together. In current society, most parents are consumed by work and technology in such a way that the needs of a child may be neglected, both intentionally and unintentionally. I think parents in our current society are simply uninformed of the importance and necessity of play in a child's life and development. It is important to provide information and knowledge for them to understand this concept.
- In addition, technology has drastically changed play through the years. When I was a child, Nintendo was a fun gaming system to play but it was not something that monopolized my play time, provided a babysitter to keep me occupied, nor was I allowed to play it for hours on end as I was made to play other games, socialize with cousins and friends, and play outside. In our current society, video games, cell phones, iPads and more monopolize a child's play time and attention. Parents use such tools as something to keep the child busy or quiet. Children now will sit for hours upon hours playing video games, while most children rarely ever take time to play outside and exercise. Times have definitely changed!
- My overall hope and goal in terms of play for our current society is for it to be recognized as the crucial piece in a child's development that it is. I hope it will become a more weighted and incorporated piece into our curriculums and that more parents will begin to foster and encourage more positive interactions and play at home, once provided with the know-how to do so. The positive effects and benefits on a child who experiences play speak for itself and I am hopeful we will all begin to support such opportunities in education more in the future.
5. Lastly, I must discuss my thoughts on the role of play throughout my life (childhood to adulthood), as well as in general on a child's life from childhood to adulthood.
- Rivera (2009) lists, “Playground games such as “Mother May I?” or “Red Light/Green Light” develop self-control and social skills; board games promote taking turns, strategic thinking, and problem solving; sports, playground equipment, and blocks or construction activities augment physical coordination; and word games promote linguistic and social skills,” (p. 50). Each of the aforementioned play activities and opportunities spark fond memories of my childhood. Each of those play moments and memories were shared with someone special in my life and taught me skills that I still carry with me to this day. Skills taught during play are more meaningful than many people realize, such as the ability to socialize and interact with your peers in an appropriate manner! Problem solving skills are a key skill we need in every aspect of our lives. I remember facing many problems during play time with friends both in and out of school and by being part of those opportunities we learned the good and the bad of how to solve a problem and get to a resolution. Play didn't end for me when childhood "ended". I, to this day, feel as though I am a "big kid at heart" because I feel as though I still appreciate play, appreciate and realize the importance of letting go and having fun, being a little goofy at times. I still am willing to learn from others and work together to create new things and share adventures. Play continued on in my life past childhood and is still active in my life today for me personally, for the students in my classroom, for my younger cousins whom I treasure spending time with, and eventually, when the time comes, will carry over to my own children.
- Turning the tides a bit, the overall role of play and it's impact on a child will carry on from birth through adulthood, not only specifically to my own self but to all children, in some way, shape, or form. As Rivera states, “Through toys, games, role plays, and imaginative use of equipment and materials, children develop physically, intellectually, linguistically, emotionally, and socially,” (2009, p. 50). The benefits are many, the negative impacts are few in terms of play. The role of play in any child's life can create long lasting, positive impacts on the child's development of biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial abilities. Your opportunities for play and experiences in play during childhood will provide you with a foundation for many aspects and emotions you will count on for the rest of your life. Play does not merely start and end in childhood; rather it is a concept, an idea, an entity that continues and is surrounding you at every turn. We need to embrace the opportunities, take advantage of them, and learn from them, even in adolescence and adulthood. Play provides us with opportunities to interact with others and use our creativity and imaginations to go to a whole new world. Play can be an active part of your life depending on your job or career path you have chosen! We must never, ever underestimate the power of play and the lessons it will teach us from the time we are born until the time we leave this great Earth.
This has been lengthy but I hope it has been fun and informative. If you are anything like me, this post took you on a journey down memory lane and brought many smiles to your face. I hope you shared that with me during your time reading this posting this week. Until next time…
Ashley :)
References:
Rivera,
M. (2009). The powerful effect of play in a child's education. Education
Digest, 75(2), 50-52.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Relationship Reflection
In week 2 of my third class, we will be discussing the importance and long-lasting effects of relationships on child development. This calls for me to reflect on my own relationships I participate in for my own life. In my opinion, relationships and partnerships are one in the same; it is important for all parties involved to partake and be a team player in order for any relationship or partnership to work and be effective. A relationship requires a give and take, an understanding, compromise, time, and care. Throughout my life I have been very fortunate to be surrounded by and be a part of various positive and influential relationships. Five people in which their relationships have had a positive influence or been an important part of my life will be discussed in detail below, including my parents (mom and dad), brother (Ryan), best friend (Jessy), boyfriend (Michael), and dog (Duke).
