Observing Communication

Welcome back!

In class this week we have been discussing the importance of communicating with the children we are working with effectively. Our resources have provided reasoning for communicating with the children effectively and strategies to use in the classroom. As we know at this point, communication is not just about speaking; it is comprised of many different components to be effective and appropriate, including speaking, listening, and other nonverbal cues. As O'Hair & Wiemann (2012) explain, "Communication is the process by which individuals use symbols, signs, and behaviors to exchange information...Successful communication allows us to satisfy out most basic human needs, from finding food and shelter to functioning in our communities and developing meaningful relationships with others,” (p. 4). 

Understanding the importance of communication, I recall an observed interaction between an adult and child this week at school during a practice evacuation drill. As per safety requirements, our district has to practice an evacuation drill two times per school year. All students and staff from preschool through fourth grade must participate. While completing the drill, my fourth graders and I were walking side by side with a preschool classroom. During this time, I was able to observe interactions between the children and between the children and teachers. The preschool class observed is a full day inclusion classroom for four year old children. This classroom has one teacher and two paraprofessional assistants. I noticed that each adult was walking hand in hand with one or two children while the others were walking in a line. They were turning this drill into a major event….a fall themed nature walk! Each child was able to pick a leaf, pine cone, or acorn to carry and keep for a follow up discussion in the classroom. They were able to pick up and replace with a new item along the way if they found something more intriguing. I loved this idea!

For this observation, I focused on the interaction taking place between the teacher and the young girl with whom she was walking and holding hands with. The child was extremely curious and asking so many questions of Mrs. Snyder. The teacher, Mrs. Snyder, was listening so intently, nodding along, questioning back and responding with prompting, questions, and answers. As Stephenson (2009) states, "I found that many children were eager to spend time with an adult who was keen to listen to them," (p. 91). This is exactly what was taking place. As Mrs. Snyder was communicating with this young girl, many other children were taking notice and attempting to participate in the conversation or get her attention so they could hold such an important an in-depth conversation, too. She responded so well, reminding them we needed to be careful and calm to stay in line but still taking time to discuss with each of them along the way and reminding all of her students that their questions and concerns will be followed up on in the classroom when examining their discoveries and discussing further. 

It seems to me that this was highly effective communication! Mrs. Snyder has been teaching preschool in our district for many years and she is always so effective, influential, and awe-inspiring to the children, families, and her fellow staff. Most of the learning from this week's resources highlight and recommend things I noticed in this and many other observations of Mrs. Snyder interacting with her students. This communication builds a child's self-confidence to know they are listened to, they are respected, they are appreciated, and they are valued. It helps them in positive ways to impact their development and identity. As Lisa Kolbeck explains, "My first job is to help children communicate with each other. And to do that, they have to feel listened to and seen," (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). 

Observing Mrs. Snyder's communication techniques and strategies used with the children is inspiring. It opens my eyes to see the true impact such communicative efforts can have on a child's identity and development. It truly showcases the positive impact educators can have on children from a very young age. This is admirable and inspiring, showing me that I am passionate and excited for an opportunity to work in the ECE field moving forward. I have always worked on my communication skills as I feel they are extremely important, especially with the children you are working with. I feel that I have learned so much from the resource's, as well as Mrs. Snyder, on the impact such communication can have. It will stay with me in my communication journeys in the ECE field moving forward.



References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Communicating with young children. Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education, Inc.

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Stephenson, A. (2009). Conversations with a 2-year-old. YC: Young Children, 64(2), 90-95.

Creating Affirming Environments

Welcome, welcome, welcome! Once again, we are embarking on a new journey with another new course in our Master's Degree program at Walden University, entitled Strategies for Working with Diverse Children. It is hard to believe we are in our final leg of the journey here at Walden, with just one class remaining after the completion of this course! What an exciting, emotional, overwhelming journey it has been!

For our week 2 blog assignment this week, we needed to describe our ideal setting for a Family Child Care Home as if we were to open one in our homes currently. We need to include what the setting would look like, what elements would be included and why, and the ways in which you will make every child and family feel welcomed and appreciated in your home care center.

