Week 3: Observing Communication

I chose to observe at a recent wedding that I attended.  There was a huge group of people there that I have known for 26 years.  I chose to observe my sister-in-law and niece.  My sister-in-law is so good at communicating with her daughter (she is three).  My niece is one easy child, but occasionally acts very appropriate for her age. This was her first wedding and my sister-in-law has obviously talked with Ainsley before they came to the wedding.  She reviewed that we could be silly now but when people started to walk down the isle it was time to be quiet, Ainsley had heard this before, she nodded her head in agreement.  She was also allowed to play with the doll she brought.  When the ceremony started, Ainsley no longer wanted to sit, she was allowed to go to the floor with two rules, you have to be quiet and stay with us.  She was on the floor trying to get our attention, but my sister-in-law ignored or reminded the rules.  Ainsley wasn’t scolded for being on the floor; she was doing what she needed to do at the time but at the same time adhering to the rules that her mom had provided her with before coming to the wedding.

What was so good about this observation is that Ainsley was given the expectations before she arrived and she knew them.  She knew she needed to be quiet and stay with us.  Often I think that parents and even teachers forget to review expectations and therefore you get behaviors because children are not sure of the expectations. 

This was a really good reminder for my how often I need to review expectations in your general education classroom you review them often but in my classroom is daily/hourly/every activity.  I can notice the difference when I review the expectations at each activity.  It changes everything.  I also just started extended school year with some of my students and we reviewed those expectation at each new activity and it just goes so much smoother. It gives the child some background to what they are going to be doing.  There are times where, GASP, I forget to go over expectations and then I get frustrated with students running all over the place or hitting their neighbor.  Then I remind myself that I did not tell them what I wanted them to do.  We can learn a lot by observing, especially a lot about ourselves.

Week 2: Creating Affirming Environments

It is hard for me to think about what a in-home childcare facility would look like for me because I have my own classroom, but after watching Adriana I came up with some ideas on how I could envision it looking like.   

Derman-Sparks and Olsen Edwards (2010) suggested that having authentic representations of the community that you are serving (p. 45).  I like what Adriana did in her center, she had a family community wall that showed pictures of the different families that were in the center.  I also enjoyed that she posted pictures of the children playing in the infant and toddler area (Laureate Education Inc., 2012).  I do this in my classroom now and a) my students love it, b) I use it as a reference tool for my students ("Look how nice you were playing with ____").  

Something that was brought to my attention after watching the media segment this week is a transition area. What a great idea for the children before they start their days, especially when it can be a hard transition at times.  Adriana provided the children with a transition area, this helped with "good byes" to the parents.  She followed this time with circle time (which is something that I would do) and allowed the parents to stay if they wanted (Laureate Education Inc., 2012).  This is a great way to have the parents feel apart of the community.  

If I ran an in-home childcare facility I would probably base my planning on themes (monthly), which is what I do now in my classroom.  This would allow me to integrate anti-biased curriculum into all my themes (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010, pg. 47).  I would like to provide a sensory area and I liked the ideas of including dolls in that area to allow children to express their emotions (Laureate Education Inc., 2012). 

Something that I have been working hard at is getting away from the tourist curriculum.  I would like instead to have one family each month either share cultural items with the class or come into the class to do some sort of activity.  This would be a great way to incorporate everyone and really get that community feeling. 

As for materials for students I like to include a variety.  Some of my favorites are random pieces that can be fashioned together, I love seeing what students create (robots, monster trucks, dump trucks, super hero's). I have never used persona dolls but I am thinking that this would be a great thing to introduce.  Currently, I use social stories and draw out scenarios and feelings.  It would be great to transition to dolls for addressing issues especially during circle time. 

There are so many things to consider when you are setting up a center/classroom.  I am sure that as I hear from eveybody else that I will get some great ideas!

Resources:

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and

 ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Laureate Education Inc., (2012). "Welcome to an Anti-Bias Learning Community". Retrieved

 from Walden University.

What I Have Learned- Week 8

My hope is that as I continue on my journey of working with young children and their families is that I continue to address biases that I am feeling.  We never are going to get anywhere if we are not seeking information on something, so I hope that if I am questioning something that I will stop to ask the questions, so that I can gain knowledge and directly address an issue I may be having.  With that being said I think the most helpful thing that I learned throughout this class was to consider the cycle of socialization and liberation.  Both of these figures have really stuck out in my mind.