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The first relationship that has been a positive influence in my life would be the relationship I share with my parents. My parents have always been there for me, always been firm but fair, loving, caring, encouraging, understanding, supportive, and so much more. My dad and I have always shared a bond via sports. We are a huge sports family and many fond memories come from times we worked together in our back yard or when he was coaching my softball team through the years. He always knew how to challenge me but support me at the same time and was my biggest fan. My mom and I have always been very close and I love that I can say now she is one of my best friends. She has always been my shoulder to cry on, ear to listen, and the best advice giver around. First and foremost, she was my mom and at times I did not like what she had to say but now I appreciate her so much more. My parents have showed me how to raise a child, how to persevere through challenges and difficult times, how to take care and love one another, and so much more. I will always be grateful for the life they provided for me and how they raised me, as well as how they continue to support me in every life decision I make, even at 27 years old and not living at home. I love them both and I feel very lucky to have such wonderful parents.
The second relationship that has been a positive influence and partnership is the one I share with my younger and only brother, Ryan. Ryan and I are almost 7 years apart. I still remember the day I found out I was going to be a big sister - I was so excited I couldn't stop talking about it! I went into my Kindergarten classroom the next day and drew a big picture and told everyone all about it. I couldn't wait to be a big sister. When my brother was born, I immediately wanted to be the helper. He was my little buddy right away and I loved it. There were times through the years that he absolutely, positively drove me bonkers but at the end of the day I couldn't be more grateful for him. We have always been close and again I feel lucky to call him one of my best friends. He is currently in college about 2 hours away and having the time of his life. I am so proud of him and happy for him but do miss having him around! My boyfriend and I both hang out with him a lot - Mike (my boyfriend) has taken him under his wing over the past 7 1/2 years as if he was his own little brother - and they are best buds, too. This relationship has made me very protective, taught me so much about how to help someone and be there for someone, and more importantly that family is forever. He has grown up to be an all around great guy with a good heart who is a great brother, son, and friend and someday will make a great husband and father. Love that (not-so) little guy.
The third relationship that has had one of the biggest influences on my life is the relationship I shared with my very best friend and "adopted sister", Jessy, for 12 years. We met on the first day of school in first grade, both brand new to Bellmawr Park school. We instantly hit it off and over the next 12 years of our school careers we had become inseparable. Our families even became friendly and we were "adopted" into one another's families, going to family parties and gatherings and much more. She was my person. She was my go to when I needed someone. We were always together and always there for each other. Jessy was and continues to be one of the nicest, kindest, most genuine people I have ever met with the biggest heart to love and help everyone she had ever met. At the beginning of our senior year of high school (2004), whilst making plans for our exciting future, Jessy had a brain aneurism and within a week she passed away. This was a blow to my system and to this day continues to be something I struggle to deal with. It left me with a huge void and not a day passes by that I do not miss her. She taught me so many things about life, love, friendship, and more. This relationship, hands down, has had the biggest influence on my life and continues to influence me everyday, even though she is gone. RIP always, my best friend forever, JRL.
The fourth relationship I chose to share is the relationship that has been a HUGE part of my life for the past 7 1/2 years; the relationship that I share with my boyfriend, Michael, the love of my life. When we first met we instantly hit it off. We had so many things in common and just enjoyed talking to each other. Since I was 2 hours away in college, we spoke on the phone almost daily and just enjoyed chatting and making one another laugh. We developed a friendship and I am so glad I can call him my best friend, as well. The past 7 1/2 years I have spent with Mike have been a blessing. I am so thankful everyday for him to be a part of my life and I believe, deep down, that Jessy sent him to me. They would be the best of friends if she could be here and I am thankful to her for sending him to me a year and a half after losing her. He has helped me in so many ways to become the person I am today, just as Jessy has. Mike is the funniest, sweetest, most caring man I have ever met and been with. He makes me laugh everyday and always knows how to cheer me up or help me through my hardest and most challenging moments. I honestly don't know what I would do or where I would be without him in my life. He has taught me how to love and care for someone so deeply and I cannot wait for the day I will be lucky enough to say I am his wife and we can then eventually have our own family. He is my other half and I love him to pieces.
