Time Well Spent

THREE DEEPLY FELT LEARNINGS:

From this program everything I learned over the past year and a half has all come together. I have learned how to apply all my skills and knowledge to real life and to become an effective advocate in the early childhood field. It has opened me up to the many possibilities that are available in the early childhood field.

This course has also given my the opportunity to look into a challenge that I am very passionate about. Being able to explore what is out their that might help families with a child who is having difficulties developing socially and emotionally has been a very educational and informative for me. Prior to this class I was unaware of Play Therapy. I had a mother come up to me recently who was worried about her child and I was able to offer play therapy as a suggestion. 

Overall this class and all my classes have really given me the confidence that I needed to do more. Perusing your dreams can be a bit intimidating at times however now I feel that I have the skills and knowledge I need to do more. I have a lot of dreams and a lot I want to do in this field, getting my masters will help me to achieve those goals and I will apply everything I have learned to my future. Reflection has been a large part of my studies and I will continue this in the future.

LONG TERM GOAL:

One long term goal that I have is to gain more experience in my field and then to go back to school. I want to get my doctorate in education and specialize in working with adults. My dreams are to be a professor at a University and to teacher others who are interested in early childhood education. 

FAREWELL:

This farewell is much different from all my past farewells because this is our last class. I just want to tell all of you how much I appreciate getting to know you and going through this journey together. I have learned so much from each of you. Being able to work together and share experiences and ideas has helped me to gain the knowledge that I have. I wish all of you the best for the future and hope you all continue to learn and grow along the way.
-Amy

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

The first International Organization that I am interested in is the Camp Ohana Foundation. Earlier in my studies I communicated with the founder Amos Balango about his organization and became very interested in their mission. “Camp Ohana is dedicated to providing underprivileged children and youth with high quality cross-cultural educational camp programs that encourage personal growth, enhance self-esteem and foster meaningful and lasting interpersonal relationships in a communal and nurturing environment”(Camp Ohana, 2012). Camp Ohana is a United States non-profit organization that is currently getting starting in Kenya. 

Currently Camp Ohana is a volunteer based organization. They are seeking volunteers in the following areas. “Health and Wellness Programs , Communications and Public Relations, Recreation Development, Research and Development, Curriculum Development, Marketing and Partnerships, Fundraising, Web Design and Social Media” (Camp Ohana, 2012). I am qualified to help with Camp Ohana and am interested in volunteering at Camp Ohana itself in Kenya and helping the children their develop and learn English. 

The next international organization I am interested in is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). “UNESCO advocates for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programmes that attend to health, nutrition, security and learning and which provide for children’s holistic development. It organized the first World Conference on ECCE in September 2010, which culminated in the adoption of a global action agenda for ECCE called Moscow Framework for Action and Cooperation: Harnessing the Wealth of Nations. As a follow-up to the World Conference, UNESCO works in partnership with Member States, partners and other stakeholders to encourage timely and effective implementation of the Moscow Framework so that all young children develop their potential to the fullest” (UNESCO, 2012). 

A career for UNESCO that interest me is a Junior Professional“An international professional career at UNESCO may be open to you depending on your level of expertise in the field of education, culture, science or communication or in management and administration. You will be providing expert opinion on global issues and handling the planning and execution of UNESCO’s programmes and projects, at the centre of the Organization’s intergovernmental activity. Your responsibilities will be exclusively international and, accordingly, you will be under the authority of the Director-General and may not receive instructions from any government or from any other authority outside of the Organization” (UNESCO, 2012). 

Currently I would have to start at a junior professional and work my way up once I have gained more experience with UNESCO and understand how the organization works.

The last organization I am interested in is the Association for Childhood Education International. The organizations mission is, “Our mission is to promote and support in the global community the optimal education, development, and well-being of children, from birth through early adolescence, and to influence the professional growth of educators and the efforts of others who are committed to the needs of children in a changing society” (ACEI, 2011). 

I am interested in being on their advisory council. In order to be an effective member I would want to further my education and get my P.H.D. “NCATE and the United Nations—will keep the Headquarters and the Board informed of key actions related to these important external organizations, while Special Interest Forums will allow members to form flexible networking groups based on shared interests” (ACEI, 2011). 

Resources: 

ACEI, (2011). Association for Childhood Education International. Retrieved from http://www.acei.org/

Camp Ohana, (2012). Camp Ohana Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.campohana.org

UNESCO, (2012). United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/

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

I found a couple National and Federal Organizations that interest me.

NECPA:

The first being the National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA). “As the only independent early childhood accrediting organization, our non-profit mission is to encourage your quality and recognize your excellence. We are dedicated to supporting you through each step of the Accreditation process with easy to understand guidance and rationale balanced with a user friendly tool. We commit each day to leading you forward by extending services that make success attainable” (NECPA, 2009). 

I current job opportunity that I found was to be a verifier for NECPA. “The role of an NECPA Verifier is physically demanding, as well as emotionally. Anticipate lengthy work days with minimal breaks on a verification visit. Verifiers will maintain a respectful demeanor and adhere to NECPA Commission policies and procedures. Verifiers will be evaluated by the program director upon the completion of each verification visit. Applicants qualified for candidature meet and execute Verifier requirements essential to the position” (NECPA, 2009). 

I would need more experience with NECPA. Working at a site that is going through accreditation would give me this experience. 

ICF International:

ICF International, “ICF International (NASDAQ:ICFI) partners with government and commercial clients to deliver professional services and technology solutions in the energy, environment, and transportation; health, education, and social programs; and homeland security and defense markets. The firm combines passion for its work with industry expertise and innovative analytics to produce compelling results throughout the entire program life cycle, from research and analysis through implementation and improvement” (ICFI, 2012).

I job that I found with ICF is the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Specialist. “ICF seeks an experienced Early Childhood Education (ECE) Specialist to support Head Start and Early Head Start programs to ensure high quality Head Start and Early Head Start services in accordance with federal regulations that promote healthy development, encompassing the developmental domains of physical development and health, social and emotional development, approaches to learning, language and literacy, and cognition and general knowledge to ensure children’s future success. The Early Childhood Education Specialist will provide training and technical assistance (TTA) to programs to support progress toward established school readiness goals, focusing on the use of child and program data to make decisions about approaches to working with teachers, home visitors, and parents in quality practices. The Specialist will provide professional-level expertise by engaging programs in dialogue and learning of best practices for children from birth to five and encourage a culture of learning that promotes school readiness” (ICFI, 2012).

I am qualified for this position however with more experience with Head Start I would be much more qualified. 

Nationwide Children’s:

“Our certified Early Childhood Development program coordinators can support your family by assessing your child's developmental needs, playing with your child and helping your child learn. Our goal is to serve all children who have developmental delays or who are at risk for delays. We try to help each child meet developmental milestones as they are able” (Nationwide Children’s, 2012).

A job I found is the Executive Assistant of the CEO. For this position I found need to go back to school and get more of a background in child healthcare. 

Resources:

ICF International. (2012). Retrieved from www.icfi.com

National Early Childhood Program Accreditation. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.necpa.net

Nationwide Children’s (2012). Retrieved from http://www.nationwidechildrens.org

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

The first organization that applies to me is CNIC, Commander Navy Installations Command. For CNIC I would want to be an inspector for Child and Youth Programs on different military bases around the world. I chose this organization because they go out into the different military communities and better them. They are constantly thinking of new ideas to better military Child and Youth programs. 

After completing my masters and finishing up my first three years for working for the Department of Defense (which will be in February) I will be qualified to apply for one of these positions. 

The second organization that I am interested in working for is NAEYC. “NAEYC's mission is to serve and act on behalf of the needs, rights and well-being of all young children with primary focus on the provision of educational and developmental services and resources (NAEYC Bylaws, Article I., Section 1.1).”

