It was a pleasure getting to discuss with all of my colleagues and learning from a variety of perspectives. It was a great semester and I wish you all continued success. I hope this course has reminded all of us that we are the keys to change.
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Thank You
It was a pleasure getting to discuss with all of my colleagues and learning from a variety of perspectives. It was a great semester and I wish you all continued success. I hope this course has reminded all of us that we are the keys to change.
Friday, December 15, 2017
New Family
I wanted to challenge myself with this week's blog post when use the scenario given as a way to stimulate and challenge me personally and professionally.
My emmergrating child's country of orgin would be Iran. I chose thos country intentionally to be able to learn about the country in depth and breaknstigma and stereotypes that surround the muslim culture.
I would integrate lessons that discuss how we are all different and come from unique places that have unique customs and traditions. I would then structure lessons and activities around different countries, including Iran, for students to be able to learn more about that particular part of the world and the people in it. I would, finally, have an activity that would bring in the families of my students to take part in an afternoon activity that facilitates conversations about diversity within the child's home and with the parents amongst other parents in the clasroom; bringing in the whole child aspect by also narrowing in on tbe famiky dynamics.
These strategies wouod hopefully give that child and their family peace of mind in knowing that although they are in unfamiliar territory, they are surrounded my a support system and network that embraces racial, religious, and cultural diversity. This would then encourage the child to inergrate more naturally into the classroom and not feel hesitant to join in with other students
My emmergrating child's country of orgin would be Iran. I chose thos country intentionally to be able to learn about the country in depth and breaknstigma and stereotypes that surround the muslim culture.
I would integrate lessons that discuss how we are all different and come from unique places that have unique customs and traditions. I would then structure lessons and activities around different countries, including Iran, for students to be able to learn more about that particular part of the world and the people in it. I would, finally, have an activity that would bring in the families of my students to take part in an afternoon activity that facilitates conversations about diversity within the child's home and with the parents amongst other parents in the clasroom; bringing in the whole child aspect by also narrowing in on tbe famiky dynamics.
These strategies wouod hopefully give that child and their family peace of mind in knowing that although they are in unfamiliar territory, they are surrounded my a support system and network that embraces racial, religious, and cultural diversity. This would then encourage the child to inergrate more naturally into the classroom and not feel hesitant to join in with other students
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Experience
This week is all about reflecting on an experience where there was an example if bias or prejudice. My experience for Black Friday was definitely something that made me feel less than an equal because of classism and racism.
However, another experience was where I was a bystander in McDonalds and an irate white gentleman was yelling profanities and racial slurs to a Mexican immigrant woman because her limited English. This was about 3 years ago on Chicago ave and State in the heart of downtown Chicago and it was startling how hardly anyone spoke up. At first I didn't either because it wasnt my fight but it made me uncomfortable. I knew it felt horrible to be on the other end for the young woman and as a Black woman I coukd definitely relate.
I finally spoke up and told him he shouldn't be so mean to her because she is trying and he yelled for me to go back to my country. Now I was pissed and cursed him to hell. Point is, it made me feel like despite my American lineage and ancestral blood herr in America, I am always seen as an outsider and never fully "American" because I am black. It also is uncomfortable that white people feel the need to claim stolen land as theirs and feel entitled to claim ownership over literally everything.
What was even more baffling was that hardly anyone spoke up. Not one other person outside of another Black guy defended me or the young lady. There were mean stares towards him and side conversations about how nasty he was but no one spoke up. And almost everyone waiting in line with me (quite a bit of people) were white. What needs to change is complacency with racism and bigotry. What needs to change are white people's attitudes towards confronting racists in their community and being a goddamn ally. Most importantly, what needs to change are our hearts towards those not like us.
Until then, we are destined to be at war with one another.
However, another experience was where I was a bystander in McDonalds and an irate white gentleman was yelling profanities and racial slurs to a Mexican immigrant woman because her limited English. This was about 3 years ago on Chicago ave and State in the heart of downtown Chicago and it was startling how hardly anyone spoke up. At first I didn't either because it wasnt my fight but it made me uncomfortable. I knew it felt horrible to be on the other end for the young woman and as a Black woman I coukd definitely relate.
I finally spoke up and told him he shouldn't be so mean to her because she is trying and he yelled for me to go back to my country. Now I was pissed and cursed him to hell. Point is, it made me feel like despite my American lineage and ancestral blood herr in America, I am always seen as an outsider and never fully "American" because I am black. It also is uncomfortable that white people feel the need to claim stolen land as theirs and feel entitled to claim ownership over literally everything.
What was even more baffling was that hardly anyone spoke up. Not one other person outside of another Black guy defended me or the young lady. There were mean stares towards him and side conversations about how nasty he was but no one spoke up. And almost everyone waiting in line with me (quite a bit of people) were white. What needs to change is complacency with racism and bigotry. What needs to change are white people's attitudes towards confronting racists in their community and being a goddamn ally. Most importantly, what needs to change are our hearts towards those not like us.
Until then, we are destined to be at war with one another.
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Microaggressions
As the holiday time approaches, increased spending and gift giving takes over pretty much from Black Friday (yesterday) to Christmas Eve.
Yesterday was Black Friday and like many other American shoppers, I wanted the best deals. My mother is an avid fan and cultural follower of the luxury Coach handbags. I decided to postpone her trip to Paisley Park for her birthday in January (less than a month after Xmas) and gift her with a new leather handbag instead :)
However, I live in Chicago and call me high-class but I want a Coach purse from the Coach store. Luckily, I live in one of the greatest cities in the world so there are literally three Coach stores in our iconic Mag Mile to choose from. Long story short, I went in and of course it is SUPER crowded but to be expected. Im dressed in an oversized down coat, sweats, sneakers, and a wool hat (I look like a fat marshmallow)
Every single person (minus a few foreign tourists) were white in the store. Associates greeted and spoke to every single customer BUT me. I am literally browsing around the store for a good 15 minutes- during that time several associates and security personnel either see me or don't acknowledge me or avoid me. I got freaking frustrated.
I finally find a sale associate and she is very curt with me with a snippy attitude. Chanel from South side Chicago would snap back but I'm on Michigan Ave as the only Black woman in this store. I need to act appropriately. So I smile and ask for the manager. The GM was present and I voiced my experience and concern and how I felt singles out as the only person of color.
Needless to say I received a $600 handbag for $200 :)
The point is, I didn't LOOK like I had money and while I don't like playing "the race card", as the only African-American consumer there (the security were tall, burly Black men. Go figure ) I couldn't help but feel dismissed. The sales associate even dismissed me and have me a snippy attitude when I politely just asked if I could see a handbag from the top shelf. I own like eight Coach bags and shop frequently with the brand. However the actual storefronts of these high end designer labels are very judgemental and I sometimes hate going in because they immediately categorize me as either a theif, window shopper, or a low baller.
This experience is nothing new to me but it reinforces me to not allow my subconscious attitudes towards others dictate how I treat them; especially my students who are of a different background than me. There are many signals and messages about people of different communities that are both negative and positive. It is solely up to us to decipher what we internalize and how that ammends out behavior.
Yesterday was Black Friday and like many other American shoppers, I wanted the best deals. My mother is an avid fan and cultural follower of the luxury Coach handbags. I decided to postpone her trip to Paisley Park for her birthday in January (less than a month after Xmas) and gift her with a new leather handbag instead :)
However, I live in Chicago and call me high-class but I want a Coach purse from the Coach store. Luckily, I live in one of the greatest cities in the world so there are literally three Coach stores in our iconic Mag Mile to choose from. Long story short, I went in and of course it is SUPER crowded but to be expected. Im dressed in an oversized down coat, sweats, sneakers, and a wool hat (I look like a fat marshmallow)
Every single person (minus a few foreign tourists) were white in the store. Associates greeted and spoke to every single customer BUT me. I am literally browsing around the store for a good 15 minutes- during that time several associates and security personnel either see me or don't acknowledge me or avoid me. I got freaking frustrated.
I finally find a sale associate and she is very curt with me with a snippy attitude. Chanel from South side Chicago would snap back but I'm on Michigan Ave as the only Black woman in this store. I need to act appropriately. So I smile and ask for the manager. The GM was present and I voiced my experience and concern and how I felt singles out as the only person of color.
Needless to say I received a $600 handbag for $200 :)
The point is, I didn't LOOK like I had money and while I don't like playing "the race card", as the only African-American consumer there (the security were tall, burly Black men. Go figure ) I couldn't help but feel dismissed. The sales associate even dismissed me and have me a snippy attitude when I politely just asked if I could see a handbag from the top shelf. I own like eight Coach bags and shop frequently with the brand. However the actual storefronts of these high end designer labels are very judgemental and I sometimes hate going in because they immediately categorize me as either a theif, window shopper, or a low baller.
This experience is nothing new to me but it reinforces me to not allow my subconscious attitudes towards others dictate how I treat them; especially my students who are of a different background than me. There are many signals and messages about people of different communities that are both negative and positive. It is solely up to us to decipher what we internalize and how that ammends out behavior.
Saturday, November 18, 2017
Culture and Perspective
Happy Saturday!
This week is all about diversity, culture, and perspective while relating that to how we as individuals navigate through our environment.
It's interesting for this week's blog because this conversation came up naturally between me and the gentleman who is courting me. As a Black woman, I realize there are inherent stereotypes and misconceptiona about me that have been the general framework for how the world nviews me. I'm either the Black woman from the syrup bottle, a Nicki Minaj, or the "loud" "ghetto" baby mother with the fake long nails and nasty attitude. Unfortunately, none of those sound too appealing and don't fit me exactly individually.
If I am being candid, I am a mixture of all three in my own self-fufilling prophetic way. I'm a sassy, sultry, motherly Black woman if we look into that stereotypical context; but I am also much more than that and the very idea of me not fitting into one of more of those three categories baffles people of other backgrounds.
The gentleman courting me is a white guy, an older gentleman in his 30's and seems pretty well-rounded. We have previously spoken on culture and cultural differences but when we divulged deeper into discussing privledge, "deep culture", and dominant cultural oppression, he got offended and defensive. Of course I expected this but seriously :/
It baffles me how white people are conditioned to feel that eliminating racial bias and racist undertones in our social culture perpetuated by an oppressive dominant culture is to carry this bullshit " We are all one race:human race " concept.
When asked about how he feels diversity and culture affects him compared to people if color, he immediately refers tonhim growing up in a "diverse" neighborhood with no racisim. That made me laugh. He also felt that exaggerating our differences through cultural practices instead of just adopting "American" cultural practices is part of why there is so much of a toxic climate between race. When told that that is false and only further proves that be is privledge as a white male to force-feed cultural practices that make him comfortable, he was immediately offended and felt he was attacked for being white.
Needless to say, he and I have alternating viewpoints on culture, diversity, and perspective. If anything, this further proves that the discussion of individual differences and how they make America beautiful and iconic is useful and needed to alleviate ignorance. Burying our cultural variances under a defacto dominant culture creates internal and external strife that further deepens the divide of an individual, their identity, and their respective communities.
Having these tough conversations with our young ones about identiy, culture, and diversity early allows those attidues to be normalized and create an environment of total acceptance and understanding.
This week is all about diversity, culture, and perspective while relating that to how we as individuals navigate through our environment.
It's interesting for this week's blog because this conversation came up naturally between me and the gentleman who is courting me. As a Black woman, I realize there are inherent stereotypes and misconceptiona about me that have been the general framework for how the world nviews me. I'm either the Black woman from the syrup bottle, a Nicki Minaj, or the "loud" "ghetto" baby mother with the fake long nails and nasty attitude. Unfortunately, none of those sound too appealing and don't fit me exactly individually.
If I am being candid, I am a mixture of all three in my own self-fufilling prophetic way. I'm a sassy, sultry, motherly Black woman if we look into that stereotypical context; but I am also much more than that and the very idea of me not fitting into one of more of those three categories baffles people of other backgrounds.
The gentleman courting me is a white guy, an older gentleman in his 30's and seems pretty well-rounded. We have previously spoken on culture and cultural differences but when we divulged deeper into discussing privledge, "deep culture", and dominant cultural oppression, he got offended and defensive. Of course I expected this but seriously :/
It baffles me how white people are conditioned to feel that eliminating racial bias and racist undertones in our social culture perpetuated by an oppressive dominant culture is to carry this bullshit " We are all one race:human race " concept.
When asked about how he feels diversity and culture affects him compared to people if color, he immediately refers tonhim growing up in a "diverse" neighborhood with no racisim. That made me laugh. He also felt that exaggerating our differences through cultural practices instead of just adopting "American" cultural practices is part of why there is so much of a toxic climate between race. When told that that is false and only further proves that be is privledge as a white male to force-feed cultural practices that make him comfortable, he was immediately offended and felt he was attacked for being white.