To start, I believe in the words of Bj Richards as stated, "I believe that our world would be a better place if all children grow up in anti-bias homes and child care settings. Children must feel safe, loved, and nurtured to develop the basic trust they need for healthy development," (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 52). These words paint the picture of what I want and wish for the field of ECE and children in our society. By creating a family child care home setting, I would plan to emphasize the importance of the aforementioned information and focus on providing children with the tools, strategies, and opportunities to "develop a strong and positive self-concept and empathy for others through healthy intellectual, physical, social, emotional, and more development," (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 52). The focuses or goals of my program would be on the aforementioned important factors, as well as fostering and maintaing positive teamwork relationships with children AND families. Additionally, the program would set a goal to create a welcoming and nurturing community of learners for all children and families of varying diverse backgrounds.

The setting itself would take place inside my home, creating a cozy, welcoming, nurturing environment in which children can feel comfortable and safe to learn, play, and grow. There would be a welcoming area in which the parents can check in or check out and the children can store their belongings and play with others to socialize and start their day. This would be a welcoming area in which everyone, parent and child, feels comfortable to begin the day on a positive note. From there, we would enter into the living room area in which we could host a circle time or morning meeting to welcome one another to a new day of learning together. Connected to the living room would be a spare room which would be a rest area and a comfort area to go to when a child is having a difficult time. I am modeling this after my Aunt's family child care home setting in which I assisted for many summers growing up, as well as from this week's example from Adrianna Castillo. There would be rooms and areas for play and exploration, as well as resting and peaceful areas when the child needs time to calm down and start fresh.

Adrianna Castillo created a wonderful home care environment in which she fostered positive and nurturing relationships with all children and parents. She shared that "families are so important to your program," (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). In regards to my setting, I would set up, design, and maintain it so that it will be warm and welcoming, inviting all to partake in our activities and events taking place. Families will feel welcome to participate in various activities taking place during our daily routines, as well as for special events. Additionally, families will be able to share traditions and materials or information about their language, traditions, culture, and more with our center. Items can be shared and placed on display; traditions can be discussed and celebrated; language can be utilized and learned. Every single child and every single family will feel equally as welcome as the next, regardless of their diverse background or ability.

In regards to materials and resources utilized at my family child care home, I would follow the belief and understanding that "all child care environments, including family child care homes, can provide excellent anti-bias education materials," (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 52). Moreover, it is imperative to utilize diverse materials and resources in this child care setting, even if it is not taking place in a public center or school building. Derman-Sparks and Edwards (2010) explain, "An environment rich in anti-bias materials invites exploration and discovery and supports children's play and conversations in both emergent and planned activities. It alerts children to which issues and people the teacher thinks are important and unimportant. What children do not see in the classroom teaches children as much as what they do see," (p. 43). Therefore, multicultural dolls, varying food and kitchen materials from many different countries and cultures, and much more would be represented in this setting for play, exploration, literature, and discussion. Families would be invited to come in and partake in lessons and the curriculum in ways that share about their cultures and beliefs for children to continue to learn more and grow. We would ensure the concepts of acceptance, tolerance, and understanding through multiple diverse texts, pictures, videos, songs, discussions, and more.

Lastly, the family child care home would be a place in which the parents felt like family. Our relationships would form a foundation to model for the children how nurturing and supportive relationships for an individual can be. Families are important to the effectiveness of a program and without their support, you will not be able to function effectively or appropriately. As Janis Keyser explains, "We cannot figure out what's going on with children without that partner of the family…teacher cannot do the quality care that we want without that input," (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).




References:

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011a). Strategies for working with diverse children: Welcome to an anti-bias learning community. Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education, Inc.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011b). Strategies for working with diverse children: Building on children’s strengths. Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education, Inc.

What I have Learned

Week 8 has arrived already! This has been a very busy, challenging, and quick course in this Master's program at Walden University. In our final week, we were asked to reflect on our experiences in this course. In doing so, we need to share one hope we have for working with children and families from diverse backgrounds; one goal for the field of ECE in regards to diversity, equity, and social justice; and a note to our classmates and colleagues. 