The last relationship I chose to share is the relationship I share with my one and only favorite pup, my buddy, my dog Duke! The Dukester is the dog that Mike bought right after we began dating officially, 7 1/2 years ago. I instantly fell in love with this pup and helped take care of him, name him, and called him my own. Mike immediately called me "his mommy" and told everyone that Duke was "our dog", which of course made me so happy. Duke is a pit bull and hands down the sweetest, cutest, and most loyal and loving dog I have ever met. The breed gets such a bad rap and I always tell people that if they spent just five minutes with my Duke, they would change their minds about the breed altogether! He loves kids and enjoys every second he spends with my little cousins and goddaughter. He barely barks but loves to be pet and have all your love and attention. He is my little buddy and a part of our little family. Mike and I refer to him as "our child" because that is exactly how we treat him and how we feel about him! This relationship is just as special as the others and has taught me responsibility and how to take care of someone besides myself. I do think it is great preparation for when you have children and I couldn't imagine life without my little buddy. He may drive me absolutely insane some days but being able to come home to him everyday, being welcomed by his happy face and wagging tail knowing he is SO happy to see you, is such an awesome feeling. I love my Dukester.
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Each of these relationships have not always been easy to maintain, each has had their challenges, but each has always been and always will be worth fighting for and working out. Each relationship has a different meaning to me but is equally important to me, as well. They all have a very special place in my heart that will never change or disappear. I firmly believe that each of these relationships is in some way a partnership, especially my relationship with Mike. At the heart of our relationship is a friendship foundation, which has been the rock that has gotten us through even our toughest moments. I call it a partnership because we are a team, we work together, we support one another, we take care of each other through good and bad, we challenge and encourage one another, and so much more. Each day we work at our relationship and make it better, each day I love him more. Without this foundation, without this partnership in which we are BOTH invested, our relationship would NOT have made it 7 1/2 years and counting. :)
In addition, I think each of these relationships has taught me life skills and characteristics and made me into the person I am in order to better help me be the best educator I could possibly be in this field. The relationship that has taught me the most about how to relate and understand the field I work in would be the one I share with my brother, Ryan, and my dog, Duke, for various reasons. Caring for my brother through the years showed me from a very young age that I wanted to work with children and be a teacher. In addition, my relationship with my dog has taught me responsibility, love, and patience, all of which can also be applied to my field.
In closing, each of these relationships has, and will continue to have, a long-lasting, positive influence and impact on my life and on my outlook on and role in relationships and partnerships. I have learned so much from each of these people over the past 27 years of my life and will continue to learn for the next 27 years plus! I consider myself a lifelong learner in terms of education, but also in terms of life, as well. I value relationships with my parents, brother, best friend, boyfriend, and dog so much, as well as the rest of my friends and family I did not mention. If I mentioned everyone, I would sit here for days writing and sharing pictures! I am eternally thankful, grateful, and lucky to be blessed with these people in my life and will always let them know how much I treasure them and the lessons they are teaching me in my life.
Until next time….
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The second relationship that has been a positive influence and partnership is the one I share with my younger and only brother, Ryan. Ryan and I are almost 7 years apart. I still remember the day I found out I was going to be a big sister - I was so excited I couldn't stop talking about it! I went into my Kindergarten classroom the next day and drew a big picture and told everyone all about it. I couldn't wait to be a big sister. When my brother was born, I immediately wanted to be the helper. He was my little buddy right away and I loved it. There were times through the years that he absolutely, positively drove me bonkers but at the end of the day I couldn't be more grateful for him. We have always been close and again I feel lucky to call him one of my best friends. He is currently in college about 2 hours away and having the time of his life. I am so proud of him and happy for him but do miss having him around! My boyfriend and I both hang out with him a lot - Mike (my boyfriend) has taken him under his wing over the past 7 1/2 years as if he was his own little brother - and they are best buds, too. This relationship has made me very protective, taught me so much about how to help someone and be there for someone, and more importantly that family is forever. He has grown up to be an all around great guy with a good heart who is a great brother, son, and friend and someday will make a great husband and father. Love that (not-so) little guy.
The third relationship that has had one of the biggest influences on my life is the relationship I shared with my very best friend and "adopted sister", Jessy, for 12 years. We met on the first day of school in first grade, both brand new to Bellmawr Park school. We instantly hit it off and over the next 12 years of our school careers we had become inseparable. Our families even became friendly and we were "adopted" into one another's families, going to family parties and gatherings and much more. She was my person. She was my go to when I needed someone. We were always together and always there for each other. Jessy was and continues to be one of the nicest, kindest, most genuine people I have ever met with the biggest heart to love and help everyone she had ever met. At the beginning of our senior year of high school (2004), whilst making plans for our exciting future, Jessy had a brain aneurism and within a week she passed away. This was a blow to my system and to this day continues to be something I struggle to deal with. It left me with a huge void and not a day passes by that I do not miss her. She taught me so many things about life, love, friendship, and more. This relationship, hands down, has had the biggest influence on my life and continues to influence me everyday, even though she is gone. RIP always, my best friend forever, JRL.
