Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

            I have experienced poverty at one point in my life and now I have a neighbor that has two small children and she has recently become unemployed after making $80,000 a year and she is struggling for existence.  The city recently turned her water off about 4 months ago and recently her gas was turned off and it is winter time.  I have let her fill up bottles of water from my home on a regular basis and my husband bought the family a space heater.  I am sharing this story because times are hard economically for families and while some people are born into poverty which is devastating, there are some people that are suddenly thrust into poverty and it is just as devastating emotionally and physically.  Most of the parents at my early childhood facility are on vouchers and they live in homeless shelters, transitional housing, or inept apartment dwellings.  Classism can render horrific situations and poor families often give up the hope of moving up economically in society.  The question I ask is “How can I make my students and families feel good about themselves?”

            In my classroom I witness many forms of poverty where parents cannot afford to send a change of clothes for their children, and the children are so hungry that they ask me several times during the day when the next meal will be served.  My heart aches for these children and while I understand the struggle they may be experiencing, /I have not felt the feeling of hopelessness that their parents are experiencing.  When children are born into a low socioeconomic status, statistics show that they struggle academically because they do not hear a lot of language in the home (Berger, 2012).  When children are hungry it affects brain function which makes it hard to grasp cognitive skills.

            To help remedy these situations teacher can do several things like become good listeners to children and families and refrain from making judgments (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).  Educators should offer family activities such as a “Culture Share” that invites parents in to share some good news about their families.  In neighborhoods where food is a scarcity, teachers could offer baskets of fruit in the morning, take home food items in the afternoon.  Each classroom should have a parent resources corner that offers information about family assistance programs.  I would also like to set up parent network meetings so parents, teachers, and social service personnel can exchange helpful information.  Poverty affects all of us in some way and it is an issue that we can try to eradicate together.  My professional career involves addressing the needs of the whole child.

References

Berger, K. (2012). The developing person through the life span (8th ed.). New York: Worth.

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).



Observing Communication

 

 

 

 

Observing Communication

            I was in a preschool classroom and observed Ms. Brown who is a teacher’s assistant interacting with a little boy Chris, who is also a twin.  Chris was working at a table with Ms. Brown during a small group activity and Chris suddenly got up when he had finished the project and walked over to another group’s table.  Ms. Brown got up from her table and re-directed Chris back to her table.  Chris started yelling “No” and told her to leave him alone.  Ms. Brown then raised her voice and told him “stop it”.  Chris ran toward Ms. Brown and started hitting her repeatedly.  She started yelling “stop it”, “I’m tired of you beating on me”.  At that point Chris went full throttle and started running around the room and hitting furniture.  The teacher walked over and spoke to Chris in a low calm voice and asked him to explain to her what happened.  She also pulled a behavior chart she had for him and recounted what happened before the incident occurred and what happened during and after the incident.  She reminded him to use an inside voice and that he had to wait his turn to move to another table.  She also wrote the account of the incident on his behavior chart and explained to him that he would not get a “smiley face” for group time and he would have to improve his behavior if he wanted to ride bikes later on.  Chris began to take deep breaths as instructed by the teacher and he calmed down. The teacher also told him to apologize to Ms. Brown.

            When teachers are communicating with children, children need to feel respected and safe in their environment (Laureate Education, 2011).  In the class scenario Chris was never asked why he wanted to go to another table.  Effective communications with children means taking the time to listen to their thoughts, and then decide what the next step should be in a peaceful manner (Laureate Education, 2011).  Sometimes adults view children as little pawns to be manipulated and they refused to consider that children are human beings with thoughts and feelings.  Teachers need to use teacher-talk and communicate with children and give children the opportunity to ask questions and express thoughts (Dangei & Durden, 2010).  In the case of Ms. Brown and Chris, I think the situation would have been more positive if Ms. Brown had engaged the children more in the activity by asking questions about the project which would have made Chris be more engaged.  The tone of voice makes a difference because when teachers use calm voices when speaking the children feel more relaxed (Dangei & Durden, 2010.  Children should also have the freedom to leave small groups and venture into other interest areas (Dangei & Durden, 2010).  I learned so much from this week’s reading resources and I now know how to better communicate with my students by increasing higher order thinking skills and letting the students lead to help them acquire new knowledge.  Teachers have to take more of a facilitator role which means that we are co-learners with our students.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Communicating

            with young children. Baltimore, MD: Author

Rainer Dangei, J., & Durden, T. R. (2010). The nature of teacher talk during small group

            activities. YC: Young Children, 65(1), 74-81. Retrieved from the Walden Library using

            the Education Research Complete database.

            http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=47964033&site=ehost-live&scope=site



Creating Affirming Environments

 

 

 

 

Creating Affirming Environments

            When creating the anti-bias classroom children’s needs have to be met by recognizing their social indentify.  I would call my program “We Are a Learning Family” because the word “family” denotes closeness.  Upon entering the center families would see family pictures posted on the wall which would let children know that they are important at school.  Separation of parent and children is often made easier when children can view family pictures throughout the day (Laureate Education, 2011).  I would also have a pictorial schedule for the parents to see when they come in and for the children to follow during the day.  Children feel comforted when they know what is coming next in the day.  There would be a multicultural rug in the morning meeting area so children can appreciate visual pictures of different cultures.   When the children enter in the morning there will be music playing from different cultures daily.  Family pictures would be displayed on the wall and there would be a comfort corner with pillows in order to soothe children that may be having emotional melt downs. 

I would have a large variety of multicultural books in every area in the room in all centers.  I would have a lot of learning materials including skin colored crayons and paints so children create artwork that matches their own skin color.  Families would be invited to come into the classroom once a week to share cultural stories, or share cultural artifacts with the class so the children can learn to appreciate differences.  There would also be a big basket of persona dolls that represent various cultures so children can use in the different interest areas (blocks, dramatic play, library, etc.) in the classroom.  When all cultures are represented in the classroom in a positive way, children and families feel a sense of belonging (Derman -Sparks & Edwards, 2010).  My goal is to provide a welcoming environment where all children can strive and thrive to be respected, proud, intelligent and caring citizens that would advocate for justice around the world.

References

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. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Welcome to an

            anti-bias learning community. Baltimore, MD: Author