First, my hope for working with children and families in the future is to continue to learn methods and strategies to competent communication and appropriate and effective anti-bias education practices. I hope I can create a foundation for acceptance and tolerance, in which we celebrate our unique differences and learn from one another. I hope I can communicate with families of any background to make them feel equally important and included in their child's education. I hope I can make a difference in their lives by helping them to learn from bias and stereotype in a positive way, discussing and overcoming the challenges they may face. I hope I can provide an environment in which EVERY CHILD and EVERY FAMILY feels welcome, appreciated, important, and understood in every way on a daily basis. By practicing anti-bias education and competent communication, I will be able to continue to learn and grow and create such an environment for such hopes to come true. 

Secondly, my goal for the field of ECE is to promote and successfully integrate anti-bias education practices into all classrooms. Additionally, my goal for this field is that ECE will eventually provide affordable, appropriate, high-quality educational opportunities for every single child in our country. All children are entitled to such opportunities, yet so many suffer with less than suitable accommodations and environments. I hope that we can eventually create socially just environments in which all children, regardless of diverse background, have the ability to participate and learn in a high-quality learning environment, suitable to nurturing and positive development. 

Lastly, I would like to extend my gratitude to my classmates and colleagues for another successful journey coming to a close. We are finishing another chapter of this journey, with just two left to go before we complete the journey at Walden University. I cannot thank each and every one of you enough for helping me, supporting me, encouraging me, motivating and inspiring me, and challenging me to do, learn, persevere, and survive in these past eight weeks. This is a difficult time of year for me emotionally on a personal level, as well as being the "back to school" time of setting up a new year of craziness. All the while, I have found peace with working with each of you because I felt relieved to know we would always support one another and help each other through this course's challenges. I loved learning with and from each of you and hope we see each other again in our final two courses.

Best of luck one and all! Finish strong! :)

Start Seeing Diversity Blog: Creating Art

As yet another course begins to wind down and slowly come to a close, we are asked to take time to reflect on the learning that has taken place throughout the past 7 weeks thus far. Reviewing information learned about anti-bias education and diversity in all shapes and sizes allows me to appreciate how far I have come in my journey of anti-bias education, while also understanding and appreciating how far I still have to go on my journey ahead. In reflecting upon such, I chose to express my learning through art in the form of photography and collage, as well as in music. 

First of all, I have posted the links to youtube videos on songs I feel truly describe my outlook, understanding, and appreciation on diversity at this point in my anti-bias journey. I feel as though these songs and lyrics truly describe my thoughts and passions about the topic. I hope and pray someday we will live in a world of peace, where every individual, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, or class will be accepted, celebrated, and treated equally and with respect. I hope and pray that someday we will live in a world where I am no longer a dreamer, but happy with the reality of how far we have come and how hard we have worked to get there. Therefore, the first and most important song, which means so much to me in so many ways, is "Imagine" by John Lennon. "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will live as one," (Lennon, J., 1971). 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwUGSYDKUxU

Secondly, I think of another powerful song that means so much to me, gives me goosebumps, and tears in my eyes when thinking of the power of the message, which is "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong. My favorite part is near the ending, when he sings, "I hear babies cry, I watch them grow, They'll learn much more, than I'll ever know. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world," (Armstrong, L., 1967). 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yCcXgbKrE 

The third and final song I would like to share is from my all time favorite movie, The Wizard of Oz. The song is "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" sung by Judy Garland. This song once again reminds me that there are better opportunities for all of us - regardless of who you are - and we need to come together to celebrate and help one another reach our dreams and goals. This song once again means so much to me on so many levels, as it reminds me of family, my best friend who I lost 10 years ago, to follow my dreams, and of diversity and my journey in anti-bias education, in it's own way. My favorite line states, "If happy little blue birds fly beyond the rainbow, why oh why can't I?" showing that we all should and could have the same opportunities in this life, we just have to push ourselves to pursue and achieve them (Garland, J., 1939). 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSZxmZmBfnU

Lastly, I have created three collages of important words and quotes, as well as photographs to help showcase the importance of acceptance, tolerance, understanding, and celebrating our differences as I have learned on my anti-bias education journey. 

References:

Armstrong, L. (1967). What a wonderful world lyrics. Retrieved from http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/louisarmstrong/whatawonderfulworld.html. 

Garland, J. (1939). Somewhere over the rainbow lyrics. Retrieved from http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/judygarland/overtherainbow.html. 

Lennon, J. (1971). Imagine lyrics. Retrieved from http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/johnlennon/imagine.html. 

