TIME WELL SPENT

As I move forward I will continually look back on the wonderful experiences that I have encountered at Walden University. There was so much to learn and with the support of everyone, more understanding was provided.

THREE LEARNINGS THAT I RECEIVED FROM THE PROGRAM:

1. Collaborating with other professionals will allow me to reach my satisfaction level along with others in the field of early childhood development. I have learned the importance of collaborating with other professionals. So often, professionals develop plans by themselves and forget that there is more power when there are more numbers. Collaboration allows me to connect with other professionals and to be able to share our thoughts and to work together on solutions. Collaboration can happen at any level; it can be at the state or local level. (Collaborating in Early Care, 2010).

2. Communities of Practice – This term is new to me, however, after gaining understanding of what it actually represents, I have realized that I am part of a community of practice. I was provided with information on expanding a group and bringing in those people who share a similar passion if not the same as the group. The glue to keeping these groups actively involved is the groups desire to help each other and to continue to share information. Also, it has been said that a community of practice is not a club of friends or a network or connection between people. It has a shared domain of interest. (Wenger, 2006).

3. Effective Communication – Although communication has never been a big problem for me; I been provided with clear understanding as to how to have effective communication. This communication involves adults as well as children. Through the new information that I received I discovered that communication may not always seem as easy as it appears. Communication is definitely a two way interaction on everyone that is involved in the process. I also learned that communication involves having understanding. Communication involves being able to communicate with people of different cultures and having an understanding of the cultural differences. When a person can recognize the differences in the world this will allow more understanding and better communication skills. (Gonzalez-Mena, 2010) Good listeners are instrumental in breaking down the walls of non-communication.

References:

Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2010) “Understanding and Appreciating Cultural Differences”

Wenger, E. (2006) Communities of practice: A brief introduction.

LONG TERM GOAL:

There are many goals that I would like to set as long term goals for myself. The one that really stands out or the one that I really have a passion for is to become a public speaker who speaks about the rights for young children. I would like to be able to address the nation with why we should stand up for young learners. I want to be able to address a large audience and not only mention what we should do, I want them to know why this is important and to allow them to see the benefits of educating young children by placing them in programs that are providing quality services to young children. I am aware that others may want to do the same; however, I feel that I am the person who should deliver this message to the people.

FAREWELL MESSAGE TO MY COLLEAGUES AND INSTRUCTOR:

In closing, I would like to say that this has been a true learning experience. I have had the pleasure of communicating with all of you and although I never met you face-to-face, I feel as though I have known you for quite a while. You have provided me with information that I have used and will continue to use throughout this journey of life. I wish all of you the best and please keep in touch. I am confident of one thing if nothing else, I know all of you are representing the field of early childhood in a positive way. Take care and best wishes to all!

FAMOUS QUOTES:

“Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.”
– Chinese proverb –

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
– Frederick Douglass –

“Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.
– Dr. Hiam Ginnot –

CONTACT INFORMAITON:

assian@sbcglobal.net
(216) 272-6035
Brenda Palmer-Assian

JOB/ROLES IN THE ECE COMMUNITY: INTERNATIONALLY

I am interested in the following organizations due to their commitment to children and their families. First, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). This organization has always been appealing to me because of their humanitarian interactions with children and mothers in developing countries. This organization is non-profit and they receive their fundings from private donors and they also get monies the government. They have provided services to as many as 191 countries and their dedication to children and mothers is long-term.

Second, my interest is with the Global Children’s Organizations (GCO), which was founded in 1993. Judith Jenya is the founder of this organization and it was founded in the early days of the Balkan war. This organizations purpose is for the children who innocently caught up in the crossfire of war. Volunteers along with Ms. Judith made it possible for the children to be safe and secure during their time of suffering and to find a place of refuge. Although Ms. Judith and the volunteers were not in a position to giver the children permanency, they wanted to give the children an experience for a few weeks of reprieve and calmness during the wartime. My true attraction to this organization, is the fact that Ms. Judith and the volunteers knew that they did not have the power in their to change the whole world; however, their endeavor was to give children whatever time they could give to them to bring about a temporary change in their lives.

Third, Save the Children organization brings about change for children during times of crisis throughout the world.  Their main focus is to protect children from harm and to hopefully get them off to a healthy start. This organization has come to realize that when children are transformed early in their life, their future might be affected in a positive way.  What’s more interesting is that this organization has a positive approach as to why they provide the help that they provide for children and they wish nothing but the best for young children.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Job 1. Position – Administrative Manager

Job Qualifications:

EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: Bachelor’s degree required, with an emphasis in business administration, pre-law, or related areas preferred. EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS: Three (3) years of progressive experience in the management/administration of day-to-day operations that includes direct supervision of administrative staff and financial/budgetary processes, preferably within a healthcare setting. Experience working with a governing board preferred.

