Hopes and Goals

My hope that I have when working with children and families that come from diverse backgrounds is that I build a relationship with them. I want them to feel comfortable with our interactions and I want them to feel like they are welcome and that their children are in a safe environment where learning is important.

One goal for the early childhood field is that we as educators are sensitive to other cultures. I would like we as educators to realize that it is difficult for families that come from other cultural backgrounds to feel welcome and comfortable.

To my colleagues it has been a pleasure reading and responding not only to your blog's but to your discussion posts as well. My hope is that all of you reach your professional and personal goals on life and thank you all for this opportunity to learn with you. Good Luck!!

Families Around the World

A new family is coming into my classroom and they are from India. There are some things that I will do in order to prepare for their arrival into the program.

1. I would read over the child's file in order to learn about allergies if any, if there was something that happened significantly at birth to the child or mother, and nutritional needs if any.
2. Upon the families entry into the classroom I will have the mother fill out and individual care plan for the child, which ask things about siblings, sleeping habits, eating habits, just anything about the child that was not mentioned in the file.
3. I would sit and have a conference with the parents to try and build a relationship with them, because this is new to them as it is for me.
4. I would invite the parents to come into the classroom to discuss any traditions or customs that they may want to share about India to the other children in the classroom.
5. Lastly before the child arrives I would educate the other child about India, things like the food, the way some may dress, the customs that they have, just anything that I could think of to prepare the other children.

Hopefully these preparation will help the family feel like they belong in the class just like the other children also in hopes that a positive relationship will be built between us and them . Also it will educate others in the classroom as well as myself about their home life before they came to this country also about  the traditions and customs that they have.

Week 6 Blog

An incident that comes to mind happened years ago. My family and I where in Arkansas for our family reunion and we stopped at this diner to get something to eat. Immediately upon walking in I noticed we where the only black people in the dinner we where seated a our waitress came to take our order. Long story short there was a couple of white guys seated near us and one made it clear that he did not care for us being there, well when the waitress was bring our drink orders the white customer stuck his foot out and the waitress lost her balance. She didn't fall but the drinks spilled all over a few of my family members and the floor. The staff was very apologetic and our food was free. This happened to me when I knew what prejudice was but I hadn't really seen it until this incident.

Week 4 Blog

An example of a microaggression that I can remember happened last week in my classroom. My assistant was on vacation so a substitute was placed in their with me. It was lunch time and the children where having burritos for lunch, there is only one Hispanic child this year in my class. The teacher started to fix plates and pass the lunch to each child when she got to the Hispanic child she made the comment," I bet you eat better burritos then this at home." I don't think she intended to be disrespectful in any way. Having a better understanding of what microaggression's are I think that it is important for us as educators to be sensitive and think about what we are saying before we say it. What may be funny to us may be hurtful and offensive to others. Hearing what the teacher said made me instantly think how I would feel if that where said to me, I would feel like an outcast like my culture or the way things are done in my home where not the right things to do. Before this class I had never heard of microaggression's knowing what I know I will be more aware of what I say or do when dealing with the families and children that I work with.

Week 3 Blog

For this blog assignment I was able to talk to three individuals that where different in everyway. First I talked to a parent in my classroom who is Indian and she said," Culture to me is the traditions that are passed down from generation to generation. Diversity is when different individuals of different gender, ages, race, or cultures come together." The second individual I talked with is my neighbor who is Vietnamese and he said," Culture is what we are born into it is what our family does together, it is what my family is made of."  Diversity is different people." The last person that I was able to talk to was one of my Caucasian co-coworker and she said," culture is something that is individualized for a specific race of people. Diversity is different groups of people of different nationalities."

Hearing what others think of culture and diversity made me think that for the most part each individual had the same definition in a way. Each one talked about culture being specific to a race or nationality of people. On the topic of diversity each had the same words in the definition which was different people. I think that there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to defining culture and diversity because each person has their own views and we as individuals should always respect others.

Week 2 Blog

If  I had to choose three items to take wit me to my new country they would be my family bible, African elephant, and moccasins. These items are what represents my families identity. The family Bible is a representation of my families strong religious affiliation, my grandmother bought all of her children the exact same bible with a picture of her parents inside. Each bible has their name engraved on the front and their children's names where eventually added as they where born. The second item also represents my families identity, I would take the African Elephants that my cousins sent to me from Africa. Elephants that have their trunks in the air are said to be good luck, so my cousins sent them over to me as a sign of good luck. The third and final thing that I would bring is the moccasins that my grandmother gave to me. My grandmother was full blooded Seminole Indian and she resided in Florida. My mother was pregnant with me when my grandmother gave her the moccasins, I never got to meet her but my mother told me the story when I was old enough to understand.


