Sunday, March 20, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Education World
I subscribed to Education Worlds free newsletter, the specific newsletter I subscribed to is about Early Childhood Education. I went with this newsletter because it is helpful for me as a preschool teacher. Each newsletter is filled with lesson plan ideas, professional development, education headlines, early childhood education, and also a section for administrators. I found this newsletter to be very informative and useful, I feel like it keeps me up to date on current events in the education community.
http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Making Connections Across the World
At this moment I am in the process of trying to contact Early Childhood professionals from all over the world. I think it would be a great learning experience for me to be able to communicate with some one who is from another country that is interested in making a difference in the ECE field!
Here I listed who I tried to contact, still waiting for a response (fingers crossed)
Ghana
Rev Charles Arko-Nunoo
P.O. Box MK 157
Mankessim
C/R Ghana
Email: 2kdotcom@ghana.com
Bulgaria
OMEP Bulgarian National Committee
Step by Step Program Foundation Bulgaria
Emil Buzov
Email: emil.step@bitex.com
The organization that I wanted to learn more about was the, Association for childhood education international. I found this website to be really insightful. I liked the fact that I could learn the important issues that are going on in ECE all over the world. What I also liked about the ACEI is that you can become a member, and become apart of this diverse community. Also upon becoming a member you can recieve all of the lasted news, journals, and magazines. Joining this community is something that I am interested in doing in the near future. I also like that this organization has an E news letter, and also ACEI radio. These features allow individuals to stay up to date on the latest news in ECE around the world!
Here I listed who I tried to contact, still waiting for a response (fingers crossed)
Ghana
Rev Charles Arko-Nunoo
P.O. Box MK 157
Mankessim
C/R Ghana
Email: 2kdotcom@ghana.com
Bulgaria
OMEP Bulgarian National Committee
Step by Step Program Foundation Bulgaria
Emil Buzov
Email: emil.step@bitex.com
The organization that I wanted to learn more about was the, Association for childhood education international. I found this website to be really insightful. I liked the fact that I could learn the important issues that are going on in ECE all over the world. What I also liked about the ACEI is that you can become a member, and become apart of this diverse community. Also upon becoming a member you can recieve all of the lasted news, journals, and magazines. Joining this community is something that I am interested in doing in the near future. I also like that this organization has an E news letter, and also ACEI radio. These features allow individuals to stay up to date on the latest news in ECE around the world!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
My Support
I would be nothing without my family and friends! I need them, they are my support, they help me with my everyday challenges. Without them it would be hard for me to take chances and make steps in my life. My sister-in-law who is one of my best friends encouraged me to go back to school, which is why I am at Walden now. If it wasn't for her I would if doubted myself, and I don't know if I would ever have gone back. I am also starting a new job this week, and it is a big step in my career, I was nervous about taking it because I am leaving my stable job of 6 years. It is scary and I thought back and forth about it for a while, unsure if I would take it. With the support of my family and friends I took the step to take the job, I am scared, but they are helping me and reassuring me that I will be great! I love them and I hope they continue to support me in whatever I do.
It would be hard to imagine my life without support from my family and friends. If I did not have them I would be lost. I can not imagine my life without them. I feel like I would not be able to be confident in important decisions that I make.
I think it would be hard for me if I was hearing impaired. Right now hearing loss runs in my family, my grandmother is practically deaf, she can not hear without hearing aids and even with them she doesn't hear well. I think about the support she needs on a daily basis, she relays on us to make her doctors appointments, make all of her phone calls, and even help her understand what people are saying when they are talking to her. We also have to leave her notes and I feel bad because she gets so frustrated that she cannot hear what we are saying and she doesn't understand us when we are all having a conversation. I think about the support that she needs just to get by everyday and it makes me sad because she cannot relay on herself to get through the day. Through it all she is still positive and happy, and I admire her for that.
It would be hard to imagine my life without support from my family and friends. If I did not have them I would be lost. I can not imagine my life without them. I feel like I would not be able to be confident in important decisions that I make.
