National Early Childhood Organizations

Three national early childhood organizations that I am truly interested in are Child Care Aware of America, World Organization for Early Childhood Education-United States National Committee, and Association for Childhood Education International. Each of these three organizations focus on the betterment of early childhood health and education. Association for Childhood Education International is a well-established community of practice, as they specialize in the exchange of information, exploration of innovation, and advocacy for children (http://acei.org/). This would be a great organization to be involved in, as the exchanging of useful information could be very useful in my Capstone study in parental involvement in young children's education living in low income areas. This Capstone study could be broadened and used to study children living in low incomes all across the globe. Child Care Aware of America is a useful resource for parents all around the world, in providing quality early childcare programs and providers. World Organization for Early Childhood Education-United States National Committee is the only world wide non-governmental organization that focuses on education and welfare of young children, between the ages of birth to 8 (http://www.cdacouncil.org/resource-center/early-childhood-organizations).

I did not find any employment information within any of these organizations, however I am sure the knowledge of early childhood education, as well as, diversity is quite important. Each of these organizations provide great resources for a strong CoP in the Early Childhood Field.

Resources
Association For Childhood Education International
Council for Professional Recognition

Educational Organizations and their Employment Opportunities

Sheltering Arms Early Learning Center
- Sheltering Arms is a Early learning childcare center, founded on "serving working families with high-quality, affordable child care and education and comprehensive support services, as well as, providing professional development for early childhood educators and community outreach. Founded in 1888, Sheltering Arms is one of the oldest non-profit organizations in existence. They also provide community support services by holding parenting classes, Spanish/English classes for dual language learners, etc. Currently, Sheltering Arms is looking to employ lead teachers, teachers, part-time teachers, family support coordinators and center directors. As each position requires experience in their desired fields, basic qualifications for each positions includes, but is not limited to, 

AA in Early Childhood 
BA or BS in Early Childhood or closely related field Early Childhood certification 
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: 
Be able to sit on floor and interact with children. Hear children from a distance of at least 70 feet. Lift at least 50 lbs. Visually observe children from all areas of the classroom and playground from a distance of at least 70 feet. Acquire CDA credentials within 2 years after hire.

More information about Sheltering Arms employment opportunties can be found at the link provided. 
http://www.shelteringarmsforkids.com/jobs/

Discovery Point Child Development Center
- Discovery Point Child Care Center is a community of practice organization with provides child care in various locations in the southern region of the United States. Discovery Point Child Development Center can be found in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina Tennessee. Discovery Point is "committed to providing every child with the best possible care and educational programming. Discovery Point provides care for infancy, up to school-age. They also provide enrichment programs with age-appropriate activities and new experiences. Discovery Point implements the use of Teaching Strategies, providing learning opportunities for young children through Creative Curriculum. Currently, Discovery Point Child Development Center is looking to employ a Center Director, Assistant Director, Cook, Quality Assurance Consultant, Lead teacher and Teacher Assistant. Basic qualifications for each consists of 

• Must have, or be able to obtain commercial driver’s license, CPR / Fire Safety, and any other training required by regulatory agencies
• Knowledge of childcare licensing rules and regulations
• Knowledge of early childhood education curriculum

Other specified positions require specialized experience in their corresponding fields. For further information regarding employment opportunities, the link will be provided below. 

http://www.discoverypoint.com/careers/

- Georgia Head Start Association

The Georgia Head Start Association, GHSA, as well as, Early Head Start, is a program which "provides comprehensive early childhood and family development services to children from birth to five years old, pregnant women and families" (Georgia Head Start Association, n.d.). Services, such as, child care, housing, comprehensive prenatal visits, and home visits are just a few services provided to children and families through the GHSA. Currently, the GHSA, is seeking a Head Start/Early Head Start Director. Basic qualifications for this position include, but are not limited to, 

• A bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education or related field
• minimum of 5 year management experience
• Experience with Community Action Agency

or 

• A Master's degree in Early Childhood Education or related field
• minimum of 3 year management experience
• Experience with Community Action Agency

Further information about this position can be found at the link provided. 

http://www.georgiaheadstart.org/jobs/index.php?action=details&posting_id=260

I chose these three community of practice organizations because their commitment and passion for the field of early education. These organizations provide essential services for low-income families, families who are in dire need of help and assistance. I have a passion to help the less fortunate, especially children who do not ask to live in such unfortunate conditions. 

Farewell and Thank You to my 6165 Community

I would like to thank all of my classmates for all their support, responses, discussions, suggestions, thoughts and ideas. They truly mean a lot to me and I appreciate them all. As we all embark on our specialization courses, we are coming down to the wire, before the big G...GRADUATION. I am sure all of you are just as excited as I am, and look forward to conquering these last few courses as we have done so gracefully with our prior courses. In this course, and from my counterparts, I take with me, all of the encouragement, advice, suggestions and applause's provided to me during these eight weeks. I truly loved the discussions we had during our DB and look forward to meeting all of you very soon.

I wish my 6165 community all the best and I pray that you will have a successful remaining school year...see you all soon!!!!!!