Needless to say, he and I have alternating viewpoints on culture, diversity, and perspective. If anything, this further proves that the discussion of individual differences and how they make America beautiful and iconic is useful and needed to alleviate ignorance. Burying our cultural variances under a defacto dominant culture creates internal and external strife that further deepens the divide of an individual, their identity, and their respective communities.
Having these tough conversations with our young ones about identiy, culture, and diversity early allows those attidues to be normalized and create an environment of total acceptance and understanding.
Saturday, November 11, 2017
Retaining my Culture
Happy Friday everyone!
This blog post is quite the interesting one because it is relevant to real life culture and events for myself. As an African-American, I have considered (seriously) leaving The United States because of the more overt forms of racisim, systematic oppression, and our our federal government is being represented and ran by our current administrators. I'm not the most liberal of liberals but I have a moral compass and everything from normalizing acts of sexual harassment to defending budgets that assisitng brown people of color to live decent lives is something I do not feel safe in.
What is interesting is that African-American culture is a concoction of internalised, normalized American culture and standards mixed with the history, traditions, and cultural practices of our enslaved ancestors that were able to pass down survival and traditional African practices down generations. I really don't have anything concrete that accurately represents the African-American culture unless it refers back to slavery tonthe discussion mentions slavery as a catalyst tonwhy the memento is important and valuable.
If I had to pick three items that represented me and my culture to show the world in my new country, I would choose the urn of my son, a copy of the Willie Lynch letter, and a photo of Barack Obama. These items are not.only significant to me but to my identity as an African-American woman. The most feared person in America is the Black male, let's just be honest. Stereotype and prejudice continue to perpetuate the stigma of danger, aggression, and hypermasculinity onto our Black males.
As the mother of a black son, regardless of him being here in flesh or spirit, I felt the fear of knowing how the workd would view him moments after he was born. His very existence was and remains a threat in this country. I was nervous not to name him anything too "ethnic", I had already mapped out what programs to put him in after school when he barely was a day old. I even had lectures ready for when he came home and asked why he couldn't hang around certain people- even though they looked like us. I was mentally preparing myself to not only raise my son but keep him alive when every target points at his back.
My son was and remains a strong embodiment of a Black male, a true king. Having him, a photo of another Black male with commanding presence (and the first Black president of The United States) alongside a nasty piece of American history that helped draft the some of the worst laws in our history would be powerful as a chain of progression.
Even as an African-American woman, I find myself wanting to uplift the imagery and perception of our men. Our men are the driving forces and then protectors. With those few items, I am able to show the dark history of American racisim and yet how we have overcome and will continue to prosper.
This blog post is quite the interesting one because it is relevant to real life culture and events for myself. As an African-American, I have considered (seriously) leaving The United States because of the more overt forms of racisim, systematic oppression, and our our federal government is being represented and ran by our current administrators. I'm not the most liberal of liberals but I have a moral compass and everything from normalizing acts of sexual harassment to defending budgets that assisitng brown people of color to live decent lives is something I do not feel safe in.
What is interesting is that African-American culture is a concoction of internalised, normalized American culture and standards mixed with the history, traditions, and cultural practices of our enslaved ancestors that were able to pass down survival and traditional African practices down generations. I really don't have anything concrete that accurately represents the African-American culture unless it refers back to slavery tonthe discussion mentions slavery as a catalyst tonwhy the memento is important and valuable.
If I had to pick three items that represented me and my culture to show the world in my new country, I would choose the urn of my son, a copy of the Willie Lynch letter, and a photo of Barack Obama. These items are not.only significant to me but to my identity as an African-American woman. The most feared person in America is the Black male, let's just be honest. Stereotype and prejudice continue to perpetuate the stigma of danger, aggression, and hypermasculinity onto our Black males.
As the mother of a black son, regardless of him being here in flesh or spirit, I felt the fear of knowing how the workd would view him moments after he was born. His very existence was and remains a threat in this country. I was nervous not to name him anything too "ethnic", I had already mapped out what programs to put him in after school when he barely was a day old. I even had lectures ready for when he came home and asked why he couldn't hang around certain people- even though they looked like us. I was mentally preparing myself to not only raise my son but keep him alive when every target points at his back.
My son was and remains a strong embodiment of a Black male, a true king. Having him, a photo of another Black male with commanding presence (and the first Black president of The United States) alongside a nasty piece of American history that helped draft the some of the worst laws in our history would be powerful as a chain of progression.
Even as an African-American woman, I find myself wanting to uplift the imagery and perception of our men. Our men are the driving forces and then protectors. With those few items, I am able to show the dark history of American racisim and yet how we have overcome and will continue to prosper.
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Wrapping Up
It has been a great course and I have learned so much from my esteemed colleagues and Dr. Parrish as a result about research and how they benefit the early childhood field. All of the input and discussions that centered around our research topics have given me a broader understanding to how deeply invested research is in relation to the classroom.
If my simulation was to be carried out, I believe it would have an impact on how legislation is created and enacted towards communities of color-specifically African-American communities. Unfortunately, socioeconomic status and race are almost synonymous when they should not be. Truth is. There is an overwhelming wealthbgap that corresponds with race and class. Low-income African-American families and their children would be the primary benefactors but so would the general public in the realization of their attitudes to microaggressive racist tactics and ideology.
This directly impacts the early childhood community because our most vulnerable minds come from a community and society that is already set up to disparage them. Bynfully understanding how socially constructed and politically instituted systems of power disenfranchise these children from birth, it would make a huge impact on how we approach and teach these children.
I am currently exploring attending Northwestern University Fall of 2018 to obtain my PhD. in Education Policy and Child Development. If accepted, I plan to enact my simulation in real life in hopes of using this information to bring change to Chicago politics.
It's been a great 8 weeks! Let's finish the semester strong! #AlmostThere
If my simulation was to be carried out, I believe it would have an impact on how legislation is created and enacted towards communities of color-specifically African-American communities. Unfortunately, socioeconomic status and race are almost synonymous when they should not be. Truth is. There is an overwhelming wealthbgap that corresponds with race and class. Low-income African-American families and their children would be the primary benefactors but so would the general public in the realization of their attitudes to microaggressive racist tactics and ideology.
This directly impacts the early childhood community because our most vulnerable minds come from a community and society that is already set up to disparage them. Bynfully understanding how socially constructed and politically instituted systems of power disenfranchise these children from birth, it would make a huge impact on how we approach and teach these children.
I am currently exploring attending Northwestern University Fall of 2018 to obtain my PhD. in Education Policy and Child Development. If accepted, I plan to enact my simulation in real life in hopes of using this information to bring change to Chicago politics.
It's been a great 8 weeks! Let's finish the semester strong! #AlmostThere
Friday, October 6, 2017
Interesting ECE Research Globally
Happy Friday loves!
This week I challenged myself to be critical this week during this week's blog assisngment and found out I was pleasantly surprised. I chose http://www.eecera.org/ to analyze and comb through their website. What I found was surprising and enlightening to say the least.
For starters, I enjoyed learning that they has Special Interest Groups nthatbwete dedicated towards researching a specific subject within the vast field of early childhood. I enjoyed that component due to the understanding that early childhood education is more than just the classroom experience but also the whole"child experience from their community to their home life.
A special interest group I found noteworthy was one where it highlighted holistic well-being of a child and how policy can best serve children in that aspect. It asked critical questions about whatis defined as well-being, how can it be measured, and if professionals across various fields define it the same; if not, how can legislation be inclusive of all perspectives. This is critical when discussing ECE and child development because the socioemotional components of education are often trivialized or forgotten and are not focused on. A child's emotional and mental well-being and health is just as important as their physical.
Another special interest group was one where it was dedicated to the inclusion and recruitment of male teachers on a female dominated field. With education being a historically female dominated profession, the diversifying of the workforce in gender is being investigated to show not only the children that there is male presence in education but deconstruct the stigma of males in education. I, also, found this important and beneficial to child development due to how American culture is nlbending towards more progressive learning practices that encompass all people from walks of life. This is necessary if we want a more reflective workforce to leave a more positive impression on our children.
These developments have me insight into the future of how we are viewing education and taking in consideration deliberate practices to become more tolerant to whole-chikd development as well as becoming.more reflective in our demographic whennit comes to teachers.
This week I challenged myself to be critical this week during this week's blog assisngment and found out I was pleasantly surprised. I chose http://www.eecera.org/ to analyze and comb through their website. What I found was surprising and enlightening to say the least.
For starters, I enjoyed learning that they has Special Interest Groups nthatbwete dedicated towards researching a specific subject within the vast field of early childhood. I enjoyed that component due to the understanding that early childhood education is more than just the classroom experience but also the whole"child experience from their community to their home life.
A special interest group I found noteworthy was one where it highlighted holistic well-being of a child and how policy can best serve children in that aspect. It asked critical questions about whatis defined as well-being, how can it be measured, and if professionals across various fields define it the same; if not, how can legislation be inclusive of all perspectives. This is critical when discussing ECE and child development because the socioemotional components of education are often trivialized or forgotten and are not focused on. A child's emotional and mental well-being and health is just as important as their physical.
Another special interest group was one where it was dedicated to the inclusion and recruitment of male teachers on a female dominated field. With education being a historically female dominated profession, the diversifying of the workforce in gender is being investigated to show not only the children that there is male presence in education but deconstruct the stigma of males in education. I, also, found this important and beneficial to child development due to how American culture is nlbending towards more progressive learning practices that encompass all people from walks of life. This is necessary if we want a more reflective workforce to leave a more positive impression on our children.
These developments have me insight into the future of how we are viewing education and taking in consideration deliberate practices to become more tolerant to whole-chikd development as well as becoming.more reflective in our demographic whennit comes to teachers.
Friday, September 22, 2017
Research paved the way for my community
Happy Friday loves!
After a long week of teaching 2 year olds, I am excited for some adult conversation that does not begin and end with "No thank you" or "that is not a good choice". Lol.
This week is all about ethics and research abd one thing I love are a good controversies. A topic of discussion is examples of how research has been utilized as a positive impact on society and/or community.
I utilized my political-science background for this because what immediately came to mind was Brown v. Board of Education - the historic, landmark decision that desegregated public school across the nation. Now, I know what you are thinking and probably wondering why and how Brown v Board has anything to do with research. On the contrary, its jurisprudence lies within the monumental research of Kenneth and Mamie Clark's infamous "Doll Test".
Fun fact: Brown v Board was almost tossed out due to a lack of substantial evidence that supported the claim that segregated schooling was a violation of basic human rights and imposed harm to children of color. It wasn't until the Clark's conducted their doll test when The United States Supreme Court had to overturn the Plessy v Ferguson Decision of "Seperate but Equal" due to the proufound psychological effects found in the segregation children based on color. 👊👊👊🙌🙌🙌 (Thank you Professor McKenzie at University of Illinois at Chicago for giving me this information years ago during undergrad during my Law and Public Policy course 😘😘)
The court found that the research of The Clarks validated the claims that children of color would receive the harmful physical and psychological effects of segregation due to the seperate but equal legislation. The foll test concluded that Black children found themselves not only inferior to white children but viewed themselves as unequivocally comparable to white children in any degree. Buzz words such as "ugly", "bad", "mean" were used to describe themselves as "nice" "beautiful" and "kind" were used to describe the white dolls.
Basically, we have desegregated school (by law) due to research of two proud African American. *drops mic*
Bergner, G. (2009). Black children, White preference: Brown v. Board, the doll tests, and the politics of self-esteem. American Quarterly, 61(2), 299-332.
After a long week of teaching 2 year olds, I am excited for some adult conversation that does not begin and end with "No thank you" or "that is not a good choice". Lol.
This week is all about ethics and research abd one thing I love are a good controversies. A topic of discussion is examples of how research has been utilized as a positive impact on society and/or community.
I utilized my political-science background for this because what immediately came to mind was Brown v. Board of Education - the historic, landmark decision that desegregated public school across the nation. Now, I know what you are thinking and probably wondering why and how Brown v Board has anything to do with research. On the contrary, its jurisprudence lies within the monumental research of Kenneth and Mamie Clark's infamous "Doll Test".