I think it would be hard for me if I was hearing impaired. Right now hearing loss runs in my family, my grandmother is practically deaf, she can not hear without hearing aids and even with them she doesn't hear well. I think about the support she needs on a daily basis, she relays on us to make her doctors appointments, make all of her phone calls, and even help her understand what people are saying when they are talking to her. We also have to leave her notes and I feel bad because she gets so frustrated that she cannot hear what we are saying and she doesn't understand us when we are all having a conversation. I think about the support that she needs just to get by everyday and it makes me sad because she cannot relay on herself to get through the day. Through it all she is still positive and happy, and I admire her for that.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
My Connections to Play
"Play is the beginning of knowledge" -Anonymous
“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” Kay Redfield Jamison (professor of psychiatry)
I picked this photo because it demonstrates my favorite type of play-Dramatic play, these children are playing dress up, and for that moment they can be someone else.
I love this idea. I want this for my classroom and if I had the space I would defiantly get a boat for the room. The fact that this is a real boat makes it a great prop for dramatic play. I love using real items for my dramatic play area, I put real pots and pans in the kitchen area in my classroom. I feel like the children like to play with items more when they know they are the real thing, stuff that they see their parents using.
When I was little
Play was supported and encouraged when I was little. Myself and my brothers were often sent outside to play and I loved being able to spend most of my childhood playing and imagining with my brothers and cousins. We did a lot of dress up and make believe play. I remember playing a game with my brother called lava. We would pretend the floor was lava and the bed was a boat. We would have to jump from the bed to other items on the floor that were safe areas. We would also wear our snow pants as lava gear and it would protect us. At such a young age we thought of this game and spent hours playing it, I love that our parents let us just be kids and have fun.
Play today
I think play is different today due to technology. Video games, tv, and the computer are taking children away from normal play. No longer do kids go outside for hours to play with their neighbors and friends, now they spend their time chatting with friends online or texting them. Children can hop on the Internet and play a game with their friend without leaving their house. And I think that sometime parents feel better about having their child inside playing video games, watching tv and on the Internet then letting them go outside and play, due to safety concerns. Not only that but when children are playing through electronics they become absorbed in it rarely talk and some parents may like this, because there child is being good and they can get stuff done. I also get really sad when the children in my center get upset if they are outside or say they are bored.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Thanks for Everything!
"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."This is one of my favorite quotes about children. I think that sometimes adults take life to seriously and sometimes just by watching children and interacting with them we can learn how to be carefree again.
I enjoyed reading all of the blog post this semester and really appreciate the feedback I have got from my own posts. I look forward to seeing more from you guys in future courses! Take Care and Happy Holidays!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Viewing young children hilistically...
Considering a commitment to viewing young children holistically (i.e., a commitment to “the whole child”), what, if anything, do you believe should be measured or assessed?
Every child is different, which means that we all learn differently as well and have areas that we are more and less successful in. In the US the educational system tests children from grade school on using one-dimensional standardized tests. I personally hate standardized test and for someone like me they did not show how intelligent I was in school, instead they made me nervous to the point where I would freeze and forget everything I studied. How are these test beneficial to someone who is nervous about the pressure of taking a test that can effect their education for life. Because these tests are so prevalent in American schools teachers are now forced to teach for these tests, they have guidelines and deadlines to complete certain subjects and have to move a long fast to teach all of this information in time for the exam. This is not fair for the teacher or the class. In many areas, especially New York where I am from, increased test scores have become the most important factor of school improvement. In turn administrators an teachers are under a lot of pressure to make sure that test scores go up. Which means that certain thing need to be cut and children are simple learning what is covered on the test.
