1 Class Down!

Thanks to all of my colleagues who have helped me through this 1st class on my way to my Masters.  I am amazed at how fast the time went.  I remember starting the course and how anxious I was about how all this would go.  I also remember thinking that I couldn't wait to be done with a class so that I would be feeling more comfortable with all "techie" parts of the system.  Well, here I am and it is true- I do feel a lot more comfortable with the whole process.

My Three Most Meaningful Early Childhood Code of Ethics

1. "Ethical Responsibilities to Community and Society"
This is an aspect of my job that I haven't focused much energy on but after this weeks lessons I have come to understand the value within it.  This isn't to say I haven't been responsible in this area, but I haven't focused much energy on it either.  I will definitely seek to find other ways to promote the Early Childhood field within the larger context of the community and society.

NAEYC. (2004). NAEYC advocacy toolkit. Retrieved May 26, 2010,
from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/policy/toolkit.pdf

2.  "We shall support professionals new to the field by mentoring them in the practice of evidence and 

ethically based services. "

This statement falls under the category of "Professional Development and Preparation".  This is an area I have always felt very strongly about.  Our best resources are each other and never is there a time that is so important in doing this than when someone is new to our field.  

The Division for Early Childhood. (2000, August). Code of ethics. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from
http://www.dec-sped.org/
3. "Responsive Family Centered Practice"
This area is huge.  As we focused in my current class earlier, children are part of a system of people.  They do not exist separately within each area of their lives; but those areas interact and interconnect.  Connecting what we do to the family is critical for success of all students but particularly students within this age group.

The Division for Early Childhood. (2000, August). Code of ethics. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from
http://www.dec-sped.org/

I've always loved finding new hands on activities for kids.  This week through my own schooling I was able to take a closer look at some of the other resources out there for professionals, children, and families in Early Childhood.  I have created a Resources section on my blog page but wanted to point out 3 other resources that I have found beneficial.  Please check them out.
The first one has to do with Social Emotional learning, http://www.challengingbehavior.org/.  This is a "hot topic" area in Early Childhood in MN right now.  This website has an extreme amount of information for all who are interested in promoting positive social emotional development in our field.  The second site flows right along this one (and actually has its own link on the last site but it is often times overlooked) http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/.  This site as well deals with Social Emotional Learning and young children.  The third site I want to post is my favorite idea site.  There is a subscription fee to access my favorite part of the site but there is a limited section that is free.  This site has a lot of good ideas for the early learner http://www.kidssoup.com/.  Enjoy!!

Motivating Quotes...

When viewing a video segment for school one quote that demonstrated passion as well as motivated me was from Louise Derman-Sparks.  When she was talking about teaching Early Childhood she stated that "... it was like the most joyful experience where I felt that everything in me was being called on to teach.".  I love how shes stated this.  Another quote was from Raymond Hernandez.  He stated that "I'm not here to save the world.  I'm here just to make a difference in the- in the community that I am working.".  This statement truly motivates me.  As a teacher at times the world seems so much larger than what is right in our backyard and it  becomes quite overwhelming.  Raymond Hernandez keeps this in focus by staying focused to the communities around us.
I have started a "Quotes" section on my blog.  Look there for more inspirational quotes from people within the Early Childhood Field.

Quotes

I have added a new Quotes section to my blog.

For my Walden colleagues.  My "influential people" is part of my main board on my blog page.  Just scroll down and you will see it.  Thanks, Kim

It always seems that when you finally get everyone together to team that something comes up.  This is just an unwritten law in the universe.  This week was no exception.  I finally was able to connect with a behavior specialists to come observe my T-Th-F am class and of course the main student I wanted her to observe was not there.   If you don't first succeed; try, try again!  This weeks main idea for my learnining was understanding how all people involved in a child's life influence their lives.  This wrang particularly true for one of my students this week.  Her family became homeless.  Talk about how important it is to have everyone working together! 

My Family

This is my family.  Myself, my husband Mark and our kids; Haley (16), Katie (14), Nate (13) and Abby (11).  We have a great time together.  We love to explore, hunt for agates and enjoy a pretty laid back lifestlyle.  My husband is the biggest kid of the family which often proves quite challenging when we are raising teenagers!  Our family has also had another challenge; our daughter, Haley, was diagnosed with Leukemia last spring.  Although, this was one of our worst nightmares come true there have been amazing blessings that have come out of this terrible situation.  Haley, herself, has really grown into an AMAZING young woman and I couldn't be more proud of her.  As a family this experience has only made us all stronger.

A Great Book!

I love this book!





Although, this could be considered an adult book as much as a children's book, I love the message.  The book has the fun rhyming style of Dr. Seuss while incorporating such a simple message about lifes ups and downs and the importance of perserverance.  Young children pick up on the concrete meanings while adults are drawn to the hidden meanings.  A classic!

A Quote

The world knows how to straighten out a spoiled child but never makes it up to a child deprived. ~Robert Brault

This is one of the quotes regarding childhood that I truly beieve in.  I believe it also embodies the spirit of Early Childhood Education.  Not only do we now know that there is a critical time of brain development for young children but the field is also focusing more and more on the aspects and implications of a child's social development.  All of this plays an such an important part in the growth of a child and if they not nurtured as well as given opportunities to grow and develop cognitively while they are young we, as a society, will nevery be able to give those opportunities to them again.

I also love the quote from Walt Disney below that I have on my blog.  I am definitely a person that believes we can not give up the fun of life for the seriousness that life can often times bring.

My very first blog!

Well, this is my very first blog.  Pretty soon I'm going to be more tech savy than my teenage kids! 
Today was one of those rare days when all those long hours of extra time put in by us teachers pays off...  a SNOW DAY!  Thank goodness.  The kids have been crazy this week and now I know why.  I thought it might be a full moon; but I found out otherwise.  I love teaching but this time of year in Minnesota everyone goes a little stir crazy.  Here's to a better day tomorrow.  Meanwhile I can work on figuring out all of these new technology pieces.  So far online learning has been all about setting up technology.  I'm ready to start learning something related to Early Childhood.