The Home Stretch

From preschool, to curriculum work, to primary education, my career has made some turns but my passion for the ECE field stands strong. Working as a kindergarten teacher in suburban northern New Jersey, I have been privy to a wide range of policy challenges that directly affect the families in my care, as well as the communities I work around. I am thrilled to be in the final stages of my studies, working now to deepen my knowledge of the tools available to me as an advocate and future policy shaper. I look forward to getting to know each of my new colleagues, and growing together!

Consequences of Being Apart of the BEST Team

1. Oh mylanta! MY BRAIN HAS GROWN!

After the 8 weeks in this course, I know for a fact that I have grown. Whereas prior to the start of our studies, I started to feel like I was falling into “the slump.” You know, the one where everything just seems so dreary and the changes feel like they’re never going to happen? Well, the feeling has gone. This learning community I have been a part of has allowed for me to be reminded, once again, that although the challenges we often face are truly big, the safety net to keep us from falling off the edge is far to large. A community such as the early childhood field’s leaves no man behind. Each member truly understands the importance of our work, and the value of children and families.

2. I might just jump!

As the early childhood community is not just limited to the professionals that work directly with teachers, I am starting to grow my confidence in the possibility of leaving the classroom and making my lasting marking in a different branch of our early childhood system. I’ve begun to research the different organizations that I feel inspired by, and am considering taking a chance and transferring into a new sector!

3. The kids. It’s always the kids.

My faith, wonder, and joy in childhood has not wavered. This community that cares so much, about me and about everyone, has continued to remind me that childhood matters. Our work is important because children’s lives matter. That old saying is absolutely true: children are our future.

Goal

I will become a leader. As long as I am working within my current education system, I will find ways to continue to grow and continue to share my understandings of effective comprehensive early childhood systems that can, should, and might even do exist in my community. I will build bridges across care sectors, linking each involved member of a child’s life to the same goal.

What if...

I am a married young woman, 28 years old to be exact. My husband and I have been together for 7 years, and married for the past 4. We met during high school, and reconnected after I completed my bachelors degree. We are both native English speakers, and live in our home state. During our second trimester, we decided to complete an amniocentesis test.  The results came back with a startling finding: our baby has spina bifida. Further testing found that the case looks as though it will definitely have some pretty intense implications after I give birth. Two doctors, each with different practices, have given my husband and me the expectation that our child will require several surgeries early on, even one while still in utero! Even if we opt to complete the earliest surgery, who's to say that our baby won't need surgeries on their feet, hips, or even spine. One doctor had been mentioning the possibility of hydrocephalus, where our baby might need a shunt to release fluid and pressure on the base of their spinal cord. All procedures are highly expensive, and I'm just not sure how we are going to financially prepare.

As a public school teacher, I have a decent insurance plan, though no one can predict if I will be able to keep my job and still give my child the attention that they need. My husband is an electrician for a private company, and even though his insurance is decent, his premium is extremely high, we are just now making enough to pay the extra for diapers and general baby needs- not for medical bills. We have anticipated using an at-home care provider when I return to work, but recently discovered she is not qualified to manage children with special needs. Neither of our families live nearby, so we are on our own when getting any type of help caring for our baby. The small amount of savings we currently have have already begun to dwindle as we jump from specialist to specialist. As badly as we want to become parents, we aren't sure that bringing this pregnancy to full term is going to be something that we can nor should do. Without certainty of if we can give this child what they need, we need to make our decision. Fortunately, there are no legal restrictions on how what we choose to do. 

Thinking about the sectors of comprehensive systems, my family will no doubt benefit from each. At this point, as my husband and I are gearing up to make this major decision of whether or not to bring out pregnancy to full term, we would greatly benefit from both the Health & Family Support systems. The various specialists we have seen, and will likely see again, will serve us in totally understanding out options and outcomes. The Family & Support system will give us the guiding hand, or shoulder to lean on no matter what decision we make. And we are to bring out pregnancy to full term, I know how important Early Learning and Development systems will be as we work to identify any developmental struggles our baby faces, and learning the many different ways we can help to foster growth across all areas of development. 