Upon arrival I would be upset if they told me I only could keep one of the items, because they all mean a great deal to me. I would feel that my identity was being stolen or taken from me because each of the items are what I identify with as part of my culture. They are what my family is made of and only being able to keep one would feel devastating to me.

The insight that I have gained from doing this exercise is that my family is very diverse and unique in its own right. My families culture runs deep and I am proud that I have a family that is diverse and unique at the same time.

Research

What I have gained from this research course is a whole new respect for the individuals who put in  the time and effort to do research on young children. This class has given me many insights on early childhood research, I have gained the knowledge on the many different issues that can arise when doing early childhood research. I have gained insight on the different methods that can be used in early childhood research, power relations, equity, and variables just to name a few. To my colleagues it has truly been a pleasure reading your posts and seeing how each of us has brown since the first week of  class. Good luck to each of you and thank you for your positive feedback!!

Week 5 Blog

This week's blog assignment was about research around the world. The website that I chose to explore was Early Childhood in Australia. This website has a lot of information on early childhood, and some of the topics are the same things that we face here in the United States. Research in Practice Series(RIPS) is a section that I explored. RIPS is an easy to read resource that helps individuals who are in the early childhood field. RIPS has an array of publications that you can read, for instance Play and quality in early childhood: Educating superheroes and fairy princesses. This publication talks about the importance of play and quality in an early childhood setting. Another publication talks about transitions helping the child feel secure when parents leave. I really enjoyed exploring this website there where many interesting things, I learned that early childhood is really the same around the world.

Week 3 Blog

If I had unlimited resources I would research a Reggie Emilia environment(classroom) verses a traditional preschool classroom. The Reggie Emilia approach to learning says that the classroom is the third teacher. Reggie Emilia classroom are natural classroom, everything can be made or it was found outside. The learning is hands-on and parents are required to participate in their child's learning. Since children learn though play why not give them a classroom with real things that they see everyday like leaves, sticks, cd's, umbrella's just to name a few.

 

 

Children in a traditional preschool classroom have hands -on experiences, but the things in the classroom are ordered out of catalogs and are not things that they see outside of school. The materials are not life sized like real pot's and pans that go into the kitchen. The classroom is not a natural environment so to speck or a green environment. In the traditional classroom parents are not required to participate and I think that parent participation is key to a child's learning.

Research

The research topic that I have chosen is curriculum in preschool. I think that curriculum is very important and having the most effective curriculum available is a must. I chose this topic because my daughter is in an early childhood program and the curriculum that is being used in her school is important to me. I also am an early childhood educator and I am curious to research the different curriculum that is used in a quality early childhood program.

This process was a little uncertain for me at first because I had trouble nailing a topic down, because I was pondering over several. Hopefully this topic will be an eye opener and in turn make me a better educator. I am open to any and all questions , comments, and concerns that my colleagues may have, please share any insights and resources that you may have and I in turn will do the same.

Week 8 Blog

There could only be positive consequences for me learning about early childhood on an international level. Even though I was unable to reach any of the international contacts the websites where very informative. The consequences: contact with other educators from the early childhood field, learning many different aspects of early childhood on a worldwide stage, and gaining insights on the issues and trends internationally.

One goal that I would have for the field internationally would bet o keep trying to make early childhood education a top priority for children. Continue to inform others of the life long benefits of an early childhood education, learning starts from the beginning. Reading others interactions with either the podcasts or an international contact was very informative because you can read about them, but actually hearing it from others in the field was good. Everyone was very supportive in with their comments and posts

Week 7 Blog

I explored the website UNESCO which means The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural organization. This organization helps to build societies that value education, it has worked worldwide to improve education because education is the key to success. Upon exploration of the website I gained some insight on access and equity, learning begins at birth and a framework was set up and all countries that participated made a commitment to improve education and care especially the education and care of disadvantaged children. The government was encouraged to expand care to those children who otherwise would not have access to education. Another insight is that the EFA stated that countries should view early education as an important factor and all though funding was small other steps like going to non-profits would be effective when asking for funds, there's more then one way to get things done. The last insight is quality, quality of the program and teachers. The ECCE has no set criteria on how to assess quality, but it is said that having the right materials, training for the teachers, and parent education and involvement is essential.

My last insight brings me to realize that one of my professional goals directly relates and that is quality. One of my professional goals is to become a new teacher coach or instructional coach. I would coach or mentor all the new teachers that enter into the program giving them insights on how to do their job effectively. The ECCE talks about an adequate trainings and working conditions is key to the success of children and it also aids in the smooth transition to formal schooling.

