Getting Ready: Professional Contacts and Resources

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Getting Ready: Professional Contacts and Resources

To begin my search for professional contacts out of country I turned to the first generation immigrants with whom I work. I felt getting to know their educational experiences will help me better understand the strategies and priorities they implement in their classrooms. I have secured two contacts so far, but I am interested in two or three others. My first contact is a primary teacher that lives in Taiwan. She is excited to share ideas, as one of the objectives in her classroom is to teacher the children English. The second contact I have made is with a director of a preschool program for four and five year olds in Guatemala. I do not know very much about

her program yet, but I am excited to learn.

There are two other contacts I am hoping to establish, one from the Ukrainian and another from Afghanistan.

I am anticipating increasing my cultural awareness and improving my relationships with my staff that are first generation immigrants.

Administrators! NAEYC welcomes your ideas on possible collaborations with promising early childhood initiatives. (Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/accreditation).

I have chosen to dig deeply into the National Association for the Education of Young Children's (NAEYC) website. Although I have been a member for many years and served on the local affiliate board, I have not taken advantage of the resources available from the NAEYC website. I attended a regional meeting over the summer to discuss the challenges and issues being faced by the organization. I am very interested in how they use the national survey and forum input to encourage membership and to engage in the national trends in early childhood education. I became a member at large for the state organization and feel a responsibility to understand the work currently occurring at the national level. In addition, I intend to formulate a list of current barriers my center/sites will have to overcome to become accredited.

2 comments:

Jackie RodriguezSeptember 9, 2012 at 4:46 PM
Wow, Wendy I am excited to read what you learn from your contact in Taiwan. I am sure she has many questions for you as well as she meets her goal of teaching english to her class.
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DSeptember 14, 2012 at 7:27 PM
I love the idea of creating a list of barriers to accrediation. As a teacher in a center who has been through the NAEYC accrediation process I know that one of the biggest issues is money. It costs a great deal to apply and be considered for the honor. If you have knowledge of this as well as the other steps of the process you can more easily make and achieve a series of small goals that will over time lead to accrediation. I know that is what we did. We added something to focus on in the process each month, until we were ready.
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Personal Childhood Web

Joanie Peterson, my mother, was very engaged in my life from birth. I was the oldest and the only child until I was five. I was loved,my mother spent time with me by including me in whatever activities needed to be done. I remember the old tile floor in the kitchen that had to be waxed regularly. When the wax dried, my mother would give me an old towel to stand on and she would put on music and we would dance the twist until the tiles were buffed. My mother was finishing her bachelor degree in psychology and English during my first three years. I had the opportunity to meet lots of people in a community of shared values. I had time to play uninterrupted and my play was very creative and complex, with hours outside. I was read to and the value of learning was instilled in me early, but not in a competitive way, to be recognized as the best, but in a very personal way. Was I giving the task or the skill my best effort? Her approach to parenting developed intrinsic motivation in me. I am a great team player, motivated and satisfied to make sure the team does well. The measure of achievement is the level to which I tried my best. I can take a risk to take on a new challenge, because I know my mother will always love me. I value personal responsibility.

Rev. Merton Peterson, my father, was finishing seminary and pastoring his first church when I was born. I remember sitting on his lap, watching him type, helping fold bulletins, turning the handle on the old mimeograph machine, and going on home visits with him, when he needed to visit families from the church. We did not have material wealth, but I never felt poor We had enough that we could share. My did believed in me, when there was something I needed to do or learn he always spoke as though I had already mastered the task. I believe he spoke with confidence, because he has prayed for me every day of my life. Being a pastor's child means you learn manners, expectations and hospitality very early. We had lots of company. I loved giving up my bedroom and sleeping in a sleeping bag so the missionaries could have my room when they visited. I would listen to stories of their experiences in different countries and how they would help build homes and schools and grow crops wile they shared that Jesus loved them. I share my family's faith in God and the value that people are more important than things.

My extended family did not live close to me as I was growing up. But my grandmothers and aunt were prolific letter writers. We visited family every holiday, making holidays feel very special. I would listen to the adults share stories about family and friends. I knew that family were there for each other. My great-great grandparents were homesteaders. There was a strong sense of work ethic practiced. There were ranchers and there were farmers. It takes commitment and self determination to make it work. The entire family has to help to get the cattle in or harvest the crops. I remember the first time I was allowed to go on a cattle drive. I was probably seven. The strong connection to aunts, uncles and cousins as we spent the day on horseback gathering the cattle that were scattered among the trees and meadows in the foothills was exhilarating—I belonged, I was given worthwhile work. The farming family was an even stronger influence on my work ethic. When we visited the farm there was always tasks I could participate in: picking fruits and vegetables to can or freeze for my families use and when I got older picking melons or driving a tractor. It was part of being a member of my family. My family values hard work and integrity.

The church community provided a foundation of belonging and strength in conviction. Looking back I can appreciate that those families made sacrifices to make I had what I needed. The children were my friends, we could discuss the roles we were in and decisions we faced from a shared set of values. I never felt alone. As a community we looked out for each other. The community demonstrated living the values they held.

School Environment, Most people cannot imagine going to a school that houses children from kindergarten through senior high in the same building. Still the school community had enough diversity of values that it was a great place to have my values challenged and for me to exercise the decisions to stand true to my values. With only thirteen in my graduate class, but still the roles and functions of any school, there was so much opportunity to try out many different tasks. There were sports, student council officers, music, drama and clubs. I tried it all, because in a school that small everyone needs to get involved to have enough participants. My work ethic and integrity rewarded me with responsibility and opportunities. The most unusual was a flight class to learn to be a pilot, which included flight hours in a small plane. In the state I was raised, schools were the hub of activity for rural communities. Everyone came to all the events. People valued being together.

Wendy Newby - Have I asked the right question?

Sunday, September 9, 2012