Intro to Educ-6567

One of the reasons I chose to study policy and advocacy within the early childhood field is because of the changing face of the field. With more and more global emphasis being placed on the value of young children and their families, I felt it would be most beneficial to focus my graduate studies within the realm of the changing policies, in order to learn how to grow my own voice on behalf of these communities. Working currently as a classroom teacher, I have found that my studies thus far have not only supported the growth of my relationships with the young children I teach, but have also allowed for me to speak out on behalf of my own “best practice,” and also when working to foster collaborative relationships with parents and colleagues alike.

Becoming a skilled and confident advocate is crucial for early childhood professionals and for the field because we speak on behalf of so many different sub communities. We speak on behalf of young children whom do not yet have a voice. We speak on behalf of parents, whom are working to find their new role in the world, and bring up positive, productive members of society. We also speak on behalf of our communities, working to grow positive relationships across all peoples. In order to do so effectively, we must learn the complexities of cultural differences, the skills necessary to mediate and collaborate, and do so all while understanding the general structure of the legalities of the systems in which we function and for which we seek to improve. There is so much worth fighting for, and within the clear confident voice we have been working so hard to build, we may not be able to sway the public to see the same crucial nature of our work.

Public Policy & Advocacy Goals

-I hope to understand the legal process of how financial funding is created and allocated. Specifically, I would like to understand the various processes schools and child care centers can go through in order to increase and/or maintain funding.

-I hope to learn the different roles one can take when working to pass specific legislation. Specifically, I would like to know how I could directly contribute to passing specific legislation such as bills providing school meals (breakfast/lunch) to low in/at risk children.

-I hope to learn of new organizations that work in full force to impact specific sub-communities within the field. I am hoping to learn of not only the work that is being done across the globe, but also specifically what organizations exist within my own state, and the ways in which I can become involved with their work.

Adjourning

As a classroom teacher, I constantly find myself working within groups. Some groups can't adjourn quick enough, whereas others leave me hoping for future collaborations. Several years ago I had worked on a teaching team that was unlike any other team I had worked within. Each of the team members had their own individual style and personality, yet everyone was able to express their ideas just as respectfully as they had listened to the ideas of others. The levels of commitment towards the common visions, and trust for one another was totally unparalleled. When our school year came to an end, 3 of the 4 members on the team were leaving the school to pursue further career goals. Throughout the year, we had worked to support each other in countless ways. Yet, now, we were moving on. This process of adjourning our teamwork allowed for closure in our work together, but also left me feeling as though we were placing a doormat in front of a perpetually unlocked supply closet. Although we were leaving one another, we had left our team in a state of constant connection: we became fully capable of continuing on our contact and providing support to one another in the years to come. 

When my M.S. program at Walden U. is complete, I imagine that I will once again place a doormat outside of my supply closet for each of my new colleagues. Though my time in our classes will be no longer, I will work to remain in contact and available to continue to collaborate with the many great minds I have met along my studies. This very process of adjourning is what allows for the positive growth in our work together to remain alive, and for future support systems to germinate. 

Conflict in Context

This year marks my first year as a kindergarten teacher. I've now taught at a different grade/age level each 5 years of my short career. In different ways, each new year brings an onslaught of new challenges. Though, this year has proven to be particularly challenging. Much of my struggles have come from my own weaknesses in managing my organization, understanding curricula, and grasping certain policies of my kindergarten program. When thinking about any disagreements or conflicts that I have recently experienced, I can't pinpoint many, but I think that has a lot to do with my perception of many situations. (I seem to have build a frame-of-mind where I've been placing a lot of blame on my own shortcomings when trying to manage my challenges at work. More specifically, until I've tried to pinpoint the root of the challenge, I don't feel comfortable enough to confront it. This in itself is a challenge in communication I now see new ways to overcome!) 

