Blog 5

This semester has been a challenging one for me. I have learned a lot through my colleages through the blogs and discussions. The Advocacy Plan has been more difficult than I orginally thought it would be but it has stretched my thinking and my friends and co-workers helping me through it it is almost over. I wish the best for everyone in their future plans. I hope we will all be teachers in schools helping students the best way we know how. The most important thing I have learned through all my classes is to never quit and keep going even when it gets tough. The rewards will be worth it in the end. To make a positive difference in the lives of children is always worth the struggle to get there. Thanks again to everyone supporting me with their thoughts and ideas. I wish everyone the best in their future both professionally and personally. I feel a connection to everyone that has helped my journey. Everyone has made a positive difference in my life and I appreciate it. Thanks to the teacher for helping me when I was confused and got me on track.

Module4 blog

• Questions you have with which your colleagues may be able to provide help and support  
• I would want to know if many people think that a PowerPoint is a good way to get present information or not. If this is not, what would they suggest? 
• Resources and information you are seeking  I need to know how much detail needs to be in the presentation and how long it should be. I want to make the presentation exciting and not boring by making it to simple or to over their heads but make it to where everyone can understand the information. 
• Resources and/or information you have found helpful and insightful I found the information from websites very useful as well as talks with teachers and parents. I like the honesty used and the sharing of  ideas presented. 

Module 3

A quote that you find inspirational regarding the role that advocacy can have in the lives of young children and their families.
Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is, not a preparation for life; education is life itself.
John Dewey
The quality of education that children receive early in life has a bearing on their later life that we may never fully understand. Miquel Ferrer   Both of these quotes are inspirational because they show that education should be a top priority. The second quote shows that it does make a difference in supporting of education in children.  www.saidwhat.co.uk

What inspires and excites you most about your advocacy plan and being an advocate? I think being able to work with families to help their children develop the proper foundation at a early age is important to me. To show that I want to make a positive difference in their child's life and show them how they can help also. 

What challenges and/or anxieties do you feel related to engaging in the advocacy efforts you have targeted?   I think just getting parents to see how important spending quality time with their child is and helping them help their child. Many parents are so busy working that they need to take time  to help their child succeed in school and not just be in school.

What do you believe will be most effective in helping you overcome any challenging emotions you may be feeling with regard to presenting and implementing your Advocacy Action Plan? I think by having support from fellow co-workers and parents. 

How can you encourage others in their advocacy efforts, and how can others encourage you? By listening and being there for one another. Showing support and encouragement along the journey. 

Final Blog

During this class I have learned how to set up and write blogs. I have also worked on a research paper. I have learned that research papers take a lot of time and patience. It is a lot of research and the information can be overwhelming at times. Once you do a outline you have more of a direction to direct the paper and find information on. I know in my topic there were many resources that were almost the same. I think using Open Office I have learned it is a lot different from Microsoft. In past papers I have always used Microsoft so this a different program to learn. I have also learned to pace myself and work a little at a time on my paper and it was easier to focus on it. I would get up and do something around the house or play with my daughter for a while and then get back to the paper. I really enjoyed the topic and learned from the people I interviewed as well as parents I interviewed. It's nice to be able to listen and understand both sides of how parent involvement works. I talked to some parents that did not feel they had adequate time to work with the school but were actively involved in their child's homework at home, and made sure all supplies were turned in on time, and the child would get enough sleep as well as regular routines.  This was a exciting adventure this semester and it makes me understand even more why I want to be a future educator. 

Blog 4

Question: Whom you observed and interacted with in your setting during this module.
Answer: I have talked and observed parents as well as several teachers in the way they communicate with each other. I have asked several parents if they think that our school is doing what they can to keep parents involved in their child's education. Many of the responses I have gotten have been positive. A few are not sure if they like the programs they can get involved in or how our school handles parents interacting with the school. Some parents think that more should be at night. We have a few that get upset about special occasions that they can not participate in such as Thanksgiving lunch and Christmas lunch. Our lunchroom manager said because of the availability of space we cannot have children's parents to eat lunch with them on these special occasions. He also stated that they may come any other day of the week and enjoy lunch with there children.

Question: Any special learning experiences you may have had or an experience that provided you with insight about children and families including advocacy efforts.
Answer: I learned that it's good to be able to talk with parents about their feelings and they like expressing their opinions whether positive or negative. It is important to take into account the way that families feel and be able to communicate why certain rules are there when they do not like them.

Question: At least two insights gained from your observations of, and interaction and experiences with, children's families regarding advocacy efforts and needs related to your area of interest within the field of early childhood.
Answer: I think it's important to reach out to families and through this observation and communicating with parents I got a first hand understanding of how communication works within the schools. I saw the parents communicating with the teachers and office administration about things they did or did not like. We need to know in education about ideas that parents have and work toward helping parents and educators work together for positive outcome of the children. When everyone is working together toward goals everyone feels connected and willing to listen to other opinions. The teachers I observed did a great job in working with their parents to help their children in their classroom. This shows the importance of working together toward a common goal which are the children. Our school motto is "Putting Children First" and our one school rule is RESPECT and we truly show this to our parents and our children. We have teachers and administration that go over and above the normal job.

Module 3 Edu 411

In this last couple of weeks I have been communicating with our Parent Coordinator, Mrs. Davis  at our school. Mrs. Davis is pretty neat because she has the opportunity to work full time with our school. She helps in our front office with the parents, answers phone calls, assists administration, does memo's for monthly letters, and coordinates family events for our school. She is always available to ask questions. She talks with the principal/assistant principal about the events that she wants to do to help encourage parent and family nights at the school. The administration after having the talk about the upcoming event then have a meeting with the teachers and staff and ask for help with the events. The events are suppose to be educational but in a fun way. Such as a Celebrity Cook off we recently had at our school. Mrs. Davis asked for help from our superintendent of our school system, a firefighter, and the assistant principals to help in the cook off. The parents and children came to cheer on the cooking panel and vote for the best food after testing the food. We also recently had a book character parade at our school. This book character parade allowed the children to dress up in a outfit to promote their book. The teachers and children walked the hallways and the other children in the other grades cheered on the children walking and then they walked. Every grade level was able to walk if they dressed up and had the book to support the outfit they had on. The teachers and children would walk through the lunchroom to let the parents that wanted to watch see the children. Our school had a great turnout and it promoted the love of reading to the students and families. It also showed children that reading can be fun and everyone had fun dressing up. This was done close to Halloween and many children wore their Halloween costumes that had a book with them such as Superman, Power Rangers, Princess outfits and books such as Little Mermaid. Each month or so our coordinator tries to come up with activities that parents and children alike will enjoy and promote learning. Mrs. Davis also includes the community leaders such as fireman in many activities also. We have a police station and fire station directly across the street from our school and they love to help with programs for the children. Mrs. Davis also types memos monthly giving parents helpful hints on how to help their children with fun learning activities at home.

Module 3 Writing an Outline

In writing a outline it helps formulate and focus your research on specific questions and not get lost in the information. As for me there is a overabundance of information on the computer and I get lost in trying to stay focused. Before I know it I am looking at something that is similar but different. I am still working on the outline but some of the challenges are still staying organized and not getting lost. It's amazing what is available on today's websites and it is overwhelming to a person not used to the internet and resources. I have gained patience and pacing myself with the information has helped me not to become so overwhelmed. It's hard to sort through the information to make sure to do the research but taking it in steps is easier for me. I do have two questions. My question is am I the only one that has the problem of sorting through information and the feeling of being overwhelmed? I want to do the best and get the right information I get lost sometimes. Is this normal? Any help on how someone else feels can certainly help me. Thanks