Sharing Web Resources part 2

Last time, I researched Global School First, and this week I looked into Innovations Exchange from the Associations of Childhood Education International. "Today’s education innovation movement believes that a quality education should also promote better health, democratic participation, gender equality, and environmental sustainability—leading us to a more peaceful, prosperous world. As we move further into the 21st century, we must move toward a new standard of global education that puts this ambitious belief into practice," (acei, n.d., par.2). 

The innovation Exchange strives to be the first resource for teachers looking for new ideas and approaches in education. 

I find this helpful to me as I am moving from being a preschool teacher to a kindergarten teacher. I want to know what is the current and best practice, and gain new ideas with what to do with my classroom. 

I think this ties in with our study about how economist, neuroscientists, and politicians fit into the early childhood field, because it is something new and innovating in the field. 

"We reach a global audience working to create positive, sustainable futures for children and youth by developing and seeking out innovative solutions to education challenges," (acei, n.d., par. 5). Could the economists' view be an innovating solution to education challenges? This is a new idea that I have never thought of. 

References

ACEI. (n.d.). Innovation Exchange. Retrieved from http://www.acei.org/innovation-exchange/

image from google images

Getting to know Belize

For this assignment, I decided to research Belize.  I have visited the beautiful country while on a cruise a few years ago. I knew that it was an emerging country, but I had no idea of the issues children in this country face.  Belize has the highest HIV/AIDS rates in Central America, (Niles, 2008). Along with the aids problem; drugs, violence, and prostitution are common problems. UNICEF has a program called  My Neighbours and Me, that provides a safe place for kids after school. The program offers dancing, arts and crafts, homework help, etc.  It also talks with the kids about how to prevent HIV/AIDS, protect themselves, and how to use a computer.  The teachers in the area praise the program for teaching self discipline and self-control.

                                                       

What have I learned?

I knew that many in Belize lived in poverty, but I did not know about the issues with AIDS, drugs, and violence. I am glad that there are programs to help get kids off the streets and in a safe environment that will teach them skills to end the poverty cycle. The amazing information that I learned is that this program was started by two teen brothers, who were 18 and 13 when they opened the program. 

References

Niles, Chris. (2008). 'My Neighbours and Me' offer children positive alternative to drugs and crime. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/belize_42770.html

pictures retrieved from same website. 

Sharing Web Resources

                                    

 I chose the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI). Their goal  is to work for education of all children with a focus on the most fragile and vulnerable children, (ACEI, n.a).   I love their mission statement. “Our mission is to promote innovative solutions to education challenges and inspire action that creates positive, sustainable futures for children and youth worldwide," (ACEI, n.a.). They have three programs that help meet their goal and mission statement. They are Center for Educational Diplomacy, Global Schools First,  and Innovative Exchange. 

The Center for Educational Diplomacy uses education as a way to promote peace, prosperity, and changes. Global Schools First, seeks "education that empowers learners to value national, social, racial, cultural, and religious differences while embracing our common humanity. To prepare children to be dedicated stewards of an increasingly interconnected world, global citizenship education must be placed at the center of learning," (Global Schools First, n.a.).  I absolutely love this statement!  The third program, is Innovative Exchange.  The Innovative Exchange says that learning and innovation go hand in hand. This programs seeks to share knowledge and thought with educators around the world. 

I am interested in learning more about the Global Schools First program, it sounds like this would be a great resource to learn more about diversity and appropriate strategies.  I am excited to dig in. 

links are posted below. 

http://www.acei.org/about/

http://www.acei.org/global-schools-first

http://www.acei.org/innovation-exchange

http://www.educationdiplomacy.org/

Expanding Horizons and Expanding Resources

For expanding horizons, I reviewed the World Forum Foundation about us page. This organization looks interesting. "The mission of the World Forum Foundation is to promote an on-going global exchange of ideas on the delivery of quality services for young children in diverse settings," (World Forum Foundation, n.d.).  The foundation is made up of early childhood leaders from all over the world. There are conferences , leadership meetings, groups, and forums. Each forum is hosted by a group and each group is in charge of a specific early childhood topic. If someone is interested in getting involved, you can join a conversation on the forum, join a focus group, or become a global leader for young children. 

I also listened to one of their pod cast, which I was surprised to not find mentioned any where on their about us page. The pod cast that I chose was an interview with Susan Lyons who is the director of the Innovative teacher Project in San Frisco.  The project is a network of schools and teachers that want to learn more about in depth approach to learning inspired by Reggio Emilia.  Each month a teacher presents their school to the group and they have discussions about the school. This has helped the schools and teachers in the area to grow and develop to make each school an inspiration.   

I would love an opportunity to go to one of these meetings and see what all is going on and how this network has helped these teachers and districts.  

For part two of this assignment, I chose the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI). I chose this because I am interested in learning more about education in other parts of the world. I signed up for emails, which I am hoping means their e news. 