Though, there is one thing that I have not been able to shake: one of my students has struggled greatly this year, and despite my following of the intervention and response process, I have just been informed that he will not be receiving a formal evaluation, even though it has now been clearly identified how beneficial mandated services will be for this child. When the LDTC (who is also a case manager) informed me of this, I was a combination of furious and sad: I have been working with the Intervention & Response Services (I&RS) team since October to address challenges that, though they may not be strictly academic, were, are, and will be seriously impeding this child's ability to succeed independently. The determination of the team, is that because he has made such great progress, and is only now scoring below benchmark standards academically, there will not be enough time to complete paperwork and perform an evaluation prior to the end of the school year. This information was all presented to me the day before Spring Break began. It was shared with me 5 minutes before my prep was ending, and no clear follow up was determined.

After the red, hot rage subsided, I've had time to sit and think about what I can and should do from now until the start of this child's first grade year. I know now that I must return to school next week, and speak with the LDTC to determine a compromise. I need to make sure that, unlike several instances I have experienced in the past, this child does not get forgotten come Sept. 3, 2016. Having fought so hard this year to allow for my student to be given the best opportunities to learn and grow, I do not believe that I should be told that there's nothing more I can do. I will call for a meeting, to seek support from the team from now until an evaluation is going to be completed, even if it is for the next few months. I also know that I have to consider the "whys" regarding why the child cannot be evaluated yet. I have to acknowledge the heavy case load of the small Child Study Team (CST). Because of the nature of this conflict, I think that a wider range of solutions might not be best, as many different approaches have been offered and tried. Though, aside from simply asking for more support or strategies, I believe that entering mediations with a specific focus of support will be most helpful. 

Communication Analysis

This week was a strange week on a few different levels. As the week began, I once again felt like one of those performers who miraculously work to spin multiple porcelain plates atop narrow rods. As one begins to spin, so does another, and another, and so on. If you've ever witnessed this, you might hold you breath in anticipation of one or many plates dropping to the ground and coming to a dramatic CRASH!

Needless to say, I realized just how much I had piling up in my life. Yet, this was not the first time I had a feeling such as this. In instances such as these, I truly worry that I will be unable to keep my head level enough to communicate clearly to those around me. When I began our assignment for the week, and realized I would have to both analyze my communication skills along with have two other individuals analyze me, I couldn't help but feel a little worried. My own lowered self-esteem left me feeling worried about how others perceive my abilities to interact effectively.

My boyfriend, the man who most often takes the brunt of my rants, rambles, and frustrations, is also the person who participates in analyzing my self reflections. He and I communicate exceptionally well when working to understand the reasons behind our frustrations, but also when devising plans to continue to evolve in a positive way. When his results on both assessments were only one point away from where I scored myself, there wasn't exactly a surprise as much as a relief. It was comforting to see how well he truly knows me and understands my motivations behind interactions. In the past, I had struggled with remaining true to myself while in a relationship. This current relationship that I am in has been the first that I, for many factors, have seemingly been able to remain transparent in my wants, needs, opinions, and beliefs.

 This primarily resulted in my decision to invite two people whom I hold close to my heart, but also know me in situations such as the one I was experiencing along with the many other levels of my emotional being. My little sister, and toughest most marvelous critic, along with my boyfriend were the lucky winners. My sister, 3 years younger than me, has always felt the wrath of my "bad side". As many sisters experience, we fought constantly. It wasn't until we were older that we began to get along better. Yet, I still had this flighting feeling that she perceives me in a totally different light than I do myself. When she had sent me her results from the assessments though, and was no further than 2 points away from where I had scored my own self, I was amazed. No matter how many ugly fights we had gotten in over totally irrational things, my sister is able to see me as a balanced communicator. Granted, my assessment result within the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale was not even close to the "mild" range, the results we had both gotten were results that I am very comfortable with. Both my sister and myself both see my abilities to stand up for what I believe in while refraining from knocking someone else down. This skill can be extremely useful, especially when working as an advocate. We so often need to be able to speak up for what we believe in in ways that not only avoid hurting the feelings of those whom we are speaking to, but do so in an effective enough way that evokes change.