Creating Art

No matter where you are, diversity is in your face
It’s in our neighborhoods, our churches and in the marketplace
We need to have awareness of others all around us
Something we must all learn and practice is others’ acceptance

We can’t just talk about diversity, but it must be in our thinking and in our actions
No one group of people can get in their mind that they are the main attraction
It is a wonderful thing to live where there is such diversity
we must take advantage and learn from each other

And not criticize or discriminate others because they are different

Being different is not a bad thing, it is just the way we are and we must all be accepted.

I have learn so much in this course in regards to diversity, now it is my responsibility to teach and motivate others to respect, value and love all. As educators we must model to our children that differences are not bad, they are what makes each and one of us special. We must also teach them that we can learn from each other, in order to become a better person, a person that understands others ideals, values, needs and dreams.

"We Don't Say Those Words in Class!"

Having 3 children of my own, with the youngest being 3 years old, I have several personal experiences were they would just say things as they saw them without considering how the other person might feel or respond. My last experience was quite funny, during the summer one of my neighbors found 5 new born kittens in her yard, since she already had two cats of her own she decided to give them away. So she placed a sign in the front of her house saying Kittens for free. When I got home my children were very excited, since we have been planning to get a pet for such a long time. When we got to our neighbors house, she had her older soon which is around his late 40’s showing the cats. When my 3 year old son so him the first thing he said was “Wow, you are so big, while he looked at his belly”. The reason why my soon said so big, was because he was referring to the fact that he was big in regards to weight, it seemed that he could easily weigh more than 350 pounds. I was so glad that my child said big versus saying fat, since it was something that we have been reinforcing with him at home. But still I felt very embarrassed, but the man didn’t seem bothered by his comment and actually answered “I know I need to eat less and do more exercise, do you eat well and do exercise?” That comment made things much easier at least for me, since my child didn’t have any problems with what he said. I believe that the message that my child got from this is that it is okay to ask about differences as long as it is not done in a hurtful way, because there is nothing wrong with being different.

I really appreciated the way that man responded to my child, in other instances they would ignore or seem upset with my child instead of actually taking the time to talk about it, as he did. Once we got home I made my job to explain more to my child about what are other reasons why we tend to gain wait, and the importance of respecting others despite their differences. I believe that an educator might have responded, that all bodies are different, and many times it is because of health problems that some are over or under weight and it does not mean that they eat more or less than others.

Gender, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation

During my experience as a Head Start teacher for over 10 years, I have seen very little change in regards types of books, toys and stores available in the classrooms in regards to diversity and family structure. We still have our children bombarded with the typical stereotypes of what a Family looks like, and children are starting to create their own image of what is the norm. We still see posters of firefighters and police officers being men,  books that reflect covers of typical family structure of mom, dad and kids, and our classrooms and centers have very little or no representation of other cultures, but the dominant as the norm. We need to actually focus on the message we are giving the children, in order to encourage in them a sense of respect and value towards diversity in all aspects of human life.

In response to those people that think that early childhood centers should avoid exposing children to books that display gay and lesbian or same sex partners, is not considered as best practice. We need to expose all children and diversity in all aspects of life, weather in culture, believes, foods, race and even sexual tendencies. What a better place then school to learn these things, school should be a place where children should feel safe to learn, explore and ask questions. Questions that will be answered in a way that children can understand that differences do exist and we must be able to embrace and respect them, because they are part of society and not some kind of taboo that adults like to hide and not talk about.

If I would have the experience of having a parent that would approach me with his/her concern in regards to not having a homosexual or transgender caring for his child, I think that first of all I would listen and validate his feelings or believes in this matter, then I would share with him our school’s philosophy in regards to not excluding or discriminating any staff due to their religion, race or sexual tendency.  That we pride on the staff we hire, because he pays close attention on their qualifications and experiences working with young children. That we understand his concern, but that we can assure them that his child is well cared for by all the staff working in our center.

I had an experience a couple of years back with a little boy that enjoyed playing in the dramatic play are, he always wanted to be the mom and would dress up with girls cloths. He would also change his tone of voice and way of gestures to imitate his mothers. One day another little boy during lunch time said that Carlos looked gay, because he always would dress up like a girl and talk funny. Then another boy also repeated the same thing until the teacher interfered. She told the children that just because Carlos enjoyed playing in the Housekeeping area and uses the dresses from the area, it didn’t mean that he was “Gay”. That it was a very strong word for children to be using, that we they could talk more about during circle time, and that was the end of it. With this example I believe that it is important to address these comments in the moment and be able to explain to the children what the word means in a way that is developmentally appropriate. Also let the children know that this word could be offensive so we should try to avoid teasing or making fun of under children by using words like this.

I can see how this issue can be hard to discuss, since it could touch our own biases in regards to homosexuals, but it is essential that we are able to set aside our believes and values and actually educate our children as well as many of our parents that struggle with issues such as these.