Job 2. Position – Account Specialist

Job Qualifications:

Fluent in English. Must have a pleasant telephone voice and manner. An even keel personally is essential. A give service attitude is essential. Must be detail oriented, have good organization skills. Experience with MS Office a plus; 35 – 40 WPM typing needed to meet deadlines.

References:

http://www.children.org

http://globalchild.org

http://www.stjude.org

http://www.savethechildren.org

http://www.unicef.org

http://www.children.org

JOB ROLES IN THE ECE COMMUNITY: NATIONAL/FEDERAL LEVEL

Organizations

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) – has always been appealing to me due to their strong dedication to quality early childhood education. They’re known today as the largest organization in the world that works in behalf of young children. This organization has a lot to offer to parents and educators. It is almost considered to be a one-stop-shop. Also, their position statements on ethical conduct is very appealing. They recognize that there are so many daily decisions that educators are faced with regarding moral and ethical issues.

Zero to Three – is a national organization that provides parents, professionals and policymakers with knowledge and the how’s to nuture the early development of young children. Their mission is to ensure that all babies and toddlers have a good start in the beginning of their life. What Zero to Three has discovered is that early experiences is the beginning of a lifetime of learning. By exploring their site you will be able to learn more about early development of young children. What attracts me to this organization is their focus toward the early years of a child’s life.

National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) – is a non-profit organization and their mission is to promote quality child care settings. The reason I selected this organization is because of the focus that it has on family child care. This organization recognizes that it does not matter if child care is in a center or a home it should be still be focused on providing families with young children with quality care. This organization also supports the family child care providers by offering workshops through their training institute and they have annual conferences that keep the providers updated on child care issues.

Job Opportunities

CEOGC – Council for Economic
POSITION, Teacher Job Summary – Responsible for the preparation and implementation of the daily classroom program and functions. Ensures developmentally appropriate experiences for all Head Start children.

Infant/Toddler or Preschool Program Specialist

Division :
Knowledge Learning Corporation
Location :
Maple Heights Ohio US 44137
Job Type :
Full Time
Career Level :
Experienced (Non-Manager)
Education :
Associate Degree
Category :
Education/Training

Skills and Experience

Bachelor or Advanced Degree in Early Childhood Education, Capable of developing and sustaining warm and meaningful relationships with 3 – 5 yr old children’s parents, staff and community partners. Good dexterity with ability to lift 40 pounds. Good oral, written and interpersonal skills to work with parents, children and staff. Flexible and dependable with sound understanding of multi-racial and multi cultural backgrounds and issues concerning children with disabilities.

References:

http://www.naeyc.org
http://www.zerotothree.org
http://www.nafcc.org

FINAL CLASS

Hello Classmates,

We are in our final course at Walden University and yes it has been a journey. During this course I am looking forward to communicating with each of you and getting to know you a little better. There is a lot that we have in common and that is what interest me the most. How wonderful it is to be able to be in a group of learning and everyone has similar passions. Let’s get the ball rolling.

Brenda Palmer-Assian

EXPLORING ROLES IN THE EARLY CHILDHOOD COMMUNITY

Saturday, November 8, 2014

The following are agencies that work together with families, childcare centers, professionals in the field of early childhood and other agencies who come together because of their passion and dedication. These agencies provide information, workshops, referrals and other services to assist those in this field. What attracts me to these agencies are their availability of services to the families and the other agencies that they work close with. Their main focus is on ensuring quality services to families with children. Also, the other focus of these agencies is to assist educators in staying abreast of their personal educational needs.

STARTING POINT REFERRAL AGENCY – This is an agency that links families to programs and services that meet the educational needs of the children. Also Starting Point strengthens the community’s capacity to respond to those needs. http://www.starting-point.org

OCCRRA – their mission is to support Ohio’s network of Child Care Resource & Referral agencies. Implement statewide programs that improve service quality and advocate for policy improvements. Their shared values are to respect each other and act as a team to achieve their goals. Commit to open proactive communication, embrace diversity in thought, word, and deed. Take pride in our work to ensure quality, accuracy and efficiency. Engage and lead supportive partnerships I pursuit of excellence. http://www.occrra.org

CUYAHOGA COUNTY JOB AND FAMILY SERVICES – This agencies mission is to promot economic self-sufficiency and personal responsibility for families by providing a broad range of quality services. http://www.cjfs.cuyahogacounty.us

Job opportunities that interest you:

1. The following job opportunity is available at the local community college. It is a part-time teaching position that I meet the qualifications and it will provide me the opportunity to work in an area of my interest.