Resources
Association for the Association for Childhood Education International. (n.d.).  http://www.acei.org/ 
World Forum Foundation. (n.d.). about us. Retrieved from       http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/about.php

World Forum Foundation Radio. (2011). Interview with Susan Lyons. Retrieved from http://www.podcastchart.com/podcasts/world-forum-radio/episodes/world-forum-radio-susan-lyon/pop 

My Supports

I am a preschool teacher and currently I am on summer break. My daily environment looks different in the summer than it does during the school year.
My day starts off (most mornings) with a devotional and prayer time. My supports for this are my glasses, (I couldn't read without them), Bible, journal, pen, and phone, (I have a devotional app on my phone). What are the benefits of these supports?  It helps my in my walk with God, and makes me a better and happier person. On mornings when my kids beat me getting  up, and I don't have the time for my morning God time, I am cranky and not in a good mood.  I image if it was every morning my mood would be bad every day.
After my morning devotional time is kids up, breakfast,  and chore time.  I use a lot of practical supports during this time, such as, dishes and food, wipe board as I make their chore list for the day, and cleaning supplies for what chores they need to do and I need to do.  What are the benefits of these supports? I don't have to wash a family of six clothes by hand, the kids can look at the board to see what they need to do instead of asking me fifty times, etc.
Next is free time and I may talk on the phone with my best friend Maria.  We keep each other somewhat sane. There are days when this is my only adult interaction. It would be very difficult to stay sane during the summer without these phone calls.
Lunch time and the same supports as breakfast are used. After lunch is errands, library, the Y, bowling, or just some type of outing to get us out of the house.  The car is an important support for this. This keeps the kids from fighting and arguing so much, a reason to get their chores done, and something to look forward too. Without this we would be in the house all week, bored, and miserable.
Last  is dinner and family time. We play board games, watch a movie, build a fort, etc. This is something fun for the emotional support and bonding for the whole family. With out this support we would not be as close as we are, I would say this is the most important support of the whole day.

Childhood Connections to Play

As a child, my cousins and myself spent hours playing in the state forest behind my grandparents house. We went camping every year with my grandparents and we spent the day crawdad hunting, wading in the crick, fishing, and frog gigging.   I was always outside. 

 

As I stated earlier, I played outside all the time until the sun set. We lived up a holler with the rest of my mom's side of the family. My cousin and I would hunt with our bb guns, see who could score the highest with my skip it, paint rocks and pine cones gold, and hide them to have a treasure hunt.
Looking back, I often say, "what was my mother thinking, sending me out in the woods all day." There is no way I could send my kids out all day and not know where they were or what they were doing. It was a different era, one that I am sad that today's kids will never know.
Most parents today would be deemed a terrible parent and probably have children services involved if they let their five year old play  unsupervised with a bb gun.
However, if there is ever a zombie apocalypse, I know how to survive the forest. I know what I can eat, how to catch it, and to tell direction based on where the moss is growing.
I would love to see more outdoor/ nature play for today's children. Kid's today have lost imagination, which is important for good mental health (Almon, 2002).

Reference
Almon, J. (2002). The vital role of play in early childhood education. Gateways, 43. Retrieved from http://www.waldorfresearchinstitute.org/pdf/BAPlayAlmon.pdf

Relationship Relfection

Why are relationships important? God created Adam and saw that it was not good for him to be alone and create Eve,( Genesis 2:18, paraphrased ). God created us to be social beings and to need each other to survive.

 The most important relationship and partnership that I have is the one with my husband Tim. As many know, marriage is complicated and it takes both of us working together to make it work. How is this relationship positive and how do we maintain it?  We make sure that we spend time everyday with each other talking about our day. We have date night once a month without the kids. We pray with and for each other. We discuss our hopes, dreams, and future together. We plan how we will spend our money together and make it a point to be open and honest with each other, which is difficult at times, but worth it. We trust and love each other, which is the most important for a marriage to work.

My four children; Kassie, Evie, Ryley, and Nathaniel. This relationship isn't always positive, but I do the best I can.  I hope that I am teaching them how to be good, decent, kind, and compassionate people. What goes into making this relationship work? Them listening to me, which doesn't always happen. They trust me to take care of and provide for them. I love them unconditionally and it teaches me how God loves us.

My best friend and fellow Autism mom, Maria. We were roommates in college and quickly became friends. What makes this relationship positive and how do we maintain it?  We celebrate with each other, vent to each other, and cry with each other. We try to have a girls night once a month, but unfortunately it doesn't always happen. We often talk on the phone late at night while hiding in a closet so we don't wake up kids and husband. We keep each other sane in this crazy, busy life.

Troop #8706  keeps me busy, busy. How is this a positive relationship and how do we maintain it?  This troop loves to volunteer. In this picture they are volunteering to serve dinner on a Friday night at a local community center. They teach me so much about life, to be thankful, and to be myself.  In girl scouts we learn how to be good citizens, a friend, and leader. We trust that we each will do our part to make our the troop the best it can be and to be a positive influence in our community.

I have learned over time that for any relationship to last you must trust each other. Lies is the fastest way to kill any relationship.
There are three characteristics that make a relationship a partnership. They are trust, mutual respect, and love.
How does my relationships affect me as an early childhood teacher?  My kids teach me patience and unconditional love, my best friend has taught me to laugh, my husband has taught be how to be a helper, and my girl scouts has taught me how to be leader. All of these are important in the early childhood field.

Walden University M.S. in Early Childhood Studies

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