Sharing Web Resources

This week I explored NBCDI- National Black Child Development Institute (www.nbcdi.org).  Under the Who We Are tab, you will find out the history of this organization as well as the mission statement. 

For 38 years, Evelyn K. Moore, who got her start as a teacher in the groundbreaking Perry Pre-school/High Scope program, which became the model for Head Start, led NBCDI.  She has dedicated her entire professional career to improving outcomes for our society’s most vulnerable children. Her leadership was followed by that of renowned early childhood educator, writer and leader, Carol Brunson Day, who led NBCDI from 2007 to 2011.  NBCDI’s current President and CEO is Dr. Felicia DeHaney.

As I scrolled through the resources, the article that caught my attention was “A Call for Change: A Preliminary Blueprint to Improve Educational Excellence and Opportunity for African American Males in Urban Public Schools”.  I am always concerned about our youth, but especially young black males.  These children have so many strikes against them and I feel as if they are never given a fair chance.  My husband is a part of the Big Brother program here in GA and I am going through the process to become a Big Sister.  The both of us have fallen in love with his little brother and he has improved in many areas in the past three years.  All he needed was someone to take an interest in him and guide him.

There is a section in the paper on Developing and Overseeing Mentoring Programs.  It gives suggestions on ways urban schools can work with these different programs.

Urban schools should:

1.     Determine goals for a mentoring program meant to assist African American males either academically or otherwise, and decide whether the mentoring will be one-on-one, group, community or school-based, or some combination of approaches. Ensure that the design of a mentoring program reflects best practices in matching mentors and students based on relevant criteria.

2.     Clarify that mentors do not have the roles of tutors or disciplinarians. Mentors need to have a trusting relationship with young African American males. School staff should be informed of what this role is and what it is not.

3.     Have the mentorship program target problem and high-risk behaviors (e.g., delinquency or violence, drug use, absenteeism or high suspension rates) exhibited by African American males who may lack responsible male adults in their lives.

4.     Recruit responsible African American adult mentors from the community to pair with district students before and after school and on weekends. Set up clear screening procedures and background checks for mentors and professional development to support their relationships with African American male students.

5.     Carefully match mentors with young African American mentees based on interests, goals, demographic similarities, interview results, and other factors. Enlist the support and assistance of school administrators, counselors, and social workers in identifying students for mentoring and to coordinate efforts.

6.     Mentoring activities with young African American males should include such key activities as exposing them to higher education and career paths, personal relationship building, joint reading and discussion sessions, and sports and recreation.

7.     Provide professional development for mentors throughout their relationship with their young African American male charges, and ensure that mentors are in touch with their organizations at least monthly to discuss progress and challenges.

8.     Require a mentoring relationship with young African American males of at least 12 months and ideally of three years. Care must be taken to ensure that the relationship does not end with the student thinking that he has been abandoned (again) or that it has ended because of something he did or did not do.

9.     Set up special parent training workshops, particularly for single mothers who may be having difficulty with their African American sons, on how to be a positive role model and catalyst in lives of their male children. Other workshops might include relationship building, monitoring, stable home environments, drug prevention, avoiding violence, effective parent- child communications, gang involvement, and the value of staying in school.

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

I think it just hit me that I have started my 4th class as a graduate student at Walden University.  The semester has just started after a nice two week break.  I have to be honest and say that I needed that break!!  As mush as I am enjoying being back in school, I am still finding it difficult to find time to find time just for me.  My motivation to keep going is completing this degree!!

Part 1: Establishing Professional Contacts

I started off going to The Global Alliance of NAEYC.  There are a list of references for people in this field all over the world.  I picked Macedonia and Haiti and send emails to the people listed.  I am not familiar with either country and am curious to learn more about their education system.

1) Macedonia
Foundations for Educational and Cultural Initiatives of Macedonia (FECIM)
Contact- Suzana Kirandziska

2) Haiti
Step by Step Program/ Tipa Tipa
Contact- Dominique Hudicourt

As of today I have not heard back from either contact,but I will be reaching out again this week.

Part 2: Expanding Resources

I picked 2 resources to look at, the first one I chose was the National Black Child Development Institute and the second was the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators.

National Black Child Development Institute 
www.nbcdi.org

Their focus has been on achieving positive outcomes for vulnerable children who suffer from the dual legacies of poverty and racial discrimination.  The organization was launched by the Black Women’s Community Development Foundation, whose leadership, in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, was deeply concerned about the unsatisfactory conditions faced by families determined to raise healthy Black children.

National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators

www.naecte.org

NAECTE members are people from all across the United States and from countries around the globe. We are joined together by our common interest in Early Childhood Teacher Education.

I am looking forward to expanding on this assignment over the course of this semester.

My Supports

I am luck to have a solid foundation of support around me.  My family means everything to me and we are very close.  My husband is my #1 supporter.   His constant encouragement helps me keep going.  My parents have always supported me.  I remember when I first told them that I wanted to become a singer and they welcomed the idea.  Never once did they tell me that I would not be successful and try and change my mind.  I sometimes thought my father was more excited about my singing than I was.  When I decided to take a break from the opera world and become an infant teacher, it took my parents awhile to come around to the idea.   It did not take long for them to adjust to my career change.  We talk often about my dreams of opening a school one day and they support it 150%.

