Daily Supports

I my daily life I have a wonderful support system that is always there for me.  My husband is supportive of my goals and of my choices as a parent.  My children are part of my support system as well because they have their own way of making things not bother me so much when I get down.  My family (parents, sisters and aunt) are all a big art of my support system because they help me out with the kids and are there to listen if I need to talk.  My friends are a support system in that they are there when I need to get away from my routine a bit and have fun.  My church family is also a support in my life in a spiritual way and as a second family.

The challenge that I chose to come up with is the challenge of me being a single parent.  This would be hard for me because of my work schedule and commitments at my school.  My husband plays a part in taking care of the kids when I am in meetings at school or busy planning lessons.  The supports that would be there for me would be my family and friends.  They would help me with the kids by making sure they were picked up from school, that they had dinner and that they were safe when I could not be there with them.  Things would be very hard without these supports because I would have to take time away from teaching to make sure my children were getting all that they need.

My Connections to Play

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."

                                                                                                      ~Plato

"Play is the work of children. It's very serious stuff."

                                                           ~Bob Keeshan

I loved to color and doodle.  I would draw random things like a fish hundreds of times in different colors.  I liked to draw balloons and rainbows.

I would play school with my two younger sisters and my stuffed animals.  I loved going home and teaching them what I had learned at school.

I enjoyed building things that let me use my imagination.  I loved legos because they were colorful too.

  My family encouraged me to play school because I loved doing it so much.  They bought me a bookcase and chalkboard one year for Christmas and I thought I was the luckiest kid ever.  They would buy me books and flashcards as a reward for doing well.  My family also would buy me toys that allowed me to use my imagination.  There were times during the day where I could play whatever I wanted without having to worry about anything else.  

     Play today is different because children are so focused on television.  My children are not allowed to watch anything that is not educational, and even then, only for an hour a day.  I did not care to watch TV when I was a child.  Also toys today are more electronic than they were when I was a child; my children will pick up a toy and ask "what does it do?'.  The need for toy makers to make toys that always do something takes away from the child's want to use their imagination.  

     I think that play was a vital part of my childhood.  It allowed me to express myself and learn for myself.  I had the chance to have fun and learn things for myself by playing.  I honestly believe that the times that I spent playing school had an impact on my wanting to be a teacher.  I feel that children and adults need the down time and the play time to remain energized and eager to do things throughout the day; it gives the brain and the body a break.  Adults play differently than children do, but it is just as important.

Relationship Reflection

Relationships are important to me because they allow us to have a sense of connectedness to the people around us.  The wonderful thing about relationships is that they are what you make them; if you invest time into them, then they are usually productive and healthy.  I have many different types of relationships with people in my day to day life and each one offers something different; for example, I have a relationship with my husband that is different than the relationship that I have with my coworkers. 

     In my opinion, a relationship becomes a partnership when the people involved work for a common goal.  My husband and I have a partnership in which we work together to make a life together and to raise our children.  If my husband and I did not have the same thoughts on parenting styles, we would not be working together as partners to achieve the same goals.   

The biggest challenge to maintaining a relationship of any capacity is having the time to invest in it.  If I do not spend time with my husband, we lose a connection that is required to make sure that we are on the same page when it comes to family decisions and doing what is in the best interest of the family. 

Quotes about Children and Education

"They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel."

                                                                ~Anonomoyous

"To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner.  Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from the learner, but yourself in his place so that you may understand what he understands and the way he understands it."

                                                                 ~Soren Kierkgaard 

"The important thing is not so much that children should be taught, as they should be given the wish to learn." 