Adjunct Faculty, Early Childhood Education
Department Name
Campus or Location
Vacancy Number
College-wide
PT132-15
Associate Dean
External/Internal
Part-Time Faculty
Part-Time
Non-Union
Multiple

2. Another position that I would like to fulfill is to work at the local University in the Early Childhood Department. I would like to come on board as a Part-Time instructor for adult learners who has an interest or focus in the early childhood field. Because this position would exist at the university, I would only be able to teach undergraduate students.

3. This position would be with the agency I listed above, Starting Point. I would like to facilitate some of their workshops. These workshops are usually for one day, sometimes two day workshops. These workshops are usually to receive inservice training hours.

Skills and experience that you would need to competently fulfill each of these roles.

The following skills are needed to fulfill this job opportunity. A Bachelor or Masters degree in early childhood education. Minimum of four years teaching experience with children under five years of age. Willingness to learn and/or have experience in the use of instructional technologies to teach traditional, hybrid and/or distance learning classes, and /or as a supplement.

References:
http://www.starting-point.org
http://www.occrra.org
http://www.cjfs.cuyahogacounty.us

MY APPRECIATION TO YOU

I would like to take this time to thank each of my colleagues for their continued support during my studies at Walden University. Rather you realize it or not you all have been very supportive to me as an Adult Learner, especially during the past eight weeks of this particular course. Your ideas and your personal expressions have given me ideas and support in my learning.

Sometimes we don’t realize what influence we have on others and that’s why I feel it necessary to say to each of you that your experiences along with your professionalism has provided me with great support. Some of you I have also taken other courses with me and I’ve watched us grow and reach understanding. We’ve also shared many ideas along with resources that we were able to use now and in the future.

What’s been more remarkable than anything else is how diverse we are. We talked about diversity amongst the children we serve and their families. We are a true diverse group and yet we can come together to collaborate through communication. I think if there’s nothing else we may leave from with this course; we will definitely leave with better communication skills. Once again, thanks to all of you and a special thanks to our instructor who supported us through this course.

If you would like to keep in touch in order to share continuous ideas or just to say hello, I would be glad to hear from you. Here’s my information, email assian@sbcglobal.net or my direct dial telephone number, (216) 272-6035.

Thank You,

Brenda Palmer-Assian

 

 

THE ADJOURNING STAGE, IS IT THE END?

The adjourning stage is described as the following: In the “adjourning” stage the project is coming to an end and the team members are moving off into different directions. This stage looks at the team from the perspective of the well being of the team rather than from the perspective of managing a team through the original four stages of team growth.The team leader should ensure that there is time for the team to celebrate the success of the project and capture best practices for future use.

This stage can sometimes be looked at with a feeling of relief or it can be looked at as a moment of sadness. The situations I’ve experienced were from both sides. I remember looking forward to the day when the team project would be over and I could care less if I saw any of those suppose to be team members again. The support was horrible. There was the person who never participated until the very end and wanted to receive the same credit that everyone else received. There were also those who were there from the beginning to the end who was just there.

On the other hand there was that group that worked so well together who started off as strangers but the end results were almost inseparable. The group did not want that last day to come because we had developed a well together working relationship.

The same can be true today as I am working with the group at Walden University. Although we are working from abroad; I do believe that we are a good working group. We provide support to each other and through that support we show respect for one another. Yes, I will miss working with this group and I hope that our communication continues as we journey on to the next level in our life.

 

Reference:

http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

 

 

 

Conflict to Understanding

The conflict that I would like to share is between a colleague and myself. The conflict involves a situation with a child in the preschool classroom who continually causes problems with the other children. This child whose name I will call Ben, is always doing something toward the other children. Ben is new to the preschool classroom and the teachers are already fed up with him.

The one teacher has come to the conclusion that we need to consider removing him from our school and the other teacher has already taken the next step in doing research to find out how Ben can be helped. The approach that I’ve considered is coming into the classroom to observe Ben and at the same time do an assessment on him and have his mom also complete an assessment on him. The assessment is a step that I take to first see how does the parent see her own child and how do we see him in the classroom. The area that I’m more concerned about at this time is his social and emotional development.

The first teacher that I mentioned isn’t a licensed teacher; however, she is an assistant to the classroom and she’s new to the field. Once again, in her opinion we should get rid of Ben. The conflict that exists between her and myself is our difference of opinion as to how this situation should be handled.

The first thing I considered was listening to her and placing myself in her position as to someone who has very little experience working with children, especially one with a challenging behavior. Our conflict is that we have different views of how to handle this situation. From my experience in working with children and families, I do know that the one thing not to consider is to get rid of the child. I find this situation to be a great learning experience.

Once again, I realize that that our understanding about children is different and because of that I want to make sure that I’m understanding to that fact. Also, I want to make sure that I do self-examination of myself as well as an examination of the teachers who are involved. Due to our own personal views it is possible for all of us to have a different view of the situation. By being aware of the different views of each of us has helped me to have more understanding, patience and compassion toward people. Something else which has came at the right time is an article which gave more insight as to why I’m handling the situation without getting upset or only looking at things from my perspective says the following, “To have respectful relationships, early care providers must acknowledge the range and validity of diverse perspectives. Oftentimes this means embracing the tension that arises when different perspectives exist. To develop reciprocal relationships, early care providers must establish interactions that allow for equal voice for all perspectives” (Corso, 2007). In this case I will strive to look for equal voice. I will not look at the new teacher as to not being in a position to share her ideas because she’s new of less experienced. However, I will look to share all ideas and respect the views and the diversity that exist between everyone involved.

 

 

References:

Corso, R. M. (2007). Practices for enhancing children’s social-emotional development and preventing challenging behavior. Gifted Child Today,

 

 

MYSELF THE COMMUNICATOR

As a communicator what I found out about myself as far as how I perceive myself and the way others perceive me is almost the same.  This is very surprising to me although it probably shouldn’t surprise me much. The two people I selected to evaluate me don’t know each other and their comments were so much the same that it is as if I selected the same person for both parts/

I have come to realize that my communication style is so much the same and others perceive me in the same almost exact way. This doesn’t mean that I should feel comfortable at this point; what it does tell me is that I can improve; I can make some changes to be a better communicator.

This week there were some interesting subjects that struck my attention.  First, I’d like to talk about Self Disclosure because I never associated this with effective communication or communication that’s meaningful. I learned the following according to the textbook, it states, “To count as self-disclosure in a relationship, the disclosure must be important” (O’Hair & Weiman, 2012, Pg. 56.). I need to keep in mind that the disclosure must be something to share with others that are important and beneficial that others can find some importance that might benefit them. Second I found more understanding in not wanting to succumb to undue influence.  By giving way to undue influence I more than likely will be not having control of my own thoughts but giving way to the thoughts of others. As a communicator I want to always be actively involved in the communication between others and myself. Actually, undue influence can be likened to a one-way street of communication.

Both of these communications are important to know about because they will definitely influence the way I communicate with others and the effectiveness.

 

References:

O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

 

 

 

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Communication with people from other Cultures isn’t something that I do differently than before.  This is only due to the fact that I’ve been around people from other cultures for a very long time.  I’ve always given a lot of understanding when communicating with other cultures and I ask questions for clarity.  The one thing I don’t hesitate to do is ask when it’s something that I don’t understand.

Based on what you have learned this week, share at least three strategies you could use to help you communicate more effectively with the people or groups you have identified. 

Strategy 1:  Platinum Rule, When communicating with others I will remember that what I feel is important or what I may expect from others isn’t necessarily how that person may perceive the communication.  No longer will I think in terms that if this is how I want to be treated, I will treat others the same way.  I will apply the Platinum Rule.

Strategy 2:  Gaining Understanding of other Cultures, this should be applied at all times especially when dealing with children.  Educators must be able to recognize when the practices of parents are not always wrong especially when the safety of the child is taken into consideration.  What this will require on the part of the educator is not to jump to the worst conclusion without having understanding about the culture of that family. (Understanding and Appreciating Cultural Differences)

Strategy 3:  Non Verbal Communication in Cultures is something that must be respected especially when it is communicated to you by someone of that culture.  Not knowing that you have just insulted someone is something that can happen; however, be ready to apologize and don’t repeat the incident again.  Sensitivity is something we all must demonstrate, especially those of us who have dealings with people from the many different cultures.  The text states the following, “Nonverbal communication is highly influenced by cultures.  What may be an innocent gesture in one group, context, region, or country can convey a different and possibly offensive message elsewhere” (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012, Pg. 148)

References:

Article: Interpersonal Communication and Diversity:  Adapting to Others (pp. 85–114)

Article:  Looking at Nonverbal Communication Across Culture (pp. 80-81).

O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St.