Reflecting On Learning

Of all the courses that's we've taken, Strategies for Working With Diverse Children has been one of my favorite classes. I have learned so much from the readings, my classmates, and learned some things about myself as an anti-bias educator. I have truly enjoyed working with my classmates. I know that I will keep in touch with some of you in the future. I want to say thank you and wish everyone the best of luck as we get ready to complete the program.

 It is my hope that I can take what I've learned to help children in their families better understand culture differences and the importance of accepting one another. Being an anti-bias educator is a big responsibility and it's one that I have accepted and I'm ready for the challenge. For those of you who may want to keep in touch my email information is listed below. God bless you all in your future

endeavors.

Thesha :-) 

work email: tlewis3@bcps.org

home email: thesha817@yahoo.com 

 

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

The area of the world that I chose to learn more about is East Asia and Pacific. Some of the challenges that children are facing in that region are: physical abuse, child mortality (drowning), and child trafficking, and natural disasters. I think all of the challenges listed could have an impact on a child’s emotional well being and development because all of these could cause a lack of development based on emotional trauma. 

The one challenge that I wanted to learn more about is what has been put in place for children that were victims of Typhoon Haiyan. I found that child friendly zones have been created for the young victims during the clean-up efforts. The child friendly zones help the children to take their minds of the tragedy that took place. The Unicef organization realizes that the well-being of children after a tragedy is important. For that reason areas have been established for children to begin the process of mourning and getting on with their lives. Another reason these tents have been set-up is to stop the risk of children in this region from being victims of human trafficking. 

I can't imagine what it must be like to for these children. When children experience episodes of trauma it can affect their educational development and their emotional development. Reading about the areas that have been set up for children did make me feel a little better but my heart aches for the children who have lost loved ones. 

References

 http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/eastasia.html

http://www.unicef.org/eapro/media_21844.html

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

This week we were asked to read an article called So Sexy so Soon. I was not at all surprised about the information in the article because there are so many factors that contribute to what we are seeing with sexualization of early childhood children. Recently there was a catchy song released by Robin Thicke. I love his music by the way. The tune of the song is very catchy and has been a chart topper for most of the summer and into the l fall. The beat of the song is great and it has that R&B Marvin Gaye kind of feel in the song. It’s a song that makes you want to dance… The problem with the song is the lyrics… Throughout the song Robin Thicke is talking a girl and tells her that, “I know you want it”. He even tells her that she’s the hottest Bi*tch in the place. The beat of the song is catchy but when you really think about the lyrics, they cross the lines. I have heard my students singing these lyrics and it’s a little upsetting.  This brings to mind some of the other music that has come out recently. I wonder if the kids understand what they are signing.

Another example that I’ve seen is the way that dolls are dresses Diane E. Levin, Ph.D. & Jean Kilbourne mentioned this in the article So Sexy so Soon. The dolls they talk about are called Bratzs. My daughters have had many of these dolls. They dolls have high heels and wear sexy clothes. Most of the dolls are wearing lots of make-up. Until recently I never really thought about the image that young girls are seeing. I do tend to believe that the music and the images that children see do impact their development. I think what concerns me about the images is how young boys will view their female peers as a result of what they see.  As a mother of two girls, I sometimes find it hard to shop for my children in some of the popular children’s store. The clothing is sometimes inappropriate for their age group.

As a result of the images that children are seeing, I think that early childhood professionals can try to provide children with positive images. When they come to school singing something inappropriate that is highly sexual in nature, I would talk to the children to see if they understand what they are talking about. In the classroom setting I would play music that is more appropriate. If the child continued I would make their parent aware of the things that are being said and ask if they could make sure that the children are listening to more appropriate.

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

This week we were asked to describe the consequences you might expect for children and families we work with while experiencing specific “ism(s)” in our lives. This is something that I have actually experienced while working in my county. About two years ago I attended a monthly special educators meeting and by the end of the meeting I felt very uncomfortable. Most times I am one of the only black teachers in the room. We were asked to complete group work and at our tables and then present our ideas. I found that when I would answer questions within my group I was ignored. The person who was the recorder for the group didn’t seem to value my input and most of my ideas weren’t written on the group’s poster. What was more disturbing to me was one of my co-workers who attended the meeting also treated me the same way. Until that time I felt we had a good working relationship. She also dismissed my ideas and treated me coldly. When we returned to our building where there is a fairly even mix of black and white teachers, she acted as if everything was fine and things were “business as usual”. After the meeting, I lost respect for her and I felt that her true feelings were revealed at that meeting.

