Educational Journey

As I look back over the time I have been in this program I have learn so much about the field of early childhood education and about myself. The first thing that I learn was how important it is to have self-discipline. Earning a degree online is not as easy as people thing it is you have to be motivated and have a great deal of self-discipline. The second thing that I learn is how important it is to learn who it is you are working with. When teaching adults you have to understand how we learn. One of the things is that adult learners like to know what it is they are learning and why. The last thing is how caring each of my classmates has been during my stay at Walden. We have worked hard to keep each other on track so that we can reach the goal we set out for in our programs of study.

The one long-tern goal I have to share at this time is the goal of become the Dean of the School of Education. This goal will take some time to reach but if I stay on the road I am on right now I will reach it in no time. Earning this Master Degree get me one step closer to reaching it, so thank you Walden.

It is never farewell it is until we meet again. I believe that we have developed a family here at Walden and families do not say farewell. I look forward to working with all of you in the future on some project to help the lives of young children and families become better. To Dr. Teri Davis thank you for working with us on this final leg of this chapter of our lives. I will never forget you and I have save that email you sent me to cheer me up and letting me know that I could make it. To my classmates hope to see you all in Beautiful Miami, Florida as we receive our Master Degrees.  

 Christopher Felder

felder1914@gmail.com

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

For this week blog I had to review some at least three international organizations or communities of practice that appealed to me and tell why I chose them. As I was looking for organization this week I keep coming across charities that help children and families. Many of these organization sponsor educators to go to low-social economic countries to teach or advocate for children and families. I chose these three organizations because they embody the spirit of ECE. One of the reasons why Early Head Start was founded in the US was to combat the growing number of people living in poverty. They show the true meaning behind COP. They have a great passion for helping children and families. The people in these organizations are skilled in their areas and are willing to learn more. They bring a great dynamic to each of their individual organizations. These organizations saw this great need and are trying to spread it across the world. So this blog will spot light three of these great organizations.

The following are the three international organizations and communities of practice:

·         Child International

o    http://www.children.org/AChildJustForYouSW3-ChildrenInternational.asp?WT.mc_id=S_Google&RS_ID=2&WT.srch=1&gclid=CLmTm526zrECFcne4Aodr18Axw

·         Alliance and Families International

o    http://www.alliance1.org/news-releases/Susan%20Dreyfus%20to%20Rejoin%20Families%20International%20Organizations

·         Child Reach International USA

o    http://www.childreachusa.org/

One Job from each website:
Raise Awareness (Child Reach International)
Organize a Fundraising Event (Child International)
Team Leader Internships (Alliance and Families)

The main skills need for these jobs are to be out going and willing to learn more. One of the things that all of them ask for was do you speak more than one language if so which ones. Then they ask your leave of education and what you could you bring to the organization.

I would love to have the chance to go and work international one day. That is one of my biggest dreams.

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

The following are the three national that appealed to me and why you chose them

The National Association of Child Care Professionals http://www.naccp.org/
National Child Care Association http://www.nccanet.org/
National Education Association http://www.nea.org/home/18163.htm

These three organizations are great creditable places to get information for children and families. These organizations embody the true spirit of Early Childhood and hold great standards in the world of ECE.

I’m still looking at the job opportunities interest me last week. I will now narrow the list down to the three job opportunities.

·         Teaching on the Technical College Level
·         Family Placement US Military
·         USDA Consultant

The skill I will need to complete these roles are a Masters plus in Education, two years of experience in the field, and people skills. The last of the three is one of the most important of them all. I’m looking forward to finding a job in one of those areas.  

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

The following are a list of three Local or State Organizations that appeals to me:

·         Campus Wide Directors

·         South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA) http://scisa.org/

·         South Carolina Association of Education of Young Children (SCAEYC) http://scaeyc.org/

The reason why I select these three organizations is because they are credible sources for educator. The first of the three is Campus Wide Directors. This is a group of directors that have childcare centers that are based on college campus around the world. The second of the three is SCISA. This organization is an accrediting body of school in South Carolina. Their mission is SCISA as an exclusively educational organization, with responsibilities to establish accreditation standards, coordinate athletic and academic competition, and raise funds for member organizations.   The last of the three is the SCAEYC. This is the local chapter of NAEYC.

The job opportunities that is currently available to me:

·         Teaching on the Technical College Level

·         Training Early Childhood Educators

·         Working as an Advocate for young children and families

·         Family Coordinator

·         Family Placement US Military

·         USDA Consultant

·         Child Development Associates

The skill are that I would need to fulfill those roles are being acquired by receiving this master’s degree. Being able to collaborate and communicate effectively is one of the main skills I will need. Another skill will be having the ability to speak effectively in public.  In addition I will need to be able to plan effective lessons or activities for the group of adult learners that I will be working with.

Reflecting on Communication in the Early Childhood Field

As I look back over the past few weeks I see that I have grown from working with you Dr. D. and my classmates.  The communication goal for this week is to develop better team building skills. Team building is so important when you are working with families and young children. As I work with families I see how team building help families develop better bonds with themselves and the center.

In conclusion I have developed so many skills over the past few weeks that will help me as an early childhood educator.  I was able to see areas that I need to work so that I can become more effective in the field. The biggest eye opener was my listening skills and how my facial express affect the outcome of a conversation.

Team Building and Collaboration,

High performance group can be hard to level. When it is a group that is make changes in the lives of people. There is the part also when you can see the work that is being done in the group that makes it hard to leave.

The easiest group to leave was a group in college that was not doing anything to better the life on the main campus. I join the group because of its mission and then learn that it was not their intent to better the campus but to make a name for themselves.

I imagine that we have a great team as we keep developing our relationship as colleagues. The more we work together the more I feel that bond the Carol was talking about this week. That bond is important for our development as early childhood educators. 

Nonviolent Communication and Conflict Management

The conflict that I’m dealing with right now is with my aunt who was cooking for my mother birthday party. The issue is that I wanted her to cook finger foods for 100 people that I have invite and she want $500.00 for the list of food I would for the party. I told her that $500.00 was to much money, so she got upset with me and said find someone else to do it for you.

This week has open my eyes to how to deal with these kinds of conflicts. The first of them comes from the 3 R’s. I have to response to the attacks that I didn’t post in a respectful manner because of who I am in the community. The need one is the win/win outcome. I’m still working on this but I know that it will work out some kind of way where both of us come out on top or happy.

If this was you how would you deal with it?