The End of One Class and 9 More to Go!!

One class down and nine more to go!! It is hard to believe that the end is near for one class of the EC Masters program. It has been a long 8 weeks, and I am happy to have made it to the end. I want to thank all of my classmates who have shared this journey with me and wish you all much success in the next class. See you there!!

Examining the Codes of Ethics

NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct

I-1.3—To recognize and respect the unique qualities, abilities, and potential of each child.

I – 1.3 is important to me because I realized that all students do not learn at the same pace and that every student is going to enter a school or facility at different levels and with different strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, professionals must respect a child’s individual qualities and abilities and then build and strengthen them in order to help the child reach his or her fullest potential. 

I-1.5—To create and maintain safe and healthy settings that foster children’s social, emotional, cognitive, and development and that respect their dignity and their contributions.

I-1.5 is also very important to me because in order for children to learn they have to feel a sense of safety and security within a school or facility. Also, it is the provider’s responsibility to ensure the safety of the children that they serve. There have been numerous reports regarding people leaving children in a daycare vans or neglecting and abusing children in a facility. This type of behavior is inappropriate, and it makes the public and parents uncomfortable with sending their children to daycares. Therefore, as professionals, it is our job to make the public and parents feel confident and comfortable with leaving the children at our daycare facilities. 

I-2.3—To welcome all family members and encourage them to participate in the program.

Finally, I-2.3 is important to me because I am aware of the fact that children who have parents and family involved in the educational experience are usually successful in school. Therefore, my facility will have an open door policy, and I am going to welcome all families with open arms. Also, it will be mandatory for my parents to volunteer a minimum amount of hours, each month, in order for their children to be in my program.  

Enhancement of Children’s and Families’ Quality of Lives

4. We shall advocate for equal access to high quality services and supports for all children and

families to enhance their quality of lives.

Ensuring that all children have equal access to a high quality education and services is another priority for me because many times the poor students receive poor quality programs and in order to close the achievement gap all students need to have access to a quality education.

Evidence Based Practices

1. We shall rely upon evidence based research and interventions to inform our practice with children

and families in our care.

Finally, it is my belief that all facilities should be required to use research based teaching strategies and interventions in order ensure that students are getting a quality education. Many schools are still using old and out-dated practices and as a result, children are not learning and developing at their fullest potential. 

References

NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved October 23, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

The Division for Early Childhood. (2000, August). Code of ethics. Retrieved October 23, fromhttp://www.dec-sped.org/

DEC Code of Ethics

Professional and Interpersonal Behavior

5. We shall use individually appropriate assessment strategies including multiple sources of

information such as observations, interviews with significant caregivers, formal and informal

assessments to determine children’s learning styles, strengths, and challenges.

Using appropriate and a variety of assessments is very important. Teacher's must assess a student's prior knowledge before delivering instruction in order to determine what they already know  in order to build upon their previous and current knowledge. In addition, it is also important to determine a child's learning style in order to deliver instruction with the strategies that they will need or methods that best suit the child.

Early Childhood Resources

National Center for Children in Poverty

http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_882.htmlThis is one is my favorite resources because it provides a wealth of information about early     childhood development and the overall development of all children in poverty. The website allows you to choose your state and then research your state's profile for demographics and family economical security.  You could also view projects and news articles (current and old) in early childhood.

            

Early Childhood

http://www.earlychildhood.org/This website is a good resource for early childhood professionals who are looking to learn more about the field. There's information about different careers, early childhood program rating systems, programs standard and competencies, and community resources for young children and their families. 

The Learning Tree and Great Kids by Stanley Greenspan

http://stanleygreenspan.com/
Both of these books provide effective information, tools, and strategies for asssisting you children with developmental problems or disabilities, and assuring that children have the qualities and skills needed for successful development.  

Other Resources

Position Statements and Influential Practices

• NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/courses/53029/CRS-CW-4465394/educ6005_readings/naeyc_dap_position_statement.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf
• NAEYC. (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller
• FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~images/pdfs/snapshots/snap33.pdf
  
  Note: The following article can be found in the Walden University Library databases.
• Turnbull, A., Zuna, N., Hong, J. Y., Hu, X., Kyzar, K., Obremski, S., et al.  (2010). Knowledge-to-action guides. Teaching Exceptional Children, 42(3), 42–53.
  Use the Academic Search Complete database, and search using the article's title. 

Global Support for Children’s Rights and Well-Being

• Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
   
• Websites:
  • World Forum Foundation
    http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/about.php
    This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. Make sure to watch the video on this webpage 
  • World Organization for Early Childhood Education
    http://www.omep.org.gu.se/English/about_OMEP/
    Read about OMEP’s mission. 
  • Association for Childhood Education International
    http://acei.org/about/
    Click on “Mission/Vision” and “Guiding Principles and Beliefs” and read these statements.

Selected Early Childhood Organizations

• National Association for the Education of Young Children
  http://www.naeyc.org/
• The Division for Early Childhood
  http://www.dec-sped.org/
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
  http://www.zerotothree.org/
• WESTED
  http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm
• Harvard Education Letter
  http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85
• FPG Child Development Institute
  http://www.fpg.unc.edu/main/about.cfm
• Administration for Children and Families Headstart’s National Research Conference
  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/
• HighScope
  http://www.highscope.org/
• Children’s Defense Fund
  http://www.childrensdefense.org/
• Center for Child Care Workforce
  http://www.ccw.org/
• Council for Exceptional Children
  http://www.cec.sped.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
• Institute for Women’s Policy Research
  http://www.iwpr.org/index.cfm
• National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
  http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/
• National Child Care Association
  http://www.nccanet.org/
• National Institute for Early Education Research
  http://nieer.org/
• Pre[K]Now
  http://www.preknow.org/
• Voices for America’s Children
  http://www.voices.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=22807
• The Erikson Institute
  http://www.erikson.edu/
     

Professional Journals

• YC Young Children
• Childhood
• Journal of Child & Family Studies
• Child Study Journal
• Multicultural Education
• Early Childhood Education Journal
• Journal of Early Childhood Research
• International Journal of Early Childhood
• Early Childhood Research Quarterly
• Developmental Psychology
• Social Studies
• Maternal & Child Health Journal
• International Journal of Early Years Education
  
  

Words of Inspiration and Motivation from the People on the Video

“Passion comes from wanting to make a difference.”

Raymond Hernandez, MS Ed.

“It’s important to make a contribution in the world and to fix all of the injustices in the world through teaching.”

“Teachers should have the passion to make sure that all children are taught in environments and in ways that truly nurture their ability to grow and develop to their fullest ability.”

Louise Derman-Sparks

Quotes by Stanley Greenspan

If you do a little bit of looking at books with your children and inspire them to be curious about the pictures and ... what the word means, but don't get into very structured systematic teaching at too early an age, ... and you also interact emotionally and have fun with pretend play ... then you have the best of both worlds.”

We really need to change that historic dichotomy of cognition on the one hand, emotions on the other hand, and realize that our emotions are the fuel that gives rise to social behavior but also to different levels of intelligence,”

Quote

Qotes and Excerpts

Excerpts and Quotes from Sam Meisels' Presentations

“If schools were factories, America would have solved the education problem a century ago.”

-- Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker

“What Head Start Can Teach Us About NCLB”

“The number of jail cells that we need in the future is determined by the number of kids who aren’t reading at the end of third grade.” 

       Cheryl James-Ward, Principal, Long Beach, CA

“Myths and Realities of Early Care and Development”, August 2002