A job that I found under NAEYC that interests me is “The Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) Administrator will manage the design and implementation of the Alameda County Quality Rating and Improvement System. The QRIS Administrator will coordinate multiple stakeholders and programs to ensure that the QRIS system conforms to the requirements of California’s Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) Grant. The QRIS Administrator also represents Alameda County QRIS at the regional and state level” (NAEYC, 2012). For this job I will need some extra experience in “Experience Minimum five years of full-time progressively responsible experience in a public or private organization or community development agency serving at-risk families with young children including the responsibility for program management, planning and/or evaluation” (NAEYC, 2012). All of my experience is through the Department of Defense and working with military families. 

The last organization I chose is the Children’s Defense Fund. “The Children's Defense Fund Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities” (Children’s Defense Fund, 2012).  In my undergraduate degree I studied political science and working for the Children’s Defense Fund and trying to work with the government and make sure that every child has a voice would be bringing both things I love together. 

A job that I found of interest is a Healthcare Organizer. “Mobilizing the Texas business community is critical to improving overall health care access for Texas children. The Healthcare Organizer will work with Small Business Majority (SBM), a national advocacy organization, other CDF-TX staff and partners of the Texas Well and Healthy Campaign (TWAH) to develop and lead CDF’s small business public education campaign. The Texas business community is predominantly composed of small businesses. Thus, businesses have a role to play in shaping health care access for children and families in our state through their employment and benefits practices as well as political influence. The Healthcare Organizer will travel throughout Texas to educate and engage small business leaders in supporting ACA and protecting children’s health coverage through Medicaid and CHIP. In addition to coordinating and hosting public education presentations, the Healthcare Organizer will cultivate business leaders to serve as spokespeople for the ACA, Medicaid and children’s healthcare coverage, participate in public events, testify at public hearings, and partner with CDF-TX, SBM and TWAH on outreach to traditional and social media.  The Healthcare Organizer will also help in collecting and documenting stories for publication and advocacy purposes” (Children’s Defense Fund, 2012). I have all of the qualifications for this job. My passion does not relate to healthcare while I know it is very important and I fully support it, my ideal job would be similar to this however it would relate to the educators and their education and providing them with trainings to enable them to better help a child in their development process. 

Resources:

Children’s Defense Fund. (2012). www.childrensdefense.org

Commander Navy Installations Command. (2012). http://www.cnic.navy.mil/CNIC_HQ_Site/WhatWeDo/FleetandFamilyReadiness/FamilyReadiness/ChildAndYouthPrograms/index.htm

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2012). Career Forum. http://careerforum.naeyc.org/jobs#/detail/4833241

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2012). www.naecy.org

Wordle

Week 8: Goodbye

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” 

-Henry Ford

I want to take this chance to thank each and every one of you. At the beginning of this class I thought I knew all their was to know about communicating but I was wrong, I learned so much and I learned so much from all of you. Sharing your stories, your thoughts, your insights, etc has really shown me that we are different but are all very capable of working together and learning from each other. Thank you for progressing through this class with me and I know with everything we have learned that we will all be success in the end!


I wish you all the best,
Amy

Week 6: Group Development

During the summer of 2007 I was involved in a program called Camp Adventure and lived in Naples Italy for 3 months. I along with 15 other college students worked as camp counselors for military children. This was the hardest group I have ever had to leave. We had to constantly work together to program for the children we were working with, we had to plan events, etc. I know we went through the “storming” process but looking back I have nothing but great memories. By the end of our 3 months of task happened like clock work, we all just knew what we had to do and got it done. I think the reasons why the adjourning process was so is because we had become a family over those three months and had to depend on each other, learned so much together and experienced so much together. 

When my colleagues and I are going through the adjourning process I think it will be very positive one. We have all worked together and will have accomplished what we set out to do. I think we will all be happy for each other and excited for what the future holds. 

Adjourning is essential because it gives you closure and time to reflect.