Time Well Spent….

• Three things learned throughout this course……

1. I have learned the saying “It takes a village….” is a very true statement when choosing those individuals, such as your CoP, to collaborate with you. I only had other educators in mind whenever I would think of those who could help me but realized that everyone can bring something to the table.
2. I have learned why it’s important to be an effective leader. It’s not just about being in charge or having people listen to you, but more about having them respect you and look to you for guidance. I want people who work for and with me to respect me, not fear me.
3. From my colleagues, I was able to realize that there are so many challenges being faced specifically in the early childhood field. We think that the major problems only arise as students get in to elementary , middle or high, but it starts early and we need to be proactive in eliminating those challenges.

• Long-Term Goal…..

A long-term goal of mine is to continue to get everyone involved in the efforts to support early childhood. I was the early childhood programs in my community to be the foundation and guide for other educational programs to encourage parent involvement and community involvement so that it continues throughout elementary, middle, and high school.

• Farewell Message…..

I first want to say thank you to my colleagues for inspiring me and helping me to understand that their is work to be done, and know that it can be done with the proper plan, team, and resources. It was a pleasure working with so many wonderful educators who share a passion for what we do. May our passion continue to spread amongst others.

Finally, I want to thank Dr. E for being so resourceful and understanding. As I am completing my degree in Teaching Adults in Early Childhood, she has been a great example of what it means to be compassionate for your students. A few weeks prior to this course, I found out that I was expecting my first child which brought about changes in my life that I have never experienced (extreme fatigue, morning sickness), I also experienced death in my family as well. Dr. E was very understanding and never once told me to give up when it crossed my mind several times. From her, I became aware of how I would have to understand once I have my own adult students that life happens and we are all human. Thank you Dr. E , you taught me more than the course required about becoming an Adult Educator!

 

Contact Information:

Brandi Bibbs

brandi_jones85@yahoo.com

 

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

• UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund)-

  www.unicef.org 

I chose this organization because they understand and show through their actions that all children should have the right to survive in this world. So many times we forget that these children did not ask to be brought into this world but yet they are punished by having to live in poverty.

Job Opening:

Youth & Adolescent Develop. Specialist

Responsible for strengthening adolescent components of UNICEF humanitarian actions; disaster risk reduction, and global preparedness, response and recovery efforts in emergency, transition and peacebuilding contexts. This includes development and provision of technical guidance and support for reach, management and monitoring of adolescent interventions in emergency, transition and peacebuilding contexts; strengthening linkages between development and humanitarian work; as well as special emphasis on the development and dissemination of evidence of results and good practices in adolescent programming.

 

• Childcare International- http://childcareinternational.ca/

I chose this organization because they work very closely with other organizations to provide for children and their families who may be living in poverty. They also work to address the needs of the entire community as well in order to reach more families.

Job/Volunteer Opportunities:

BECOME A “FRIEND OF CHILDCARE”

Friends of ChildCare promote and share our mission to their community, family and friends.  Join us by taking an active role in helping facilitate the goals of our organization and sharing our passion in making a difference in the lives of children and their families.

As a Friend of ChildCare, you are invited to be involved in one (or more) of these types of activities:

• Speak to groups about ChildCare INTERNATIONAL
• Serve as a ChildCare liaison to your church or civic group
• Serve on a ChildCare INTERNATIONAL committee in your region
• Pray for ChildCare INTERNATIONAL’s sponsored children and beneficiaries around the world

BECOME A CHILDCARE INTERNATIONAL “PARTNER IN DEVELOPMENT”

As a ChildCare INTERNATIONAL “Partner In Development” you will join an influential group of supporters, networkers and donors who have made ChildCare INTERNATIONAL’s vision and mandate their own.  The key objectives of ChildCare’s Partners In Development is to inspire, motivate and help raise funds and awareness for ChildCare INTERNATIONAL.

If you believe that those who live in poverty are best served by being empowered to work their own way out of poverty, we encourage you to become a Partner In Development.  Help us to promote the mission of ChildCare INTERNATIONAL in your community by taking on an active role and work directly with the Executive Director to effectively shape the organization.

As a Partner In Development you will meet with other Partners and the Executive Director regularly to share your ideas and passion for holistic child development.  You will also be encouraged to participate in educational Insight Trips under the direction of the Executive Director, to see first hand how ChildCare INTERNATIONAL supported programs impact the lives of orphaned and destitute children

• International Early Childhood Education-

  http://www.icfi.com/markets/education/campaigns/international-early-childhood-education   This organization was chosen because they provide early childhood education training and technical assistance, conduct research and evaluation, and support corporate child care in India by guiding clients through projects and planning processes that are grounded in research.