Throughout my career I have experienced racism… I have felt it from my peers and some of the parents that I’ve worked with. As a result of the racism I experienced at the beginning of my career, it really made me doubt myself as a teacher. At that time the opinion of others really did matter to me. When my career began I thought that I wasn’t being respected because of my age and my race. It was a very scary time for me. I questioned if I had made the right choice by entering education. My first year of teaching began in January of 1996. I was the only black teacher in my building and I had no one to share my fears or my challenges with.  As a result of my treatment I felt very defensive and I felt that most of the white parents in my class judged me because of my race. I became very detached from my students and I was extremely resentful while I was there. I did have two parents who went out of their way to let me know that the views of the other parents weren’t their views.  The consequence of my treatment led me to leave when I was able to receive tenure. I left and went to a school where the school community was more welcoming. I have taught at this school for 15 years and it feels like home.

My past experience did affect my self-confidence and make me question if I had made the right decision by becoming a teacher. In my county I don’t think that racism is openly discussed and there is a segregation that does exist that isn’t widely discussed. When black teaches apply to my county, most times they are only placed in certain areas. They are placed primarily where the population is black. Even in 2014, I still see some of the racism that I experienced in 1996.

Observing Communication

This week we were asked to observe an adult and young child communicating with each other. I chose to observe in one of the kindergarten classes in my school.  While in the class, I had the opportunity to observe one of the students with the personal assistant assigned to the child. The child has frequent tantrums and requires additional adult support in her classroom setting.

While in the classroom I noticed that the child and her assistant were sitting at a table with the other children. They were completing a Thanksgiving worksheet that the teacher had given. What drew my attention to the pair was the conversation that took place between the child and her assistance. The little girl did not want to complete the assignment and even put her elbows on the table and refused to color her paper. The assistant spoke to the child in a very calm voice and said, “If you start the picture, I’ll help you finish it”. The child abruptly said no. The assistance then said, “Here, you can see the green crayon, or the orange crayon”. The children then took the green crayon and began to color. True to her word, the assistant started to help the child with the coloring paper. Once the child started the paper she then decided to use other colors. The assistant spoke to her in a very soothing voice and praised her for following directions and told her that her work looked nice.  I think the desired outcome was to have the child begin the assignment and the assistant accomplished that by providing a calm voice in a situation that could have escalated if she had yelled at the student.  

While the child colored her paper she started talking to her assistant about what she wanted to eat for lunch. The child told the assistant that she was going to get chicken nuggets and began to smile. The assistant engaged her by smiling and saying, “I know how much you like them”.  The child giggled and continued to do her work. As the child kept working the assistant continued to praise her and reminder her that she could earn a sticker and computer time when she finished her work. The child started to smile and the assistant smiled back at her.  Before I left the room I gave the assistant the thumbs up sign.

  

My Thoughts

 I really liked the way the assistant worked with the student she’s assigned to. The beginning of the year was a big transition for this child because she was in our pre-kindergarten program which is a half day program. She is now in an all day kindergarten program. This is also her first year having an assistant so Ms. Cook has had to establish a relationship with her. I just like the way Ms. Cook stayed calm even when the child became upset. Children can often feed off of the emotions of the adults. Her sense of calm caused the situation to deescalate. I thought she was very respectful to the child throughout the interaction. She acknowledged that the child was upset and even offered to help her with the assignment. I think she also set expectations by offering the child a choice of the crayons she was going to use to complete the assignment. By giving her a choice, the child felt a sense of control. Ms. Cook was able to get the child to finish her work without forcing her to do it. The interactions between the child and the assistant were positive.

The interaction that I observed in the kindergarten class is very similar to what I try to do in my own classroom. It was clear to see there was respect for the child. In the course media this week, Lisa Kolbeck spoke about the importance of showing children respect and listening and providing them with assurance. Ms. Cook did a nice job of respecting and listening to the child.

This assignment reminded me of a course that was offered in my county. The course was called Hanen Training - Encouraging Language Development in Early Childhood Setting.  This course focused on watching how children play and instead of doing the talking, the key was to first observe to see how children learn. After talking to Ms. Cook, she said that she was encouraged by another special educator to see how to manipulative her environment. Ms. Cook shared that once she learned what the child liked and didn’t like, it helped her with the interactions that she had with the child. She said she quickly learned that yelling only made situation escalate with the child. I think this week I learned the importance of sometimes watching how children interact within their environment before interacting with them. 

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Communication with your children [Video webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4066646_1%26url%3D