Reference:
(http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/),

Week 6 Blog

The website that I have been exploring is zero to three, this website has a lot of very good information that any parent would benefit from reading. The outside link that I explored on the page was ralley4babies. The link talked about how education needed to be improved and that congress should fund programs that will improve early education programs. The link has a lot of interesting people that are for early childhood programs and their funding. The section that I chose to explore was the behavior and development section. I found that this section talks about many good things from brain development to challenging behavior in children. The most interesting section to me was promoting social development. This section has tips and tools that highlight the development of social emotional skills for birth to three. The section also has downloadable resources that parents of caregivers can read. There is also a question and answer section where individuals can ask questions about infants and toddlers and then receive feedback on their question. This website has proven to be a very useful resource for me I have learned a lot from the readings on the site. This section I think promotes excellence in early childhood because social-emotional skills are so important to the development of children.

Week 5 Blog/ The Center on the Developing Child

I had to do the alternative assignment which was to browse around on the website for The Center on the Developing Child. One insight that I learned on the site was the Global Child Development initiative. The center works with policy makers, civil leaders, and scholars on ways for them to adapt their model for putting in place effective policies and programs that will ultimately benefit the community as a whole. The center also launched a network in 2008 that addressed the gap between what is known about mental health and what is done about mental health. The goal of the network was to generate, integrate, communicate, and then apply the science to inform and make advances in mental health. The last insight from the website was the many opportunities students at Harvard have to learn all about early childhood and the development of the young child. The center set up the Education and Leadership program so that students and faculty can tap into the different aspects of the field and see how science links to the policies that are made and the action that is taken.

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard university has many interesting topics to read up on and I can see how it will and can help the students who are interested in Early childhood.

Reference:
Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative." Retrieved from: website (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/

Week 4 Blog

The website that I have been exploring is Zero to Three. The section that caught my attention was the Behavior and Development section . I read information on Early Childhood mental health, this is current in my development as a professional because it has only deepened my understanding of  the importance for children to have social emotional skills. This section talked about how important it is for children to build relationships with others, communicate, play, and learn how to express their feelings. I really didn't find anything that was controversial, but I did read information that helped me think about an issue in a new way, assessments of children.

The website explains what an assessment is and what it is supposed to do and that is to deepen their understanding of a child's developmental capacities. The website actually publishes a guide for parents to read that will help them understand what is going on and also encourages them to collaborate. I think these assessments are how neuroscientist support Early Childhood because it gives educators better ammunition to help children succeed. The website and newsletter has an abundance of helpful information for parents and educators that will educate them on how to help their children.

Poverty World-Wide

I am still waiting  hopefully to hear from any of the international contacts, in the mean time I had to chose to do the alternative assignment. The website that I explored is called Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Cent re or CHIP for short retrieved from HTTP://www.childhoodpoverty.org

The website stated that there are  over 600 million children that live in poverty world-wide and in underdeveloped countries it can be much higher. It is said that poverty can effect a child's development especially when it comes to nutrition and health. One insight that I have learned from the website is that CHIP tries to fill in the gaps about poverty, many may not know the way poverty effects individuals internationally. CHIP fills in the gap by doing country specific research, they raise awareness to poverty issues, and they do policy analysis which means they examine the policies the other countries have on poverty.

Another insight that I have gained from the website is that all of the research done is for policy-makers, practitioners, and activists who are concerned with the issues of poverty. Some of the main goals CHIP is trying to achieve is positive change in policy areas, policy implementation, and effectively using the research findings. The third insight that I gained from the website is that CHIP has many reports, publications, articles, and briefings that can be read online that share more information and research that CHIP has done.

References:
http://www.childhoodpoverty.org

ZERO TO THREE

The organization that I chose is called Zero To Three, http://zerotothree.org.
This organization is a national organization that is geared toward helping parents, professionals, and policymakers the knowledge and know how to nurture early development. The mission of the organization is to ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life.
The organization plays a critical leadership role in promoting understanding around key issues affecting young children and their families, including child care, infant mental health, early language and literacy development, early intervention and the impact of culture on early childhood development.(Zero to Three 2010).


The issue from the website that caught my attention was the maltreatment tab, because this sometimes is an issue in a child's life. In this tab it talked about child abuse and neglect, impact of trauma on children, and building strong families and healthy communities. This tab shared alot of useful information that can be very helpful to a caregiver or a parent.