The fourth relationship I chose to share is the relationship that has been a HUGE part of my life for the past 7 1/2 years; the relationship that I share with my boyfriend, Michael, the love of my life. When we first met we instantly hit it off. We had so many things in common and just enjoyed talking to each other. Since I was 2 hours away in college, we spoke on the phone almost daily and just enjoyed chatting and making one another laugh. We developed a friendship and I am so glad I can call him my best friend, as well. The past 7 1/2 years I have spent with Mike have been a blessing. I am so thankful everyday for him to be a part of my life and I believe, deep down, that Jessy sent him to me. They would be the best of friends if she could be here and I am thankful to her for sending him to me a year and a half after losing her. He has helped me in so many ways to become the person I am today, just as Jessy has. Mike is the funniest, sweetest, most caring man I have ever met and been with. He makes me laugh everyday and always knows how to cheer me up or help me through my hardest and most challenging moments. I honestly don't know what I would do or where I would be without him in my life. He has taught me how to love and care for someone so deeply and I cannot wait for the day I will be lucky enough to say I am his wife and we can then eventually have our own family. He is my other half and I love him to pieces.
The last relationship I chose to share is the relationship I share with my one and only favorite pup, my buddy, my dog Duke! The Dukester is the dog that Mike bought right after we began dating officially, 7 1/2 years ago. I instantly fell in love with this pup and helped take care of him, name him, and called him my own. Mike immediately called me "his mommy" and told everyone that Duke was "our dog", which of course made me so happy. Duke is a pit bull and hands down the sweetest, cutest, and most loyal and loving dog I have ever met. The breed gets such a bad rap and I always tell people that if they spent just five minutes with my Duke, they would change their minds about the breed altogether! He loves kids and enjoys every second he spends with my little cousins and goddaughter. He barely barks but loves to be pet and have all your love and attention. He is my little buddy and a part of our little family. Mike and I refer to him as "our child" because that is exactly how we treat him and how we feel about him! This relationship is just as special as the others and has taught me responsibility and how to take care of someone besides myself. I do think it is great preparation for when you have children and I couldn't imagine life without my little buddy. He may drive me absolutely insane some days but being able to come home to him everyday, being welcomed by his happy face and wagging tail knowing he is SO happy to see you, is such an awesome feeling. I love my Dukester.
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Each of these relationships have not always been easy to maintain, each has had their challenges, but each has always been and always will be worth fighting for and working out. Each relationship has a different meaning to me but is equally important to me, as well. They all have a very special place in my heart that will never change or disappear. I firmly believe that each of these relationships is in some way a partnership, especially my relationship with Mike. At the heart of our relationship is a friendship foundation, which has been the rock that has gotten us through even our toughest moments. I call it a partnership because we are a team, we work together, we support one another, we take care of each other through good and bad, we challenge and encourage one another, and so much more. Each day we work at our relationship and make it better, each day I love him more. Without this foundation, without this partnership in which we are BOTH invested, our relationship would NOT have made it 7 1/2 years and counting. :)
In addition, I think each of these relationships has taught me life skills and characteristics and made me into the person I am in order to better help me be the best educator I could possibly be in this field. The relationship that has taught me the most about how to relate and understand the field I work in would be the one I share with my brother, Ryan, and my dog, Duke, for various reasons. Caring for my brother through the years showed me from a very young age that I wanted to work with children and be a teacher. In addition, my relationship with my dog has taught me responsibility, love, and patience, all of which can also be applied to my field.
In closing, each of these relationships has, and will continue to have, a long-lasting, positive influence and impact on my life and on my outlook on and role in relationships and partnerships. I have learned so much from each of these people over the past 27 years of my life and will continue to learn for the next 27 years plus! I consider myself a lifelong learner in terms of education, but also in terms of life, as well. I value relationships with my parents, brother, best friend, boyfriend, and dog so much, as well as the rest of my friends and family I did not mention. If I mentioned everyone, I would sit here for days writing and sharing pictures! I am eternally thankful, grateful, and lucky to be blessed with these people in my life and will always let them know how much I treasure them and the lessons they are teaching me in my life.
Until next time….
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
When I think of child development...
For our final week of the Early Childhood Development class, we are to post at least one quote about children to our blogs. I have decided to gather my favorite quotes, which I have connected with the most from the multimedia presentations and DVD we have viewed throughout this course and post them below. Each of these quotes is chosen because it has some special meaning to me, it is something I strongly believe in or agree with, or it is something I have witnessed in my own experiences or in my observations I made throughout this course. I have always been someone who enjoys gathering resources and quotes to read, share, and relate to. This is yet another piece dedicated to this hobby of mine, that just happens to count towards my class. Lucky me! :)
Enjoy the quotes! I hope they make you ponder and connect as I have...
"Pay less attention to what the children said and more attention to what they did." -- Dr. Alison Gopnik
"More than any other skill, the emergence of language signals the end of infancy and the beginning of childhood." -- Worth Publishers (2002) - DVD
"Children who are most sociable, most involved and engaged in other people are the ones who are doing the most pretend play and having imaginary companions." --Dr. Alison Gopnik
"A lot of children's pretend play is related to their understanding of other people." -- Dr. Alison Gopnik
"It's a cliche but a true cliche; children are our future. Children are going to continue. Children are going to change and this is reflected in the fact that we have this very deep profound love." -- Dr. Alison Gopnik
"Careful observation is essential to understanding child development." -- Laureate Education, Inc.
"Observation is one of the most important skills a caregiver can develop." -- Janet Gonzalez-Mena
"Let the child be the teacher." -- Magda Gerber
"Children need adults who are looking after them, who are making relationships with them." -- Mo Kelly
"You're never too young for early literacy." -- Jane Shaw
"The interests of childhood and youth are the interests of mankind." -- Edmund Storer James
"Play is the work of childhood." -- Worth Publishers (2002) -- DVD
"We call this time of mystery and wonder the play years." -- Worth Publishers (2002) -- DVD
"You should never make assumptions about what a child can do developmentally. Get to know each and every child individually." -- Mo Kelly
"It's a time for new freedoms, new friends, and new responsibilities, a time of learning and sharing we call the school years." -- Worth Publishers (2002) -- DVD
"The most entertaining way to observe how language skills mature is to swap jokes with some school agers." -- Worth Publishers (2002) -- DVD
"The school years have exposed children to a whole new realm of friends, places, and experiences. But an even larger world is still ahead." -- Worth Publishers (2002) -- DVD
"The more social-emotional learning that they can take part in, whether it is learning empathy skills or how to work out a problem, opens up other areas of their brain to function cognitively." -- Jane Shaw
"I think one of the things that we need to remember is that everybody needs to go at their own pace, that our role as adults, whether it be parents or teachers, is just to help guide that but to let children grow and develop in a natural way." -- Mo Kelly
"We do develop at our own pace. Every child, every adult is an individual and will develop at different rates. When we look at domains again, whether its physical or social-emotional or cognitive language, someone may be a little ahead of the game physically and still be catching up cognitively." -- Jane Shaw
"I think as professionals we have to be really, really careful not to make assumptions. We're aware that there is this continuum but we're not assuming. We have to be careful not to assume anything about a child's development but to be good observers and to foster children without pushing that development. Have faith that development will occur if nurtured." -- Jane Shaw
"If children feel, whether they're 3 months old or whether they're 10 years old, if they feel that sense of belonging they are going to be able to learn, they'll be able to go to that next step." -- Mo Kelly
Enjoy the quotes! I hope they make you ponder and connect as I have...
"Pay less attention to what the children said and more attention to what they did." -- Dr. Alison Gopnik
"More than any other skill, the emergence of language signals the end of infancy and the beginning of childhood." -- Worth Publishers (2002) - DVD
"Children who are most sociable, most involved and engaged in other people are the ones who are doing the most pretend play and having imaginary companions." --Dr. Alison Gopnik
"A lot of children's pretend play is related to their understanding of other people." -- Dr. Alison Gopnik
"It's a cliche but a true cliche; children are our future. Children are going to continue. Children are going to change and this is reflected in the fact that we have this very deep profound love." -- Dr. Alison Gopnik
"Careful observation is essential to understanding child development." -- Laureate Education, Inc.
"Observation is one of the most important skills a caregiver can develop." -- Janet Gonzalez-Mena
"Let the child be the teacher." -- Magda Gerber
"Children need adults who are looking after them, who are making relationships with them." -- Mo Kelly
"You're never too young for early literacy." -- Jane Shaw
"The interests of childhood and youth are the interests of mankind." -- Edmund Storer James
"Play is the work of childhood." -- Worth Publishers (2002) -- DVD
"We call this time of mystery and wonder the play years." -- Worth Publishers (2002) -- DVD
"You should never make assumptions about what a child can do developmentally. Get to know each and every child individually." -- Mo Kelly
"It's a time for new freedoms, new friends, and new responsibilities, a time of learning and sharing we call the school years." -- Worth Publishers (2002) -- DVD
"The most entertaining way to observe how language skills mature is to swap jokes with some school agers." -- Worth Publishers (2002) -- DVD
"The school years have exposed children to a whole new realm of friends, places, and experiences. But an even larger world is still ahead." -- Worth Publishers (2002) -- DVD
"The more social-emotional learning that they can take part in, whether it is learning empathy skills or how to work out a problem, opens up other areas of their brain to function cognitively." -- Jane Shaw
"I think one of the things that we need to remember is that everybody needs to go at their own pace, that our role as adults, whether it be parents or teachers, is just to help guide that but to let children grow and develop in a natural way." -- Mo Kelly
"We do develop at our own pace. Every child, every adult is an individual and will develop at different rates. When we look at domains again, whether its physical or social-emotional or cognitive language, someone may be a little ahead of the game physically and still be catching up cognitively." -- Jane Shaw
"I think as professionals we have to be really, really careful not to make assumptions. We're aware that there is this continuum but we're not assuming. We have to be careful not to assume anything about a child's development but to be good observers and to foster children without pushing that development. Have faith that development will occur if nurtured." -- Jane Shaw
"If children feel, whether they're 3 months old or whether they're 10 years old, if they feel that sense of belonging they are going to be able to learn, they'll be able to go to that next step." -- Mo Kelly
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Testing for Intelligence
This week in class we focused on the middle childhood age group of development. Our blog assignment calls us to think about and debate the pros and cons of testing children, a topic that I feel strongly about as I think there are many ways it could be handled and implemented yet we are doing it in a stressful, inconsistent, and frustrating way for the children. We are asked to consider the "whole child" and determine what should be measured or assessed, if anything, and compare the way this happens in the United States as compared to another country in the world. I have chosen to compare the United States' methods on this topic to those of South Korea to see the similarities and differences in their methods, as well as their results, to see which is more effective and appropriate, if any. Since this topic is something that hits home for me being a fourth grade teacher in a testing year, I am interested and eager to share my thoughts, input, and gathered information in this post. I apologize in advance for the length of this post as this is something I do feel very strongly about and hope that we can begin to implement appropriately, keeping in mind the best interest of the children we work with in our field!
One of the new "hot topics" in education is making sure to view the child holistically or understand the "whole child" in order to properly provide the appropriate educational opportunities for each individual child. Many researchers who believe in working with/for the "whole child" are against standardized testing to assess children as they feel it does not accurately portray ability, knowledge, and growth; however, our country is an educational system in which standardized testing is promoted and incorporated into our educational system and held to high standards. Being a fourth grade teacher in a testing year, I witness what my students go through during testing time each year. I witness the frustration, the anxiety, the stress, the defeatedness, the exhaustion, and the tears. I see my students struggle with concepts they worked so hard in all year long because they feel overwhelmed, stressed, or forget what one word means or simply run out of time. It is a devastating process to witness and my heart goes out to them each and every year. In my mind, standardized tests are one small piece to the puzzle of understanding a child and their learning, growth, and development. As educators we should be using multiple measures to truly understand each individual child within our classroom and best service their needs individually to provide them with every possible opportunity for success in the classroom. These multiple measures should not have to include such high stakes testing, testing in which the state and country will base our academic progress off of. Suppose one child loves math class and all year long they are a leader in math, receiving A's, working hard, challenging themselves to enrichment activities and enjoying every moment! Then, come May, they take the standardized state test and they do horribly - maybe because they were nervous, they were worried about the time or ran out of time, etc. This child now does not pass or perform at the necessary level of proficiency as required by the state or country so they are now considered to be in need of assistance in math the following year to remediate their skills prior to taking the test again in May. Realistically, this child does NOT struggle in math, they struggle with HIGH STAKES HIGH PRESSURED TESTING! This is why I feel we should assess and measure a child's abilities and knowledge and progress throughout the school year very often, yet do it in ways that are NOT pressured as standardized tests are. There are SO many ways to assess and measure the progress of a child, without the child feeling like they are under the microscope and making mistakes because they are becoming more and more anxious and nervous. I do believe in multiple measures; I do believe in assessment; however, I believe in both being implemented and utilized appropriately and effectively to best help the educators decipher the individual needs of each student to make this educational experience the best it could possibly be!