My goal for the early childhood field is that our work with young children and their families continues to be valued work. My other goal is that each year we learn new information and I hope that where ever life takes us we are able to continue to grow for the benefite of young children and their families.

I would like to thank all the wonderful colleagues that I have been working with, some of you I have known since the beginning of the program.  It is amazing the learning that is taking place.  I hope to see you in the next class!

 References

Harro, B. (2010). The cycle of socialization. In M. Adams, W. Blumenfeld, C. Castaneda, H. W.

Hackman, M. L. Peters, & X. Zuniga (Eds.), Readings for diversity and social justice (Figure 6.1 on p. 46, 2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Harro, B. (2010). The cycle of liberation. In M. Adams, W. Blumenfeld, C. Castaneda, H. W.

Hackman, M. L. Peters, & X. Zuniga (Eds.), Readings for diversity and social justice (Figure 7.1 on p. 53). New York, NY: Routledge.

What have I learned...

All week I was thinking about what I would create for this assignment.  I love to create but I was having a hard time focusing on what exactly I would make. 

Reflecting on what I learned I kept going back to the Cycle of Socialization and the Cycle of Liberation (Harro, 2010, p. 46, 53).  Both of these images has stuck with me.  I see myself when I begin to judge something to this about what internalized messages I have received that is causing me to judge.

Our world is not defined by our boarders,  there is interaction between worlds.  Our world is not defined, it is a continuum, we continue to learn, grow and change.  

In order to CHANGE we have to have knowledge, we use that knowledge to feel empowerment, we then create experience and finally we take on a leadership role to make the CHANGE.  Nothing can be done with out the other. If I can remember this, then I will have the ability to make the difference I want to make with the young children and families that I work with.  This is a cycle that never stops.

Resource

Harro, B. (2010). The cycle of socialization. In M. Adams, W. Blumenfeld, C. Castaneda, H. W. Hackman, M. L. Peters, & X. Zuniga (Eds.), Readings for diversity and social justice (Figure 6.1 on p. 46, 2nd ed., Figure 6.2 p. 53). New York, NY: Routledge.

We Don't Say Those Words in Class!

I have a whole world of differences in my classroom.  I have students who are very verbal and students who do not communicate verbally.  All my students notice each others differences and always point out differences amongst each other.  The biggest learning curve for them is last year when we got a student who had Autism but was also blind (her eyes were removed when she was three and has glass eyes, that come out every once in a while).  It was very hard for them to understand when she would come to school without her eyes in.  They would say things like "AHH! She can't see" (even though we have already talked about how she cannot see with her glass eyes).  I have had countless discussions with my students about this little girl.  We talk about how we use our senses for different things and that she is not using her eyes like we do.  We use our eyes to learn about things and she may use her mouth or hands to learn about things.  We also do some exercises to see what it is like to be blind and try to walk around out hallways blindfolded.  

I also have another student who does not use verbal communication to communicate, but he does make some vowel sounds and hums.  Previous we talk about how he doesn't words to talk with with his friends and teachers, but he might point to pictures or make a choice between two objects. Recently, he has learned all of our song tunes and hums them with the rest of the class.  The whole class was so excited the first time he sung at circle time they screamed" ____ is really singing, he is talking to us!" Melted my heart, they understood that though it wasn't exactly the same it was his way of singing with the whole group! :)  

I remember vividly when I was younger the first time I saw a little person.  I was at the old spaghetti factory, I think I was maybe four.  I was staring and my brothers told my mom.  My mom started to talk with me about how some people are born differently and that some people are born with dwarfism.  They are just like us but shorter.  I can remember thinking "oh okay"  and that is the end of my memory. 

I am sure if it wasn't for my mother being very aware of the surroundings I could have gotten a different impression.  My parents where so aware of difference, since they were both special education teachers. But because of my parents responses throughout my whole life it empowered me to take action myself (Laureate Education Inc., 2012).

