Reflecting on Learning

     Upon reflection on the field of early childhood and what I hope to be able to accomplish one thing comes to mind- that every child know that they matter, that they know that I believe in them and that I care about them as people.  All too often we as educators get caught up in the daily things such as standardized tests, scores, and things of that nature, but my goal is to let each child know that they matter to me outside of the scores and the testing.
     I want to teach children to be confident in themselves and to have faith in themselves rather than to make excuses; excuses are what you get as a result of a child being frustrated and not getting something.  I know that I cannot go home with the students, but if only one person tells these children that they matter, that they can do whatever it is they aspire to do, that there is no dream out of their reach if they are willing to work hard to get there, then I want that person to be me.
     Thank you to all of my colleagues who I have learned so much from during this course; the course materials are good, but the experiences that we share and the diversity that we bring to the table make this course fantastic!  Thank you to Dr. Shepard for being there when I had questions about things; I also appreciate the feedback on each and every assignment as I feel like your words helped guide me and make me better.  Good luck in the future courses to all of you!

Impact on Early Emotional Development

     I chose to look deeper at China because students here the United States are always compared to the students in China in terms of "quality education".  I was hoping to look at China and see what it is that this country does so differently than we do her in the U.S. to see what may give them the educational advantage.
     One of the things that children of China have to overcome is the natural disasters that strike the country.  The earthquakes and such that strike the country cause such wide spread devastation that it takes the country quite some time to recuperate.  Some children end up without families and homes; finding a way for these children to still receive an education is a challenge that China faces.
     If a child is orphaned due to a natural disaster, I cannot imagine that continuing on with their educational routine would be of the highest importance to them.  Although it would provide them with some sense of normalcy, it would be hard for them to focus on the educational goals in the classroom when they have lost so much.
     As a teacher, I cannot imagine what this child would be facing, but I would be there in any way that I could to help the child.  It would be difficult to lose your home and be concerned with school, but as a teacher, I may be able to help the family by helping the children maintain that routine while the adults sort things out in other areas.  From a personal level, I would want to do all that I could to help the family. 

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

     In response to the question, I think that our country is entirely too sexualized, but especially the younger generations.  As a mother, it is difficult to buy clothes for my child that are not skin tight, too short, or just plain not appropriate for a six year old.  Children today are not allowed to be children long if they want to be considered "cool" because all of the messages sent to them on a regular basis about what cool is and what it should look like.

     Children are constantly presented with pictures of beautiful girls who wear revealing clothing and who act in a provocative manner.  I do not allow my children, who are five and six, to watch anything other than SPROUT or PBS because of the images that the media 
 portrays as "cool".   Movies that are aimed at "tweens" tend to have sexual situations in them that encourage children to view sexual behavior as okay.

There is a child in my fourth grade class who I have had to watch because she comes to school dressed one way and comes into my classroom in something entirely different at least twice a week.  I called the mom and we discussed that her daughter said that the boys think she is a nerd so she had been taking her older sister's clothes and makeup trying to make the boys think that she was cool.  I could not help but think that when I was in fourth grade, I still thought that boys had cooties and that they were odd just because they were boys; I cannot remember trying to empress anyone at such a young age, but especially not with how I dressed. 

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

     The -ism that I chose to focus on for this assignment is classism.  I live in a small town in Georgia and all of the schools are now Title I schools.  I grew up in this town and I have lived here most of my life as has my husband; we have chosen to raise our two children here and do not see it as a bad place to be. 
     I have had people that I have known most of my life who I have gone all of the way through school with ask me "what I can teach a child being from this sad little town and choosing to stay here?".  This bothered me because these same people have many children and are staying here while not trying to better themselves by going to college. 
     I believe that the consequence of any -ism that I was facing in my personal life would cause me to question the way that the parents and students thought of me.  It would make me feel unsure of myself to some degree, just as the comment I shared with you had done.  I would worry that the families shared the same ideas as the acquaintances that spoke about and that they questioned my ability to properly teach their children.

Creating Affirming Environments

     If I were to open my own Family Child Care Home, it would be important to make sure all children felt welcome as well as their families.  One way that I would do this would be in the decoration of the facilities.  I would make sure that different cultures were represented even if those cultures were not represented in the children that attended the facility.
     I would make sure the families and the children were comfortable by having the different areas designated for different activities just as Adriana did in her child care home.  I would make sure that the room for napping depicted images that made the children feel at ease.  One example of pictures that I would like to use in a facility like this would be images of animals because children relate to animals.  I would make sure that the room was painted a color that encouraged calm emotions such as a pale blue. 
     I would make sure that the toys and dress up items in the facility appealed to children of all cultures and genders.  I would have boy dolls as well as girl dolls, traditional dress of different cultures, and toys that can be found in the homes of the children as well.  I would have books that depict the families from which children come- single parent homes, traditional family homes, homes with extended family members present and non-traditional families. 

What I Have Learned...

     One hope that I have when working with early childhood students and their families is that they all receive the resources that will make a difference in their lives and in the way that they view education.  Each child should be made to feel as though learning and school are exciting explorations of the world rather than something that they have to stress over.
     One goal that I would like to set for the field of early childhood education is to come out of the box and embrace each child and love each child for who they are before us, not who we could possibly mold them to be or who they could be if they did this or that.  Children should be loved by teachers, and although some students make it harder to love them, those are the students who need it the most.  There are things about each of us that we are not thrilled about, but that does not mean that we are a waste, we all have good points and the ability to love and be loved- if not, this profession is not for you.
     I would like to say thank you to the awesome group that I collaborated with during this course.  I have enjoyed learning about you and from all of you.  I truly believe that the collaboration makes the courses more meaningful and the material that we learn more relevant. Good luck and best wishes to all of you only your journey! 

Jamie Reid

Start Seeing Diversity Blog: "We Don't Say Those Words in Class!"

   The first thing that came to mind with this topic is when I was student teaching and a child in my class asked "why is that boy walking like that?" about a student who was using braces to walk because of his prosthetic legs.  The teacher quickly reprimanded the student and told him that he was moving his clip to yellow because he was talking in the hallway.  Never again did I hear the teacher explain to the student what was so different about the  boy with braces.  
     The problem in this situation is that the teacher was represented a teachable moment and she turned it into something that made him feel ashamed for asking.  The teacher's reaction may also have caused the boy to rely on his own perceptions about the other student which could have been wrong as well.
     An anti-bias teacher would have explained that some people including children have illnesses and other medical conditions that cause them to lose parts of their body.  Doctors can make new parts out of different materials, but they are not as easily controlled as our legs and arms are so they use braces to help them.  Students need to learn that there is not a difference in people on the inside due to physical differences on the outside.