My farewell....

• At least three deeply felt learnings from this program The three deeply felt learnings from this program that has resonated with me most are: 1. I must understand and know that all people have some type of bias. I learned about the different biases that I have as well as I found positive methods of changing my outlook on life and my career.I also learned the importance of being an advocate for all children and their families. 2. I also learned and developed important goals to help me further my career. This program has caused me to look into my inner self and find out what is most important to me regarding my education and my passion in life. After I did some soul searching I realized that I have interest in some many things. I also found out other careers that might interest me as well. 3. Most importantly this program has taught me about overcoming my fears as realizing that I can accomplish any task when I put my mind to it. I also learned about the leader that I am in my position as an Assistant Director. I also know now that my mentor and this program are preparing me for my next position of a Center Director for a NAEYC accredited school. • At least one long-term goal I am so happy to say that I have just completed one of my biggest long term goals. The next thing for me to do is to consider staring a new set of goals. As of today a long –term goal that I can consider is enrolling and completing my Doctorate program in Education. I have also wanted to be called “Doctor Watson”. • A farewell message to your Instructor and colleagues (consider uploading a video or audio podcast) To my Instructor and colleagues, I wish all of you continued success in your future endeavors. I would say to my colleagues to strive for the best and don’t let anyone put you down or make you feel that you cannot achieve your goals. I will continue to advocate for others and let them know about this wonderful program and the benefits it has to offer students looking to further their educational career. Thank you so much! I am so honored to be graduating from a distinguished University. My contact information is : ericarwatson@yahoo.com 678.471.2997

International Organizations Linking to my challenge

The three international organizations that appealed to me are:

1. Website: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). Retrieved April 6, 2012, from http://www.unicef.org/. This organization is focus on the importance of educating families and empowering families and their children.

2. Website: Save the Children. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm- This organization focuses on helping children one step at a time. It also helps to empower families and their children better themselves.

3. Website: International Step By Step Association. (n.d.). Retrieved April 6, 2012, from http://www.issa.nl/index.html- This organization helps to focus on providing all children equal quality education at an early age.

The job opportunities that interest me are :
Education Consultant

Accountable for planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation of Education programme(s) to ensure overall efficiency and effectiveness of the programme management, delivery and accomplishment of programme goals and objectives.

Child Protection

Accountable for formulation, design, planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation of Child Protection programme(s) to ensure overall efficiency and effectiveness of the programme management, delivery and accomplishment of programme goals and objectives.

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

• At least three national/federal organizations or communities of practice that appealed to you and why you chose them

The three national/federal organizations or communities of practice that appealed to me are:

- National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) http://www.naeyc.org/- NAEYC's mission is to serve and act on behalf of the needs, rights and well-being of all young children with primary focus on the provision of educational and developmental services and resources.

- National Coalition for Parent Involvement (NCPIE)- The mission of the National Coalition for Parent Involvement is to advocate the involvement of parents and families in their children's education, and to foster relationships between home, school, and community to enhance the education of our entire nation's young people.

- Georgia Early Alliance for Ready Students (GEEARS) was created to promote school readiness for children from birth through age 5. This organization leverages strategies informed by research policy and practice our organization will enable success in school. GEEARS was created to help lead the charge to fill the great need in the state. Job opportunities (currently available or not) that interest you

The job opportunities that interest me are

- NAEYC Consultant- With this job I would be required to have a background in child development/Early childhood education to conduct a series of individual and group assessments of children in select Kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms. At minimum, assessors will be expected to 1) coordinate testing schedules with classroom teachers, 2) complete a total of 10 group assessments in classrooms across two schools, and 3) complete individual assessments for each child in four classrooms in the same two schools. There will be opportunity to conduct assessments at additional school sites, as assessor and site availability permits.

Blog Assignment: Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

- At least three local or state organizations or communities of practice that appealed to you, and explain why you chose them.

NAEYC- Founded in 1926, The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is the world's largest organization working on behalf of young children with nearly 80,000 members, a national network of more than 300 state and local Affiliates, and a growing global alliance of like-minded organizations. I chose this organization because its missions is to provided leading and cutting edge information in the field of education that will meet the needs of all children, families and educators.

NBCDI (National Black Child Development Institute)-
Conceived by the Black Women’s Community Development Foundation whose concerns were that of the unsatisfactory conditions faced by families wanting to rear healthy children, they decided to organize a national advocacy group. In 1970, the Institute was incorporated and the work began to organize groups within communities as a basis for creating a unified national voice to develop strategies to improve the life circumstances of the developing Black child through policy change. Since 1970, the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) has remained steadfast in its mission –“To improve and advance the lives of black children and their families through education and advocacy.” With a focus on early childhood education, child welfare, elementary and secondary education, and health, the Institute accomplishes this mission by:

1) Serving as a vital information resource to all individuals who work directly with children, in particular child care professionals, educators, parents, social workers and academicians; and

2) Providing direct services at the local level through its nationwide affiliate network composed of volunteers, who work in concert with the Institute to improve child welfare services, provide access to universal early care and education, build family support services, and provide vital information on children’s health.

ACEI- Association for Childhood Education International-Our mission is to promote and support the optimal education and development of children worldwide, and to influence the professional growth of educators and the efforts of others who are committed to the needs of children in a changing society. We have consultative status with the United Nations.

- Job opportunities (currently available or not) that interest you
The job opportunities that interest me are as follows:

- Childcare Licensing Consultant
- Center Director of a childcare program
- Training Consultant for childcare program

- Skills and experience that you would need to competently fulfill each of these roles

The skills and experience that would be needed to apply and work in a position listed above are :
- Currently posses a Bachelors or Master Degree in ECE
- Have at least 5 years experience in leadership role in a childcare program.
- Strong computer skills in Excel and Word and experience with laptop computers are necessary.
- Strong communication skills etc.

Reflecting on Learning

An explanation of your most passionate hope for your future as an early childhood professional and for the children and families with whom you work or will work.

My most passionate hope for my future as an early childhood professional is to make a huge impact in the lives of the children and the families that I serve. It is my goal to give each child the necessary time and individualization that is needed to ensure that they are developmentally prepare for school. I would like to us my tools and educational knowledge to help my co-workers understand that I am a positive role model which I plan to help educate others about the importance of being a positive educator.


A brief note of thanks to your colleagues.

As a future graduate of Walden University, I would like to wish all of my fellow classmates luck in all of their future endeavors. I feel that Walden was a great place to learn about the importance of educating children and their families. I wish that each person learns various concepts will make each person great in their career.

Impact on Early Emotional Development

- Look for information on specific challenges in the area that would affect the emotional development of children living in this region

The country that I decided to research was Latin America. While researching the country, I had the opportunity to learn more about this country and some of the issues and challenges that children face in this country. One major issue that I researched was a project that focused on abuse and exploitation and trafficking in children and adolescents in Central America and Dominican Republic.

As I read about this topic I learned just how frequently children are abused and mistreated. I also read about the different types of methods that they are taking to ensure that all illegal actions are reprimanded. Four areas that were focused on in the project were 1. Innovative practices in participation for the prevention, 2. Innovative practices in tourism, 3. Innovative practices in care and 4. Innovative practices in administration of justice. With these efforts that program was attempting to make this area safe for travelers as well as residents of the country.

I feel that this issue would definitely affect the emotional development of children due to the fact that abusing and exploitation of children is a serious issue. I know some children that have went through an abusing home environment and they have turned out to have major issues. Abuse is something that would affect a child for the rest of their life. I know that it is important to understand and accept the culture in certain countries, however, abuse and exploitation of children is totally unacceptable.


This information was researched through the http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html. Website.

The sexualization of Early Childhood

• Share your reaction to the topic of the sexualization of early childhood.

I believe that sexualization in early childhood and is prevalent and constantly changing. It is important to understand that this subject must be explained carefully with children so that they understand what it is and show it in the world today.

• Provide three or more examples, from your personal or professional experience, that further illustrate the exposure of young children to a highly sexualized environment.
The three examples, that I can remember that are related to sexualization of early childhood education are:

- A boy telling another child that they cannot play in a group due to the fact that they are girl. Some boys form groups or clicks that have issues with allowing girls to participate in the male bonding group activities.

- Another example is when come children have created their own ideas about careers and their future. Some children feel that only certain jobs can be held by certain gender individuals. For example, some children feel that a nurse or teacher can only be a female.
They also believe that certain types of sports are considered real sports because women are not real athletes.

- I have also experience certain girls only allowing girls to participate in certain activities because they are not female.

Observing Communication

I had the opportunity to observe children interacting with adults at a youth basketball game. This was very intertesting to see due to the fact it was my son's game. It is very interesting to see the coach of each team speak and guide the children’s actions during the game. Each team had their own signals and plays that helped them to make each basket. One coach yelled at the players during each play, however the other coach did little to no yelling however he fussed at the children when they missed each basket during the teams timeouts.

As well as the coaches the players had interesting ways of interacting with the coach. Some players ignored the coaches wishes and majority of the players followed the coach’s instructions. I learned that the game of basketball is very competitive and requires a lot of practice. One major strategy is that it takes patience and great communication skills to encourage the players to win the game even if they are losing the game. This is an important thing to remember when working with young children.

I do feel that the coach that was constantly could have done less yelling and talked to
the children to make their communication method more pleasant. Using positive methods of communication and strategies does work to build positive communication procedures.

Creating Affirming Environments

The assignment that we were assigned to complete was to start and operational Family Child Care Center. I have honestly never worked in any other type of program besides child care programs. I knew that I would have to do some research to find out the types of materials and curriculum that were used in a family child care program.

After watching the video about Adriana' Castillo’s family child care program, I learned a lot about her center and the methods that she works with the families in her program. I thought that she did a good job of setting up the areas and having purpose behind the reasons that each area was set in a certain place in the home. One major quality that I really like about her program is that she interacts and works with the families to ensure that they feel involved in the program.

In my family child care program I would have a program that has 12 children at the max. I would have I would only have about four children that were preschoolers and the remaining children would be infants and toddlers. I feel that preschool children need to be a program that can focus on their individual needs and I want to ensure that I am doing such. I would have two other adults that work with me in the program. I would have a one to four ratio. At times I would have the children working in the areas together when they arrive in the program. However, I would have individual areas for each age group due to the fact that children from different ages play on different aggressive levels.

The areas that I would have in my center are: house area, block area, library area, sand and water area, science area, art area, computer area and I would also have a cozy area and a quiet area. The main part of the cozy area is to have a place for children to go to when they are upset and or need redirection. This small area would have pillows books and stuff soft animals that children can lay on or cuddle up with. I will also have a angry jar to give children an opportunity to release and let go of their anger and seal it up in the jar. Besides the cozy area I would have a quiet area where children can go and reflect about things that affect them.

I would also have family photos on the wall that showed each child's culture and family structure. I feel that having these photos will make it easier for children to transition into the program and nap time daily. I also would have story time daily before each nap time. I would have a family bring in a book or record their voice reading the book and we will play the tape during the nap time story. I feel that each parent really feel involved when they are doing these nap time stories. I really like the way Adriana' Castillo had a area where parents brought in things or items that were close to their family. That definitely pull the families in and made them feel like a part of the program.

As well as areas, I would have a parent board that gives parents information about what is going on in our program. This board would list the menus, lesson plans, schedules and our program calendar about the list of days we will have activities going on in the center. I would also send home daily reports that showed how the child's day was. I would also have a lending library for the families in my program. This would give me an opportunity to lend books to children while at home. I would have a system that would allow parents to check out books daily and read them at home to their children before bed or during the day. This is so important for me because I want to encourage families to read to their children in hopes of encouraging children to form a love for reading.




Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). Welcome to an Anti-Bias Learning Community (2012) [DVD] Strategies for Working with Diverse Children. Baltimore, MD: Author.

WHAT DIVERSITY MEANS TO ME...

What diversity means to me….
I see the children’s colorful faces,
looking different in every way,
I wonder where they came from
and where are they going every day.
Each person has a different destiny and
Journey they must decide
Each person must go to school and
Learn to read, subtract add and multiply.
After learning your alphabet and numbers
You will learn how to socialize
You will meet new friends along the way,
And learn where they were born and reside.
While learning a person’s background you will
Learn more about their culture and their way of life.
Learn about their customs and the hardships and shrifts.
Last of all diversity deals with being different and unique,
Being confident in all you do and knowing what you think is right.
Knowing each person has a destiny and a legacy that must live on
Starts right in the hands of diversity and a person’s right to be different and unique
while staying where they belong.

"We Don't Say Those Words in Class!"

Being an educator is a great way to understand how children work. I also get the opportunity to guide children’s behavior and learning. Working in the classroom as a three year old teacher gives you multiple opportunity to hear the funny things that children say. At times we have to change what children say and what they think. I often use literature and reading materials to show children about the proper things to do and say at all times.

For example, in our three year old classroom we had a child that wore glasses to school every day. Many children saw the glasses and they understood that children and adults use the glasses to see better. However, after a doctor appointment the children went to the child came to school with a patch over her left eye. When the child came into the classroom with her parent every child stopped and stared at the child. One child went up to the child and the parent and said “Did Madison go to the doctor to have her eye taken out. She looks like a one eye-pirate.” I felt awful when the child called the other child this horrible name. After the child made this comment, I knew that I had to change the conversation immediately. I immediately gave the child and the classroom the eye that let him know to move away immediately.