After researching the world wide educational rankings, I noticed that South Korea was listed as number 1 or 2 in every ranking. This piqued my interest and curiosity as I noticed that the United States was ranked 14th, 17th, or much lower in several different rankings. I was eager to learn more about the education system in South Korea as compared to the United States and see what they implement in terms of assessment, standardized testing, and overall outlook and experiences for the field of education. Upon completing my research of South Korean education, I was surprised to learn just how different they operate their educational system in comparison to the United States. In South Korea, schooling begins with primary school for children ages 6-12 (6 years), followed by junior secondary school for children ages 12-15 (3 years), and then senior secondary school for children ages 15-18 (3 years). When they are ready for senior secondary or senior high school, they can choose three different options, all of which will be paid for but in a very affordable manner so that most children do attend. The three options are: General Academic High Schools, Vocational/Technical High Schools, and Specialty/Specialist High Schools. The National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) provides detailed information about South Korean education systems, policies, and more, including curriculum when stating, "South Korean schools are provided a national curriculum framework developed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST)," (2013, www.ncee.org).
What I found to be most interesting about their education system was the idea of assessment and how it was implemented into their successful educational system. "South Korea has a system of diagnostic assessments called the National Assessment of Educational Achievement (NAEA)," (NCEE, 2013). This assessment is given to students in sixth, ninth, and tenth grade only and "serve a purely informational purpose and are not reported by individual student," (NCEE, 2013). This diagnostic assessment is NOT a high stakes standardized test but simply a measure of student achievement overall for that age group/grade level to assess progress and content for that group. This is just one way assessment differs from the United States. In addition, South Korea required teachers to regularly assess students at all age and grade levels each school year. However, this again differs from the United States. When assessed each year, students "receive "Student School Records" or "Student Activity Records" which provide detailed information about their academic performance. These records include information on academic achievement by subject, attendance, extra-curricular and service involvement, special accomplishments, conduct and moral development, physical development, details of awards and anecdotal performance descriptions," (NCEE, 2013). This is far and away a huge difference between the United States and South Korea; the assessment listed above is the MAIN form of assessment and is based on the progress and measures noted by the teacher throughout the year in the classroom. This means that students are not exposed to high stakes testing at all in South Korea until they are preparing for college or university acceptance, in which they may have to take a test similar to the SAT's to be accepted. Until that moment, students are not exposed to such a stressful requirement. In my opinion, this is one of the many ways the South Korean educational system is ranked number 1 in the world! High stakes testing should not be a crucial part of our educational assessments and it is plain to see that a nation can be extremely successful in education by not utilizing such a measure.
All in all, I am not opposed to assessing and measuring children's progress, as long as it is utilized and implemented appropriately for the children in the classroom. Learning about education in South Korea motivates me to want to make changes in our education system for the better. I wish there could be a way to eliminate high stakes testing, as it seems unnecessary and irrelevant. I think we should focus more on multiple measures we can complete within the classroom with our students to assess their progress day to day all year long. I love the idea of an overall achievement record as South Korea utilizes because it truly helps you to understand the "whole child" and how to best help them from one year to the next in their school experiences. I am positive and hopeful that our country and my state will someday move to such practices as we start to see more and more evidence that standardized testing is more destructive than beneficial to our students, our children, our future.
References:
National Center on Education and the Economy. (2013, October 11). South Korea: Instructional systems. Retrieved from http://www.ncee.org/programs-affiliates/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/south-korea-overview/south-korea-instructional-systems/.