Reference: http://www.zerotothree.org

Establishing Professional Contcts

I have sent out three emails, and I am still awaiting responses from those I have emailed. I have sent emails to Morocco, Germany, and South Africa. Hopefully I will hear from them soon because I am really interested in their early childhood program. If contact is not established then I will do the alternative assignment.



The website that I have chosen to explore is Zero to Three, because I have a three year old and I teach three year old. Zero to Three has a lot of interesting articles with a lot of useful information.

"My Supports"

My family is a big support for me. My family I can say is the best family I have ran across, I can say that because I have seen the interactions between my friends and their family members and you would think that they where strangers. My family is very supportive of everything that we choose to do just as long as we are happy and not hurting ourselves or anybody else. My family is always quick to help whenever any of us needs help. I love when we get together and hang out as a family.

My challenge would be if my family was gone or if I didn't have a good relationship with them. It would be very difficult for me if I did not talk to my family because they are always there when I need them and I would have no one else to turn to or talk to about things that I need help with.

My Connections To Play

Quotes:
" It's better to play than do nothing" (Confucius)


"Play is the beginning of knowledge" (Anonymous)




The things that I was connected to where my play kitchen and legos, I loved to pretend play and I also liked building things.(not my actual kitchen or legos....lol)

 

 

 

 

 

 

My cousin supported my play because she was the one that always played with me. I would love when she came over we would be in my kitchen all night and after that we would pretend like we where building towers and all kinds of things.

 

 

 

My feelings on play today is that it very different then it was when I was younger. The difference is that technology is a lot more advanced, we didn't have I-pad or Xbox's we where not afraid to go outside and play in the dirt. Just last week my two year old said she wanted an I-pad for her birthday....lol, technology is everywhere.

 

 

 



Relationship Reflection

Relationships are important to me because they help me function so to speck, especially when the relationship is positive. The most important relationship to me is the one that I have with my family members, no one family member in particular my family is pretty close nit. My family is a very big deal to me they are always there when I need them and sometimes when I don't, but they are so loved by me. I think that in order to maintain the positive relationships that I have with my family is to keep the lines of communication open and to be open and honest with each other.  Another important relationship is the one that I have with my daughter, even though she is young I hope to keep the loving relationship that we have. All in all I really love my family and I am very blessed to have the family that I do.

Favorite Book

The childen book that I love is Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess. I love this book because it teaches children not to judge something by the way it looks. It teaches them to try new things you never know you may like it!!

Personal Childhood Web

I have three individuals that have had a great influence on my life:

Bessie Adams(grandmother)

Rosalind Gunnells(mother)

Linda Gunnells(aunt)

These three individuals have helped me out in different ways.

My grandmother, many say that the grandmother’s are the rock of the family their the ones that keep the family together, well my grandmother is one of those grandmother’s. During my whole life I can remember my grandmother always being there, she was there when I was born I would always be over her house she would take care of us when my mom was in school and me and my brother would alwyas be around her. She would tell me all the time I could do whatever I wanted and be whatever I wanted to be and when I got old enough to actually realized that she was in my corner I knew that I could do anything that I set my mind to she  and for that I will be forever grateful!!

 My mother was always the number one person in my life besides my grandmother they kinda shared the title. My mother helped me all though school and when I got to college my mom got sick and I was thinking about quiting school so I could take care of her, but she told me no to finish because she wanted to be there for my college graduation, she never made it to my graduation but she was always in the front of my mind during my last semester of college. Eventhough it was hard that last semester I made a promise that I would finish and I did. She keep me going when I wanted to quit and I will forever love her!!

My aunt well what can I say about her she’s great!! She is the nurturing type and when my mom past she was there like much of my other family,but she was at the four front, She looked out for my brother and I. She made sure I got back to finish my last semester of school she treated me like one of her own and made sure that I finished school like I had promised.

I can truly say that I have a great family and they all  have and still are very supportive I love my whole family!!!

I'm Inspired

“When we make college more affordable, we make the American dream more achievable.”
-William(Bill) J. Clinton

“I have long believed that the development of a child does not begin the day he is born-or at age three-but much earlier during the formative years of his parents.”
-Dr. Edward Zigler

” I had a built in passion that it was important to make a real contribution to the world to fix all the injustices.”
-Louise Dernam Sparks-

” We have an opportunity to shape a childs future for the better.”
-Sandy Escobido”-

Resources

• NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap
• 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://main.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/~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.

