Being Inspired While Being Inspirational Yourself!

Hello everyone! Being that this is the final blog posting for this class, I thought that Being Inspired While Being Inspirational Yourself was an appropriate title for this blog!



As an educator, this quote above is very inspirational to me and I feel that it can inspire others as well. A few years ago, I ran across this quote when I was struggling with the notion of whether the field of education, let alone early childhood, was really what I wanted to do. Each morning after I pray, I recite this quote. "Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere." And I find this to be extremely true because no matter where a person goes, the things they have learned will never leave them. Though the children I work with are only 3 years of age, I tell them everyday that you never forget what you have learned and you take it with you so that you can learn more.



The above image I have posted throughout my classroom for everyone to see. Though I am still a young educator, the first thing I learned was that all children do not learn at the same pace nor do they learn the same way. Sometimes the typical way of teaching things doesn't click to the learning ability of the child. Sometimes you have to let children explore and see the various ways in which they learn and acquire information, in which one of the main ones is through play. Often times in my classroom I will disregard the lesson plan and just let my children play freely throughout the day and observe them. Play brings out a lot of things in children when you just sit and watch.

Fostering Learning Through Creativity & Play

Creativity happens to be one of the freest forms of self-expression there happens to be. Nothing brings children more joy than to be able to express themselves in ways in which they are comfortable. Being able to be creative and gain and learn something from those creative, personnel experiences fosters the emotional development and health of children. The experiences of children in their early years can have a significant impact on the development of their creativity.



In fostering creativity, children should be allowed to be themselves while engaged in an activity. Creativity and expressing it allows children to also deal with their feelings. Also, creativity allows us as educators to learn more about children and how they think and/or feel. Creativity also helps to foster the mental growth of children in relation to the development of thinking and problem-solving skills.

As an educator, I have witnessed and been apart of many experiences that foster learning. For example, though we have a lesson plan that we have to follow, some days I allow the children to choose what they want to do and go for it. After all, children are unique and when you let them do them you will witness a lot of things about them.

References

"Creativity and Play: Fostering Creativity." PBS. 13 Jan. 2016. 

         <http://www.pbs.org/wholechild/providers/play.html>.

Poverty and Its Effect on Literacy Development

So, my topic of focus for class has been on poverty and the effect it has on school readiness in the development of literacy skills. I have come across a lot of information thus far, so I decided to share some of it here.

As, we all know poverty is one of the many circumstances impacting the development of young children. One article that I came across entitled School Readiness Outcomes for Preschool Children at Risk: A Randomized Trial of a Parent Engagement Intervention and the Role of Parental Depression. CYFS Working Paper No. 2012-5 discussed how children of poverty are at a very high risk for academic failure due to their circumstances. The article also talked about how the mental state of the mother plays a role in the cognitive and motor development of their children. The article also talked about an intervention technique known as Getting Ready that was implemented and focused on the promotion of social/emotional skills in addition to language and literacy skills.



As educators, it is our professional duty and responsibility to help children overcome the literacy gaps they experience due to poverty. Being that reading is one of the basics to high achievement in life, we should work hard to get each child to where they need to be so that they can be successful later in life.

Questions To Ponder
Why do you believe children are so adversely affected by poverty?

Is poverty a facet of life that can eventually be overcome?

What are some positive ways that educators can help children of poverty grow to be successful in life?

References

Clarke, B.L., Sheridan, S.M., Kim, E.M., Kupzyk, K.A., Knoche, L.L., Ransom, K.A., Sjuts, 

T.M. (2012). School Readiness Outcomes for Preschool Children at Risk: A Randomized Trial of a Parent Engagement Intervention and the Role of Parental Depression. CYFS Working Paper No. 2012-5. Eric Digest. 

Poverty and Brain Development

Poverty is an ongoing issue that plays a pivotal role in the development of children on a daily basis. Though it has been established that all children are unique, individual learners, as educators we must look at some underlying factors that can have a negative impact on the development of children that we come into contact with. 

Children who are exposed to poverty at a young age often have trouble academically later in life. But according research out of the Washington University School of Medicine, poverty also appears to be associated with smaller brain volumes in areas involved in emotion processing and memory(Bidwell 2013).

 

In 2013, there was a study by a team of researchers at the St. Louis-based university, led by Joan Luby, in which they analyzed brain scans of 145 children between the ages of 6 and 12 who had been tracked since preschool. Other than the influences of  environmental factors of poverty on a student's behavior and school performance, the researchers found that poverty also appears to alter the physical makeup of a child's brain. Previous research has shown that damaging effects can range from poor cognitive outcomes and school performance, to a higher risk for antisocial behaviors and mental disorders.

Being that this is my topic of focus, I went out to the local DFCS in my community and talked with the local workers about what they do to help out those families who are suffering the effects of poverty, especially the children. Through talking with those workers I realized that as an educator, my primary focus may be on the child in my class, but I must adjust my measures and try to help and focus on the family as a whole because after all, that is where the child starts out.

References

Bidwell, A. (2013). Early Childhood Poverty Damages Brain Development, Study Finds. U.S. News and World Report. http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/10/28/early-childhood-poverty-damages-brain-development-study-finds

Something New I Learned

I gained some new insights during conducting the interviews and observations for Field Observation Assignment #1 for course EDUC7851. The insight I gained came from my interview with Classroom D teachers Mrs. Simmons and Mr. Kearse in regards to the fact that children don't develop at the same rate. Though I knew this, being a rookie in the field as I would call myself, I still have the notion of "they need to know and understand the information now, not later." However, Mrs. Simmons and Mr. Kearse taught me that I must be patient when working with children in regards to their development because some will catch on quicker than others. This really opened my eyes and as a result I have been exercising more patience and determination with the students I come in contact with that may be at a developmental disadvantage in one way or another.

Introduction

Hello everyone! My name is Ke'Andrea Towns and I am 26 years old. I am from a small town know as Vienna, Georgia. I am currently a Child Development Specialist with Head Start where I have been employed for the last three years. I am also the proud mother of a beautiful daughter by the name of Shavion. I have been working with children since the age of 16. I started out as a Lead Tutor for a small summer program in my community, and now in addition to that I am the Assistant Site Director of that program as well. My goal is to become an Administrator in the early childhood field, while also working to promote social change in the lives of young children and their families.

The photo I have attached above was taken when I was in the 4th grade. From much thought and reflection, at the time I was in 4th grade I was in the developmental stage of the need to be a part of a group and being accepted by my peers. Also, at this age I wasn't very confident in myself. I was in a stage where I doubted myself and wasn't sure who I wanted to be or what I wanted to do.

Welcome

Hello everyone!

My name is Ke'Andrea Towns, and this is an exciting journey that I am about to begin. I am new to the blogging world, so I don't know if I am doing this right or not. However, I look forward to learning a lot, so that I can become comfortable with blogging.