Best wishes,
Nicole Cunningham

It's Time For "Adjourning"

Adjourning, according to the authors, refers to "groups whose project or task has come to an end" (2012, O' Hair and Wiemann, p.257). As the end stage of group development, during this time, groups find themselves coming to a close and either anticipate or dread group separation. I can relate to the adjourning phase of group development, as I have experienced this myself, with my assistant teacher from last school year. That particular school, by far, was the most fun, exciting and productive school year I have had. The year went by so fast, that we did not even realize the school year had come to an end. The children had such a blast that school year, and we as teachers, had so much fun with the children. My teacher assistant has such a creative mind, and her ability to bring those creations to life was amazing. Working together, we were so productive in our doings both inside and outside the classroom. I dreaded ending that school, however, I look forward to working with her again in two years. As we ourselves prepare for the adjourning phase of our MSECS program, I look forward to taking with me all that I have learned from working with my groups. Although I may not have a particular physical attachment or connection to my classmates or educational community, I do look forward to meeting all of you as we prepare to walk together at GRADUATION!!!!!

References

O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication. An introduction. New York, NY:

  Bedford/St. Martin’s.  

My most recent conflict...

The most recent conflict I had was with my husband. He loves to rent movies but when it's time to watch them, within fifteen minutes of the movie, he falls asleep. Just recently, he came home with two movies he just rented. Before he even put the movies in, I told him he was going to fall asleep. He argued with me claiming that he was not even tired and he wanted to see these movies. Sure enough, ten minutes into the movie, he was fast asleep. I was so upset. Not that he actually fell asleep, I knew he was going to do that, but the fact that he can never admit when he is tired. He actually fought with me for at least twenty minutes, after I woke him up the first time, claiming that he was not sleepy, and then, still fell asleep. I even attempted to change my choice of words in efforts to meet at some common ground, but that failed as well. I attempted to change my tone of voice, to show that I am not as angry as I appeared to be, but he still argued with me. At that point. I just gave up and let him sleep and I enjoyed both movies by myself. I did, however, refuse to give him any information about the movies, so now he is upset because he has to rent them all over again and watch them by himself.

How Well Do You Communicate With Other Cultures?

Working as an Early Childhood Educator, I do find myself communicating with people of different cultures, religions, ethnicities, etc. Amongst my staff alone, in a professional setting, I communicate with various individuals from different cultures. I learned that some topics I can speak about with people of certain cultures, while other's do not understand exactly what I am talking about. As no one person is alike, I also talk differently with my own family members. For example, I can talk to my brother about music and making beats, but can not talk to my cousin about these topics. I can talk to my cousin about acting, but my brother would have no clue what I was talking about. We encounter different people of different cultures everyday, sometimes without even realizing it.
The same applies with my parents and children in my classroom. I communicate with all of my parents differently. The way I communicate with one parent may not be the best way to communicate with another. Some of my parents like my full honesty when discussing their children while other parents would rather not focus on the objectives that need enhancement but one the objectives already accomplished. Growing up in a Jamaican household, with a father and uncles who were raised by a father from Hong Kong, and an Irish grandfather, not to mention all who have lived under British rule for years, I have learned to adapt and communicate with others from different cultures. I have come to appreciate the essence of diversity within my parents and children, as I try to infuse such diversity into my classroom.

How Would You Interpret This?

The show that I chose to watch was the "Modern Family". I have seen bits and pieces of this show, but was never truly intrigued by it. In the segment I was watching, the woman, who I already knew was the mother, was fussing at the young boy, who I already knew was the son. In the episode, based on body language, she was pregnant, and using her hands and fingers to gesture what she was saying. It appeared that she was fussing at the young boy, but the young boy was laughing. This was kind of confusing to me. Her hands were flaring in the air, and she was pointing her fingers at the young boy. Then she turned around, as though someone said something to her. That was even more confusing. As the young boy was laughing, she walked away, and it appeared as if she was crying. I assumed in this segment of the show, she was yelling at the young boy for something, and I guess the young boy found it hilarious.

After turning off the mute button, I learned that the mother was fussing at the boy because according to the son, she snores like a gorilla in heat. The mother was trying to explain to the son, and to the father, who was standing behind her, that because she was pregnant, her hormones were out of whack. This is when she begin to wave her hands and fingers in the air, demonstrating how passionate she was about the conversation at hand. When she turned around, was when the father made a comment about her snoring, which triggering the young boy to laugh even harder. The young boy was laughing because according to him, the mother has always tried to be this prissy individual, who thought it was unlady like for any woman to snore, and now she is the one snoring. The young boy found this hilarious, which was why he was laughing so hard.

My perceptions of the actions portrayed in the show were not too far off, but they were off in some points. I couldn't understand why the young boy was laughing so hard at the mother, while she was showing that she obviously was upset about something. Also, the boys facial expressions were also confusing, as I was trying to understand what he was implying, but had a hard time. The elements of communication demonstrated in this show was some what explanatory, but also kind of difficult to decipher. In this show, it also demonstrated that her method of communication was not very effective in getting her point across to her son and husband, as neither the son nor her husband took her seriously, or even attempted to understand her point of view. Clearly, her flaring her arms, hands and fingers in the son's face and in the air were not very effective ways in communicating her feelings and emotions regarding the topic.

Either way, I am still not intrigued by the show....lol