                                                                  ~John Lubbock

Assessing Children in the United States and in Australia

     I believe that in order to assess the child holistically we as educators must be able to look past what is bubbled in on an answer sheet.  Here in the United States, the No Child Left Behind program made it almost impossible for educators to teach what children were interested in; for example, teachable moments are often times passed up because of the fear that something that the child will be tested on will not be covered.  I think that NCLB has it's uses, but assessment of children as a whole should not be it.  
     I believe that children should be tested on skills that are going to be important to them later in life as well as the content of the curriculum that they are studying.  Students should be able to reason, to show that they have thought processes beyond bubbling in A, B, C, or D.  Students should be assessed on mathematical skills that they will need in a real world environment.  Students should also be required to be able to communicate effectively not only electronically, but in face to face situations as well.  Children who leave the educational system today are masters at memorization, but in the years to come, all that was memorized will be a faded memory.
    In Australia the children are assessed differently.  They are given a series of assessments that measure their knowledge in numeracy and literacy, science literacy, civics and citizenship, and information and communication technology.  These assessments are not the kind of teach-to-the-test assessments seen in the U.S.  The students are tested in third, fifth, seventh and ninth grade.  The goal of the assessments is to prove that the children will graduate the school system able to be productive members of society that have the skills needed to make a positive impact on the world. 
     In my opinion, there is too much emphasis placed on testing in the United States.  One of the key faults in the system are that children are not assessed in a variety of ways; in the classroom I am able to assess the students verbally, with a written assessment that allows the student to think and show understanding of the concept and through modeling.  the second issue that the assessment processes here present is that the creativity is taken from the classroom.  Students do not have time to do the fun, creative art projects that were found in the classroom before all of the rigorous testing regulations came about. 

Consequences of Stress on Children

As a child, I was exposed to a great deal of domestic violence.  My father, who is bipolar and a maniac depressant, would come home from work and take his daily frustrations out on my mother and myself.  There were days that I was afraid to go to school, fearing that my mom would not be there when I got home or worse, that something terrible had happened to her.  I was by no means a perfect child, I tried my parents and pushed the boundaries just as any child would do, except the consequences for my actions would be harsher that most would ever know.  My teachers never suspected or at least they never said anything about it; I think this led my father to feel like he had gotten away with it.  I took the blame for things that I did not even do many times to keep my sisters and my mom from having to deal with the abuse that would always follow.  I coped with the stress by making school my social outlet; I stayed in trouble in middle and high school because I was bored with the work and I talked way too much.  I also found that music and poetry were great outlets for the emotions that I had to deal with. 
     I researched how children in Afghanistan are affected by war in their country because war is an ugly form of violence.  The children their are scarred deeply by the daily attacks that they see and the stressful environment in which they live.  Many children there have psychological issues because they have been forced to grow up with no family or they themselves are victims of things like blasts that don't kill them ,but that permanently disfigures them.  Many of the children have no "daily routine" other than trying to stay alive.  My thoughts would be that the children from this country and others where war is a constant issue experience severe set backs in all areas of their development.  If you have parents who are concerned with their safety as well as yours on a day to day basis, that does not leave much time for the bonding and the learning that should take place.  Attempts are being made by the country to develop a program that will focus on keeping women and children safe so that they will have the necessary tools to develop into productive members of their society.

References
Zulfiqar,Bhutta. (2002). Children of war: the real casualties of the Afghan conflict. BMJ. 2002 February 9; 324(7333): 349–352. Retrieved September 26, 2011.

Child Development and Public Health

I chose the topic of immunizations because it is something that I believe is important for children as well as adults when necessary.  The purpose of immunizations is to prevent mass outbreaks of diseases that become epidemics that are uncontrollable.   I researched the vaccination schedule for children who live in Germany and it is not much  different from that of the children in the United States.  The only exception that I found was that the vaccine for the human papilloma virus (HPV) is routinely given to females age twelve to age seventeen in Germany, where here in the U.S. it is still a point of controversy.  Many of the countries in Europe seem to be researching the claims that immunizations are the cause of some learning disabilities in children, especially males.  I feel that as time progresses, there will be many parents afraid of the possible side effects of the immunizations that they may or may not realistically be associated with so there will be a decline in vaccinations here in the United States.  My opinion on the matter is that research should be done to prove or disprove the allegations  before parents are allowed to NOT vaccinate their children because the price for NOT vaccinating may be greater.  I think that this will impact my future teaching and interaction with students if parents of children placed in a special needs setting feel that a vaccination is responsible for the condition of their child. 