One of the new "hot topics" in education is making sure to view the child holistically or understand the "whole child" in order to properly provide the appropriate educational opportunities for each individual child. Many researchers who believe in working with/for the "whole child" are against standardized testing to assess children as they feel it does not accurately portray ability, knowledge, and growth; however, our country is an educational system in which standardized testing is promoted and incorporated into our educational system and held to high standards. Being a fourth grade teacher in a testing year, I witness what my students go through during testing time each year. I witness the frustration, the anxiety, the stress, the defeatedness, the exhaustion, and the tears. I see my students struggle with concepts they worked so hard in all year long because they feel overwhelmed, stressed, or forget what one word means or simply run out of time. It is a devastating process to witness and my heart goes out to them each and every year. In my mind, standardized tests are one small piece to the puzzle of understanding a child and their learning, growth, and development. As educators we should be using multiple measures to truly understand each individual child within our classroom and best service their needs individually to provide them with every possible opportunity for success in the classroom. These multiple measures should not have to include such high stakes testing, testing in which the state and country will base our academic progress off of. Suppose one child loves math class and all year long they are a leader in math, receiving A's, working hard, challenging themselves to enrichment activities and enjoying every moment! Then, come May, they take the standardized state test and they do horribly - maybe because they were nervous, they were worried about the time or ran out of time, etc. This child now does not pass or perform at the necessary level of proficiency as required by the state or country so they are now considered to be in need of assistance in math the following year to remediate their skills prior to taking the test again in May. Realistically, this child does NOT struggle in math, they struggle with HIGH STAKES HIGH PRESSURED TESTING! This is why I feel we should assess and measure a child's abilities and knowledge and progress throughout the school year very often, yet do it in ways that are NOT pressured as standardized tests are. There are SO many ways to assess and measure the progress of a child, without the child feeling like they are under the microscope and making mistakes because they are becoming more and more anxious and nervous. I do believe in multiple measures; I do believe in assessment; however, I believe in both being implemented and utilized appropriately and effectively to best help the educators decipher the individual needs of each student to make this educational experience the best it could possibly be!
After researching the world wide educational rankings, I noticed that South Korea was listed as number 1 or 2 in every ranking. This piqued my interest and curiosity as I noticed that the United States was ranked 14th, 17th, or much lower in several different rankings. I was eager to learn more about the education system in South Korea as compared to the United States and see what they implement in terms of assessment, standardized testing, and overall outlook and experiences for the field of education. Upon completing my research of South Korean education, I was surprised to learn just how different they operate their educational system in comparison to the United States. In South Korea, schooling begins with primary school for children ages 6-12 (6 years), followed by junior secondary school for children ages 12-15 (3 years), and then senior secondary school for children ages 15-18 (3 years). When they are ready for senior secondary or senior high school, they can choose three different options, all of which will be paid for but in a very affordable manner so that most children do attend. The three options are: General Academic High Schools, Vocational/Technical High Schools, and Specialty/Specialist High Schools. The National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) provides detailed information about South Korean education systems, policies, and more, including curriculum when stating, "South Korean schools are provided a national curriculum framework developed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST)," (2013, www.ncee.org).
What I found to be most interesting about their education system was the idea of assessment and how it was implemented into their successful educational system. "South Korea has a system of diagnostic assessments called the National Assessment of Educational Achievement (NAEA)," (NCEE, 2013). This assessment is given to students in sixth, ninth, and tenth grade only and "serve a purely informational purpose and are not reported by individual student," (NCEE, 2013). This diagnostic assessment is NOT a high stakes standardized test but simply a measure of student achievement overall for that age group/grade level to assess progress and content for that group. This is just one way assessment differs from the United States. In addition, South Korea required teachers to regularly assess students at all age and grade levels each school year. However, this again differs from the United States. When assessed each year, students "receive "Student School Records" or "Student Activity Records" which provide detailed information about their academic performance. These records include information on academic achievement by subject, attendance, extra-curricular and service involvement, special accomplishments, conduct and moral development, physical development, details of awards and anecdotal performance descriptions," (NCEE, 2013). This is far and away a huge difference between the United States and South Korea; the assessment listed above is the MAIN form of assessment and is based on the progress and measures noted by the teacher throughout the year in the classroom. This means that students are not exposed to high stakes testing at all in South Korea until they are preparing for college or university acceptance, in which they may have to take a test similar to the SAT's to be accepted. Until that moment, students are not exposed to such a stressful requirement. In my opinion, this is one of the many ways the South Korean educational system is ranked number 1 in the world! High stakes testing should not be a crucial part of our educational assessments and it is plain to see that a nation can be extremely successful in education by not utilizing such a measure.
All in all, I am not opposed to assessing and measuring children's progress, as long as it is utilized and implemented appropriately for the children in the classroom. Learning about education in South Korea motivates me to want to make changes in our education system for the better. I wish there could be a way to eliminate high stakes testing, as it seems unnecessary and irrelevant. I think we should focus more on multiple measures we can complete within the classroom with our students to assess their progress day to day all year long. I love the idea of an overall achievement record as South Korea utilizes because it truly helps you to understand the "whole child" and how to best help them from one year to the next in their school experiences. I am positive and hopeful that our country and my state will someday move to such practices as we start to see more and more evidence that standardized testing is more destructive than beneficial to our students, our children, our future.
References:
National Center on Education and the Economy. (2013, October 11). South Korea: Instructional systems. Retrieved from http://www.ncee.org/programs-affiliates/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/south-korea-overview/south-korea-instructional-systems/.
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