My Hopes

This class came at the perfect time!  I was off for the summer and had time to reflect on my years in the classroom and my hopes for the future.  As I am busy getting ready for a new bunch of kindergarten kiddos, I have many hopes for the new school year.  I hope I can make every child in my classroom valued and respected, I hope to instill in them a true love for learning that will last them a life time.  I want to treat every child with the kindness and love that I use with my own children.  I hope my classroom is a place my students look forward coming to every morning and a place they do not want to leave at the end of the day.  I hope to show the families of my students that they are their child’s first and most important teacher.  I want to give them the tools they need to continue the learning process at home.  These are the same goals I would hope every early childhood teacher would have.  We have the best job in the world!  Even though it can be frustrating at times, there will always be amazing, curious, innocent children who are waiting to be loved and learn about the world around them.  

I want to thank each of you for reading my thoughts, inspiring me, giving me ideas and things to reflect on.  I wish you the best of luck in the future and hope that when it comes to work, you will always do what you love. 

Diversity Through Art

Diversity
Love, respect, kindness
Open mind, open heart, open hands
Differences, learning, passion
Food, music, stories
What makes us special


In reading the criteria for this assignment, I thought it would be simple, but as I was working on it, I was having a difficult time.  Diversity is such a vast concept, it was hard for me to put it into words.  It is also a concept that is forever changing.  If I had to do this assignment again in a month, I am sure I would define it differently.  I am excited to look at the other blogs and learn from all of you. :)

We Don't Say Those Words in Class!

I was married in July 2009.  I started working at my new school that next month, teaching first grade.  Since I was brand new to the school and my students had no idea who I was, I decided to bring in pictures from my wedding to share.  As I was showing the pictures to my students, one of my little Hispanic boys  said, "He can't be your husband, he is black."   Two students gasped and said, "Oooh, you can't say that!"  Another little girl (Caucasian) said, "She can marry whoever she wants!"  It was interesting to listen to the conversation  that was sparked by the pictures.  Based on their reactions, it was easy to detect which students had parents who spoke to them at home about acknowledging differences in others.  I used this as a teachable moment to discuss respecting differences in others and  appropriate ways to acknowledge those differences.  It was a lesson we would revisit many times throughout that year and one I hope still sticks with them. 



*Ignore my brother's silly face in the picture. :)

Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

This week we are focusing on gender and sexual orientation and the role they play in the early childhood classroom.  I enjoyed watching the videos and was frantically writing down many of the ideas and activities to use in my classroom.  I never realized how children’s books, movies, games, and toys generally depict traditional Caucasian families with a mother and a father until I got married and had children.  Both of my parents are Caucasian and I grew up in a traditional household.  My husband is black and we have two beautiful children together.  Since having my children, I have been trying to find books depicting mixed families and have been having a difficult time.  This made me realize that the materials in my classroom only depict traditional families and I need to find materials that depict various family structures to help validate the settings my students may be coming from.  

If I came across someone who believed that early childhood centers should avoid the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals and same sex partnered families I would first ask them why they felt that way.  I would then ask them to think about how they would feel if their one of their own children told them they were gay in the future and began a family of their own.  Wouldn’t they want their grandchildren in a classroom with materials that validated their family structure?  As educators, whether we agree with same sex families or not, it is our job to educate children about every type of family and to validate the environments they are coming from.  It is our differences that truly make this world a better place and we need to teach our children how to embrace differences and value them in others. 

Thank you!

I wanted to say thank you to all of my colleagues.  I am a people person and love to interact with others.  I was worried about an online class setting and how I would build relationships with others.  I was especially worried this time around because I had just taken a session off and came back to all new names.  Everyone has been wonderful, supportive, and kind.  I have learned so much from you and loved reading the discussion posts every week.  Thank you and I wish you the best in your future classes. 

Adjourning

I just completed my 11^th year of teaching and have worked with many wonderful people over that time.  The first school I worked at I stayed for 8 years.  I became very close to the five women I taught first grade with.  We all taught together for 4 years. We worked well together, had established norms and roles, and everyone respected each other.  When the first member of our team left, we met at a special restaurant for dinner and reminisced about the memories we had together.   As other group members left, we followed the same tradition.  In the past 4 years, we have all left the school but we keep in contact through Facebook and phone calls.  Some of us still live in town and we try to meet for dinner at least twice a year. 

I imagine adjourning from my colleagues at Walden with messages of thanks and well wishes.  We can keep in contact through the blogs we have developed during our course work. 

Conflict Resolution

Having a two year old and a newborn at home has been an adjustment for my husband and I.  We also both work full time and I am going to school.  With all of the craziness there has been many arguments and disagreements.  Especially when it comes to our two year old son.  He has been throwing fits and testing both of us on a daily basis.  My husband is a wonderful father and is great with the kids, but he has been having a difficult time dealing with our son and will lose patience very fast.  When I try to give him suggestions or help, he gets more upset because he feels that I think he can't take care of it himself. 

I have been trying to use the cooperative strategies from our text this week. The first one to focus on the issue and not be verbally aggressive.  I choose my words carefully and try not to say "You should not do that" or "Do it this way".  Instead I try to say, "Maybe he would like...".  Another strategy I use is to reassure my partner.  I remind my husband that our son's fits are often not a direct result of something he did and that he is learning how to control his emotions.  I also remind him that he is a wonderful father and this is a stage we just have to get through, it will pass.  (And lead to another challenging stage, but I don't mention that to him now.) :)

Effective communication is such an important part of life.  It impacts every relationship, personal or professional.  I am so glad I have this class as a reminder of the proper and effective ways to communicate. 

Who I am as a Communicator

I always try to be conscious of what I am saying and how it comes across especially during conversations with colleagues and parents of my students. During the past few weeks this course has reminded me of the importance of successful and meaningful communication in our daily lives and ways I can improve my communication skills.



I enjoyed taking the communication assessments this week and having people who are close to me evaluate me also. The two people I chose were my mother and husband. My mother really only knows me as a communicator in my personal life. My husband knows me as a communicator in both my personal and professional life. We worked at the same school for three years. He knew me professionally for a year before he knew me personally.

The results from the Listening Styles Profile were not a surprise to me at all. All three of us scored me in Group 1: People – Oriented. I have always been drawn to people and very social. My mother has seen that from the time I was little until now. My husband has seen me interact with people professionally and casually and said he knew from the first day he saw me at school that I was a people person.



The results from the Communication Anxiety Inventory were a little surprising. Both my mother and my husband scored me in the low anxiety category, while I scored myself in the mild category. While I have never been overly anxious about communicating with others or speaking in public, I still do get nervous. The score from my husband meant a lot to me. He has seen me present to our staff at school multiple times. Each time I was feeling a little nervous and unsure of myself. I am glad to know that even though I was having those feelings inside, on the outside I appeared confident and comfortable.

The results from the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale surprised me the most. My score for myself was a sixty nine, which put me in the significant aggressive category. I was very taken aback by this! I have never considered myself to be verbally aggressive in any way and try to avoid hurting the feelings of others at all costs. If anything, my feelings end up getting hurt because I do not stand up for myself enough. While a score of sixty nine puts me at the lowest end of the moderate category that is still where I fell. My mother gave me a score of sixty five and my husband gave me a score of sixty seven, which put me in the moderate aggressive category. That is where I view myself. It intrigues me that how I view myself and how I scored myself varied. I always thought of myself as a fair and respectful communicator. After this experience I will be much more aware and careful with my words and tone of voice during conversations that could get heated.  

Communication Differences

When I stop and think about communication and how I communicate with various people and groups of people in my life, I realize that I communicate differently based on the situation and who I am speaking to. I speak to my 2 year old son differently than I would speak to my administrator at school.  I speak to my close colleagues at school differently than I would speak to the parents of my students.  Both groups are in the same setting, but how I communicate with them would be a little different.  I would use more of an informal tone, with close friends and ensure I am speaking professionally with the parents of my students.  I have seen many teachers that speak the same way with their friends than they would with parents.  I also feel the level of listening would be different.  Of course I try to truly listen to everyone who speaks to me, but the level of listening in a professional setting is especially important.  When listening to the parents of my students, I need to ensure that I am truly listening to what they are saying and understanding how they are feeling.

This assignment has made me take a step back this week and truly look at how I communicate based on who I am speaking to.  It also made me aware of people around me and how they communicate.  In the front office of my school this week I observed teachers, office staff, students, and administrators communicating with each other.  I watched a group of students talking to the principal, once he walked away and they began speaking to their peers, their communication became much more informal and playful.    I enjoyed the assignment this week and became more aware of how we communicate in various settings. 

TV Show Communication

Such a fun assignment this week!  The show I chose to watch was Happily Divorced.  The episode began with Fran Drescher and a man kissing on the couch.  Another man walks in to ask her a question.  Fran’s body language and facial expressions show that she is annoyed with the man.  She then uses her hand to motion for him to leave the room.  With the sound off it was not obvious to me who the man was or why he was in the house.  The couple continues to kiss but stops suddenly and Fran goes to answer the door.  An older couple walks in and right away I can tell they are her parents.  This is obvious because as the woman walks in she licks her finger and wipes something off of Fran’s face.  Only a mother would do that.  Watching the same scene with the sound on I quickly discover that the man who interrupted the kissing is her ex husband who is gay, something I could not tell from his body language earlier.  

Another scene from the show took place in a bar with Fran’s ex husband and friend.  Watching with the sound off, I could tell they were drinking because they each had a martini glass in their hand.  I could also tell from their body language that they were both sad about something.  Their facial expressions were very sad and they both hung their heads down.  I was surprised when watching it with the sound on that they were drunk.  Nothing in their body language gave it away.  Only when I heard their slurred speech did I know. 

If this had been a show I had watched before I may have picked up on the husband’s body language indicating that he was gay.  I also would have known that he still lives with Fran.  

I loved this assignment and may do the same activity on my own just for fun. :)