Final Thoughts

As I think back to the ways that I have engaged with my colleagues, I can distinctly recall four avenues (class discussion/blogs, videos, Residency, email, Google Hangouts and phone/text).  The class discussion and Google Hangouts has been the most useful and most relied upon.  I look forward to maintaining contact with my colleagues at least twice per week for clarification, and inspiration.

I engage with the professions in the field of education on a daily bases.  For example, the professionals in my school and I usually meet face to face in staff or committee meetings, and via email.  We work collaborative to enhance student learning.

I have shared common literature with both my Walden Colleagues and my Cobb County School District Colleagues through higher learning and professional development classes/workshops.  

The experiences which has contributed most to my development as an early childhood professional, is the way we interact through internet activity via post discussions, resources, (videos)  and face-to-face conversations (Skype and Residency).  For example, included within each discussion are original and reply post, with our opinions, research facts, and references formatted in APA Style.  The original and feedback post are highly important and often used as prompts when responding to discussion post questions.  The discussion post are in my opinion, a support system, where student voices are heard, and for those reasons, it is undoubtedly the most memorable way to engage with my colleges. 

Reflecting on my experiences in this course, the materials I connected with the most was the microaggression media video presentations, (Laureate Education, (2011).  I connected with that presentation because I am from the African American Culture and have often felt direct microagresion from the dominate culture. 

The material that I found to be the most surprising was found in the reading of The Spirit Catches and You Fall Down, Fadiman, (2012).  I was surprised at the reactions of the hospital staff towards the family in the story.  I could not believe the staff had not been trained to work with people from other cultures/beliefs.  I will investigate more into the internment camps of the past and the future, meaning watching to see how our country handles the Muslim Americans in the day/age of terrorist.  If the Muslims are treated like the Japanese were in the past, it will be detrimental.  

Cases like the Shaun-Adrian Chofla directly relate to my future aspirations, in that I am serving economically, under privileged children who will need much one-on-one help from teachers.  These children needs someone to meet them where they are and help to give them several opportunities for success.

The text readings and list of articles (literature) might motivate me the most in my teaching profession.  I gained so much insight from reading the chapters from Derman-Sparks and Edwards (2010), Fadiman (2012), and Hanson and Lynch (2013).  All three text has motivated me to invest the time to get to know each child and their family background well enough to help provide resources to meet their needs.  Understanding the strengths/weaknesses and meeting the needs of each family is beneficial for the children and also sets the stage for social change.

My research project challenge was on Mental Illness:  Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, for which I have gain so much insight about how stress, and trauma may affect children suffering from ADHD.  I have learned many strategies such as taking deep breaths, and self-management skills to help children cope with ADHD and continue to focus while in class.  

References:

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and
ourselves. National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Fadiman, A. (2012 ). The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American 
doctors, and the collision of two cultures. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux .

Hanson, M. J., & Lynch, E. W. (2013). Understanding families: Approaches to diversity, disability, and risk. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Laureate Education. (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions in Everyday Life [Video]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Laureate Education. (Producer). (2013). Introducing Marsha Hawley [Video]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Laureate Education. (Producer). (2013). Introducing Shaun-Adrian Cholfa [Video]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu