My Experience with Research
Almost a year ago this month. I had the opportunity to participate in a research study conducted by Johns Hopkins University. During this study I was to introduce my students varying from ages 3-5 yrs old to vocabulary words they may have never heard or explore before. Prior to starting the research project, I sat down with the lead researcher and she explained to me why this project was being conducted in local Head Start programs. Research has shown how children from low income families had hard time reading when they entered into kindergarten. As a precaution to the ever growing achievement gap between preschool and kindergarten JHU decided to team up with Temple university and develop a curriculum that will improve the language development of young children through story telling.
The JHU provided each participating classroom with the lesson plan and the story books to go with. They also provided visuals to go with the vocabulary words as well follow up question being iterated the focus words. This was a year long study (school year) and three times out of the year the children we're assessed by the researcher or teacher on the words they have been learning. Once a week the researcher would come in and video the teacher in the act of implementing the lesson.
The same research project began to introduce the same concept athome as well. They had the same curriculum except they did not video. This was a really neat but intense project to guide educators and their families on the importance of language building in young children
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Saturday, November 5, 2016
My Research Journey
For this course, I have chosen to conduct my research simulation on the topic of effective leadership in early child care. This topic has inspired me to pursue my education with hopes of becoming an administrator of a child care program. In my years of experience, I have worked under some supervisors who lacked the ability to inspire their staff. They were able to manage the program but lack those people skills needed to inspire and motivate their staff to excel in all they do for the program, children and families.
Through my research thus far, I have found articles that I redeemed useful for the topic. These articles were located on the NAEYC website. Here I was able to locate three articles that can define the purpose of effective leadership and the benefits. I am also open to learning of any other resources that will assist me in gaining more knowledge on my topic.
For this course, I have chosen to conduct my research simulation on the topic of effective leadership in early child care. This topic has inspired me to pursue my education with hopes of becoming an administrator of a child care program. In my years of experience, I have worked under some supervisors who lacked the ability to inspire their staff. They were able to manage the program but lack those people skills needed to inspire and motivate their staff to excel in all they do for the program, children and families.
Through my research thus far, I have found articles that I redeemed useful for the topic. These articles were located on the NAEYC website. Here I was able to locate three articles that can define the purpose of effective leadership and the benefits. I am also open to learning of any other resources that will assist me in gaining more knowledge on my topic.
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Final Blog
Over the past seven weeks, I have enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate with my fellow early childhood professional. During this time I was given insight to issues and trends from another country that are very similar to the United States. Three of the consequences of learning internationally is, shared passion, limited resources and support. During these past seven weeks, I have gained insight to how similar our passion for early childhood amongst the two of us. She has also shared with me the limited resources that she is able to receive because of community she lives in and the opinion of her government officials. Due to this shortcoming, it does not provide much support for her and her program.
One goal that set forth to accomplish is to advocate more for early childhood programs in my local community. By doing this I will still make a substantial contribution to the lives of young children and their families which is my ultimate goal.
Over the past seven weeks, I have enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate with my fellow early childhood professional. During this time I was given insight to issues and trends from another country that are very similar to the United States. Three of the consequences of learning internationally is, shared passion, limited resources and support. During these past seven weeks, I have gained insight to how similar our passion for early childhood amongst the two of us. She has also shared with me the limited resources that she is able to receive because of community she lives in and the opinion of her government officials. Due to this shortcoming, it does not provide much support for her and her program.
One goal that set forth to accomplish is to advocate more for early childhood programs in my local community. By doing this I will still make a substantial contribution to the lives of young children and their families which is my ultimate goal.
Sunday, October 16, 2016
International Contacts Part 3
This week I reached out to my international contact Jane, who lives in Kenya. I must say that I am very impressed with her drive and passion for the children in her community. She works really hard trying to educate her students. In our conversations in the past, we discussed the hardships she faces with trying to keep her families involved in the children's education. With the demand of working overriding the need for education, she does the best she can do with the children and resources she has.
When we spoke about her professional goals she informed that there are places she can go for professional development, but they are too far way for her to attend. In order for her to attend the universities, she would have to to make a sacrifice, which she did not elaborate on. But what intrigued me was Jane mentioned that she wants to obtain her education so that she can make an impact on her community. She believes that if the younger generation sees that she obtained her education that they would want to do the exact same thing. A humbling way of inspiring the youth in her country to shoot for the stars.
This conversation has raised the issue of the importance of education no matter what country you live in. Early childhood education is and will always be the foundation that education is built on for all cultures.
This week I reached out to my international contact Jane, who lives in Kenya. I must say that I am very impressed with her drive and passion for the children in her community. She works really hard trying to educate her students. In our conversations in the past, we discussed the hardships she faces with trying to keep her families involved in the children's education. With the demand of working overriding the need for education, she does the best she can do with the children and resources she has.
