Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Thanks and Support

Thanks to all of my classmates for a wonderful first class at Walden.  I wish all of you the best and I hope we have more classes together in the future.

I would also like to thank my family for their support and patience during all of this as I added more one thing to juggle.

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Ethics in Early Childhood

I had difficulty trying to narrow it down to just three for this post. All three come from The Division of Early Childhood. The first one is from the professional practice section. "We shall demonstrate the highest standards of personal integrity, truthfulness, and honesty in all our professional activities in order to inspire the trust and confidence of the children and families and of those with whom we work," (DEC,2000, p1).  Integrity is extremely important  to me. If you have integrity, then truthfulness and honesty will follow as they are components of integrity. Integrity is important to have the trust of the child, families, co workers, etc.  Integrity means that you can be trusted to follow through with what you say, trusted to not talk about a child or family to another child or family.  Building trust is how you can start a connection with a child or family.  I try to have integrity in all aspects of my life.

The second one I chose is from the same section. " We shall serve as advocates for children with disabilities and their families and for the professionals who serve them by supporting both policy and programmatic decisions that enhance the quality of their lives," (DEC,2000, p1).   As a mother of two special needs boys, I believe heavily in being an advocate for them and other children with special needs. I have found that families of children with disabilities often do not know what their options are and accept whatever the school district offers, which is usually the bare minimum.   Every child deserves the chance to live to their full potential.

The last one is from the personal development and preparedness section. " We shall continually be aware of issues challenging the field of early childhood special education and advocate for changes in laws, regulations, and policies leading to improved outcomes and services for young children with disabilities and their families," (DEC, 2000, p2).  Part of being a  good advocate/leader/teacher is know what is going on.  What are  the new trends, issues, possible laws, etc. and using this info on how does it impact the children in your classroom, and how can you communicate it to the families.  I try to stay current, this is part of why I am finishing my masters degree.

References
 The Division for Early Childhood. (2000, August). Code of ethics. Retrieved  from
http://www.dec-sped.org/

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Course Resources

Position Statements
 Global Support for Children's Rights and Well-Being

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Inspirational quotes

"We need collaboration to ensure that schools are positive, supportive,  and effective places for students to learn and teachers to teach. Classroom teachers and other educators are working with increasingly diverse students; all school personnel are under tremendous pressure to ensure that all students achieve higher academic standards. In this context, collaboration is not a luxury; it is a necessity."  Dr. Marilyn Friend

"Here's the strategy tghat I have used.  It's taken me decades to learn it, and it has worked: In the good years, work very hard to win everything that's possibly winnable. In the bad years, work just as hard to keep your losses to a minimum. There are good times, and there are bad times.  But you have to stay in the game."  Edward Zigler

 “It’s not all about you. You have to take your ego out of it and think what is best for this child, and you care about them enough to help them transition through it.” Renatta M Cooper 

"Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence."   - Abigail Adams

and one of my all time favorite educational quote:

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."    - Albert Einstein