Three deeply felt learnings I've received through this course is:
1) You can do anything that you set your mind to. You don't have to sit back and watch things go downhill, you can stand up and fight for what you beleive in. I didn't know I had the potential to do that until I took this course. This course has made my dream become a reality. I now know that I can do anything I want! I will one day have my own educational center!
2) Community of Practice - I never knew what this was and never even heard of it. Now I know that you can put together a community of practice to share information between people and work together to make a difference, so you're not doing it by yourself.
3) You can overcome anything. This course has taught me more about myself than I ever knew. So many times I wanted to quit and so many nights I spent whining that I couldn't do it and I would just quit!!! But look where I am! I set my mind to do it and I did. I went through a divorce, and raising my 5 year old by myself and somehow I managed to get my masters degree in the middle of all that. Never let anyone tell you that you can't do it and never get so down on yourself that you think you can't. Find those people that will support you and push you to do your best.
My one long term goal is to open my own educational center in an area of the United States that has taken away recess from children. I believe I read in New York, they no longer have recess because they are wasting time playing and not learning. This is where I would want my center to be. In the middle of their big mess!
I have another goal of being a workshop presenter also. I need to start attending workshops on play more frequently and maybe one day I can develop my own.
To my colleagues:
It has been so great to work the past year and a half with all of you! I have enjoyed your feedback and your ideas and help on everything! Thanks so much for all you've done and good luck to you!
Dr. Teri,
Thanks so much for all your feedback! You were such a great help! You have been the best professor I've had by far! I cannot tell you thank you enough. You made me a stronger person and a better person. You helped me beleive in myself and you pushed us to do our best. You are awesome! Keep up the AWESOME work!!!
If anybody wants to keep in contact I do have a facebook account under Shanda New - not sure how many Shanda New's there are but I'm probably the only one in Colcord, Oklahoma. :)
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
International Organizations
Since I was a little girl, I've always had an interest in homeless children. From seeing the commercials on television to my mother telling me after I wasted food at my meal that "a homeless child could've eaten that and here you are wasting food." The organizations I chose all have something to with giving children healthier starts and for homeless children. The three I chose are Save the Children, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and Homeless International.
UNICEF is an organization that fights for the rights of children. They focus on four areas in child development: child survival and development, education and gender equality, child protection and social inclusion, and HIV/AIDS and emergencies. One job opening I found at UNICEF was an Education Specialist (Early Childhood Development). The job requires me to be
UNICEF is an organization that fights for the rights of children. They focus on four areas in child development: child survival and development, education and gender equality, child protection and social inclusion, and HIV/AIDS and emergencies. One job opening I found at UNICEF was an Education Specialist (Early Childhood Development). The job requires me to be
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. Across the Education programme(s), accountable for identifying gender inequalities in education, and for developing innovative approaches and programmes to eliminating these inequalities. Collaborates across the programme(s) to ensure gender mainstreaming. Ensures that monitoring mechanisms are in place to track progress towards disparity reduction goals and targets in Education. It is required to have 5 years experience at a national or international field program relative to education. Fluency in English and one more UN language and this is one I would have to learn! and an advanced degree in Education.
Save the Children is similar to UNICEF, its focus is giving children the healthy start that they deserve. They have the same focuses as UNICEF does. They have an Advisor in Child Health job opening. Reponsibilities include:
Strategic vision, leadership, and operational planning,
Technical leadership and support for quality Child Health programs,
Promote program learning and innovation, advocacy, Resource Mobilization from public and private sources, and manage program/projects.
Requirements include:
- Minimum 7 years of field experience in international public health programming in developing countries, with emphasis on child health
- Minimum 10 years total US-based and field-based experience, including experience managing staff, grants, and health programs
- Academic qualifications include MD/MPH, DrPH, or PhD (health sciences)
- First author of recent peer-reviewed publication(s) on relevant topics.
- Ability to travel 25-35% of time
- Familiarity with USAID policies, strategies, and program priorities, preferably at both the global and country level
- Prior experience delivering technical assistance, especially in developing country settings, desirable.
- Advanced experience in proposal development, program design especially community-based approaches to child health and survival.
- Strong experience in malaria program design and implementation preferred
- Must speak English fluently, and ideally, speak either French, Spanish, or Portuguese.
Traveling is something I've always wanted to do and if involved helping children that would be amazing!!! Of course the other requirements I haven't reached yet, but I could work in a lower level organization to meet those requirements.
The last organization I looked at was Homeless International. "Our vision is a world in which all people can exercise their right to land, basic services and shelter. Shelter is more than a house: it is a space for privacy, economic activity, social care and personal fulfilment. We help communities transform slums by supporting them to work together to secure land, build homes, access safe water and sanitation, and negotiate with governments – ensuring that they have a voice that gets heard" (Homeless International).
