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

Blog 2

I have been working along side a teacher that has been teaching for 29 years. She is wonderful and has great ideas to teach children the curriculum. Our curriculum has changed this year and has made a huge stress on teachers that have taught for many years. This teacher also is on the schools intervention team to help students struggling. This is a school wide team with a teacher from every grade level trying to think of ways to improve teaching students and school procedures if needed. She leads the teacher grade level meetings every week and she is in charge of literacy and other teachers are in charge of other areas. In this meeting the teachers discuss how they are teaching different subjects and talk about how to help children struggling. It is a great way for the teachers to find other ways to help their children that may be struggling also. The teacher sends home messages to families in the daily agenda. She types up a weekly newsletter informing parents of the curriculum the children are learning and ways to help at home, also informing of upcoming events they may attend. Parents are always free to call or email her throughout the day if they need to.

Application 1

In my interview I talked to Mrs. Hines and Mrs. Quinton. Mrs. Hines is a teacher that has taught for 29 years. Mrs. Quinton is our parent coordinator and has been going on her 2nd year. After talking with Mrs. Hines and Mrs. Quinton I chose as the area of interest to support and encourage parental support in elementary school. It has been shown that children do better when they have parental support in school. Mrs. Hines related the importance of working with parents and having them active in their child's education. Mrs. Hines has seen the benefits for children in the parents who are actively involved in their child's education. We have many events scheduled in our school monthly as well as information sent home also. One of the areas I selected within this area is school nutrition. In order for a child to be successful in school they have to have healthy food to think and process information. I also chose supporting literacy early on. A child needs reading in order to achieve in the other academic areas. Reading is the foundation to succeeding in school. A child has to be able to read to write, do social studies, math, and science. They need the academics but they also need to learn life skills to succeed in life after school.This is my third area of interest. This is important because a child needs to be able to take the information they learned in school to be able to perform tasks in the "real world" after school. This would be jobs, relationships, and everyday living. They have to have skills to have critical and creative thinking, problem solving, and know how to get along with others to be successful in life. With a parents support and giving children a healthy foundation of reading and life skills a child will be prepared for the future. My reasons for selecting these areas are because of the impact they have on children. Children need all the support they can get early on to be a success later in life. As a teacher that is our goal to help them be successful not only in the present, but also have the skills to be successful in their futures.

I have decided to interview two of the Kindergarten teachers at the school I work with. I have worked with both teachers and greatly admire their opinions. One teacher has been teacher 27 years and one for 29 years. I know over the years that they have had many things they have had to be advocates for. They have always put the children first in the day. Both teachers are very dedicated and work well beyond the school day. It is not unusual to see the two of them at school until 7:00 or 8:00 in the evening.

I hope this blog goes through to everyone. I am excited about learning more about blogging. This is a new experience for me as for many of you. We will all learn together through this course.