Job Opening:

Early Childhood (EC) Specialist Region X    Social and Analytic Solutions Education, Community and Social Programs Division Home-Based in Region X (AK, ID, OR, WA)   Job Description: ICF seeks an experienced Early Childhood (EC) Specialist to support Head Start and Early Head Start programs to ensure high quality Head Start and Early Head Start services in accordance with federal regulations that promote healthy development, encompassing the developmental domains of physical development and health, social and emotional development, approaches to learning, language and literacy, and cognition and general knowledge to ensure children’s future success. The Early Childhood Specialist will provide training and technical assistance (TTA) to programs to support progress toward established school readiness goals, focusing on the use of child and program data to make decisions about approaches to working with teachers, home visitors, and parents in quality practices. The Specialist will provide professional-level expertise by engaging programs in dialogue and learning of best practices for children from birth to five and encourage a culture of learning that promotes school readiness. This position is home-based in one of the Region X states and will involve extensive travel to programs within Region X (AK, ID, OR, WA)   Basic Qualifications   Preferred Experience/Skills: Knowledge of Head Start performance standards and all applicable federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations. Experience working within a Head Start Program. Knowledge of and skill in promoting quality parent and family engagement Experience working with children with disabilities.  Demonstrated experience using relevant data for ongoing tracking and analysis of quality improvement educational measures     Professional Skills: Experience with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) required. Excellent verbal and written communication skills required. Strong analytical, problem-solving and decision making capabilities. Team player with the ability to work in a fast-paced environment. Ability to work with all levels of internal staff, as well as outside clients and vendors

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community

As an educator here in the state of South Carolina, I have become familiar with a few organizations and become inquisitive about a few. The first organization that I found was CERRA, the Center for Education, Recruitment, Retention and Advancement. CERRA’s main goal is to pursue a variety of programs in hopes of increasing numbers in education, recruiting and retaining teachers that are qualified and competent.  This is done by implementing programs beginning in middle, and high school and extending to college students and any adults who are interested in education as a career. I often use this site to find out about jobs and other events going on in the area. The site has so many resources for everyone regardless of age. I would love to work with this organization to help those who are interested in being active in their education field whether it’s a middle school student or middle-aged adult. I was unable to find any specific information about CERRA itself hiring but was able to find out the districts in South Carolina that were hiring.

The second organization is the GLEAMNS program. GLEAMNS stands for Greenwood, Laurens, Edgefield, Abbeville, McCormick, Newberry and Saluda which are all neighboring counties here in South Carolina. The mission of GLEAMNS basically states that they are a community-based organization that is focused on providing quality services in education to students and individuals who are employed there. They server over 9,000 low-income households in the Upper Savannah District. Here in my area they have a job opening for an Early Head Start Coordinator that sparks my interest.

The third organization that I was already familiar with in this area is the South Carolina First Steps program in which I am a member of the board. I am still learning about what the program does and offer being that this is my first year on the board. First Steps was designed to increase school readiness for children after seeing that there was an overwhelming number of students who were not prepared upon entering Kindergarten. The program focuses on meeting the local needs and seeking resources and collaboration from all who can contribute to their effort. They also have two positions for an Education Coordinator in which their responsibility is to ensure that they program is in compliance with the proper standards of Head Start as well as DSS Licensing.

Better Communicator

Throughout this particular course, I feel as though I have learned so much and have been able to apply it in my current job position as a Mentor Teacher.  As I moved further in the course, I was able to learn various strategies to help me become a better communicator, and mentor. From becoming more aware of my body language, to learning how to be a listener, it has all help me so much. A lot of times we forget about the listening aspect of communication so it was a great to learn more about that.

I have also thoroughly enjoyed the feedback from my colleagues as well as hearing about their experiences. Some of their experiences I could relate to and some I couldn’t but it was still great to hear how they handled it. I hope that from this course that everyone will become or continue to be good communicators. In this profession, it is very important to be a good communicator with your students, parents, and colleagues in order to be successful. I think that this course made me more aware of how important it is to establish a great line of communication from the beginning.

Teamwork

A group that I found hardest to leave (not really leave) from was my collegiate chapter of my sorority. Once joining my sorority in 2006, my commitment to the sorority is one that is of a lifetime. I established relationships with other young college women and performed several acts of public service with them from 2006 to 2007. I spent the remainder of my college career with this group of women. We conducted business meeting, community service, had classes together, traveled together and other extra curricular activities in that short period of time and began to look at each other as sisters.  When the time came close for us to graduate, it was very hard for us all. We feared being far away from one another and promised that we would meet up periodically. With all of us beginning to start families and having new job opportunities as college graduates, this has not been the case. We communicate mainly through social media. For the first year after graduating, we were able to keep in touch and communicated more. Now, almost ten years later, we go months/years without calling or meeting up except for the occasional group chats on Facebook.

We were a very high-performing group and still are a part of the sorority even though we have graduated. I have joined the local chapter here where I live and although we are all a part of the same sisterhood, the bonds that were established with those individuals who started this process with me are not there. I love that I can still conduct business and share the love of the sorority and all that it stands for with these ladies here.

