Tracy: Professional Hopes and Goals

Friday, February 24, 2012

Professional Hopes and Goals

My professional goal when working with diverse families would be to make them feel welcome in the community and classroom. I would hope that the families would build a relationship with me and other staff so we can understand their culture. When a family feels they can trust their child's teacher their child will in turn build trust and have the ability to learn socially and academically in the classroom.

One goal I have for the early childhood field would be to make the educational system a little easier to navigate. We have a lot of migratory children in our school and families are moving frequently. It is difficult for them to move from school to school. It would be nice if there was a system in place that would follow the educational progress of these children. The new school that the child would enroll in would automatically have his previuos records available to his/her teacher.

I really enjoy reading the blog site and the posts of the classmates in group 2. Many of you have been in the same classes with me all along and I feel like I know many of you. I wasn't sure about the on-line community and the "lack" of building relationships but don't feel that at all. I feel like I know many of you and it is really encouraging. I look forward to reading everyone's discussions and it keeps me moving forward through these classes. However, I have really enjoyed this class and what we have learned regarding diversity. I look forward to being in the next class with you guys.

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"My Connections to Play"

Two quotes:

Vygotsky - "Children use private speech in play to regulate behavior"

"Creative play is a central activity in the lives of healthy children."
Almon, K. (2002) The vital role of play in early childhood
education. Gateways, 43.

My family, especially my mom, was very supportive of play. She recognized its importance. My sister and I loved to play with our friends. She would take us to the community pool and parks and we would play all day. When we got a little older we got a trampoline and jumped on it for much of the day. We had a playroom above our garage in Tennessee and we played there for many hours even though it got very hot at times. My sister and I loved to play with dolls. My mom always said she would be my best friend and as we got older did not encourage many outside friendships. I think that hurt our social skills a little. Now we talk every once in a while, have very different lives and see each other about 2-3 times per year. Even though we are still very close and had many years of play as children, we have drifted apart. My dad was really good at playing with us also. He took us on our boat all the time and encouraged more of the rough and tumble type of play. Both my mom and taught us to be resourceful and take care of ourselves, almost to a fault.

As I attempt to write my blog assignement I feel play has changed a great deal since when we were younger. We would go all day without seeing the inside of our house and find things to play with. All three of my boys are sitting around my table asking me questions and saying they are bored. I live about 2 blocks from one of the most beautiful lakes and beaches in the country and 1 block from an elementary school playground. There are children all over this neighborhood to play with and they are asking me what they can do. Where have I gone wrong in this scenario? They have come to rely on me as their "social director" and I have probably enabled that. Play is very different. I am going to cancel cable and hide the playstation and nintendo ds's for the summer. My kids are older and possibly beyond help. I hope that young children will be pulled away from the computers, tv and other electronic devices. I hope they will be in a safe place to be able to venture out and make friends. Parents need to be more confident in their childrens ability and need to become independent players. I think sometimes parents protect their children and don't let them make mistakes at an early age.

I have included pictures of my boys below at the beach. This is what we love to do these days. This was on a spring break vacation. My youngest sons favorite toy was a palm branch he found the first day. Again, an item from nature that I didn't have to purchase that entertained him. Nice!!