My sister-in-law works in an urban elementary school in Schenectady NY, she teaches 5th grade. I decided to ask her about standardized testing and see how she felt about theses test, testing the whole child. She basically told me that she has children in her 5th grade class that simply can't keep up, she says that she prepares her children for months at a time for these tests. She has children in her class that read on a 2nd grade level, and children who do not use English as there primary language. She thinks that it would make a big different if a child was read the test, or the question was presented differently to them. Some children learn better that way. Just because John is at a second grade reading level doesn't mean that he is not smart or wouldn't understand the question if it was read to him. She also blames these tests for why she has so many students that can't "catch up". Because they are constantly being trained to take these tests and simply not learning anything of concrete value. She says a lot of teachers, teach using old tests and the children memorize information instead of learning it, how is this benifically to the child in the long run?
CHINA
Academics in China are completely different then in American, they score higher on tests, and on paper they are more intelligent then American students. The United States testing system seems like a joke compared to China, we are more relaxed and less disciplined then china. In the east testing is a part of the learning system, children have to pass rigorous tests, and the students themselves take testing seriously. They out score American students in tests which is leading our nation to ask many question. Why are American students falling so much behind their Asian peers? Questions like these are what is making the United States education system increase their testing and copy some methods used in the East. Testing in the United States are becoming more frequent and important then they were when I was in grade school. Where is the creative thinking in China and other eastern nations. Creative thinking is taken out of the equation and children in the East are thinking on a more concert level. Do we want to take this away from our children in American. This is the advantage that the United States has over nations like China, but if we keep cutting funding to these programs, are children are just going to end up as robots, all thinking a like.
http://www.theglobalist.com/storyid.aspx?StoryId=5264
Every child is different, which means that we all learn differently as well and have areas that we are more and less successful in. In the US the educational system tests children from grade school on using one-dimensional standardized tests. I personally hate standardized test and for someone like me they did not show how intelligent I was in school, instead they made me nervous to the point where I would freeze and forget everything I studied. How are these test beneficial to someone who is nervous about the pressure of taking a test that can effect their education for life. Because these tests are so prevalent in American schools teachers are now forced to teach for these tests, they have guidelines and deadlines to complete certain subjects and have to move a long fast to teach all of this information in time for the exam. This is not fair for the teacher or the class. In many areas, especially New York where I am from, increased test scores have become the most important factor of school improvement. In turn administrators an teachers are under a lot of pressure to make sure that test scores go up. Which means that certain thing need to be cut and children are simple learning what is covered on the test.
My sister-in-law works in an urban elementary school in Schenectady NY, she teaches 5th grade. I decided to ask her about standardized testing and see how she felt about theses test, testing the whole child. She basically told me that she has children in her 5th grade class that simply can't keep up, she says that she prepares her children for months at a time for these tests. She has children in her class that read on a 2nd grade level, and children who do not use English as there primary language. She thinks that it would make a big different if a child was read the test, or the question was presented differently to them. Some children learn better that way. Just because John is at a second grade reading level doesn't mean that he is not smart or wouldn't understand the question if it was read to him. She also blames these tests for why she has so many students that can't "catch up". Because they are constantly being trained to take these tests and simply not learning anything of concrete value. She says a lot of teachers, teach using old tests and the children memorize information instead of learning it, how is this benifically to the child in the long run?
CHINA
Academics in China are completely different then in American, they score higher on tests, and on paper they are more intelligent then American students. The United States testing system seems like a joke compared to China, we are more relaxed and less disciplined then china. In the east testing is a part of the learning system, children have to pass rigorous tests, and the students themselves take testing seriously. They out score American students in tests which is leading our nation to ask many question. Why are American students falling so much behind their Asian peers? Questions like these are what is making the United States education system increase their testing and copy some methods used in the East. Testing in the United States are becoming more frequent and important then they were when I was in grade school. Where is the creative thinking in China and other eastern nations. Creative thinking is taken out of the equation and children in the East are thinking on a more concert level. Do we want to take this away from our children in American. This is the advantage that the United States has over nations like China, but if we keep cutting funding to these programs, are children are just going to end up as robots, all thinking a like.
http://www.theglobalist.com/storyid.aspx?StoryId=5264
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