Start Seeing Diversity - "We Don't Say Those Words in Class!"

Welcome back!

This week in class we have been discussing children's literature and the underlying concerns and isms found either positively or negatively influencing a child's acceptance and understanding of others similar and different from them. This is another great step in our journey towards anti-bias education. Additionally, over the past few weeks we have been analyzing and learning more specifically about various types of diversity regarding race, gender, class, ability, and more. Therefore, our assignment calls for us to remember or recall a time when I or someone I know had quieted a child in class for pointing out someone's differences. We are to analyze the message this sent to the child being silenced, as well as an example of how an experienced anti-bias educator may have responded to this situation differently and more effectively.

This topic and scenario takes me back to my first experiences out of college within the field of education when I was working in a low-income school/district in the preschool department. I worked as a permanent substitute for the year in which I was half-time a classroom assistant and half-time a co-teacher between three different preschool classrooms in the building. I had the chance to work with a regular education class, as well as two inclusion classes of 3-4 year olds. During my experiences in this setting, I fell in love with Early Childhood Education and even more in love with Special Education, which inspired me to eventually go back to this program for my Master's in ECE. During my time in preschool in Lindenwold, I was working with an extremely diverse population. I recall several instances in which diversity was discussed in the classroom, treated as teachable moments when things came up; however, I also recall a few moments when children were silenced when the teacher was unsure of how to respond to the situation. For example, during circle time in one of the inclusion classrooms one morning, a young Latino girl asked, "Why does HE always act that way? He ruins our circle time because he doesn't know how to act like we do." She was referring to another young child in the class named Joshua who was extremely emotional and had several behavioral issues. He acted out in hopes to get any kind of attention as he did not receive much attention at home due to his mom being a single-mother trying to work and take care of three children under the age of 6. Joshua would constantly disrupt circle time and centers, often purposely, in order to have someone with him one on one. Again, any attention was good attention to Joshua. In this scenario, the teacher created an opportunity for discussion with the class, talking about how things can be challenging sometimes and how to deal with emotions when we become frustrated, to help show that it was not because he was a boy or because he was different from her (Latino female versus African American male) as this young girl was accusing and questioning. This was a wonderful way to help create understanding.

However, I had also experienced a similar concern in one of the other classrooms in which a young Caucasian boy and young Latino American boy attempted to ignore and remove another young Asian American boy from their play time. They refused to let him play with them as Daniel, the Asian American boy, frequently had meltdowns when playing with the other students because he would become fixated on one particular toy and had trouble sharing. He was being observed and tested to which we later found he was autistic and certain situations were extremely difficult for young Daniel. When encountering this situation, the teacher intervened to see what the problem was as Daniel was screaming and stomping while the other boys yelled for him to go away and said it's "because he doesn't share and doesn't play right like other kids do". The teacher responded by saying "Boys, we do not tell people they can't play with us because they don't play the way we like. He is playing with you. Thats enough" and proceeded to walk away and work with other children.

In the first scenario, the children had an opportunity to learn and grow, becoming more accepting and understanding of others by allowing them to discuss and relate to this child. However, in the second scenario the boys were quieted in their judgments and concerns and told to let him play and move on. This did not help the children in any way and could serve to enable an ism such as ableism within the students beliefs and perspectives. When the teacher in the first scenario took time to discuss and learn with her class, she was helping children to understand the importance of bias and how to overcome it. "This process empowers children to take action themselves by giving the message that responding to bias is important. It models cooperative problem solving and creates concrete suggestions for what to do," (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.). If an anti-bias educator were in the room in either of these scenarios, the discussion would have taken place, as well as possible role play and stories to further the discussion and learning about such concerns and isms. I believe the first teacher acted as an anti-bias educator, which I had the pleasure and honor of witnessing and learning from continually throughout the school year. I believe the second teacher had good intentions but tended to struggle with ways in which to follow through in such "touchy" scenarios with the children. She would inconsistently address concerns such as this in the classroom with children but always wanted to help create and foster acceptance and tolerance in her diverse environment.

These courses are helping to teach me the ways to learn from such examples I have listed and to become more of an anti-bias educator myself. I love learning about how I can improve for the better and look forward to continuing on this journey!



References:

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d. b). Start seeing diversity: Physical ability and characteristics [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu.