What is Communication

When I think about communication the person that comes to mind is a long time childhood friend of mine. She is such a dear friend who wears many hats. She is a professional hair care specialist and her primary occupation is a Senior Broadcasting Technician with Ms.Public Broadcasting where she also serves as a facilitator for online evening classes. I admire her because of the way she carries herself and how she is always at her professional best. She speaks very eloquently and is always very respectful to others no matter what her surroundings are. I respect her for being the person of integrity that she is and has become. Her opinions and thoughts are greatly respected by others and myself. She is also one of the people that supports my efforts concerning getting my Masters in the Educational field.

Professional Hopes and Goals

These eight weeks have been very intense but yet meaningful. I have enjoyed learning from the course as well as my colleagues. My one hope is that I will be able to make that connection and build relationships with the children and their families that will be long term and that I will be able to have a broader perspective in regards to all that I have attained during this course.
When I watched the media video's that included Dr. Sparks, Ms. Taylor and Dr. Benavides, they were all very inspiring. I  have quite a few desires and several goals but, to add to my list of goals after watching these three ladies, I would say that I would aspire to be as good as they have become in the Early Childhood Education field.

As I stated earlier this course has been intense but, very informative as well. I have gained a wealth of knowledge that has become an asset to my life. I would like everyone of my colleagues for sharing their thoughts and ideas with me and for listening and responding to my thoughts and ideas. I pray continued success on each of you. Stay strong and knowledgeable hopefully we will meet again. And never forget that we can never learn too much.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

For this assignment, I am an early childhood professional working in a  child care center. I have a new student arriving in my class. I am to determine what ways I can prepare myself for working in early childhood settings which represent such diversity. The country I chose is the Philippines.

1. I will need to learn the culture of the child/ family
2. Take into consideration the diet/eating habits of the family
3. Ensure that the family feels as comfortable as they would feel in their native country
4. Learn the ways and how they go about doing things in their own family
5. I will need to find a way to make the communication process flow easy by having
    someone around that can assist me with the language,someone who is bilingual

I hope by making these preparations that the family would feel comfortable, and not afraid because they are in a new and unfamiliar place. I think that it is really good to learn about new things and interact with new people. I believe that this will be a learnig process for me as well as my new family.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

As we continue this journey discussing issues about bias, prejudice, oppression and microaggressions,  I must say this week has been like an emotional roller coaster ride for me. Some of the topics at hand are very touchy and bring up suppressed feelings that are not easy to talk about. But however for this week we are to talk about a memory or incident that I my self, someone I know or maybe a movie have experienced bias, prejudice or oppression. One of my favorite movies is the story of Dorothy Dandridge who was portrayed by one of the finest African American actresses of all, Halle Berry. Dorothy Dandridge was making her debut during the time when racism was rampant and not hidden. I can remember her having to enter into the back door of certain clubs to perform for an audience full of prejudices, biases and oppression not having the same privileges as the Caucasian actors and singers. I really love this movie but each time I watch it reminds me of how sad it is and how heartbreaking it is to see that because you are different you are treated different. I truly believe that during the time and era people knew nothing about diversity. I have a lot of interpersonal thoughts about situations like this one that I rather keep to myself. Although this was a movie it is still alive today.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

This week's assignment is to describe an example of microaggression that we have witnessed or personally experienced ourselves. The experience I had myself did not happen this week but some time ago. At one time I worked for a company where sometimes I felt like I was the minority and, I wasn't suppose to notice the way things were being done or said. A group of us were sitting in the break room and we were talking about different movies. So, someone mentioned the movie " The Help" and I was the only African American at the table, I don't remember exactly how the conversation began but the only guy at the table say's to me maybe we can get Janice to be the help and he laughed it off as if it were funny. However; I didn't think it was funny at all. This happened to me on more than one occasion until I finally had enough. And eventually I said to him that is the last black  joke I'm listening too and I was done, simply because by that time I was infuriated and I could not deal with it anymore. The discussion question this week caused me to reflect on how I was the target and the way I fel,t whether it was intentional or unintentional. Either way it does not take away from how a person feel when they are being targeted. Discrimination, prejudice, stereotyping, none of these microaggressions are good in one way or the other. I strongly believe if people practice the golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, it may perhaps be a lot better and allow us to think before we speak.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

When I thought of the three people I would ask these questions, Right away I thought of three  unique people to me. I have an associate of mine who is much older than me, I thought that she could give me answers with a little wisdom. Her name is Carolyn. When I asked Carolyn about what culture and diversity meant to her ironically she basically gave me the same answers as one of the three panelist in our media resource. She told me that culture is a way of life and that diversity is just being different. I was looking for some grand answer that would make me go WOW but, instead she gave me simplicity, I saw the wisdom in that. Afterwards I asked a long distance friend of mine and she gave me a slight peek into her lifestyle because she is bi-racial. She told me that her lifestyle changed drastically when she married into the Mexican culture so therefore she had to make a lot of changes which is where diversity came in for her. She had to change her cooking habits, some of the foods she was originally use to eating she had to change. this change did not only affect her but, it affected her husband as well because he had to adjust to her culture as well. My friend is African American. The last person I spoke with was Taylor. We haven't known each other for very long however; she is one of those persons that drift in your life for a season but, they have a story to tell that could possibly be for a particular reason. Well, Taylor has an amazing story line for her life which is very sad but turned out great. She was not always the person she is now, she doesn't have to worry about anything financially. Taylor told me that her way of life(culture) was initially poverty stricken,so she did not have the opportunity to discover what her true culture is or family lifestyle is suppose to be. However; now her life is very different because money changed her life drastically.

In contrast to what i have learned thus far, I see how diversity plays a role in each of my friends lives and I also see the differences in culture. For example, my friend who married into a different culture she had to make a lot of changes, she and her husband had to make sacrifices for each other. I believe that the definition of culture and diversity are somewhat the same with the three people I chose to ask these questions. I think that everyone just has a different way of verbalizing their differences.

My Family Culture

The three items I thought about in regards to the scenario were; photos of my mother, her mother, and her father, a moo-moo dress that my grandmother gave me and a small but different music box. The photos that are of my grandmother, mother and grandfather are black and white photos whey back in time, when my mom was probably in high school. Each of them are passed away now. My grandmother was very very dear to my heart, I loved my mom as well but it was a different kind of love. My grandmother took care of me since I was 4 years old. the moo-moo dress is a dress that she use to wear at home all of the time. And sometimes when I am really missing her I put it on to help me not to forget. I put it on for as long as I want. The music box in it's ow simplicity holds a lot of sentiment, love, compassion and warmth. I love it because my mom said that it reminded her of me. All of these objects make me feel as if my mom and grandmother are still here.

OMG!!!!!! I would be crushed because all of  these objects helps me sometimes when I feel down and low and I am having a moment when I am missing them the most.

What I have gained from this exercise is that your culture and family are very important. As I get older I am beginning to realize just how important they are.

When I Think of Research...

This has been a journey for me. This weeks blog is requesting responses to five questions which has actually helped me to reflect and take a deep breath.
1. What insights have you gained about research from taking this course? I have learned from this course that there are many doors to research and that it is a very necessary tool for us as educators. We need research to help keep ourselves updated on the latest trends and issues of early childhood education.
2. In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed? Before these last eight weeks I did not realize nor recognize how extensive and time consuming but  yet important research is. My thoughts about research has changed because I now know the significance of it in regards to the field of early childhood education.
3. What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn? The lesson that I have learned during this course is that you cannot in no possible way just jump into research, it takes time and much effort. And as a pointer, it is essential that you have a time management plan.
4. What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them? Because I am a beginner to the research field, there were many challenges for me. The terminology and the diverse ways that research could be conducted was really conflicting and overwhelming. I decided to use other resources to help me determine what it was that I initially needed to do, which for me was really time consuming and very exhausting.
5. What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course? The only modification I perceive as an early childhood education professional is that I will have to stay involved and in tune with what is happening in the field and, because research will be playing a role in my profession I believe that implementing a management plan for research would be a great idea.

To my fellow colleagues thanks for all of the support and inspiration I received during these eight weeks. My prayer for each of you is that you will always possess the spirit of EXCELLENCE in everything that you do and I hope that I will see you again as we continue our journey to being the best Early Childhood Professionals in these times.