Fun fact: Brown v Board was almost tossed out due to a lack of substantial evidence that supported the claim that segregated schooling was a violation of basic human rights and imposed harm to children of color. It wasn't until the Clark's conducted their doll test when The United States Supreme Court had to overturn the Plessy v Ferguson Decision of "Seperate but Equal" due to the proufound psychological effects found in the segregation children based on color. 👊👊👊🙌🙌🙌 (Thank you Professor McKenzie at University of Illinois at Chicago for giving me this information years ago during undergrad during my Law and Public Policy course 😘😘)
The court found that the research of The Clarks validated the claims that children of color would receive the harmful physical and psychological effects of segregation due to the seperate but equal legislation. The foll test concluded that Black children found themselves not only inferior to white children but viewed themselves as unequivocally comparable to white children in any degree. Buzz words such as "ugly", "bad", "mean" were used to describe themselves as "nice" "beautiful" and "kind" were used to describe the white dolls.
Basically, we have desegregated school (by law) due to research of two proud African American. *drops mic*
Bergner, G. (2009). Black children, White preference: Brown v. Board, the doll tests, and the politics of self-esteem. American Quarterly, 61(2), 299-332.
Thursday, September 14, 2017
So....I think I want my PhD now....
Happy Thursday friends!
I am completing my blog a little early because I have a jammed pack weekend coming up and I want my time free.
With a new semester in full force, I find myself not only personally challeneged with this course but also professionally challenged. This is the first course at Walden where I am pushing beyond my limits and I'm impressed. Kudos to Walden 👊🙌🙌🙌
On another note, we have a research assignment that we are prepping for and it has officially sealed my ambitions on obtaining a PhD. I intend to enroll at Northwestern University in Chicago (my hometown) and obtain my PhD. in Human Development and Social Policy. I am HIGHLY intrigued by how social/public policy affects the overall development of a child.
Which leads me to my research subject of studying how Racisim and Systematic Oppression is the premise to the decreased life span of African-American youth. As a black woman, I know nothing but stress, struggle, poor life decisions, and broken homes/community. It is the unfortunate reality and truth to many of our inner-city African Americans in Urban communities.
Studying urban poverty by looking at social attitudes and policy is a unique way to analyze how these have detrimental, long term effects on the cognitive develooment of Black children as well as their Long term health.
When I heard stress kills, I thought it was a metaphor. No, it LITERALLY KILLS. Research has shown that stress literally contributes to the deterioration of the human DNA through aging of cells (Needham, 2012). Also, Black women are 2x more likely to experience premature birth, low birth weight, and/or fetal death due to factors of socioeconomic stress (Hogue, 2005).
As a mother that lost her son due to premature delivery, this hits home. I want to drive deeper into this subject and understand more of the root to offer a viable solution.
Resources for your consideration:
Hogue, C. J. R., & Bremner, J. D. (2005). Stress model for research into preterm delivery among black women. American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 192(5), S47-S55.
Needham, B. L., Fernandez, J. R., Lin, J., Epel, E. S., & Blackburn, E. H. (2012). Socioeconomic status and cell aging in children. Social science & medicine, 74(12), 1948-1951.
I am completing my blog a little early because I have a jammed pack weekend coming up and I want my time free.
With a new semester in full force, I find myself not only personally challeneged with this course but also professionally challenged. This is the first course at Walden where I am pushing beyond my limits and I'm impressed. Kudos to Walden 👊🙌🙌🙌
On another note, we have a research assignment that we are prepping for and it has officially sealed my ambitions on obtaining a PhD. I intend to enroll at Northwestern University in Chicago (my hometown) and obtain my PhD. in Human Development and Social Policy. I am HIGHLY intrigued by how social/public policy affects the overall development of a child.
Which leads me to my research subject of studying how Racisim and Systematic Oppression is the premise to the decreased life span of African-American youth. As a black woman, I know nothing but stress, struggle, poor life decisions, and broken homes/community. It is the unfortunate reality and truth to many of our inner-city African Americans in Urban communities.
Studying urban poverty by looking at social attitudes and policy is a unique way to analyze how these have detrimental, long term effects on the cognitive develooment of Black children as well as their Long term health.
When I heard stress kills, I thought it was a metaphor. No, it LITERALLY KILLS. Research has shown that stress literally contributes to the deterioration of the human DNA through aging of cells (Needham, 2012). Also, Black women are 2x more likely to experience premature birth, low birth weight, and/or fetal death due to factors of socioeconomic stress (Hogue, 2005).
As a mother that lost her son due to premature delivery, this hits home. I want to drive deeper into this subject and understand more of the root to offer a viable solution.
Resources for your consideration:
Hogue, C. J. R., & Bremner, J. D. (2005). Stress model for research into preterm delivery among black women. American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 192(5), S47-S55.
Needham, B. L., Fernandez, J. R., Lin, J., Epel, E. S., & Blackburn, E. H. (2012). Socioeconomic status and cell aging in children. Social science & medicine, 74(12), 1948-1951.
Friday, August 25, 2017
International Education
Happy week 8 loves!
We made it *cheers*
As this semester comes to a close, I definitely wanted to touch on how international education and becoming more aware in the international community can extend our reservoir of knowledge while also allowing us opportunities to be our best selves.
I have attached 3 photos to what best portrays what international education and knowledge has the ability to do for ECE education:
These three pictures represent what international exposure is all about; giving us a glimpse into what we can accomplish with more communication and less domination.
Diversity is a beautful thing and if we allow our students to flourish and show their culture and background- along with their unique qualitiesle our, we enabor our students to share their wealth of knowledge ans experience with the rest of tbejr2 enviornment. I hate saying "We are all one". No we arent and thats what makes the world beautiful. Allowing all of our differences to come together and create something beautiful is what international awareness and educstion on issues concerning other people outside of ourselves and communities is what enables us to bridge education barriers, language barriers, and social/cultural barriers that birth stereotype, bias, and fear.
Lastly, pushing ourselves out our comfort zone is imperative to extend ourselves and learn about our true strengths and gifts we bring to the world. Playing it safe and being comfortable doesnt show potential or room for improvement. Being the best at what we do means being exposed to all that we can be able to accomplish.
By tackling these international issues head on that affect children across all communities, we are pushing ourselves as educational advocates and professionals towards truly creating an enviornment that instill high quality education without barriers.
We made it *cheers*
As this semester comes to a close, I definitely wanted to touch on how international education and becoming more aware in the international community can extend our reservoir of knowledge while also allowing us opportunities to be our best selves.
I have attached 3 photos to what best portrays what international education and knowledge has the ability to do for ECE education:
These three pictures represent what international exposure is all about; giving us a glimpse into what we can accomplish with more communication and less domination.
Diversity is a beautful thing and if we allow our students to flourish and show their culture and background- along with their unique qualitiesle our, we enabor our students to share their wealth of knowledge ans experience with the rest of tbejr2 enviornment. I hate saying "We are all one". No we arent and thats what makes the world beautiful. Allowing all of our differences to come together and create something beautiful is what international awareness and educstion on issues concerning other people outside of ourselves and communities is what enables us to bridge education barriers, language barriers, and social/cultural barriers that birth stereotype, bias, and fear.
Lastly, pushing ourselves out our comfort zone is imperative to extend ourselves and learn about our true strengths and gifts we bring to the world. Playing it safe and being comfortable doesnt show potential or room for improvement. Being the best at what we do means being exposed to all that we can be able to accomplish.
By tackling these international issues head on that affect children across all communities, we are pushing ourselves as educational advocates and professionals towards truly creating an enviornment that instill high quality education without barriers.
Friday, August 18, 2017
Illinois: SB1
Happy Friday loves!
I hope everyone had a great week. My week could have been better but I'm blessed to wake up and see another morning so I am nit too shabby.
With this week being a discussion about education and standards, I thought it be appropriate to discuss the current political climate in my home, Chicago, Illinois.
*Drum roll* Allow me to introduce Illinois' latest disaster for equitable school funding- Senate Bill 1. There is a short video explaining logistics below
SB1 is a new bill introduced that our loveky governor endorses that restructures our educational funding model. Currently, Illinois ranks dead last in equitable school funding and SB1 is only making matters worse. *gasps* Shocker. -___-
As much as I love my city, my home town was built on racisim and outside of Chicago, you might as well consider it Hicksville because they literally HATE anything not drenched with vannila ice-cream, marshmallows, and mayo if you catch my drift.
Key points of SB1 include:
*shifting from a baseline funding model to an evidence based model
*creating four (4) tiers that dictate funding districts to the most "needy" schools
*taking in consideration of ALL funding options for ALL school districts
Now if you were me prior to research, you would say its not so bad. I'm a liberal of course but I am logical. But further research, I discovered that this is absolutely biased and (pardon my language) bullshyt of legislation.
So not only is Illinois the LEAST EQUITABLE EDUCATIONALLY FUNDED STATE IN THE COUNTRY, our political climate aims to make matters worse by furthering the education funding gap between low income students2 and students of wealthier districts.
Since race and economics are almost synonymous, you can only guess who gets the short end of the stick. Not only can wealthier districts lower their property taxes to meet minimums that make them eligible for state finding (a luxury
Kids from the south side wish we could afford) but it also takes ALL "forms of eligible funding" into consideration for dispersing state funding- *cough* block grants * cough* teacher pension *cough* Title 1 funds.
The kicker is that lower income students are put into smaller classroom sizes to improve academic performance. What this funding model sneaks in are terms of "Adequacy Levels". Meaning simply, funding will be given to school districts that have lower amounts of adequacy met. So if you already take grants and teacher pensions into funding account for lower income school children, AND decide to use their smaller classrom size as factors to display performance, then of course they won't qualify for the most funding!
In fact, coupled with property taxes and "other forms of eligible funding", these power income districts seem to be capable of "providing quality education". -____-
Quality education is coupled with equity because they go hand in hand. You cannot give 81 cents to every black and brown kids in Chicago for every dollar you give a white student and tell them to succeed. On top of that, you want to give wealthier districts more money and the OPTION to lower their gosh darn taxes in order to QUALIFY for state aide?
Allow me to colloquialy express my concern with: "Where they do dat at?" 😒😒😒😒
How can we discuss quality education when we can't even fund our schools and pay our teachers a suitable wage?! How can we as Illinois discuss equity when property taxes in itself are determinants to 55% of the school funding model- putting Black and Brown students at a disadvantage ALREADY based on their zip code?
To answer the question of my professional goals and aspirations, I ansewer simply:
Graduate 2018 with this Masters in Early Childhood Education.
2020: Run for public office
Chanel West for Chicago Public Schools Board of Education 😎
I hope everyone had a great week. My week could have been better but I'm blessed to wake up and see another morning so I am nit too shabby.
With this week being a discussion about education and standards, I thought it be appropriate to discuss the current political climate in my home, Chicago, Illinois.
*Drum roll* Allow me to introduce Illinois' latest disaster for equitable school funding- Senate Bill 1. There is a short video explaining logistics below
SB1 is a new bill introduced that our loveky governor endorses that restructures our educational funding model. Currently, Illinois ranks dead last in equitable school funding and SB1 is only making matters worse. *gasps* Shocker. -___-
As much as I love my city, my home town was built on racisim and outside of Chicago, you might as well consider it Hicksville because they literally HATE anything not drenched with vannila ice-cream, marshmallows, and mayo if you catch my drift.
Key points of SB1 include:
*shifting from a baseline funding model to an evidence based model
*creating four (4) tiers that dictate funding districts to the most "needy" schools
*taking in consideration of ALL funding options for ALL school districts
Now if you were me prior to research, you would say its not so bad. I'm a liberal of course but I am logical. But further research, I discovered that this is absolutely biased and (pardon my language) bullshyt of legislation.
So not only is Illinois the LEAST EQUITABLE EDUCATIONALLY FUNDED STATE IN THE COUNTRY, our political climate aims to make matters worse by furthering the education funding gap between low income students2 and students of wealthier districts.
Since race and economics are almost synonymous, you can only guess who gets the short end of the stick. Not only can wealthier districts lower their property taxes to meet minimums that make them eligible for state finding (a luxury
Kids from the south side wish we could afford) but it also takes ALL "forms of eligible funding" into consideration for dispersing state funding- *cough* block grants * cough* teacher pension *cough* Title 1 funds.
The kicker is that lower income students are put into smaller classroom sizes to improve academic performance. What this funding model sneaks in are terms of "Adequacy Levels". Meaning simply, funding will be given to school districts that have lower amounts of adequacy met. So if you already take grants and teacher pensions into funding account for lower income school children, AND decide to use their smaller classrom size as factors to display performance, then of course they won't qualify for the most funding!
In fact, coupled with property taxes and "other forms of eligible funding", these power income districts seem to be capable of "providing quality education". -____-
Quality education is coupled with equity because they go hand in hand. You cannot give 81 cents to every black and brown kids in Chicago for every dollar you give a white student and tell them to succeed. On top of that, you want to give wealthier districts more money and the OPTION to lower their gosh darn taxes in order to QUALIFY for state aide?
Allow me to colloquialy express my concern with: "Where they do dat at?" 😒😒😒😒
How can we discuss quality education when we can't even fund our schools and pay our teachers a suitable wage?! How can we as Illinois discuss equity when property taxes in itself are determinants to 55% of the school funding model- putting Black and Brown students at a disadvantage ALREADY based on their zip code?
To answer the question of my professional goals and aspirations, I ansewer simply:
Graduate 2018 with this Masters in Early Childhood Education.
2020: Run for public office
Chanel West for Chicago Public Schools Board of Education 😎
Thursday, August 10, 2017
Exploring NBCDI
Hello loves!
Happt Thursday! I am completing my blog a little early because this weekend is Chicago's "Slut Walk" and I will be very active in that march and activities. As a survivor of sexual assault, it is imperative I make my voice heard and reclaim myself and feminine sexuality.
On another note, this week are are exploring our websites we chose earlier in the semester. I chose the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) and have fell in love with the organization.
NBCDI focuses solely on the advancement if the overall well-being of African-Americans and their children. African-American are in a distadvantage due to being in social and political systems that perpetuate poverty and classisim. As we know, the effects if poverty creates toxic stress, emotional deregulation, delayed cognitive and psychosocial development, as well as serves as a barrier perpetuates generational poverty.
NBCDI uses its partnerships with local, state, and federal programs to bring knowkedge and social services to African-American communties while also focusing on strengthening African-American families. Upon exploration, a bulk if their efforts is into strengthening perception and image of Black children-especially Black males.
Initiatives were brought forth on how to better involve Black males into the academic enviornment and undo the desensitization of the Black male body and image. Efforts to increase positive interaction and discipline, academic curriculum that encourages critical thinking, as well as the projection of goals that push beyond stereotypical inclined achievement are just a few of thise goals.
Also, efforts to take control of the narrative and image of the Black family has been executed in the form of community workshops open for all backgrounds while also the implementation of a calender. The calendar is photographs of African-American families that are submitted by members of their network- prltraying happy children, two-parent households, and variations of the African diaspora.
Lastly, their annual conference is next month in Atlanta, Georgia; featuring key note speakers such as Iyana Vanzant while discussing issues within policy, health/nutrition, family, educstion, and advocacy that affect the African American family and child in panels and seminar.
Overall, the NBCDI website is filled with new information that gives me insight into how active organizations are within the Black community to better impact our communities and alleviate these pressing issues.
Happt Thursday! I am completing my blog a little early because this weekend is Chicago's "Slut Walk" and I will be very active in that march and activities. As a survivor of sexual assault, it is imperative I make my voice heard and reclaim myself and feminine sexuality.
On another note, this week are are exploring our websites we chose earlier in the semester. I chose the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) and have fell in love with the organization.
NBCDI focuses solely on the advancement if the overall well-being of African-Americans and their children. African-American are in a distadvantage due to being in social and political systems that perpetuate poverty and classisim. As we know, the effects if poverty creates toxic stress, emotional deregulation, delayed cognitive and psychosocial development, as well as serves as a barrier perpetuates generational poverty.
NBCDI uses its partnerships with local, state, and federal programs to bring knowkedge and social services to African-American communties while also focusing on strengthening African-American families. Upon exploration, a bulk if their efforts is into strengthening perception and image of Black children-especially Black males.
Initiatives were brought forth on how to better involve Black males into the academic enviornment and undo the desensitization of the Black male body and image. Efforts to increase positive interaction and discipline, academic curriculum that encourages critical thinking, as well as the projection of goals that push beyond stereotypical inclined achievement are just a few of thise goals.
Also, efforts to take control of the narrative and image of the Black family has been executed in the form of community workshops open for all backgrounds while also the implementation of a calender. The calendar is photographs of African-American families that are submitted by members of their network- prltraying happy children, two-parent households, and variations of the African diaspora.
Lastly, their annual conference is next month in Atlanta, Georgia; featuring key note speakers such as Iyana Vanzant while discussing issues within policy, health/nutrition, family, educstion, and advocacy that affect the African American family and child in panels and seminar.
Overall, the NBCDI website is filled with new information that gives me insight into how active organizations are within the Black community to better impact our communities and alleviate these pressing issues.
Saturday, August 5, 2017
New Insights
Happy Saturday loves!
Hope every one is off to a good start to their weekend.
This week is all about new insights into our resources and what we have learned from them both personally and professionally.
This week I utilized Harvard's Global Children's Initiative to learn more about the collaborations within early childhood.
Although it is (now) common knowledge that early childhood education involves fields from all disciplines, the diversity and partnerships between different fields in order to collaborate in doing the most good to strengthen early childhood is mind-blowing.
Partnerships between Harvard University and Brazil's Health Care Network are used to promote better policy towards early childhood education and development. This is done through creating a cohort of 40-45 Brazilian policy makers in a week-long training at Harvard's campus. These trainings then involve a complex array of opportunities for hands-on, engaging learning that applies broad ideas into concrete planning. These policy makers then are allowed to go and implement these strategies in their respective neighborhoods in Brazil.
This was most intrigung to me as it bridges the gap between policy and science. Anyone can read a news brief or an article but to actually apply data, concepts, and ideas to a miniature version of the problem and/or area that is in need of assistance is taking it a step further. This not only gives policy makers insight into the first-hand experiences of the population they serve but also new knowledge into the problems and their long-term effects of mental health.
Next insights are both the science of early childhood brain development as well as their preventative strategies. Early Childhood brain development is complex, intense, and beautiful. Enviornmental factors such as poverty, parental practices, violence, and constant stress can begin to delay and/or degrade brain architecture; leaving the mind suceptible to toxic stress, limited prefrontal cortex control (emotional regulation), and serve and return functions that build upon in social and emotional development.
Although these effects can occur to any population or demographic, strategies to prevent these delays and/or issues vary from each demographic. One strategy of increasing the funding for overall education for one group may not have the same effects as a group that needs more strategies to educate parents on creating healthy attachments with their kids.
Understanding these new insights have piqued my interest to know more about Early Childhood Development as well their effects in young children of color within my own backyard. As an educator that has intentions to go into policy, understanding the weight of what my decisions may hold gives new perspective into what implementations of policy and adjustments that can be created for my own community.
What may work for the Latino community may not be able to be transferred to the African-American community. Understanding that there is no one size fits all model allows me to better observe and undertand my students, their families, and their backgrounds to best assist their development inside and outside the classroom.
Hope every one is off to a good start to their weekend.
This week is all about new insights into our resources and what we have learned from them both personally and professionally.
This week I utilized Harvard's Global Children's Initiative to learn more about the collaborations within early childhood.
Although it is (now) common knowledge that early childhood education involves fields from all disciplines, the diversity and partnerships between different fields in order to collaborate in doing the most good to strengthen early childhood is mind-blowing.
Partnerships between Harvard University and Brazil's Health Care Network are used to promote better policy towards early childhood education and development. This is done through creating a cohort of 40-45 Brazilian policy makers in a week-long training at Harvard's campus. These trainings then involve a complex array of opportunities for hands-on, engaging learning that applies broad ideas into concrete planning. These policy makers then are allowed to go and implement these strategies in their respective neighborhoods in Brazil.
This was most intrigung to me as it bridges the gap between policy and science. Anyone can read a news brief or an article but to actually apply data, concepts, and ideas to a miniature version of the problem and/or area that is in need of assistance is taking it a step further. This not only gives policy makers insight into the first-hand experiences of the population they serve but also new knowledge into the problems and their long-term effects of mental health.
Next insights are both the science of early childhood brain development as well as their preventative strategies. Early Childhood brain development is complex, intense, and beautiful. Enviornmental factors such as poverty, parental practices, violence, and constant stress can begin to delay and/or degrade brain architecture; leaving the mind suceptible to toxic stress, limited prefrontal cortex control (emotional regulation), and serve and return functions that build upon in social and emotional development.
Although these effects can occur to any population or demographic, strategies to prevent these delays and/or issues vary from each demographic. One strategy of increasing the funding for overall education for one group may not have the same effects as a group that needs more strategies to educate parents on creating healthy attachments with their kids.
Understanding these new insights have piqued my interest to know more about Early Childhood Development as well their effects in young children of color within my own backyard. As an educator that has intentions to go into policy, understanding the weight of what my decisions may hold gives new perspective into what implementations of policy and adjustments that can be created for my own community.
What may work for the Latino community may not be able to be transferred to the African-American community. Understanding that there is no one size fits all model allows me to better observe and undertand my students, their families, and their backgrounds to best assist their development inside and outside the classroom.
Saturday, July 29, 2017
National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI)
Happy Saturday loves!
I am headed to the beach later this afternoon but headed to a prayer vigil for the 4 year old that was shot earlier this week from more Chicago gun violence. Pray for my city, loves. When you are aware of the issues but arent equipped with how the resolve them, you grow frustrated.
On a lighter note, this week we are unpacking our websites into further detail. I won't make this post as long as my others but as previously stated in prior entries, I selected The National Black Child Development Institute as my focal point resource.
I chose this due to its commitment to focusing solely on how policy, education, health, and economics affect African- Americans. I genuinely dislike using the term "POC" because it has lost its power for what it is and categorizes the struggles of each minority group into signal agendas.
I like how NBCDI zeros in the issues that SOLELY affect Black children and families. Our community is crippled from effects of post taumatic slave disorder, economic oppression, gun violence, domestic fragility, and mental oppression. These are unique traits that are solely identified predominately to the Black community that needs to be addressed in its own separate fashion and tactic.
Which is why.....*drum roll* I nearly fell out and lost all my edges when I saw that NBCDI had a Chicago chapter. I was so excited to see that the same mission of NBCDI was put into motion for the Chicago chapter but had revised it to reflect the unique culture of Chicago urban poverty and the families within it.
Recently, a program was implemented to instill a positive message about Black youth than the deficits of Black you and it snatched my edges. Too often we are socially engrained with negativity towards a group of people. I have traveled the world, lived and worked in 3 countries and 29 cities in the USA, and not one group of people are demonized as Black people are.
In Ecuador there is a resturant Menuestro De Negro with the mascot as a stereotypical Black child with overdramatic feature, pitch black skin, and a bone in their hair. In China, on my first day my students rhbbed my skin and asked why my dirt doesnt come off.
The common narrative about Black people in any country is that we are violent, aggressive, less intelligent, and primitive. -____-
NBCDI wants to change that narrative through instillibg self-love and pride in Black children to love themselves, their culture, and their African ancestry as nit a hinderence but a badge of honor. I greatly support this because self-hate is real. Colorism is real. Depression within the Black community is real. These things go hand-in-hand with one another and overall affect how a child sees themselves based off how society sees them as a whole.
I can see criticism against NBCDI due to ita primary focus on Black issues but this discussion is not open to everyone and not every space requires the prescense of others. These issues affect our community in a way that ia unique and crippling that doesn't have the same detrimental effects on other communities. This is not a space or discussion to dilute our issues to appease the general public.
"Ain't nobody come to see you, Otis!"
As an educator, a Black, female educator, this assists in my professional development as it reinstills patience and ubderstanding in my teaching practices. Often my most difficult students are the ones that look just like me and it is easy to sweep them under the rug and write them off like everyone else. However, THAT is the problem. They know society has written them off so they act accordingly. Being cognizant how my attitude, teaching methodology, and exhibiting A LOT of patience is what I remain conscious of throughout the day to best serve my kids.
Also, NBCDI has ooenings for their Chicago chapter. Guess who is submitting her resume :) Wish me luck!
I am headed to the beach later this afternoon but headed to a prayer vigil for the 4 year old that was shot earlier this week from more Chicago gun violence. Pray for my city, loves. When you are aware of the issues but arent equipped with how the resolve them, you grow frustrated.
On a lighter note, this week we are unpacking our websites into further detail. I won't make this post as long as my others but as previously stated in prior entries, I selected The National Black Child Development Institute as my focal point resource.
I chose this due to its commitment to focusing solely on how policy, education, health, and economics affect African- Americans. I genuinely dislike using the term "POC" because it has lost its power for what it is and categorizes the struggles of each minority group into signal agendas.
I like how NBCDI zeros in the issues that SOLELY affect Black children and families. Our community is crippled from effects of post taumatic slave disorder, economic oppression, gun violence, domestic fragility, and mental oppression. These are unique traits that are solely identified predominately to the Black community that needs to be addressed in its own separate fashion and tactic.