Working in this classroom with children that needed to understand the importance of not teasing or calling other children names is so important. I know that it is so important to explain to children that name calling is so hurtful. I want to teach children that words hurt.

Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

Working in the field of education has taught me a lot about families and working with other cultures. I know that it is important to work with others and accept them for how they are. I know that being a teacher, I have seen many different types of family structures.

To answer the questions listed above I have experienced families that feel that they do not want their children to interact with families from different cultures and family structure. I had a family that had two mothers that raised a son, as well as I had a family with two Caucasian fathers and they raised a African American baby boy. I felt that both instances were hard for the other families to adapt to. I feel that I made the situation easy just by having literature and information on ways to bring in families from different cultures in to the environment. I had to get permission from the families to display and read materials that focused on same-sex partner families. I must say that we did lose some families due to the fact that they were uncomfortable with the situation.

I know that some of the families were uncomfortable about the issue and they used negative and homophobic terms to ease the pain. I did have to speak to many of the families to assure them that were using appropriate methods to teach children. I did assure then that we only respect different cultures not bring other children into these beliefs.

After I talked to the families about my plan, most of the other families did trust that I would not harm or force their child to do anything that is not aligned with their family culture.

Final Blog Post

I would like to say thank you to all of the classmates that have shared thier wisdom and oponions about the proper ways to become a better communicator. I have learned the importance of understanding that communication comes in many forms and we have to be aware that body language can speak for itself. I will continue to be positive and speak with parents in a pofessional and open manner. I would often refer to the methods of communicating if problems arise.

To everyone: I wish you much success in your future endevors. !!!

Erica Watson

Non-Verbal Cues- Week 2 Assignment

The television show that I decided to watch was House. I normally do not watch this show because it has definitely made a dramatic change in the last few years. One additional thing is that the characters have change as well as their job titles. It was refreshing to watch the show without the sound however I did get lost due to the fact that I couldn’t hear anything. The beginning of the show started with a serious yet fast pace scene that resulted in a child falling out during a soccer game. While watching the show without sound. I noticed that the characters seem to fight and argue a lot while saving people’s lives. This was very obvious even without sound. I also felt that the lead character in the show really had feelings for his co-worker due to the fact that he walked differently and acted differently around her.

After about 30 minutes I decided to turn on the sound and begin to watch the show with sound. I noticed that the people were discussing the problems and issues of the clients. I feel that the characters had a funny way of showing their appreciation and love for the other people on the show. I feel that the nonverbal ways that the characters acted gave a sense of unity and friendship.

I feel that this activity gave me insight into the ways that people communicate without using verbal cues. I think that many people need to try this activity in any form. It will give people an insight into the ways that people act without speaking.

Team Building

While thinking about the adjourning phase of the groups that I have worked with in the past, I have to focus my attention on the importance of working in a positive manner with all of the people in my group. The aspect of the groups that made for the hardest good bye would have to be the forming and storming part. Due the fact that each member of the group had a different problem or issue, I found it hard to end the activity. I believe that the groups that are high-performing are hardest to leave. I feel that a good group is so hard to find and keep. I would have loved to keep together my group in that class and continue work in this class.

I wish that I had experienced working a more positive group during my first group/team project at Walden University. I feel that if I would have had a positive experience I would have engrossed the opportunity in the future. Working on my master’s degree and taking similar courses had gave me the opportunity to learn more about the positive methods of teaching and working in a team. It has shown me how to think outside of the box and work with a different variety of people in the filed of education. I am so thankful for this program.

I think that adjourning is an essential part of teamwork because this is a method of concluding or ending a project. It is the most important part of the teamwork process.

Nonviolent Communication and Conflict Management

I have a positive work environment and I love my job, however, I have recently ran into a speed bump. Due to the economy, my non-profit organization is experiencing funding challenges. Due to these challenges, we are requiring that teachers take pay cuts and still continue to do the same amount of work in the center, if not more. I feel that this has created a harsh, yet tolerable situation. Georgia is one of the cities with the highest unemployment rate and I am happy to have a job.

I am the person that collects the fees and I am required to ask and request families to pay their fees in a timely fashion. With this in mind, I often have to take a stand and require that families pay their fees or withdraw their child. This is one of the hardest things to do in my job. I recently had a conflict with a parent that felt our fees were too high and she could not afford the program. She is receiving assistance however, she needs more assistance. Even though I felt her pain, I still had to require that she paid her fees no matter what.

With this situation in mind, I would use the win-win method to solve this conflict. I would also use mapping method. I feel that these methods would help us to come up with a plan of action and write down a plan. We could use this as the payment plan to assist with paying her fees, without withdrawing her child. Even though I came up with a payment plan the parent was required to pay the same fee amounts.

Classmates if you were in my situation, what would you do differently?

Erica

My Evaluation of my communication skills.

I often view the ways that people look at me. It is important to know that people feel that I am an effective communicator and I help solve problems. I feel that my boss is a great communicator. I try to mimic the ways that she works with staff and handle certain issues and challenges. When my boss evaluated me, she stated that I need to acquire firmer leadership skills and stand my ground. I feel that this is helpful information that will help me in my professional and personal life.

I personally feel that I am a people person, and I am aware that I need to work on leading people to move in the right way. This is one major skill that I am currently working on. In order to gain these skills, I created three goals that will assist me through this journey. The three goals that I created are:

1. Be firm and stand your ground when desiring to influence others to accept my point of view. Do not back down.
2. Continue to be respectful to others and their view points. Argue fairly by arguing the facts instead of opinions and gossip.
3. Be confident in my decision making. Become comfortable with discussing topics and concepts that I may not be familiar with.

I feel that these goals will help me to stay focus and strive for my goal.

Communication in a culturally diverse world!

When I think about diversity I often refer back to my current program. I work in a program with a huge variety of families with different backgrounds, culture and income levels. I find myself having to act and conduct myself with some families in a different way. I feel it is important to give every family the same respect at all times. I know that certain families expect a certain amount of respect and they feel that they should be handled in a different way than other families.

For example, I have families that are high income families and they feel that they should receive more services and individualized just because they pay more and they are in the highest category. I feel that this is so untrue. I try to treat each family the same, no exceptions. I also have some families that are low income and they feel they should receive free childcare just because they are low income and it should still be the same quality as every family. Again, I saw that all families should be treated the same way. The last example is the families that we have in our center that are from another country. We have some families that feel that they are exempt from following certain rules because of their diversity. I feel that we have to have a happy medium. All families should follow the rules and regulations of our program.

The three ways that I feel that I should use to help me communicate more effectively are to :
- Listen to the families and give them my undivided attention.
- Respect each family and request and cultural decisions while the child is in my care.
- I want to be more aware of the ways that I react and look at families. For example, I want to be more conscious of my facial expressions when dealing with families’ issues and concerns.

Being a great communicator!

For your blog this week, think of someone (e.g., family member, celebrity, politician, friend, or professor) who demonstrates competent communication within a particular context. What behaviors does this person exhibit that make him or her effective? Would you want to model some of your own communication behaviors after this person? Why or why not.

I believe that communication is key to sending a message or explaining exactly what is on your mind. I feel that some people express themselves through communication better than others. It takes some skill to communicate to large groups of people effectively. I feel that one person that I know that communicates in a positive manner is my good friend and boss. She has a way with words. Being her assistant I often try to duplicate some of the tactics that she displays and uses with our staff. I try to imitate her savvy method of disciplining staff and solving critical issues with parents. I feel she is a great communicator because she gets her point across no matter what and the staff and parents respect her and follows her wishes. This is a great skill that I would love to learn.

My Family Culture

A description of the three items you would choose
With this assignment in mind, I though carefully about how I could capture my family’s identity and culture with only three items. I often contemplated about the items that I would take. After thinking long and hard I would have to take family photo albums, the bible and my laptop (with Internet). The photo album would be books that had my family’s history and events that were captured by camera. I would also take the bible so I could often refer to the bible for comfort and spiritual guidance. The laptop is an item that would allow me to refer to major works of art, books about great black inventors and achievers and my African history.

How you would explain to others what each of these items means to you
I know that these items are important to me because they describe who I am. I was raised reading the bible and I need to have mementos that reflect upon my family and those who are no longer with me. The laptop would allow me to show others and explain how my culture has made me into the person I am today. I would use all of these tangible items to show others about me and my history through time so it will not be forgotten.

Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items you brought with you
I would be devastated to discover that I could only keep one item after I have thought so long about what items I would pick to take with me on this journey. If I had to give up the other two items I brought I would keep the laptop and give the bible to another person who needed spiritual guidance and I would give someone my photos so they would have an opportunity to see how my family lived and cultural events that were very important to my family.

Any insights you gained about yourself, your family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences in general, as a result of this exercise,
This activity has really had me think about items and their importance in my life. I know many families that have been misplaced due to emergencies or tragic events in their life. This assignment has opened my eyes and showed me that I need to reevaluate myself and my culture and think about things that are of importance when a major tragedy occurs.