Reflecting on Communication in the Early Childhood Field - Week 8

Thank you, to all my colleagues for the wonderful resources and expertise provided over the course of this class. Each class that we take together is an opportunity to learn and grow from each other’s experiences. I am grateful for having the opportunity to be part of such dedicated and professional colleagues, with the similar vision in regards to the importance of providing quality care and service to all children and families without any exclusion. I am looking forward on learning more from each other’s resources and professional experiences, that will make me a  better professional and person.

Good Luck to all,

Team Building and Collaboration (Week 6)

In my opinion the hardest groups to adjourn are the ones in which you have been a part of several accomplishments, were you have grown professionally and personally with the help of your colleagues, children and parents. A center that I had the most difficulty leaving was Head Start were I had the opportunity to have two of my children in. This center not only opened the doors for me to participate as parent volunteer, but also saw in me the potential to be part of the staff as an assistant teacher. They also motivated the staff to further their education bringing colleagues to our center to offer associates, bachelors, masters and doctors degrees on the evening and on Saturday mornings. It was nice to see how many of my colleagues were part of those program, what created a stronger bond of trust and respect among us. We would not strategies different techniques to work in our classroom, but we also worked to together in many of our class assignments. Like all jobs we had our differences and challenges but we all seemed to work it out for the better of all, because there was a sense of community we were all there to help each other which is something not often found in a job. Saying goodbye was one of the hardest decisions to make in my currier as educator, but because our commute was over an hour long after we decided to buy a home in a suburb, we could no longer afford traveling such a long distance. I think that because of all the accomplishments we made over the years as a team, saying goodbye  meant I was part of great accomplishments, that we will continue doing in any place we go after their. I left a seed that others will follow, and I'm taking with me all the experience and knowledge that others shared with me and made me a better professional and person. After 6 years I still remember the place and people that encouraged are to follow my dreams, and keep on going. I still have close contact with many of my ex-colleagues that are know some of my best friends and mentors.

As we get closer and closer to completing our Masters degree, I can also see how our communication will continue. Being able to have contact with other professionals in the field that share the same vision is a must. Saying goodbye is more like sharing our success, dreams and hopes for a better future. When closing like these exists there is a sense of accomplishment, and optimism for those that stay and for you that leave that you have an important mission to complete in different place, that you will miss that your job, colleagues, children and parents, but still have others to help and more things to learn.

Nonviolent Communication and Conflict Management

I would like to share a personal experience I recently had with my older daughter that is know a junior in high school. I have never had any problems with her grades before, and just early this week I got a call and an email from the school that he was failing chemistry. My first reaction was to get upset and immediately think of a consequence to give my daughter, before even listening to what she had to say. Before even talking to my daughter I spoke to my husband about the problem and we both agreed that we would first hear what she had to say, especially since she has always been a good student. To not go back to our old way or handling things, as our parents did to us, but to actually continue putting in practice what we have learned from the counseling we have participated and the different resources we have used in our work. It is funny we often can help solve other families situations and we often can solve our own that are less complicated.

So what we did was to have her tell us what was the problem, and what could we do to solve it. She had a lot to say, she told us that she never liked chemistry and that she really tries to understand. That she has tried asking the teacher to explain once again, but even when he does she still doesn't understand. Then we all brainstormed on things we could do as a team to solve the problem and we came out with many good ideas. One was talking with her counselor about the problem, possibly changing instructor, tutoring.  She liked the idea of talking with her counselor; she asked us to let her to it herself which we respected. Then we told her we would inquire about tutoring and she agreed. So now she goes to tutoring every Saturday morning, until she feels confident enough, which she really looks forward to, and she did speak to her counselor and he will change her to another class next semester, which she is very happy about.

We have learned is that by actually listening to our daughter and by using the magical words such as "How can we work this out? What can we do to help?, What do you think or feel?",  make an enormous impact on how others feel about themselves and others. The feeling that they are not alone changes the conflict from defensive to co-operative which makes resolving the problem much easier.

Thank you for reading my posting, if you have any other techniques that have helped you solve conflicts, particularly with our teenage children I would love to learn more, being a parent is not easy and we never stop learning.

Who Am I as a Communnicator?

After going over each of the different characteristics of communication, I was surprise to see the similarities each one had in regards to my perception and that of two other people I I questioned. One was my husband which I have been married for more than 20 years and one of my co-workers which I have been working for a little over a year. There was very little difference between their scores and mine. For my Communication Anxiety Inventory my score was of 28, my husband of 25 and my co-worker of 26. For my Verbal Aggressive Scale I scored 54, my husband 55 and my co-worker 50 and for the listening Style Profile we all agreed that I'm in group one which is the People Oriented. What I was able to observe with these activity that I actually know a lot about myself, and how I communicate with others. That people around me share the same perception about myself and how they enjoy the time we spend together, which for me is very important. I try my best to be a good communicator, no only with my family but with my colleagues, children and families I work with. For me there is no greater reward then hearing somebody say thanks for listening, sometimes that is all we need somebody that can actually listen for a minute.