References
Homeless International. Retrieved from http://www.homeless-international.org/home
Save the Children. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2014 from http://www.unicef.org/
Friday, March 28, 2014
Jobs in the ECE Community: National Level
The first organization that appeals to me is the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The mission of the NAEYC 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 (NAEYC). They work to improve professional practice and conditions in early childhood, work to achieve high quality care centers, and work to improve and promote excellence in early childhood education for all young children. They focus not only on the child, but on the professionals involved with the children.
All the jobs for the NAEYC are located just outside of Washington D.C. There were 3 jobs openings at the NAEYC organization. Customer Care Associate, Quality Enhancement Coordinator and Communications and Information Specialist. The Communication and Information Specialist sounded pretty interesting. They would be in charge of developing and maintaining online resources for programs pursuing accreditation, coordinating communication channels and clearly conveying information to a variety of audiences. This seems like more of a computer job, but it was the only one that sounded fairly interesting to me. After looking under a difference section of job seekers on the website I found a local job in Oklahoma as a Director in a Child Development Laboratory Center. The job is an administrator at Rose State College Child Development Laboratory Center (CDLC), which serves 56 children ages 3 months to 5 years. It involves teaching 2 courses in the Family Service/Child Development Program. Minimum Qualifications are a Masters in Family services and Child Development, or early childhood education.
The second organization I found and really enjoyed reading about is the Alliance for Childhood. "The Alliance for Childhood promotes policies and practices that support children’s healthy development, love of learning, and joy in living. Our public education campaigns bring to light both the promise and the vulnerability of childhood. We act for the sake of the children themselves and for a more just, democratic, and ecologically responsible future" (Alliance). There were several articles here about why children need play, and inspiring play. There was also an article about "Is the Common Core Developmentally Appropriate?" One of the articles opened like this, ""The trend in early education is to move from a play-based curriculum to a more school-like environment of directed learning. But is earlier better? And better at what?" (Alliance). Another one stated this: Dr. Entin writes, "Play time is in short supply for children these days and the lifelong consequences for developing children can be more serious than many people realize." (Alliance). This website has some awesome articles for me to use on my Capstone Project. I know that I would love to be one of the advocates and speakers who researched and discovered all the effects taking away play has on children. Under "OUR WORK" section, it talks about how they are restoring play in early childhood. The Alliance works with other organizations and individuals in a multi-pronged campaign to restore play. I would love to work alongside them. I found some jobs available at certain centers such as at the Early Connections Learning Center where I would Assist the lead teacher in the overall classroom operations. Responsible for maintaining an appropriate classroom environment that signifies best practice for children. Meets Colorado Minimum Rules and Regulations for Early Childhood Teacher. Must be willing to further your education by working towards a Child Development Associate, Associate of Arts Degree or a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, or a related field. This job is more of a teachers aide type job. This would be taking a step back instead of forward for me. I do think it would be a great job to assist a teacher instead of be in the lead and in control all the time. This is a job I might like when I was older and after retirement (haha).
The next organization I found was the Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. I think this is an interesting organization because it is nice to know what these children need to do or learn and how they learn before they come to pre-k. Their mission is to ensure that babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. I do believe this is the importance to succeeding in later life. The way a child's life begins can have an effect on them for the rest of their life.
The jobs this organization has available are also located in Washington D.C. There were three available: Senior Program Associate, Senior Financial Analyst, and Senior Writer/Trainer Specialist. The Sr. Program Associate job is to responsible for supporting the early head start resource center efforts to provide training to early head start programs and assist with planning and developing meetings. It is only required to have a Bachelors degree for this job.
"The Senior Writer/Training Specialist position is responsible for supporting efforts to develop and maintain a comprehensive system for coordinated communication and knowledge sharing with the EHS and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) community that incorporates cultural perspectives of American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) program staff and families. This position will lead the development of up to 3 EHSNRC deliverables (i.e. webcasts, webinars, podcasts, TA papers, tip sheets, etc.); and is responsible for designing and conducting trainings for Federal staff, technical assistance (TA) providers, and EHS/Migrant and Seasonal Head Start program staff" (Zero to Three). It is required to have a Masters in Early Childhood Development.All the jobs for the NAEYC are located just outside of Washington D.C. There were 3 jobs openings at the NAEYC organization. Customer Care Associate, Quality Enhancement Coordinator and Communications and Information Specialist. The Communication and Information Specialist sounded pretty interesting. They would be in charge of developing and maintaining online resources for programs pursuing accreditation, coordinating communication channels and clearly conveying information to a variety of audiences. This seems like more of a computer job, but it was the only one that sounded fairly interesting to me. After looking under a difference section of job seekers on the website I found a local job in Oklahoma as a Director in a Child Development Laboratory Center. The job is an administrator at Rose State College Child Development Laboratory Center (CDLC), which serves 56 children ages 3 months to 5 years. It involves teaching 2 courses in the Family Service/Child Development Program. Minimum Qualifications are a Masters in Family services and Child Development, or early childhood education.