Which is why.....*drum roll* I nearly fell out and lost all my edges when I saw that NBCDI had a Chicago chapter. I was so excited to see that the same mission of NBCDI was put into motion for the Chicago chapter but had revised it to reflect the unique culture of Chicago urban poverty and the families within it.
Recently, a program was implemented to instill a positive message about Black youth than the deficits of Black you and it snatched my edges. Too often we are socially engrained with negativity towards a group of people. I have traveled the world, lived and worked in 3 countries and 29 cities in the USA, and not one group of people are demonized as Black people are.
In Ecuador there is a resturant Menuestro De Negro with the mascot as a stereotypical Black child with overdramatic feature, pitch black skin, and a bone in their hair. In China, on my first day my students rhbbed my skin and asked why my dirt doesnt come off.
The common narrative about Black people in any country is that we are violent, aggressive, less intelligent, and primitive. -____-
NBCDI wants to change that narrative through instillibg self-love and pride in Black children to love themselves, their culture, and their African ancestry as nit a hinderence but a badge of honor. I greatly support this because self-hate is real. Colorism is real. Depression within the Black community is real. These things go hand-in-hand with one another and overall affect how a child sees themselves based off how society sees them as a whole.
I can see criticism against NBCDI due to ita primary focus on Black issues but this discussion is not open to everyone and not every space requires the prescense of others. These issues affect our community in a way that ia unique and crippling that doesn't have the same detrimental effects on other communities. This is not a space or discussion to dilute our issues to appease the general public.
"Ain't nobody come to see you, Otis!"
As an educator, a Black, female educator, this assists in my professional development as it reinstills patience and ubderstanding in my teaching practices. Often my most difficult students are the ones that look just like me and it is easy to sweep them under the rug and write them off like everyone else. However, THAT is the problem. They know society has written them off so they act accordingly. Being cognizant how my attitude, teaching methodology, and exhibiting A LOT of patience is what I remain conscious of throughout the day to best serve my kids.
Also, NBCDI has ooenings for their Chicago chapter. Guess who is submitting her resume :) Wish me luck!
Friday, July 21, 2017
Poverty: An Open Discussion
Happy Friday lovelies!
Hope everyone is having a good week and excited for the weekend ahead.
This week's topic is one personal and close to my heart through anetodal experience as well as through academic and professional awareness.
Poverty is a controversial subject that is extreme conditions of financial hardship and lack of econonic opportunity and/or resources. I decided to take a microscopic look at my hometown of Chicago, Illinois.
With Chicago gaining national noteriety for its increased influx of gun violence ( a seperate topic of itself), there have been many questions asked about my city- both indirectly and directly- concerning to the bug WHY; WHY DOES CHICAGO HAVE INCREASED GUN VIOLENCE?
As much as many "professionals" and experts try to give a clear cut answer, its nit simple to explain or understand. The one size fits all theory does not apply to describing the concentrated amounts of gun violence in the city's south and west sides.
Fun facts that are an prologue to the discussion is that roughly 10% of the city's families live in extreme cases of poverty- half the national poverty level with the largest concentrations being that of African-Americans. *Gasp*
Its no surprise, at least to me, that the highest concentrations if poverty happen to be in my own backyard because not onky did I personally experience this narrative, but poverty and race have become almost synonymous due to defacto segregation and political infrastructure.
I can go on and on about how Chicago was literally built and designed to benefit affluent, white migrants over black laborers that migrated to Chicago during the industrial revolution but I won't go there today. (MY undergrad degree is ALL about Urban Politics so I can go on and on) However, poverty disproportionately affects African-American communities due to the lack of economical and social resources that allow families to get and stay ahead.
"What do you mean Chanel?"
Outside of disproportionate property taxes that fund local schools that are built like prisons, the hiring of unqualified white teachers from surrounding suburbs that lack cultural sensitivity and understanding, and the limited economic opportunity due to the inability to own land and create ownership without being bombarded with debt or high interest loans that can never be paid off.....
It ALSO breeds.....*drum roll* VIOLENCE. And with Indiana and its lax gun laws next door and Trump sending FBI agents to the south and west side to FURTHER the distrust and turf war with even more semi-automatic weaponry, you would think people would stop asking stupid questions. -____-
My mentor and esteemed colleague, Natalie Chadwell, MPH, sat down and spoke with me concerning the poverty and its affects on the Black community. Chadwell is the accreditation specialist for The University of Illinois Hospital while formally serving on the board of directors for their subsidized, health care division.
For twenty plus years, Chadwell hss dealt with poverty on a first-hand basis through her work in public health. Poverty is a public health issue that not only affects the physical but the mental and emotional conditions of a community that perpetuates a toxic mentality through a lack of understanding, compassion, and access to resources.
Chadwell enlightened me that poverty within Chicago was not by accident but designed due to the creation of ghettos that mimicked those in WWII, redlining, and illegal political and economic practices that kept African-Americans from ownership and integrated spaces.
The poverty that bred violence began with the public housing projects-the notorious Cabrini Green that gained national head lines for Girl X- and how they were systematically designed to keep the males out of the household; leaving female-led homes that ran on limited income. Once those public housing sites were demolished, the issues that were once concentrated to a confined space from a set group of people within that area became disbursed into the general population.
Chicago then morphed into "factions" based on blocks or neighborhoods and gave birth to the current enviornment as it stands.
The effects of poverty literally shorten a lifespan by creating a constant physical reaponse towards stress and anxiety to where the body does not recognize how to regulate itself. Poverty also delays ckgnitive maturation due to the prefrontal cortex being under developed from the lack of emotional regulation; increasing the amount of emotionally charged responses. Health and nutrition in poverty affects the physical and psychosocial due to limited nutritional value in the affordable foods that are available from local gricers that inflate prices due to the food dessert enviornment.
Many public school students get the bulk of their daily nutrition from school lunches while programs such as safe passage ( a city sponsored initiative puts neighbors of a community on "hot spots" to keep kids safe during thier walk to school) exist to keep children from getting inducted or affected by gang violence.
Children can focus in a school that has chicago police in every classroom, metal detectors, and teachers that are only present to have federal loans forgiven and be expected to succeed. Not only are they biologically wired to have more emotionally charged responses and are immersed in an enviornment that is literally killing them because of stress, they are placed with expectations that they are aware they are not believed they can meet.
These issues of poverty have allowed me on my journey to educate and be a role model to the most vulnerabe children in black and brown communities due to a lack of opportunity and resources. Poverty gies beyond the financial hardship and burden of a family and extends to the social, emotional, and cognitive maturation of Children that grow to be incomptent adults that literally do not know better.
Hope everyone is having a good week and excited for the weekend ahead.
This week's topic is one personal and close to my heart through anetodal experience as well as through academic and professional awareness.
Poverty is a controversial subject that is extreme conditions of financial hardship and lack of econonic opportunity and/or resources. I decided to take a microscopic look at my hometown of Chicago, Illinois.
With Chicago gaining national noteriety for its increased influx of gun violence ( a seperate topic of itself), there have been many questions asked about my city- both indirectly and directly- concerning to the bug WHY; WHY DOES CHICAGO HAVE INCREASED GUN VIOLENCE?
As much as many "professionals" and experts try to give a clear cut answer, its nit simple to explain or understand. The one size fits all theory does not apply to describing the concentrated amounts of gun violence in the city's south and west sides.
Fun facts that are an prologue to the discussion is that roughly 10% of the city's families live in extreme cases of poverty- half the national poverty level with the largest concentrations being that of African-Americans. *Gasp*
Its no surprise, at least to me, that the highest concentrations if poverty happen to be in my own backyard because not onky did I personally experience this narrative, but poverty and race have become almost synonymous due to defacto segregation and political infrastructure.
I can go on and on about how Chicago was literally built and designed to benefit affluent, white migrants over black laborers that migrated to Chicago during the industrial revolution but I won't go there today. (MY undergrad degree is ALL about Urban Politics so I can go on and on) However, poverty disproportionately affects African-American communities due to the lack of economical and social resources that allow families to get and stay ahead.
"What do you mean Chanel?"
Outside of disproportionate property taxes that fund local schools that are built like prisons, the hiring of unqualified white teachers from surrounding suburbs that lack cultural sensitivity and understanding, and the limited economic opportunity due to the inability to own land and create ownership without being bombarded with debt or high interest loans that can never be paid off.....
It ALSO breeds.....*drum roll* VIOLENCE. And with Indiana and its lax gun laws next door and Trump sending FBI agents to the south and west side to FURTHER the distrust and turf war with even more semi-automatic weaponry, you would think people would stop asking stupid questions. -____-
My mentor and esteemed colleague, Natalie Chadwell, MPH, sat down and spoke with me concerning the poverty and its affects on the Black community. Chadwell is the accreditation specialist for The University of Illinois Hospital while formally serving on the board of directors for their subsidized, health care division.
For twenty plus years, Chadwell hss dealt with poverty on a first-hand basis through her work in public health. Poverty is a public health issue that not only affects the physical but the mental and emotional conditions of a community that perpetuates a toxic mentality through a lack of understanding, compassion, and access to resources.
Chadwell enlightened me that poverty within Chicago was not by accident but designed due to the creation of ghettos that mimicked those in WWII, redlining, and illegal political and economic practices that kept African-Americans from ownership and integrated spaces.
The poverty that bred violence began with the public housing projects-the notorious Cabrini Green that gained national head lines for Girl X- and how they were systematically designed to keep the males out of the household; leaving female-led homes that ran on limited income. Once those public housing sites were demolished, the issues that were once concentrated to a confined space from a set group of people within that area became disbursed into the general population.
Chicago then morphed into "factions" based on blocks or neighborhoods and gave birth to the current enviornment as it stands.
The effects of poverty literally shorten a lifespan by creating a constant physical reaponse towards stress and anxiety to where the body does not recognize how to regulate itself. Poverty also delays ckgnitive maturation due to the prefrontal cortex being under developed from the lack of emotional regulation; increasing the amount of emotionally charged responses. Health and nutrition in poverty affects the physical and psychosocial due to limited nutritional value in the affordable foods that are available from local gricers that inflate prices due to the food dessert enviornment.
Many public school students get the bulk of their daily nutrition from school lunches while programs such as safe passage ( a city sponsored initiative puts neighbors of a community on "hot spots" to keep kids safe during thier walk to school) exist to keep children from getting inducted or affected by gang violence.
Children can focus in a school that has chicago police in every classroom, metal detectors, and teachers that are only present to have federal loans forgiven and be expected to succeed. Not only are they biologically wired to have more emotionally charged responses and are immersed in an enviornment that is literally killing them because of stress, they are placed with expectations that they are aware they are not believed they can meet.
These issues of poverty have allowed me on my journey to educate and be a role model to the most vulnerabe children in black and brown communities due to a lack of opportunity and resources. Poverty gies beyond the financial hardship and burden of a family and extends to the social, emotional, and cognitive maturation of Children that grow to be incomptent adults that literally do not know better.
Friday, July 14, 2017
National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI)
Happy Friday!
This week is all about organizations that take to the forefront if issues that affect students within our local communities.
I have chose last week's organization, The National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) to further gather information on their distinct mission and how they help families within our communities.
First and foremost, I LOVE how this organization specifically cater to the develooment of Black youth. I am not a fan of the political blanket term "POC" and how it is used as an umbrella to encompass issues people of color face as a universal thing. Absolutely not. My community's stuggle of oppression and raciaim differ and vary from the issues of language barriers and immigration to the Latino community and issues if the "model minority" complex of Asian-Americans.
Furthermore, Black youth lag behind in local, state, and national data concerning academic achievement and overall socioeconomic success behind their peers. Organizations such as NBCDI are utilized to nit only close those achievment gaps but are also used to meet the special and unique needs of young black children.
NBCDI uses both policy and local grassroots, community involvement to better serve Black students through partnerships with local, state, and federal policy makers to ensure adequate funding goes towards high-risk schools, a well-qualified, diverse workforce is a constant within the learning enviornment, while efforts to retain and train a more qualified work force is implemented. NBDCI knows that young Black children are often educated by less qualified, experienced educators that inadvertently stunt and/or delay growth and maturation.
Health/ Wellness is another huge investment NBCDI is at the forefront of tackling when it comes to their families and students. Through their affiliate networks and partnerships with organizations and business like Wal-Mart, health and wellness is addressed through an implementation of healthy eating habits and nurtrional curriculum that is demonstrated in a variety of mediums through their affiliate network. Food demonstrations in a local community grocer to promote healthier eating options while literature and material for a better quality of health through a more conscious mind at a local community event are just a few of the ways that NBCDI get involved.
These are just a few of the ways NBCDI gets involved into assisting African-American families into becoming healthier and more prosperous while creating better developing outcomes for their students.
