Professional Hopes and Goals

I have appreciated this class so much as it has taught me to listen, learn, and discover who I really am.

My hope is that I really take the time to learn about my children and families this year in the preschool program. I am going to make an effort to make sure that my communication with my families is applicable for all.

My goal for early childhood is that all children will be welcomed and accepted with their peers and that we can create learning opportunties for acceptance and that they have a place in our program and society.

I have enjoyed sharing thoughts with each and every one of you and have learned so much about how we all continue to take pride in our profession. Each one of you has made lasting contributions to our online classroom. Keep up the good work and I hope to see you all in the next class!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

My family is coming from Norway and there are several things I would like to do to prepare myself for their welcome. I chose this country because my great-grandparents were from Norway.

1. I would learn the spoken language and try to learn a greeting and/or key phrases in this language when being introduced to them.

2. I would find out about the family itself; parents, children, other members who might have a significant impact on the family. I would try to find out how parents and children are viewed in the family.

3.   I would try to find out if there are any common experiences that have been shared by the family and myself.

4. I would find out if possible why they are relocating to this area and their professions/jobs. I would find out if there are unusual circumstances.

5. I would find the specific foods that the family likes to eat and see if there is someone available in the community who could make the food.

It's important to know how families come to an area and how they can find the help they need to get situated. Making sure that resources are available in their language and they know where to find them is a big assistance.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

When I was in seventh grade, my “best” friend decided that she no longer wanted to be friends with me because I was not part of the cool crowd. She wanted to be more popular so she wrote me a “Dear John” letter telling me that we were no longer friends. She gave it to me at school and I remember crying while reading this letter and feeling so rejected. The cool crowd was a very mean group of girls who teased me all the time about my clothes, my hair, and my glasses, basically anything. I tried so hard to ignore them through middle school. I almost dropped out of school in eighth grade because it was so bad. As I got older, I always remembered that feeling and never wanted to hurt anyone that way. When I got to high school and we moved to a different school district, I had lots of friends in all grades. I had a group of wonderful friends in my class who were not judgmental and accepted me for who I was.

As an adult, I think I am a person who people can reach out and talk to. I have passed this on to my daughter especially because these situations do not seem to be going away. I suppose in a way, my experience was about being bullied. I did not talk to anyone about it so it so I should have stepped up and said something. I was not one who liked confrontation so I just tried to hide and not do anything to draw attention to myself.  Those middle school years were very painful and I have very few memories that are happy.  I remember how those words and actions hurt me and decided I had to move on and not let it become an excuse.