Child Birth

     I personally do not have a child birth story of my own to share seeing that I cannot remember my own birth and that my children are adopted, so I have chosen to write about the birth of my nephew, Jackson.  Jackson was my second nephew to be born; the difference with him and my first nephew, Joey, was that my sister had gotten pregnant after I had a tubal that ruptured.  My entire family was petrified that my sister would have to endure the same pain and heartache that I had, but my sister was more afraid than we were.  My sister had good medical benefits so she was able to deliver the happy little guy in a safe hospital of her choice.  Shortly after he was born, the nurses came in and said that they had to take him back and my sister knew that something was not right.  After doing all that she could to ensure that she had a healthy baby, she was told that her child may have cerebral palsy.  Many tears were shed, only to find out in the end that he is only a carrier of the gene. 
   I wrote about this birth because it is one where the odds seemed to be stacked against Jackson and he has overcome all of the obstacles that the doctors said that he may face.  Jackson is now a happy, healthy little two year old who is so intelligent!  I believe that the nurturing environment that he is growing up in has allowed him to learn far more than any of the doctors thought possible.  He has reached all of the developmental milestones for a two year old.
     I chose to compare the birth of a child in the U.S. with the birth of a child in Nigeria.  In Nigeria, the women are often uneducated about the risks that come with having no doctor care in the first trimester.  About 40% of women receive post natal care two days after the baby is born, while many never do.  Also, women in Nigeria view a c-section as a failure to themselves and the child so it is avoided even if the mother goes to a hospital to deliver the child.  The placenta is buried after child birth as part of a ritual to provide health to the infant.  The country has a very high infant mortality rate due to the lack of care given to the pregnant women and to the newborn infant.
     My research into childbirth in Nigeria has shown me that education is the key.  If the parents of the children in Nigeria were to be educated, they would be able to better provide the services that the child needs.  Many places in this world still have birthing traditions and beliefs that are against Western medicine.  Babies born in the U.S. are afforded more opportunities on average than those born elsewhere.

Code of Ethics for Educators

I-2.5—To respect the dignity and preferences of each family and to make an effort to learn about its structure, culture, language, customs, and beliefs.

~This means so much to me because it is important to teach students in a way that teaches acceptance and understanding for others.  In order to be able to impact the lives of children, the families of those children must feel safe with the choices that you are making in the classroom.  Parents of culturally diverse students should be included in the school lives of children.  


P-1.2—We shall care for and educate children in positive emotional and social environments that are cognitively stimulating and that support each child’s culture, language, ethnicity, and family structure.

~ Oftentimes, educators are the person that the child has the most interaction with on a daily basis; it is important for me as an educator to foster the growth of the child in a way that does not take away from the child's heritage and background.  The classroom should be a place where children feel safe to talk, discover, play, learn and interact with others.

I-1.2—To base program practices upon current knowledge and research in the field of early childhood education, child development, and related disciplines, as well as on particular knowledge of each child.

~In order to provide the students who I am entrusted to teach with the best possible education, I must stay current with topics and trends in education.  It is my duty to know each child so that I may be able to teach them in a way that they are able to learn rather than with a cookie-cutter approach.

Words of Inspiration and Motivation

"Experts generally agree that taking all opportunities to read books and other material aloud to children is the best preparation for their learning to read. The pleasures of being read to are far more likely to strengthen a child's desire to learn to read than are repetitions of sounds, alphabet drills, and deciphering uninteresting words."                                                                                                                                            ~Lilian Katz

 "Providing families with information and assistance in selecting high-quality child care services will increase public awareness of this issue, create a demand for more high-quality child care options, and strengthen the role of parents in informing public policy and improving practices."                                                                       ~Virginia Buysse

"The preschool years are the first and the most fundamental period when children are in fact noticing who they are and are noticing the attitudes and the stereotypes and the discomforts or the positive messages about their skin color, their racial identity, their ethnic identity and so on."