NBCDI acknowledges that the ever-changing demographic is becoming more reflective of a time where cultures blend and create blended families and mixed-race children. However, what I appreciate is the fact that the issues and controversies unique to each individual ethnic group- in this case, African-Americans, are not swept under the rug or pushed into a generalized POC category. NBCDI acknowledges the unique challenges of the average Black family and uses its platform to better serve those students and families directly as opposed to indirectly.
https://www.nbcdi.org/who-we-are
This week is all about organizations that take to the forefront if issues that affect students within our local communities.
I have chose last week's organization, The National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) to further gather information on their distinct mission and how they help families within our communities.
First and foremost, I LOVE how this organization specifically cater to the develooment of Black youth. I am not a fan of the political blanket term "POC" and how it is used as an umbrella to encompass issues people of color face as a universal thing. Absolutely not. My community's stuggle of oppression and raciaim differ and vary from the issues of language barriers and immigration to the Latino community and issues if the "model minority" complex of Asian-Americans.
Furthermore, Black youth lag behind in local, state, and national data concerning academic achievement and overall socioeconomic success behind their peers. Organizations such as NBCDI are utilized to nit only close those achievment gaps but are also used to meet the special and unique needs of young black children.
NBCDI uses both policy and local grassroots, community involvement to better serve Black students through partnerships with local, state, and federal policy makers to ensure adequate funding goes towards high-risk schools, a well-qualified, diverse workforce is a constant within the learning enviornment, while efforts to retain and train a more qualified work force is implemented. NBDCI knows that young Black children are often educated by less qualified, experienced educators that inadvertently stunt and/or delay growth and maturation.
Health/ Wellness is another huge investment NBCDI is at the forefront of tackling when it comes to their families and students. Through their affiliate networks and partnerships with organizations and business like Wal-Mart, health and wellness is addressed through an implementation of healthy eating habits and nurtrional curriculum that is demonstrated in a variety of mediums through their affiliate network. Food demonstrations in a local community grocer to promote healthier eating options while literature and material for a better quality of health through a more conscious mind at a local community event are just a few of the ways that NBCDI get involved.
These are just a few of the ways NBCDI gets involved into assisting African-American families into becoming healthier and more prosperous while creating better developing outcomes for their students.
NBCDI acknowledges that the ever-changing demographic is becoming more reflective of a time where cultures blend and create blended families and mixed-race children. However, what I appreciate is the fact that the issues and controversies unique to each individual ethnic group- in this case, African-Americans, are not swept under the rug or pushed into a generalized POC category. NBCDI acknowledges the unique challenges of the average Black family and uses its platform to better serve those students and families directly as opposed to indirectly.
https://www.nbcdi.org/who-we-are
Saturday, July 8, 2017
Exploring Issues in Early Childhood
Good Morning
This week we are exploring issues and controversies in early childhood education and child development. Currently I am in Latin America and have gained the opportunity to expand my horizons within learning about different cultures, communities, and issues that accompany children from various socioeconomic backgrounds throughout the world.
Unfortunately, internet here is not the best so streaming a podcast this week was not an option. However, upon researching Save The Children- an organization that helps children in The United States and abroad as well as National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI), I have come across a plethora of information that has expanded my knowledge on childhood development while raising questions.
Firstly, Save The Children is an international organization that helps children in The United States and abroad grow up happy and healthy through means of assisting in poverty alleviation, health and nutrition, and education. 1 in 5 U.S. children grow up in poverty with 90% of them in rural communities. That BLOWS my mind seeing as we are the world's leading super power and a first-world developed, industrialized country.
In a country run by capitalism and the global economy, HOW can we have 1 in 5 children in poverty? Resturants and chain stores like Whole Foods and MCDonalds literally throw money away when they toss hundreds of pounds of fresh food that goes unsold at the end of the night. Immigrants literally flock to our country to study at the leading universities because of our quality education system yet some of our own citizens go without educational foundations like pre-school. Health care is LITERALLY a monopoloized market that puts people in precarious situations where they have to decide between their health and livelihood.
HOW!?
I teach ESL to rural students in Ecuador and every last one of them idolize The United States. They literally dream of going to give themselves and their familt a better life and live the "American Dream". It baffles me how The United States- my country- can be the world's leading super power and an international influence while still maintaining third world country conditions to its nations less affluent citizens.
This discussion lead me to look into the NBCDI because I have NEVER heard if it before. As a Black woman, firstly, I am PROUD that this organization was created by BLACK WOMEN in support if how the American Education System treated Black children. #BlackGirlMagic
As an African-American, I grew up in this disparities that are often normalized in my community as the status quo. It wasn't until high-school and college where thise disparities came to light through my lack of education in simple subjects like The Cold War (Which I still don't get) and WWI that made me realize I was grade levels behind my peers and had to work twice as hard just to get the same grades.
What I enjoy about the NBCDI is that that center the whole-child through their methods through reaching and engaging policy-leaders, communuty officials, professionals, and parents to ensure Black children are allowed a quality foundation in their education. Programs, trainings, and advocacy are just some of the limited resources available to educators, professionals, and parents of Black families that assist in the development of cultural knowledge of Black children as well as educational tools to better serve our youth.
I enjoy how this is exclusively fit to serve the demographic of Black children because we as a community have our own issues that cannot be coupled into the "POC" umbrella. Programs that are available to educators and ECE professionals that help enlighten and inform on best practices to serve the serve these vulnerable populations of children allow The United States to increase our stance and dedication towards early childhood education and assisitng in decreasing the amount of children that lack access to quality education.
This week we are exploring issues and controversies in early childhood education and child development. Currently I am in Latin America and have gained the opportunity to expand my horizons within learning about different cultures, communities, and issues that accompany children from various socioeconomic backgrounds throughout the world.
Unfortunately, internet here is not the best so streaming a podcast this week was not an option. However, upon researching Save The Children- an organization that helps children in The United States and abroad as well as National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI), I have come across a plethora of information that has expanded my knowledge on childhood development while raising questions.
Firstly, Save The Children is an international organization that helps children in The United States and abroad grow up happy and healthy through means of assisting in poverty alleviation, health and nutrition, and education. 1 in 5 U.S. children grow up in poverty with 90% of them in rural communities. That BLOWS my mind seeing as we are the world's leading super power and a first-world developed, industrialized country.
In a country run by capitalism and the global economy, HOW can we have 1 in 5 children in poverty? Resturants and chain stores like Whole Foods and MCDonalds literally throw money away when they toss hundreds of pounds of fresh food that goes unsold at the end of the night. Immigrants literally flock to our country to study at the leading universities because of our quality education system yet some of our own citizens go without educational foundations like pre-school. Health care is LITERALLY a monopoloized market that puts people in precarious situations where they have to decide between their health and livelihood.
HOW!?
I teach ESL to rural students in Ecuador and every last one of them idolize The United States. They literally dream of going to give themselves and their familt a better life and live the "American Dream". It baffles me how The United States- my country- can be the world's leading super power and an international influence while still maintaining third world country conditions to its nations less affluent citizens.
This discussion lead me to look into the NBCDI because I have NEVER heard if it before. As a Black woman, firstly, I am PROUD that this organization was created by BLACK WOMEN in support if how the American Education System treated Black children. #BlackGirlMagic
As an African-American, I grew up in this disparities that are often normalized in my community as the status quo. It wasn't until high-school and college where thise disparities came to light through my lack of education in simple subjects like The Cold War (Which I still don't get) and WWI that made me realize I was grade levels behind my peers and had to work twice as hard just to get the same grades.
What I enjoy about the NBCDI is that that center the whole-child through their methods through reaching and engaging policy-leaders, communuty officials, professionals, and parents to ensure Black children are allowed a quality foundation in their education. Programs, trainings, and advocacy are just some of the limited resources available to educators, professionals, and parents of Black families that assist in the development of cultural knowledge of Black children as well as educational tools to better serve our youth.
I enjoy how this is exclusively fit to serve the demographic of Black children because we as a community have our own issues that cannot be coupled into the "POC" umbrella. Programs that are available to educators and ECE professionals that help enlighten and inform on best practices to serve the serve these vulnerable populations of children allow The United States to increase our stance and dedication towards early childhood education and assisitng in decreasing the amount of children that lack access to quality education.
Saturday, June 17, 2017
My Supports
Happy Saturday lovelies :)
I hope this week has been a good one for everyone. I have had both a traumatic and exciting week but feel indifferent to it all due to the timing of everything and how everything is currently playing out.
I find it ironic how this week's blog is about our support systems and how they keep us grounded. This past Sunday, June 11th, 2017, I was sexually assaulted my a former lover of mine. It was a traumatic experience and one I am currently dealing with privately. I feel dazed, confused, and often replay that evening over in my head repeatedly to see if there was something maybe I did wrong since law enforcement here in Chicago practice victim/slut shaming when called to investigate attempted rape cases- but I digress.
I also was recently hired by the Ministry of Education in Ecuador to teach English to pre-k children for a year and will be leaving Monday.
So much excitement and trauma has occurred within the last seven days that I am a mixture of emotions and unsure how to feel. But one thinf remains sure is that without my support system, I would be a wreck and lost without guidance.
Even before my current events, my support systems have been consistent and a driving force in my life.
My number one support system is my faith in GOD. I know that despite all things past, present, and future that may be negative or positive GOD will guide me through it with grace and humility. My favorite bible verse since I was a kid, and the only one I truly remembered verbatim, is: "I can do all thibgs through Christ which strengthens me"; Phil: 4:13.
I live that verse in my daily life through my troubling and exciting times because it tella me I can do anything. From learning to turn my pain of losing my only son into love for others to taking another position in another country despite fear, to persuing my Master's; I can do it all with Christ by my side.
My second support system is my family and friends.
My family and friends have always been by my side. I have three best friends I have known aince junior year of high school that I am still as close, if not closer, to this day. After almost ten years of friendship, they are considered family more than friends.
My family and friends are my support system because they aren't afraid to tell me the truth and are there for me when I lose my way. Family and friends have your best interest at heart and only want what is best for you; despite what you may have for yourself.
My mother is a very opinionated lady whom I love to death. She feels that going abroad again isn't the best career move for me but supports me anyway. She feels I should find permanent employment and root somewhere. Ultimately, that is the plan; but not on her timeline. She only wants what's best for me even if we bump heads about it.
Same for my best friends. They feel I should take a semster off to deal with the recent happenings of my life and maybe they are right; but I don't want to put my life on pause whether it be professionally or educationally because of a bump in the road. I know myself better than anyone and if anything, school serves as a release for me because it keeps my mind busy.
Ultimately, between my faith and my family/friends, I have a strong support network that keep me grounded and guided throughout my personal and professional journey. Without them, it would be difficult to undertand how to deal with life and life's unique situations .
To have a quality support system means to have a foundation that strengthens your growth and development through your process of finding yourself. We as educators are the foundational support systems for our students much like our support systems are to us. We are here to ensure the emotional, social, cognitive, and physical neess are met of each child while ensuring that we build close-knit relationships where we can enter their personal space and support them in difficult areas of development with guidance, nurturing, and understanding.
Friday, June 2, 2017
My Connections to Play
Happy Friday friends!
After a long work week working with the kiddos, I just want to "play" by getting into my favorite pajamas, firing up Netflix, and sipping sangria with my hubby.
Speaking of play, our topic this week has been all about childhood play and how important it is in terms of development. We established that play is essential in developing social, physical, and cognitive skills in children while also learning that play has different variations and cultural backgrounds.
Growing up, play was different for me than some of my peers. I grew up on Chicago's south side and didnt live in the best of neighborhoods. Running around outside in grassy fields ans meadows is uncommon for me while playing kickball with my friends was something I never heard off until middle-school.
Play for me was double-dutch on the street until the street lights came on, block party dance contest to Chicago juke music, and Saturday night skate parties at "The Rink" with my friends.
Due to the area of my upbringing, I wasnt allowed outside much and going to a neighborhood park was not common unless it was the one downtown where it was safe- and that was every so often. When I was outside, I socialized with my friends from school and my block; jumping double dutch and slurping on bomb pop popscicles for $1 while the boys played basketball at the court across the street fron us.
Play is different than it was when I was a child because it is very technology driven. Children arent encouraged to go out and be active anymore and are more interested in their mobile devices and electronics than getting dirty and sweaty in the summer heat. When I was younger, my mother would force me out the house just to get active and "be social".
I had family and friends support me during my play as it was engrained into my culture and background upbringing. Soing much od anything else would deviate from the social norms at the time. As an adult, I apprecoate ny mother encouraging me to branch out and become social with other young ladies because I could sometimes be a loner. My mother was concerned with my social development and felt outside interaction and play would create friendships- which they did.