I don’t think that adjourning from my colleagues in this Master’s program will be as hard as it was leaving my collegiate sorority chapter members. We share insight weekly and are able to bounce ideas off of each other. I am going to miss hearing about experiences from those other than individuals that I work with daily. Adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork and the teamwork itself prepares and strengthens you as an individual. You are able to work together in hopes that you will take something from the experience that could help you and others.

Conflict Resolution

A conflict that I am currently experiencing with a colleague is about the amount of information that they are sharing on social media. It may be ok for some individuals to do, but as an educator, she has to understand that we need  to know our limitations with what we share, the language that we use and the topic that we are discussing. As a veteran teacher, I have have had to have those conversations (not formal) where I casually mention the pro’s and con’s of discussing work issues in a negative light not only on social media, but in public. Some individuals feel that what they choose to do after school hours or what they choose to post on their personal social media page is their own business and doesn’t affect their career. This has been proven wrong as teachers are losing their jobs and also having parents to chime in and report things that their child’s teacher is posting.   Rather than to just go to her and say “take that post down!” or “You can’t say that” I had to use factual information and bring it to reality for her.   Being able to give advice in a respectful manner and not attack was the best method of communication and helped her to understand the issue at hand.

Evaluating Myself As A Communicator

This week after having others (mom and sister) evaluate me as a communicator, I was surprised to see that they both had similar results in evaluating me. I was certain that I would see a difference because my mom and sister both see different sides of me.  However, they both viewed me as having the characteristics of someone who is people-oriented. I have the tendency to get caught up in someone else’s emotions which could lead to not so good things. I also found out that they believe that I maintain a good balance in being respectful of others’ viewpoints and opinions. I think this is a trait that comes along with being a teacher and having those diverse students and families.   THis was a great exercise to help me see how I am perceived as a communicator by two people who will always be brutally honest with me no matter what. This feedback will help me to continue to remain aware of my mannerisms as a communicator.

Cultural Communication

Think about the cultural diversity you see in your colleagues at school, in your neighborhood, in your workplace, and also, possibly, within your family. Consider all the aspects that make up culture, including race, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, varying abilities, and so on.

• Do you find yourself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures?
  • If yes, in what ways do you communicate differently?

I do find that I communicate differently with people from different groups and cultures. I don’t talk to my coworkers in the same manner that I talk to my family. I think that it’s the level of comfort that I have in my family and just knowing that I won’t be judged if I don’t use proper grammar. We communicate, sometimes, in a way that others may find offensive or even weird. I even find that I communicate with my caucasian friends differently than I do my African American friends and I think it’s just the difference in our dialect that causes this to happen. It’s not often that you have a conversation with a caucasian person and their dialect matches that of an african american person. I hate to seem as though I’m stereotyping but I’m just speaking from experience. I notice this happening with a lot of my friends when talking to someone of another race. It’s kind of like we tend to imitate what we hear in a conversation in terms of dialect.

Communication: Private Practice

This week’s assignment was a very interesting one. My husband did a double take when he walked by and saw me watching a show with no sound! I logged into my netflix account and browsed through the television shows because they always have shows that I have never seen or heard of. I stumbled across a show entitled “Private Practice”. I first viewed it without sound and then with sound as I took notes on their demeanor. This is how it went.

No Sound:
When the show first came on, one character (male) rushes into the sanitation area of the operating room where another (female) character is washing her hands. He approaches her abruptly and angrily it appears. He places his hand on his hip and continues to talk “at” the woman. It is evident that he is unhappy. She continues to do what she is doing without any sign of fear or intimidation which lets me know she was even expecting this from him or she is use to this type of conversation with him. As she finishes what she is doing, she turns to him and begins to talk, only pointing her finger one time to prove her point. Whatever she is saying brings serenity to the conversation as a calm look comes over his face. She reaches to shake his hand and he does the same and they proceeded to hug. As they hugged, she shows a look of worry as if she said what needed to be said in order to calm him down but in reality she is still worried.

With sound:
After watching the same segment, with sound, I found out that the male character came into the first scene upset with the woman because she had left a letter of resignation on his desk. He was questioning her decision to leave their current job to go and work for a private practice. He didn’t feel that it was the best career move for her but she had her mind made up that it was. She could give him all of the reasons as to why she would be fine and why she was making that decision. He gave up his fight in trying to get her to stay and showed by shaking her hand and saying “get over here and give me a hug”.

My assumptions were not that far off. I could tell by their body language that they were not in agreement with the issue at hand and were by the end of the conversation.  My assumptions would have been more correct if I had been watching a show that I know well because I can predict more what will happen because I know what has already happened.

Competent Communication

The person that I thought of for this assignment is my father. He has been in law enforcement for over 36 years and currently serves as the Chief of Police for the town that he and my mother live in.  He demonstrates competent communication on a daily basis as he constantly deals with the public and is in the public eye which shows his interpersonal skills. He has to possess skills in various communication situations such as group and organizational as he leads group meetings and investigations. Overall he possess basic communications skills in which he has to choose when to listen and when to express his opinion.