The second organization I found and really enjoyed reading about is the Alliance for Childhood. "The Alliance for Childhood promotes policies and practices that support children’s healthy development, love of learning, and joy in living. Our public education campaigns bring to light both the promise and the vulnerability of childhood. We act for the sake of the children themselves and for a more just, democratic, and ecologically responsible future" (Alliance). There were several articles here about why children need play, and inspiring play. There was also an article about "Is the Common Core Developmentally Appropriate?" One of the articles opened like this, ""The trend in early education is to move from a play-based curriculum to a more school-like environment of directed learning. But is earlier better? And better at what?" (Alliance). Another one stated this: Dr. Entin writes, "Play time is in short supply for children these days and the lifelong consequences for developing children can be more serious than many people realize." (Alliance). This website has some awesome articles for me to use on my Capstone Project. I know that I would love to be one of the advocates and speakers who researched and discovered all the effects taking away play has on children. Under "OUR WORK" section, it talks about how they are restoring play in early childhood. The Alliance works with other organizations and individuals in a multi-pronged campaign to restore play. I would love to work alongside them. I found some jobs available at certain centers such as at the Early Connections Learning Center where I would Assist the lead teacher in the overall classroom operations. Responsible for maintaining an appropriate classroom environment that signifies best practice for children. Meets Colorado Minimum Rules and Regulations for Early Childhood Teacher. Must be willing to further your education by working towards a Child Development Associate, Associate of Arts Degree or a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, or a related field. This job is more of a teachers aide type job. This would be taking a step back instead of forward for me. I do think it would be a great job to assist a teacher instead of be in the lead and in control all the time. This is a job I might like when I was older and after retirement (haha).
The next organization I found was the Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. I think this is an interesting organization because it is nice to know what these children need to do or learn and how they learn before they come to pre-k. Their mission is to ensure that babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. I do believe this is the importance to succeeding in later life. The way a child's life begins can have an effect on them for the rest of their life.
The jobs this organization has available are also located in Washington D.C. There were three available: Senior Program Associate, Senior Financial Analyst, and Senior Writer/Trainer Specialist. The Sr. Program Associate job is to responsible for supporting the early head start resource center efforts to provide training to early head start programs and assist with planning and developing meetings. It is only required to have a Bachelors degree for this job.
Resources
Alliance for Childhood. Retrieved from: http://drupal6.allianceforchildhood.org/home
National Association for the Education of Young Children. Retrieved from: http://naeyc.org/
Zero to Three. National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. Retrieved from: http://www.zerotothree.org/
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Exploring Roles in the ECE community
One of the first things that popped up when I was looking for organizations was the Oklahoma department of human services (DHS). It has several guiding principals such as "all children are active learners. They explore and experiment with concepts in the world through play and hands on activities." It also goes into a lot of family stuff and growing through stages. In the opening statement of the overview it stated, "early childhood programs should be appropriate for the age, developmental level, and special needs of each child" (OKDHS). Then it goes into all the standards required in their early childhood programs. These are appropriate for children ages 3 through 5. One reason why I really love this website and organization is because they are based on play. When I go to our local head start organization I see many things that I do not like, but the incorporation of play is amazing! I believe I could go to any local DHS agency and they would give me a lot of data on how important play is and how to be developmentally appropriate for Children ages 3-5!
The next organization I found was the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). They have a section for topics and under that you can find developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) and also a tab for Play! It shows several topics on what research says about play. It has tons of research topics. Under the DAP tab it has DAP with preschoolers, in which it talks
About how they thrive when they are able to pretend play and experience new activities. This will be a great resource for topics and research in the area of play and developmentally appropriate practice. There are also local organizations in this called Early Childhood Associations of Oklahoma.
This association has a couple Openings, one for board members and another for council. This job would require me to ensure the equity, integrity, and accountability of it's accreditation system serving programs for young children. The responsibilities include approving policies, monitor and provide feedback on operations of NAEYC, oversee accreditation decision, recommend cooperative relationships with other systems that would advance the mission and review all proposed revisions to the NAEYC accreditation criteria for approval by governing board. I think for this job I would need to do a lot if research on the NAEYC's goal and position statements and exactly what they are looking for.