If I could pick two quotes to describe my childhood play they would be:
"Hey Chanel (Yeah?)...Are you ready (For What?)....To Jig (Jig what?)....JIGALO"- Childhood Game Lyrics
"Be back in this house before them street lights come on!" - Black mothers in America
After a long work week working with the kiddos, I just want to "play" by getting into my favorite pajamas, firing up Netflix, and sipping sangria with my hubby.
Speaking of play, our topic this week has been all about childhood play and how important it is in terms of development. We established that play is essential in developing social, physical, and cognitive skills in children while also learning that play has different variations and cultural backgrounds.
Growing up, play was different for me than some of my peers. I grew up on Chicago's south side and didnt live in the best of neighborhoods. Running around outside in grassy fields ans meadows is uncommon for me while playing kickball with my friends was something I never heard off until middle-school.
Play for me was double-dutch on the street until the street lights came on, block party dance contest to Chicago juke music, and Saturday night skate parties at "The Rink" with my friends.
Due to the area of my upbringing, I wasnt allowed outside much and going to a neighborhood park was not common unless it was the one downtown where it was safe- and that was every so often. When I was outside, I socialized with my friends from school and my block; jumping double dutch and slurping on bomb pop popscicles for $1 while the boys played basketball at the court across the street fron us.
Play is different than it was when I was a child because it is very technology driven. Children arent encouraged to go out and be active anymore and are more interested in their mobile devices and electronics than getting dirty and sweaty in the summer heat. When I was younger, my mother would force me out the house just to get active and "be social".
I had family and friends support me during my play as it was engrained into my culture and background upbringing. Soing much od anything else would deviate from the social norms at the time. As an adult, I apprecoate ny mother encouraging me to branch out and become social with other young ladies because I could sometimes be a loner. My mother was concerned with my social development and felt outside interaction and play would create friendships- which they did.
If I could pick two quotes to describe my childhood play they would be:
"Hey Chanel (Yeah?)...Are you ready (For What?)....To Jig (Jig what?)....JIGALO"- Childhood Game Lyrics
"Be back in this house before them street lights come on!" - Black mothers in America
Saturday, May 20, 2017
Relationship Reflection
Happy Saturday everyone :)
I intentionally chose to wait until today to write my blog because of the nature of today's discussion topic and blog.
This week we spoke on relationships and partnerships within the earlychildhood profession. I have still relatively new to the early childhood profession and have adjusted quite well. However, the knowledge of the importance of creating and maintaining healthy relationships is something I never truly understood or necessarily considered until I became a pre-school/toddler teacher.
As an educator, of course I always aimed to have an amazing rapport and relationship with both my students and parents. However, it was not until I entered early childhood that I realized that the impact of these relationships shape the overall development of a child in more ways that I previously thought.
So, it is only befitting to reflect on my relationships and how I have developed from them over the years. I initially wanted to do my mother and my father-figure, my uncle; but decided against it because of ywo things. 1) I felt it was a bit typical and cliche and 2) The past 2 1/2 years of my life I have developed and prospered more as a woman and as a person courtesy of two amazing souls.
My Fiancee, Husband-to-be on September 3rd,2017- Stephan Dilworth
I love this man to the moon and back. He is literally my foundation and my solace. Met him back in Jan 2015 and been inseparable since. He is the yin to my yang. I am a fiery, hot tempered, impulsive soul and he is a kind, gentle, level-headed spirit that balances my fire with his coolness of encompassing my entire being into tranquility. (fun fact: he is a earth sign and I'm a fire sign)
We have a relationship that is of course romantic but also friendship. We help build each other up, encourage one another, and find the best in each other while acknowledging our worst flaws as imperfect perfections. He balances me and I balance him- both using our unique strengths to overcome our weaknesses.
We also maintain a partnership. An example would be for our home life. My hubby only has a high school diploma and I am obtaining my Masters. I am the primary breadwinner but know that my man is the hesd if our home. I make the most but what I make goes towards savings and expenses such as date night excusrions and vacations, etc.; my hunny would spend every dime of his check to maintain our home.
In other words, he is the foundation that holds our house afloat and I maintain what goes in it. Our partnership allows for us to feed off our relationship skills of communication, understanding, and patience.
My Hubby and I :)
Last person that has helped how I view and grown with relationships and partnerships is my son, my angel, my rock- Isaac Henry Taylor Dilworth
Today is actually his birthday (which is why I chose today to write the blog).
My son would have made one years old today. He was born at 24+6 weeks on May 20th, 2016 at 9:49pm. My son lived on this earth for ten days and passed away May 30th, 2016, on Memorial Day.
My son taught me a lesson in ten days that some people take a lifetime to learn. Long story short, my son passed away due to contracting E Coli from my digestive tract during utero. It was revealed I have ESBL and the next time I become pregnant, I have to be on antibiotics to protect my child.
My relationship with my son taught me how to be a blessing to others and how to truly love another human being. Of course we love our spouses and parents, but we rarely experience a love where our life's mission and purpose becomes entrenched into making another person (or people) happy. I experienced that with my son and through that relationship, I decided to go into early childhood education and begin to form my non-profit that helps at-risk mother's have equitable resources to a healthy, viable pregnancy- Isaac's Purpose.
Through these relationships, I have learned valuable tools of communication and understanding that I take into my own professional life inside my classroom with my students and their families while also using it personally, to better myself and how I interact with loved ones.
Your daily interactions with your students and their parents leave a lasting imprint on their spirit as to your personality and who you are as a human being. Being conscious of our daily interactions with our youth and their families is a great way to start and be mindful of how important it is to build and maintain healthy relationships within our profession.
My son, my pride and joy- Isaac
I intentionally chose to wait until today to write my blog because of the nature of today's discussion topic and blog.
This week we spoke on relationships and partnerships within the earlychildhood profession. I have still relatively new to the early childhood profession and have adjusted quite well. However, the knowledge of the importance of creating and maintaining healthy relationships is something I never truly understood or necessarily considered until I became a pre-school/toddler teacher.
As an educator, of course I always aimed to have an amazing rapport and relationship with both my students and parents. However, it was not until I entered early childhood that I realized that the impact of these relationships shape the overall development of a child in more ways that I previously thought.
So, it is only befitting to reflect on my relationships and how I have developed from them over the years. I initially wanted to do my mother and my father-figure, my uncle; but decided against it because of ywo things. 1) I felt it was a bit typical and cliche and 2) The past 2 1/2 years of my life I have developed and prospered more as a woman and as a person courtesy of two amazing souls.
My Fiancee, Husband-to-be on September 3rd,2017- Stephan Dilworth
I love this man to the moon and back. He is literally my foundation and my solace. Met him back in Jan 2015 and been inseparable since. He is the yin to my yang. I am a fiery, hot tempered, impulsive soul and he is a kind, gentle, level-headed spirit that balances my fire with his coolness of encompassing my entire being into tranquility. (fun fact: he is a earth sign and I'm a fire sign)
We have a relationship that is of course romantic but also friendship. We help build each other up, encourage one another, and find the best in each other while acknowledging our worst flaws as imperfect perfections. He balances me and I balance him- both using our unique strengths to overcome our weaknesses.
We also maintain a partnership. An example would be for our home life. My hubby only has a high school diploma and I am obtaining my Masters. I am the primary breadwinner but know that my man is the hesd if our home. I make the most but what I make goes towards savings and expenses such as date night excusrions and vacations, etc.; my hunny would spend every dime of his check to maintain our home.
In other words, he is the foundation that holds our house afloat and I maintain what goes in it. Our partnership allows for us to feed off our relationship skills of communication, understanding, and patience.
My Hubby and I :)
Today is actually his birthday (which is why I chose today to write the blog).
My son would have made one years old today. He was born at 24+6 weeks on May 20th, 2016 at 9:49pm. My son lived on this earth for ten days and passed away May 30th, 2016, on Memorial Day.
My son taught me a lesson in ten days that some people take a lifetime to learn. Long story short, my son passed away due to contracting E Coli from my digestive tract during utero. It was revealed I have ESBL and the next time I become pregnant, I have to be on antibiotics to protect my child.
My relationship with my son taught me how to be a blessing to others and how to truly love another human being. Of course we love our spouses and parents, but we rarely experience a love where our life's mission and purpose becomes entrenched into making another person (or people) happy. I experienced that with my son and through that relationship, I decided to go into early childhood education and begin to form my non-profit that helps at-risk mother's have equitable resources to a healthy, viable pregnancy- Isaac's Purpose.
Through these relationships, I have learned valuable tools of communication and understanding that I take into my own professional life inside my classroom with my students and their families while also using it personally, to better myself and how I interact with loved ones.
Your daily interactions with your students and their parents leave a lasting imprint on their spirit as to your personality and who you are as a human being. Being conscious of our daily interactions with our youth and their families is a great way to start and be mindful of how important it is to build and maintain healthy relationships within our profession.
My son, my pride and joy- Isaac
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Thank you!
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world"- Nelson Mandela
As Nelson Mandela eloquently quoted, education is a powerful weapon which we as educators are arming the next generation to use. These young minds that come with kissable cheeks, runny nose, and boundless amounts of smiles and giggles will eventually transform into the men and women that will make important decisions for themselves, their community, and possibly the world.
I enjoyed this education course with Dr. Horton and the rest of my colleagues. Your blog posts and discussion sections have been thought-provoking and insightful. I wish each and everyone of you the best in your professions and to keep in mind of the impact our prescense has on our children.
Have a great summer and rest of the school year!
As Nelson Mandela eloquently quoted, education is a powerful weapon which we as educators are arming the next generation to use. These young minds that come with kissable cheeks, runny nose, and boundless amounts of smiles and giggles will eventually transform into the men and women that will make important decisions for themselves, their community, and possibly the world.
I enjoyed this education course with Dr. Horton and the rest of my colleagues. Your blog posts and discussion sections have been thought-provoking and insightful. I wish each and everyone of you the best in your professions and to keep in mind of the impact our prescense has on our children.
Have a great summer and rest of the school year!
Friday, April 14, 2017
To test or not to test....That is the question
Good Morning lovelies! Happy Good Friday!
Hope everyone had an amazing week
The discussion about redefining disability has been quite the good one as well as the conversations that has branched from it.
For today's blog post, the controversial topic of standardized testing is posed.
"Should WE test children?"
When I say WE, I mean us as a society- a cukture. We have normalized testing to where we do it in everyday situations. As a Pre-School teacher, I find myself "testing" my kids on if they were listening to me or not by asking them to repeat my directions in the order I gave them. A mother may "test" her child by doing an intentional act that measures the accountability of her child. Society put it's people to a "test" once they reach a certain threshold to see if they can measure up to great amount of success.
Overall, testing is pretty normalized. In terms of education, I feel it is double-edged sword. As an educator that has worked with all age groups with varying degrees of intelligence, I do feel testing is a productive way to measure where a student is at currently and see what can be improved to keep them on grade level-if not excel beyond it.
However, as a Pre-School teacher in one of Chicago's more affluent areas, I see first hand the education disparities of the children I work with to the children I identify with. I don't need to work in Lincoln Park to know my city's segregation is at the expenses of Black and Brown children's education; I grew up in that reality. However, being an educator myself has given me different perspective that does not come from my own personal narrative.
My students are 4 years old and know words like "irreconcilable", "hostile", perplexed" and "microscopic". However, my seventh graders from Auburn-Gresham (with the exception of a handful), couldn't even spell these words....Let alone use them in a sentence.
Putting all children from all backgrounds to the same test when we as a culture and as a country do not provide the same resources to succeed in a equitable way is unjust and cruel to these children. Children are answering the same questions on material they may not have been taught due to their school climate and are put to the same grading scale as other schools that have over 70% of their school population at or above grade level.
I do feel testing is a means for measuring where a student is, but should not be the definite measuring tool or method to obtain information on a child's intellectual develoment.
When I taught ESL in China, students in fifth grade were gearing up for a test similar to what we have in the states for ACT/SAT. The GaoKao is their national equivalent and much harder; with much more emphasis on individual achievement being a predictor on overall individual outcome for the future. Students must choose between a hard-science track with a focus on physics, chemistry, etc. Or a soft-science track such as education, humanities, social-science. These students choose this track their first year of high-school and begin studying for that track from that point forward. There is no switching tracks and only courses within that chosen track are offered to that student.
Students are tested the end of their senior year and based on their scores, it is decided which schools they can be accepted into and what careers they may entertain. Unlike in America, there is no "redemption" of yourself if you fail this test. There is no community college and future acceptance into a four-year university. This test has been criticized because it puts much pressure, stress, and anxiety in young children while forcing them to choose a career path they have yet to explore, let alone fully know about because they barely know themselves.
