A Note of Thanks to my Collegues

Beginning the process of  working towards my masters degree was nerve wracking to me and doing so online made me wonder how I would interact with my classmates. I have learned in the past that one of my greatest assets in my learning are my classmates with whom I would converse and share and receive clarity on assignments and concepts. With that being said I would like to thank two colleagues in particular.

 I would like to first that Brianna of http://iammorethanateacher.blogspot.com/ .I wanted to take the time to thank you for your support thought this course. You have unknowingly been a leader for me. I have looked to your discussion responses and blog post to help me gather my thoughts and better understand the goals of the various assignments. Your work is always well thought out and well written.

My second thanks goes to  Antoinette of http://letthemblittlenfree.blogspot.com/. Upon learning that we live near each other you reached out to me and offered to get together to complete assignments. You also thought of me when you read an article related to what I want to do with my career and passed it along. You helped to make me feel connected to the humans on the other side of the blogs and posts! Thank you for your concern and support.

A Professional Reflection of NAEYC's Code of Ethics

 

                                             Codes of Ethics

This week I closely examined the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC)codes of ethics. I selected three particular ideals that stood out to me and are applicable to my current role as a classroom teacher and my future role as an early childhood advocate and instructor for families.

I-1.2—To base program practices upon current knowledge and research in the field of early childhood education, child development, and related disciplines, as well as on particular knowledge of each child.

This ideal applies to my everyday instructional practice. There are often times when I am asked to complete an activity or assessment with my students that is not developmentally appropriate. It is my responsibility as a professional to amend the activity so that it is used in an appropriate manner for the age range of the children that I work with. This may require me to be flexible an creative so that the task is performed within the guidelines of the activity but in the most appropriate way.

I-1.7—To use assessment information to understand and support children’s development and learning, to support instruction, and to identify children who may need additional services.

Assessment is an ongoing practice in the education field. It is a task that I admittedly struggle with. I am currently working with my team of grade level colleagues and administration to put results of assessment to better use. This includes collaborating more to better reach the needs of individual children. We are also becoming more creative in how to gather and use data for initial and secondary instruction. I am required to asses on a regular basis but I am working towards better insuring that the data collected is useful and helps guide my practice which includes sharing results with families to encourage support of the child.

I-1.12—To work with families to provide a safe and smooth transition as children and families move from one program to the next.

I-2.8—To help family members enhance their understanding of their children and support the continuing development of their skills as parents.

The two ideals above go hand in hand for the work I hope to do in the future. My ultimate goal is to work with families, instructing parents on the developmental stages, milestones, and approaches managing and behavior and teaching new skills to their children. I also hope to guide them through child care and school programs to help them advocate and ensure the best care and education of their child.

 

                                                                           









                                            Resources

NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from  http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

Course Resources-Early Childhood and Family Resources

Local Organizations for Children and Families (Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area)

Family and Community Engagement (FACE)

The National Center For Children and Families (NCCF)

Maryland Learning Links

Maryland Family Network (MFN)

Position Statements and Influential Practices

• 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://community.fpg.unc.edu/sites/community.fpg.unc.edu/files/imce/documents/FPG_Snapshot_N33_EvidenceBasedPractice_09-2006.pdf
• 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.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Global Support for Children's Rights and Well-Being

• Article: 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 Organizations

• 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/
  
• 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/
  

Professional Journals 

• YC Young Children
• Childhood
• Journal of Child & Family Studies
• Child Study Journal
• Multicultural Education
• Early Childhood Education Journal
• Journal of Early Childhood Research
• International Journal of Early Childhood
• Early Childhood Research Quarterly
• Developmental Psychology
• Social Studies
• Maternal & Child Health Journal
• International Journal of Early Years Education