Resources For Children’s Rights:
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://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us   This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. Make sure to watch the media segment on this webpage
  • World Organization for Early Childhood Education http://www.omep-usnc.org/   Read about OMEP’s mission.
  • Association for Childhood Education International http://acei.org/   Click on “Mission/Vision” and “Guiding Principles and Beliefs” and read these statements.
• Early Childhood Resources:
• • 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/
  • 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/
  • 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.pewstates.org/projects/pre-k-now-328067
  • Voices for America’s Children http://www.voices.org/
  • The Erikson Institute http://www.erikson.edu/
• Three Additional Book Resources:
• I Love You Rituals by Dr. Becky Bailey
• What To Do When Your Child Gets Sick by Gloria Mayer, RN & Ann Kuklierus, RN
• Simple Steps by Karen Miller

Ethical Codes

Ethical Responsibilities to Children: Provide care and education in settings that are safe, healthy,and responsive to each child.
My Meaning: Always provide the best care to each child, they should come to school and be and feel safe even if it is not the best environment at home.
Ethical Responsibilities to Families: The primary importance in children’s development is the family, we acknowledge a primary responsibility to bring about communication, cooperation, and collaboration between the families and the early childhood program.
My Meaning: Always communicate with the families in regards to the child’s development. The family is the child’s primary focus and when you show them you are working together to help them it makes them feel important.

Professional Practice: The practice principles to promote and maintain high standards of conduct for the early childhood professional.
My Meaning: Treat the children and families with respect at all times. Give the children the best care possible and always act in a professional manner when communicating with families and children.

Birth Experience

I choose to write about my own experience, which was a fairly pleasant one!!

• What I Remember:
• Clean Hospital
• Medication on request
• Classes before hand
• Experienced Staff

I choose these experiences because this was the first time I actually realized that it was the real thing, starting with the classes. Birth has a very big impact on child development I think because it starts with the mother’s nutrition and her environment which in turn passes to the developing baby.

• Region or Country I choose:(Philippines)
• Clinic just for the poor where students mostly take the roll of midwife
• Births without medication mostly
• Water births
• Child care classes

There where some differences as well as some similarities, for instance the child care classes where available to the mothers just like they are where available to me. The major difference was the medication, meds are not available on request like it was for mine.

Food For Thought

Malnutrition is the condition that occurs when your body does not get enough nutrients. Malnutrition is directly responsible for about 300,000 deaths per year in children younger then five years of age. Some causes of malnutrition are not having enough food, poverty, inadequate diet, and also certain medical conditions. South Asia has the highest prevalence of malnutrition with 336 million people with 46% being children. Malnutrition in south Asia is the single largest cause of child mortality with more then 1/3 of deaths. This topic is meaniful to me because I work with low income families and I know some of the children that I have come across really didn’t have enough food to eat because their parent could not afford food. It gives me a better understanding that not everyone can afford the basic necessities just to live.

A Child's Stress

There are many different stressors that children face, as a child I faced the stressor of my mom being sick with cancer. I can remember her going to the many doctor appointments taking her treatments, being in the hospital for weeks at a time basically leaving me and my brother to grow up faster then usual. Seeing the way her body changed physically was really hard but though it all she still remained positive and was always her cheerful self even in the end.
Seeing the way my mom struggle with her disease was hard all in it’s self, but for the children that are in Africa and other underdeveloped countries they are faced with several stressors. They are not just faced with disease but hunger, violence, mistreatment just to name a few. All these factors can have a huge effect on the way a child develops emotionally, physically, and socially. Like me those children more then likely don’t have a support system that will help them though rough times. I am grateful that I had people in my corner to help me along the way before and after.

Assesing Children

When it comes to assessing children I think that the whole child should be assessed and not just a certain aspect like personal social skills. My job as an educator is to assess children using what we call ages and stages questionnaire within the first 45 days of the child entering the program. The questionnaire that we use assesses the whole child: motor skills, communication skills, personal social skills, and social emotional skills. I think that it is very important for the educator to get to know the whole child and not just one aspect of the child. In Asian cultures they use two different kinds of assessment tools classroom and external assessments. Teachers focus on performance both instruction and assessments. They believe that classroom assessment should align with what students have learned and how they have learned. Some of the tools used are performance based, self assessments, peer assessments, teacher observations, and quizzes or tests. This provides a more comprehensive picture of the students ability. They also use external assessments, which are standardized assessments which measures student performance and program effectiveness. The Lingua Folio and ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 learners are assessment tools that are used and the results are compared with students nationally and internationally.

 

Reference

(2013). Retrieved from http://asiasociety.org/education

Favorite Quote About Children

“Don’t handicap your children by making their lives easy.”
Robert A. Heinlein

Something I Always Say:

The one thing that can't be taken away from you is your education!!