The next local organization i would look at is the early childhood program at northeastern state university (NSU). NSU has one of the best teacher prep programs in the state. I remember my early childhood class focusing quite a bit on play, we studied developmental appropriate practice and also student directed vs teacher directed learning. We learned many different ways to teach things using play. The Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Northeastern State University focuses on preparing highly qualified teachers in the areas of early childhood, elementary, special education as well as reading specialists and library media specialists (master's-level programs). I beleive they would refer me to early childhood instructors who Would help me find the developmentally appropriate way to teach 4-5 year olds. I also believe this would will me prepare for the future job I really want as a college teacher teaching early childhood to those that want to go into the field of early childhood! There were no job openings at NSU for early childhood.
One job opportunity I did find was at a local community college, Northwest Arkansas Community College. They have an early childhood teacher opening. I feel the only thing I would need for this job would be to have some observations in a college professors classroom. There is a lot of information I would need to gain before I began a job like this! I think I have the experience of already being in an early childhood classroom and that should be a requirement of any college early childhood teachers class.
Another job opportunity id love to have is to open my own early childhood center. I would need to observe and talk to someone that opened their own center to find out how they did it and what all it consists of.
References
Early Childhood Association of Oklahoma. Retrieved from: http://www.ecaok.org/
National Association for the Education of Young Children. Retrieved from: http://www.naeyc.org/
The next organization I found was the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). They have a section for topics and under that you can find developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) and also a tab for Play! It shows several topics on what research says about play. It has tons of research topics. Under the DAP tab it has DAP with preschoolers, in which it talks
About how they thrive when they are able to pretend play and experience new activities. This will be a great resource for topics and research in the area of play and developmentally appropriate practice. There are also local organizations in this called Early Childhood Associations of Oklahoma.
This association has a couple Openings, one for board members and another for council. This job would require me to ensure the equity, integrity, and accountability of it's accreditation system serving programs for young children. The responsibilities include approving policies, monitor and provide feedback on operations of NAEYC, oversee accreditation decision, recommend cooperative relationships with other systems that would advance the mission and review all proposed revisions to the NAEYC accreditation criteria for approval by governing board. I think for this job I would need to do a lot if research on the NAEYC's goal and position statements and exactly what they are looking for.
The next local organization i would look at is the early childhood program at northeastern state university (NSU). NSU has one of the best teacher prep programs in the state. I remember my early childhood class focusing quite a bit on play, we studied developmental appropriate practice and also student directed vs teacher directed learning. We learned many different ways to teach things using play. The Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Northeastern State University focuses on preparing highly qualified teachers in the areas of early childhood, elementary, special education as well as reading specialists and library media specialists (master's-level programs). I beleive they would refer me to early childhood instructors who Would help me find the developmentally appropriate way to teach 4-5 year olds. I also believe this would will me prepare for the future job I really want as a college teacher teaching early childhood to those that want to go into the field of early childhood! There were no job openings at NSU for early childhood.
One job opportunity I did find was at a local community college, Northwest Arkansas Community College. They have an early childhood teacher opening. I feel the only thing I would need for this job would be to have some observations in a college professors classroom. There is a lot of information I would need to gain before I began a job like this! I think I have the experience of already being in an early childhood classroom and that should be a requirement of any college early childhood teachers class.
Another job opportunity id love to have is to open my own early childhood center. I would need to observe and talk to someone that opened their own center to find out how they did it and what all it consists of.
References
Early Childhood Association of Oklahoma. Retrieved from: http://www.ecaok.org/
National Association for the Education of Young Children. Retrieved from: http://www.naeyc.org/
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Thanks To All!
I'm so thankful for the collaboration we have with eachother. We are required to comment on each others ideas and thoughts and that helps us to become greater people while also making others feel good about what they do! Thanks to all of you who have supported me throughout my studies! I wish you the best of luck in the future!!
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Five Stages of Team Development
When adjourning from a group, one can say there is most definitely a sense of relief. Relief in a way that you are making it one step farther. In this course, it's a release in such a way that you are one class closer to getting your masters! Its truly an amazing feeling to be done with each class and look back at all the information you got out of each class and the knowledge you have learned from your classmates. I would say that high-performing groups in a way are harder to leave because they probe you for information, they may question your tactics and your ideas just so you will push harder to find answers. In another way high performing gropus are easier to leave because you're glad you gained information, yet at the same time you are not forced to question your own ideas. Sometimes in high performing groups, although they are only trying to make you do better, sometimes statements are made that just make me so mad! I think it will be super sad when I'm done with this class and this journey in my life. It has been a wonderful experience to listen to opinions from all over the world, because I've never experienced things anywhere outside of the state of Oklahoma. I've been to a couple other states but thats it. I would never have known some of the things i've learned from my classmates if I hadnt been in this class. I think adjourning is important because it allows others to see that you appreciated them and what they did. And if you didn't they can learn from that also. It gives a sense of closure, like the end of a journey.
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