                                                                                                              ~Louise Derman-Sparks

Personal Childhood Web

 My Mom

My mother was a stay at home mom of three girls of which I am the oldest.  My mom made sure I had my school work completed and that I was cared for at home.  She would take time to play games one on one with me which would make me feel special.  My mother also taught me how to do things around the house because I enjoyed helping her. Today I have a good relationship with my mom.  I know that I can go to her when I need some advice or just someone to listen.

 

My Father

My father worked as a restaurant manager from the time that I was a baby until I was 18 years old.  It was not a job that he enjoyed, but rather one that paid the bills and made it where my mother was able to stay home with my sisters and I.  My dad would take the time to play with me and spend time with me doing things I enjoyed.  My dad never went past high school, but he valued education and that was something that he instilled in me.  My dad is a part of my life today, but it is thought the roles are reversed somewhat; he has some medical issues and I spend a good bit of time trying to make sure he knows that he is loved and cared for just as he did in his own way when I was a child.

My Aunt Connie

My Aunt Connie was the only extended family that was a part of my life as a child; all of my other extended family lived in other states so seeing them was rare.  She would come to visit on the weekends and take us on trips to the zoo, the mountains, the museums and Six Flags.  During the summer, she would come get me and I would spend weeks with her at her house; I liked this because I got to do something without the rest of the family and I did not have the responsibilities that I had at home when I was with her.  She always encouraged me to do my best in school, but never put me down when I did not do as well as I could have.  My aunt Connie treats me like I am her own child to this day.  She continues to encourage me to achieve my goals. 

 My Sisters (Becky and Holly)

My sisters are both younger than me so it was expected that I set a good example for them.  Often times I would be motherly to them because I mimicked what my mother did with them.  They would emulate things that I would do because they did look up to me.  The relationship that I had with my sisters growing up made me want to do the right thing because I knew that they were being influenced by the choices that I made.  To this day I find myself making a conscious effort to set a good example in my daily life and in my continued educational pursuits because I still feel as though they look to me as an example.

My Kindergarten Teacher (Blanche Wilkes)

My kindergarten teacher was one of the most influential people in my life.  In some ways I think that she is the first person to show me that you can be a female, have a family and have a career that you enjoy.  Mrs. Wilkes would let me come to the classroom early and help put the chairs down to help her which made me feel important.  I would get to do things throughout the day that I enjoyed so rather than realizing I was at school to learn, I thought I was at a great place away from my family where I could do things without my sisters.  She is the first person that I was not related to that told me that she loved me and that she believed in me; for a young child, that was all I needed!  Mrs. Wilkes retired this year and I went to her retirement party. She also attended my wedding seven years ago and my graduation in May.  I think of her as my family.

 

My Favorite Children's Book

My all time favorite children's book is "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein.  I love this book because it teaches children that things can be different and still be good and fun.  I think that his stories and short poems are fun for children of all ages and that they remind us to use our imaginations.  Far too often children are made to think about things from a perspective that is not their own; the author encourages the reader to think outside of the box and explore the possibilities.

Quote

“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” Shel Silverstein




This quote is one of my favorites for a several of reasons.  To start, I absolutely love the author, Shel Silverstein.  I think that it is important that children are able to use their imagination and pretend to be something other than what they are in order to grow.  The second reason that this quote matters to me is that children are all too often labeled as "slow" or some other label that is seen as an indicator of their abilities.  I feel that the children should be given the chance to rise above the labels and ignore what they have been told they are not capable of to show the world that they are so much more than a label.

Welcome!  My name is Jamie and I live in Georgia.  I have been happily married to Blake for 6 years this October. We are in the process of adopting two precious children; Alexis is 4 and Jaylen is 3.I have a wonderful family!

Education:  I graduated from Gordon College in May with my B.S. in Early Childhood Education with a dual certification in both general and special education.  My internship was at a school in Spalding County that I absolutely loved and my goal is to get a job there if one becomes available. 

Hobbies:  I enjoy baking, sewing, reading, writing poetry, scrapbooking and spending time outdoors with the family.