From my experiences, it is best to be honest with your students/children.  Do not ignore what they are asking about because they can begin to form bias.  I think that addressing what students have said with little lessons is also a good idea, like doing a picture sort (Laureate Education Inc., 2012). Derman-Sparks & Ramsey suggest using teachable moments (Pelo, 2008, p. 44).  Often I might hear a child saying something and pretend to make a mental note to discuss it later, when honestly I might forget about it.  I also like the suggestion of "spark children's empathy about the hurt that stereotypes can cause" (Pelo, 2008, p. 47). Some of my students struggle with any sort of perspective taking, so empathy towards another person is usually the last thing on their minds.  However, my ticket into helping them is they don't want to see you or friends with a sad face.  So they might not be able to read the emotions on my face but they can very much read a sad face.  With this being said it does take time away from our daily routine but I have to use the moments when they are happening and not come back later, because I know they have forgotten about it.   

Resources

Laureate Education Inc., (2012). Start Seeing Diversity: Physical Ability and

      Characteristics. Retrieved from Walden University [video].

 

Pelo, A. (Ed.). (2008). Rethinking early childhood education. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking

 Schools.

Week 3 Blog post- ALiedtke

The biggest thing that I notice in children media is that typically books, movies, toys, stores promote male/ female relationships.  While this may not scream a message of homophobia it does reinforce the idea that their are male/female parents.  So, if a child who did have two moms or two dads it may be confusing, when we look at the Cycle of Socialization, because there is the idea of how families are suppose to look in books.  One really simple example is a recent book that I read in my classroom.  It is called the "Pout Pout Fish"  it is not that it has an underlying message of homophobia but it does depict a male/female relationship.  The blue fish is very pouty and then eventually this pink fish comes gives him a kiss and he becomes a kiss kiss fish.  I use the book as a social story for appropriate touching and how we can help people would seem sad.  Something so simple obviously shows male/female relationship in "normal" therefore reinforcing the Cycle of Socialization.

My response to anybody who felt that early childhood centers or to parent and family members who informed me you should avoid people who are homosexual or transgender would be...  There are many different types of people in this world, that all contribute differently to our society.  This is what makes our country so special and so unique.  Many children comes from homes that are very different from our own.  They could be living in poverty, have one parent, two moms or two dads or they could be living with their grandparents.  In early childhood settings it is our job to help create confident students who are connected to their own culture.  Culture is different for everyone and by including all different types of families and talking about our different as people I can help create an environment where everyone is included because of their differences and how they contribute to our classroom/society. 

I have heard homophobic terms... a lot.  My family had a friend who was gay who we knew our entire lives.  Homophobic terms were NOT allowed in our family and our parents did a great job of informing us why.  However, I would have never considered "tom boy" as a homophobic term and I considered myself a "tom boy" growing up because I enjoyed playing with GI Joe's and X-men and my brothers.  Now that I read it on the paper and reflect on why I called myself that I can see where it comes from but something that I had never thought of. 

I guess I would like more ideas on how to approach people/situations where people do not agree with homosexuality.  I do and I always have agreed with homosexuality and to me it seems like all families are different and we must support all different backgrounds.  So, how would you approach people who come to you, as a teacher, to talk about a child who has two of the same sexed parents?

Then again... maybe I could just show them this video :)

http://youtu.be/yMLZO-sObzQ

 
Resources

Harro, B. (2010). The cycle of socialization. In M. Adams, W. Blumenfeld, C. Castaneda, H. W. Hackman, M. L. Peters, & X. Zuniga (Eds.), Readings for diversity and social justice (Figure 6.1 on p. 46, 2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Pelo, A. (Ed.). (2008). Rethinking early childhood education. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools.

Week 8- Reflecting on Communication in the Early Childhood Field

WOW! Can you believe that we only have three classes left? I am excited! I am thrilled that there were so many familiar faces/names throughout the last 7 classes.  It has made it easier to communicate and "get to know" people in our virtual classroom.  I think that our next classes will be great ones, for whatever specialized area you are going into.  I am going into Diversity... let me know if you are too! :) I hope that everyone has enjoyed our journey and realizes what an accomplishment going through school again is!  


I am sure most of you know, but I do teach special educaiton, specifically high needs.  I work towards inclusion will all of my students and if you ever have any information feel free to contact me! I super love my job and love to talk about strategies for working with children with extreme behaviors.  Here is my e-mail address feel free to contact me anytime... abbyjliedtke@gmail.com.