Option 2

The Early Childhood Education field is a field that will never lose importance. Research in the field brings light to some of the best parenting ideas and styles as well as significance to other key issues in the field of children. It gives us an indication of how children see the world around them and how to put this new information to use for the well-being of children, families and society as a whole. If I could research anything in the early childhood field without restriction or budget I would research the effects of educated early childhood teachers (minimum of a bachelor degree) in the classroom from infant through pre-k. vs. early childhood educators with the basic 40 hours of training Florida requires.  I believe that this would contribute to the field as a whole because I believe the findings would direct us to demanding and expecting educators who are educated to teach in the field of early childhood education.

Educating the Educator

Early childhood educators have an essential job in establishing an academic foundation that is strong for their students.  Early childhood educators give direction during a vital part of a young child’s education when their social skills are developing.  Educators have a direct influence on children and how they think of school. Although many early childhood educators are not highly educated it is becoming more understood daily the importance of early childhood educators who obtain higher education.  I have owned and operated Green Gables Day School in Palatka Florida for 10 years.  It is almost impossible to find a teacher who even has an associate degree. Forty hours training is what is required of early childhood educators in Florida.  Going above and beyond that is almost unheard of.  The passion you must have to continue your education when a teacher in the early childhood field makes barely above minimum wage takes a dedicated professional. 

 

Sharing Web Resources

The website that I chose last week was http://www.NAEYC.org .  This website offers a large variety of resources for educators as well as parents.  NAEYC covers just about every early childhood education topic, issue and trend.  It is a highly informative site that offers a variety of research articles and journals.  NAEYC’s mission is to be a voice for children and lead educators in insuring all children have a high quality early childhood education experience.  A current issue that caught my attention on the NAEYC website was teaching your passion.  Teachers teach better when they are interested in what they are teaching.  This is a new way to approach teaching young children.  Children often take a direct interest in what makes their teacher happy.  This in return allows the child to have deep discoveries and experiences that is of interest to their teacher as well as themselves.  Teachers share their passions which in return helps children discover and be excited about their own passions. 

 

 

 

 

Establishing Professional Contracts and Expanding Resources

I had no choice but to go with the alternative assignment this week.  I had no luck finding an international early childhood professional.  I am sure I will learn a lot by exploring all of my classmate’s blogs that were lucky enough to find an international professional in the early childhood field.  I have chosen the NAEYC website to expand my knowledge on issue and trends in the early childhood field.  I am very excited about exploring this site.  This has to be one of my favorite organizations.

“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”
― Margaret Mead

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“Children aren't coloring books. You don't get to fill them with your favorite colors.”
― Khaled Hosseini

 

To all my classmates,

 I want to thank you for reading my blog and commenting on it.  I hope that you all go far on your educational journey.

               Brooke Downs Guy

Testing for Intelligence?

I strongly believe as an educator we should assess the child as a whole.  I believe that the child should be assessed and their skill level measured by looking outside high stakes standardized testing. Social and emotional skills as well as critical thinking skills should be assessed when measuring the child’s abilities and examining the child.  I believe this is essential to children because standardized test do not assess all of the important aspects of a child.  Standardized test prevent teachers and administrators from viewing a full picture of the child’s development.  In England, school age children are assessed by standardized testing as well, however a group of teachers recently refused to administer the high stakes test. “British newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph, are reporting that as many as half of the estimated 600,000 primary school students due to sit for tests will not take them because their teachers have decided to take a stand against them” (Strauss, 2010).  Teachers should actively be involved with designing and developing an appropriate assessing tool. I believe standardized test fail to give teachers and administrators a full picture of the whole child.   “Teachers in England have some support from a part of the government. A House of Commons school committee recently said in a report that the system of high-stakes tests “reduced teachers’ scope” to be creative. The legislators called for more informal assessment by teachers in the classroom, combined with a system of sampling to keep a check on national standards” (Strauss, 2010). There are many different ways to assess children.  A few suggestions of this would be to have teachers actively involved in the development and the design of an appropriate assessment tool and assess children throughout the school year keeping documented evidence of their continuing improvement and growth.  Some concerns related to assessing young children are the stress level that the children are put under often gives false test results, because children may not score as high as possible because of the fear of high stakes standardized test and the impact it has on their future.

 

 

Reference

Strauss, Valerie (2010, May). Teachers refuse to give standardized tests to kids. Washington Post.  Retrieved from Retrieved from: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/standardized-tests/teachers-in-england-boycott-st.html

 

 

 

My Supports II

Sorry I totally left this out of my original post!

The challenge I hope never to have to endure is to be blind.  I think it would be so difficult to not see the world around me.  My children, the sky, the flowers, you name it I can’t imagine.  I would need my supports to rally beside me and help me understand the positives that still existed in my life.  My daily supports I believe would hold my hand and help me through any challenge I may have to overcome.  If I did not have my daily supports my life would point blank be incomplete.