My friends are another source of support for me.  I met most of them during college.  We were all in the Spelman College Glee Club and spend a great deal of time together.  What I love most about them is that they love me for me.  We all have a loving open honest friendship and are there for each other.

My co-teacher is my best friend.  We have been friends for over 13 years and I never thought that one day we would be working together in this field.  Shana by far is one of my biggest supports.  She loves these children as much as I do and that makes my job much easier.  We make a grew team and are fueled by each other.

These people are so important to me and my life would not be the same if they weren't in it.  I have grown into the woman I am today because of them.

If I lost my love and passion for The Early Childhood Field that would present a serious challenge for me as an educator.  I give 200% of myself into this field and I try to provide children with wonderful experiences that they can carry with throughout life.  If I no longer loved this job, I don't think I would invest anything into this field.  It would become just a job that I was doing for pennies and nickels.  I think my supports would have to work extra hard to remind me why I chose this career in the first place and help me fall back in love with it.
I honestly hope this never happens.  We need people who want to make a change and love, love, love what they do.

My Connections to Play

Play keeps us vital and alive. It gives us an enthusiasm for life that is irreplaceable. Without it, life just doesn’t taste good. Lucia Capocchione

Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning. Diane Ackerman

Almost all creativity involves purposeful play. Abraham Maslow

Whoever wants to understand much must play much. Gottfried Benn

Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning. Fred Rogers

I learned so much as a child during my playtime.  I remember spending most of my time in the great outdoors playing with my friends and my sister.  I performed my first concert with my sister and my dog on my outside stage.  I never knew that I would one day become an opera singer, but during my playtime I prepared myself to sing on the stage for the first time.

I spent so much of my childhood running in between the trees and up and down hills.  

The Easy Bake Oven is how I learned to cook.   I watched my mother cooking in the kitchen and I tried to imitate what I saw her doing with my Easy Bake Oven.  I recently saw an Easy Bake Oven at the store.  I instantly went back to my childhood and memories and all he fun times I had playing with my oven.  

My childhood was filled with playtime.  My parents encourages us to play.  As long as all of our homework and chore were completed, we could spend as much time as we liked.  I look at children today and feel sorry for them.  They aren't given the opportunity to play like I did as a child.  My 9 year old niece spends all of her time playing on the iPad, computer, or in front of the television.  She has no interest in being outdoors and has no problem telling you that.  At her school she barley gets 20 minutes of recess time and spends all day cooped up inside a classroom all day.  I hope that schools will soon realize how important play is for children.

Play keeps us vital and alive. It gives us an enthusiasm for life that is irreplaceable. Without it, life just doesn’t taste good. Lucia Capocchione

Reflecting on Building Relationships

"Human relationships, and the effects of relationships on relationships, are the building blocks of healthy development" (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000, p. 4).

I have been fortunate to have had many people impact my life.  I have made some wonderful connections and some not so good.  They have all helped to shape me into the person I am today.

I am so blessed to have these two people as my parents.  They have supported me in everything I have ever wanted to do.  I did not always understand their reasons for somethings, but as I have gotten older I completely understand where they were coming from.  I love the relationship that I have with my parents.  I model my relationship with my husband around what I saw growing up.  They have a love that has withstood many things and I admire both of them so much.

This is my childhood best friend.  We were thick as thieves growing up and I have so many wonderful memories from the times we spent together.  I will never forget the day I met Aisha.  My family had just moved to Naperville, Il and we were driving around trying to familiarize ourselves with the new city.  We saw Aisha and her mother working in the yard so we stop to speak to them.  Our connection was instant!  We had a sleepover that same night and were inseparable.  We lost contact after my family relocated to Ga, but we recently connected on FB and the connection is still there.

I love my alma mater Spelman College.  I will never forget the first day I stepped foot through the gates of Spelman College.  As I looked around I saw so many shades of beautiful black women and it was breathtaking.  I was a member of The Spelman College Glee Club and we were family.  Some of my best friends today I met during my time at Spelman.  Every woman in my family is a Spelman Woman and I am sure that this will continue throughout generations to come.

My best friend!  Shana is not only my best friend, but she is also my co-teacher.  I met Shana while at Spelman and we have been friends for almost 13 years.  We are kindred spirits for sure.  Working with her has only made our bond stronger.  Knowing that she shares the same love for children is refreshing.  Not only that, but we trust each other and that deepens our relationship with the children.  I began working in this field before Shana and I never would have thought that 5 years later she would join me.  Neither one of us had early childhood in our career plans, but were both led to it.

Lyla is one of the first infants I had in my primary care group.  I love this little girl so much.  We were inseparable for a long time and I have enjoyed watching her grow.  I have a close relationship to her parents as well as her brother.  She has moved on to another school, but we still see each other often.  When I have those moments where I question why it is that I do this, I think back on my time with Lyla and the questions stop.

My husband Santana is my rock.  He is my soul mate and I am so blessed to have him in my life.  We have been married for 8 years and been together for 13.  People see us out and always think that we are newlyweds.  They don't believe us when I tell them how long we have been together.  My husband is my number one supporter and pushes me when I feel like giving up.  I can't wait for us to have children, he is going to be a wonderful father.

I love hard and I value every relationship I have.  I have learned that communication and trust are key to having successful relationships.  If I don't share that with a person the relationship will not work.