When we spoke about her professional goals she informed that there are places she can go for professional development, but they are too far way for her to attend. In order for her to attend the universities, she would have to to make a sacrifice, which she did not elaborate on. But what intrigued me was Jane mentioned that she wants to obtain her education so that she can make an impact on her community. She believes that if the younger generation sees that she obtained her education that they would want to do the exact same thing. A humbling way of inspiring the youth in her country to shoot for the stars.
This conversation has raised the issue of the importance of education no matter what country you live in. Early childhood education is and will always be the foundation that education is built on for all cultures.
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Sharing Web Resources
Zerotothree.org
As I continue to explore Zero to Three website, it becomes evident that this website is very informative. As a new Infant Toddler teacher, this website would be a great resource for me. I looked deeper into the Resouces tab I found an article related to Early Learning for Infants and Toddlers. I choose the topic Early Literacy nd found various resources on the topic. One article I found "Learning to Read the World: Literacy in the first 3 years" provides caregivers insight on how their everyday interactions can help to build culturally appropriate language and literacy developmental skills in young children. It expresses the importance of doing this to help children build on these skills in later years.
What I found interesting in tab was at the end of every article are tabs that you can connect to other resources related to the topic. I also found information that allows me to connect with this weeks topic. Under the same tab, there are resources that guide parents, teachers, or other professionals in ways to find quality child care. Whether it is center based, or a close friend watching your child, there are articles that will guide your decision on what type of care is best for your child(ren).
As I continue to explore this website I am learning how beneficial the resources are to all who care, provide or educate professionals in early education.
Resource
https://www.zerotothree.org
Zerotothree.org
As I continue to explore Zero to Three website, it becomes evident that this website is very informative. As a new Infant Toddler teacher, this website would be a great resource for me. I looked deeper into the Resouces tab I found an article related to Early Learning for Infants and Toddlers. I choose the topic Early Literacy nd found various resources on the topic. One article I found "Learning to Read the World: Literacy in the first 3 years" provides caregivers insight on how their everyday interactions can help to build culturally appropriate language and literacy developmental skills in young children. It expresses the importance of doing this to help children build on these skills in later years.What I found interesting in tab was at the end of every article are tabs that you can connect to other resources related to the topic. I also found information that allows me to connect with this weeks topic. Under the same tab, there are resources that guide parents, teachers, or other professionals in ways to find quality child care. Whether it is center based, or a close friend watching your child, there are articles that will guide your decision on what type of care is best for your child(ren).
As I continue to explore this website I am learning how beneficial the resources are to all who care, provide or educate professionals in early education.
Resource
https://www.zerotothree.org
Sunday, October 2, 2016
International Contact - Part 2
This week we made another frequent connection with our international contact in Early Childhood. My contact name is Jane and she is from Kenya. In my conversations with her, I have learned that issues in Early Childhood are very similar around the world. The only difference would be the available resources to assist the programs policy and or standards.
Jane had shared with me the process she had to undertake when opening her school in Kenya. I found the process there to be familiar to the opening and operating of an ECE program in Maryland. She shared that first one must be trained to teach, fingerprinted by police and have good conduct. Once that is done then you can proceed with obtaining the deed to some land and the public health process.
When it comes to the equity and excellence in ECE, Jane shared with me that the government does not consider ECE programs at all. The parents are usually the providers which are scarce. Government funding is rare in her country and every household can not benefit from it. So in Kenya, there are not many ECE programs and if there are it is up to the program to provide for the needs of the children.
This week we made another frequent connection with our international contact in Early Childhood. My contact name is Jane and she is from Kenya. In my conversations with her, I have learned that issues in Early Childhood are very similar around the world. The only difference would be the available resources to assist the programs policy and or standards.
Jane had shared with me the process she had to undertake when opening her school in Kenya. I found the process there to be familiar to the opening and operating of an ECE program in Maryland. She shared that first one must be trained to teach, fingerprinted by police and have good conduct. Once that is done then you can proceed with obtaining the deed to some land and the public health process.
When it comes to the equity and excellence in ECE, Jane shared with me that the government does not consider ECE programs at all. The parents are usually the providers which are scarce. Government funding is rare in her country and every household can not benefit from it. So in Kenya, there are not many ECE programs and if there are it is up to the program to provide for the needs of the children.
Saturday, September 24, 2016
More on Zero to Three Website
As I continued to explore the website of Zero to Three organization, I found that they have a section for professional development. They offer continuing education units to help you meet the required licensing standards for your particular role in the center. The professional development can be conducted in group settings, webinars or customized to your individual needs.
What I love about this website is that if you do not see a certain topic or resource that you can utilize the search tab to find the information you need. For this week’s topic, I was able to find resources that will help me gain a better understanding. Once I conducted the search I was given resources, such as articles, service centers, and tools that I could use on my on time.
One insight that I gain while I explored the website was a tab that led me to the policy resource information. Here I was able to find resources that could help me understand the policy of early childhood programs that service infants and toddlers. I could also research what programs in other states are using or how they making a change in their programs as well. Another insight that I gained was how the website offers training for administrators and mental health.
Reference:
http://www.zerotothree.org
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