While I see benefits of testing, I feel alternative methods should be used to counterbalance the sole reliance of testing so we as a culture can move forward towards better Education and standards.
Hope everyone had an amazing week
The discussion about redefining disability has been quite the good one as well as the conversations that has branched from it.
For today's blog post, the controversial topic of standardized testing is posed.
"Should WE test children?"
When I say WE, I mean us as a society- a cukture. We have normalized testing to where we do it in everyday situations. As a Pre-School teacher, I find myself "testing" my kids on if they were listening to me or not by asking them to repeat my directions in the order I gave them. A mother may "test" her child by doing an intentional act that measures the accountability of her child. Society put it's people to a "test" once they reach a certain threshold to see if they can measure up to great amount of success.
Overall, testing is pretty normalized. In terms of education, I feel it is double-edged sword. As an educator that has worked with all age groups with varying degrees of intelligence, I do feel testing is a productive way to measure where a student is at currently and see what can be improved to keep them on grade level-if not excel beyond it.
However, as a Pre-School teacher in one of Chicago's more affluent areas, I see first hand the education disparities of the children I work with to the children I identify with. I don't need to work in Lincoln Park to know my city's segregation is at the expenses of Black and Brown children's education; I grew up in that reality. However, being an educator myself has given me different perspective that does not come from my own personal narrative.
My students are 4 years old and know words like "irreconcilable", "hostile", perplexed" and "microscopic". However, my seventh graders from Auburn-Gresham (with the exception of a handful), couldn't even spell these words....Let alone use them in a sentence.
Putting all children from all backgrounds to the same test when we as a culture and as a country do not provide the same resources to succeed in a equitable way is unjust and cruel to these children. Children are answering the same questions on material they may not have been taught due to their school climate and are put to the same grading scale as other schools that have over 70% of their school population at or above grade level.
I do feel testing is a means for measuring where a student is, but should not be the definite measuring tool or method to obtain information on a child's intellectual develoment.
When I taught ESL in China, students in fifth grade were gearing up for a test similar to what we have in the states for ACT/SAT. The GaoKao is their national equivalent and much harder; with much more emphasis on individual achievement being a predictor on overall individual outcome for the future. Students must choose between a hard-science track with a focus on physics, chemistry, etc. Or a soft-science track such as education, humanities, social-science. These students choose this track their first year of high-school and begin studying for that track from that point forward. There is no switching tracks and only courses within that chosen track are offered to that student.
Students are tested the end of their senior year and based on their scores, it is decided which schools they can be accepted into and what careers they may entertain. Unlike in America, there is no "redemption" of yourself if you fail this test. There is no community college and future acceptance into a four-year university. This test has been criticized because it puts much pressure, stress, and anxiety in young children while forcing them to choose a career path they have yet to explore, let alone fully know about because they barely know themselves.
While I see benefits of testing, I feel alternative methods should be used to counterbalance the sole reliance of testing so we as a culture can move forward towards better Education and standards.
Saturday, April 1, 2017
My childhood
Good Morning lovelies!
I hope this week went well for everyone and your weekends are starting off well.
This week is all about our enviornments and their impact on our physical, mental, and emotional health- biosocial and psychosocial. As we have discussed all this week, a child's development is greatly dependent on his/her enviornment and experiences. To paraphrase Harvard researchers, the brain is built from bottom to top and a child's personal experiences help shape their schema's and build nueral connections and pathways.
With that being said, stressors and factors that impacted my childhood were chaos and poverty. I was born and raised on Chicago's South side to single-mother. I'm the oldest of four but more like a second mother than anything to my siblings. My father decided that I was too much to handle and decided a family was something he was not interested in. My other three siblings have a different father from myself- him also leaving after my mother's marriage ended to him.
My mother was always the primary breadwinner while my step-father used his masculinity to control and dominate my family until the marriage ended. My mother had stepped out on faith and decided to start her on transportation service when I was five because she wanted to alleviate the fear of other mother's sending their children out to school in crime-ridden Chicago. My step-father never supported her and always fought her about going against the grain, dreaming big aspirations, and-most importantly- not staying in a woman's place by being as strong-willed, determined, and fearless as she was.
I have only seen my mother move mountains and part oceans throughout my childhood. Most children's childhood smells involve fresh baked cookies and dirt from playing outside; mine involves the smell of diesel fuel from gas trips to Indiana and McDonald's Happy meals because my mother was too tired to cook after working fifteen hours a day.
We struggled for awhile due to her new company being a startup business in a low-income neighborhood. Lights, gas, heat, and water were turned off so much that we made games for them when they were and learned how to survive without them. There were times were food was scarce and non-existent; my siblings and I wondering how in the hell our mother made a full course meal that tasted DELICIOUS out of ramen noodles, frozen "chicken slivers", dried fruit, and miscellaneous cans of beans from the back of our dusty pantry.
I was forced to grow up by age eight; when my brother was four and I began babysitting more and more often. Most of the kids from the neighborhood played outside after school or went to the park on weekends with family and friends. I came home after school and fed "the kids" while helping them with their homework and on weekends, I would watch my brother for hours alone while my mother went to work on our family businesses with my step father disappearing regularly.
By ten, I knew how to cook full meals, clean and disinfect the entire house, fix minor damage to the house , change a diaper in two minutes flat, and pay overdue or late bills over the phone using my "Emily" voice. I was a miniture adult that had been shortchanged a childhood.
My mother and stepfather also argued daily at some point. They argued so much that I began to normalize it and didn't recognize when it would escalate to violence because it was so common. Common, in fact, that I thought it was a common form of expression of love in my own personal relationships.
I didn't realize I had negative effects of my childhood until recently when I lost my son and engaged in psychotherapy. I figured my childhood had only made me thick-skinned and gave me a perspective of not letting anything stand as an obstacle between me and my goals. However, once I engaged in therapy, I realized my childhood- despite the wonderful moments that I had sprinkled in during those years- had a negative impact on how I view a healthy relationship between partners, I have developed a sense of apathy towards others, and I do not know how to properly express my emotions as times.
As a child, I was exposed to a world that forced to me assimilate- an adult world where there was no filter of what was reality. My mom was very transparent with me from day one. I knew everything from finances to their struggling marriage. From this, I was unable to form and develop basic childhood experiences that would foster development of my adult ones.
This would explain why I am a twenty-five year old that enjoys playing with bubbles and chalk in her spare time.
However, I don't regret anything in my childhood because I know it was literally the best my mother could have given me at the time and she did it mostly on her own.
Another part of the world that I would love to know more about would be the childhood of children in China and how they manage to be happy and survive in a damaging political and social climate while experiencing high levels of air pollution. When I taught in China, I was taken aback how anyone would live in a country where the air can literally kill them if exposed to it for extended moments of time. Wearing a face mask everyday to work was abnormal to me yet it was treated like a fashion accessory from the natives. Government crackdown on pollution from manufacturing was non-existent and regulations that would keep people from getting I'll from drinking and eating contaminated water and food were simply suggestions.
Also, certain minority populations in China were harrassed daily- Muslim- and often threatened with death. Women are still seen as second-class to some degree while a state test determines your future; high rates of suicide and anxiety amongst children out of fear of failure.
Therapy is something that is not talked about, let alone suggested and tea is a cure for all-including social situations.
I would love to see my students five to ten years from now to see how and who they become based on their childhood experiences and if there would be anything they would have liked to have been done differently.
Overall, childhood is a miraculous period of life for everyone but it varies from person to person. Keeping that in mind would allow educators to remain cognisant that each child they encounter as experienced a different narrative than their own and to be sensitive of that in how they are treated.
I hope this week went well for everyone and your weekends are starting off well.
This week is all about our enviornments and their impact on our physical, mental, and emotional health- biosocial and psychosocial. As we have discussed all this week, a child's development is greatly dependent on his/her enviornment and experiences. To paraphrase Harvard researchers, the brain is built from bottom to top and a child's personal experiences help shape their schema's and build nueral connections and pathways.
With that being said, stressors and factors that impacted my childhood were chaos and poverty. I was born and raised on Chicago's South side to single-mother. I'm the oldest of four but more like a second mother than anything to my siblings. My father decided that I was too much to handle and decided a family was something he was not interested in. My other three siblings have a different father from myself- him also leaving after my mother's marriage ended to him.
My mother was always the primary breadwinner while my step-father used his masculinity to control and dominate my family until the marriage ended. My mother had stepped out on faith and decided to start her on transportation service when I was five because she wanted to alleviate the fear of other mother's sending their children out to school in crime-ridden Chicago. My step-father never supported her and always fought her about going against the grain, dreaming big aspirations, and-most importantly- not staying in a woman's place by being as strong-willed, determined, and fearless as she was.
I have only seen my mother move mountains and part oceans throughout my childhood. Most children's childhood smells involve fresh baked cookies and dirt from playing outside; mine involves the smell of diesel fuel from gas trips to Indiana and McDonald's Happy meals because my mother was too tired to cook after working fifteen hours a day.
We struggled for awhile due to her new company being a startup business in a low-income neighborhood. Lights, gas, heat, and water were turned off so much that we made games for them when they were and learned how to survive without them. There were times were food was scarce and non-existent; my siblings and I wondering how in the hell our mother made a full course meal that tasted DELICIOUS out of ramen noodles, frozen "chicken slivers", dried fruit, and miscellaneous cans of beans from the back of our dusty pantry.
I was forced to grow up by age eight; when my brother was four and I began babysitting more and more often. Most of the kids from the neighborhood played outside after school or went to the park on weekends with family and friends. I came home after school and fed "the kids" while helping them with their homework and on weekends, I would watch my brother for hours alone while my mother went to work on our family businesses with my step father disappearing regularly.
By ten, I knew how to cook full meals, clean and disinfect the entire house, fix minor damage to the house , change a diaper in two minutes flat, and pay overdue or late bills over the phone using my "Emily" voice. I was a miniture adult that had been shortchanged a childhood.
My mother and stepfather also argued daily at some point. They argued so much that I began to normalize it and didn't recognize when it would escalate to violence because it was so common. Common, in fact, that I thought it was a common form of expression of love in my own personal relationships.
I didn't realize I had negative effects of my childhood until recently when I lost my son and engaged in psychotherapy. I figured my childhood had only made me thick-skinned and gave me a perspective of not letting anything stand as an obstacle between me and my goals. However, once I engaged in therapy, I realized my childhood- despite the wonderful moments that I had sprinkled in during those years- had a negative impact on how I view a healthy relationship between partners, I have developed a sense of apathy towards others, and I do not know how to properly express my emotions as times.
As a child, I was exposed to a world that forced to me assimilate- an adult world where there was no filter of what was reality. My mom was very transparent with me from day one. I knew everything from finances to their struggling marriage. From this, I was unable to form and develop basic childhood experiences that would foster development of my adult ones.
This would explain why I am a twenty-five year old that enjoys playing with bubbles and chalk in her spare time.
However, I don't regret anything in my childhood because I know it was literally the best my mother could have given me at the time and she did it mostly on her own.
Another part of the world that I would love to know more about would be the childhood of children in China and how they manage to be happy and survive in a damaging political and social climate while experiencing high levels of air pollution. When I taught in China, I was taken aback how anyone would live in a country where the air can literally kill them if exposed to it for extended moments of time. Wearing a face mask everyday to work was abnormal to me yet it was treated like a fashion accessory from the natives. Government crackdown on pollution from manufacturing was non-existent and regulations that would keep people from getting I'll from drinking and eating contaminated water and food were simply suggestions.
Also, certain minority populations in China were harrassed daily- Muslim- and often threatened with death. Women are still seen as second-class to some degree while a state test determines your future; high rates of suicide and anxiety amongst children out of fear of failure.
Therapy is something that is not talked about, let alone suggested and tea is a cure for all-including social situations.
I would love to see my students five to ten years from now to see how and who they become based on their childhood experiences and if there would be anything they would have liked to have been done differently.
Overall, childhood is a miraculous period of life for everyone but it varies from person to person. Keeping that in mind would allow educators to remain cognisant that each child they encounter as experienced a different narrative than their own and to be sensitive of that in how they are treated.
Saturday, March 18, 2017
I am NOT just a mother
Good Morning lovelies :)
Happy weekend to everyone and I hope everyone had a fantastic week. This week, we had discussions concerning how multi-contextual and interdisciplinary.
Since I am a mother that experienced this personally, I chose to discuss how mental health of a mother can affect the quality and care of the child and their families. I suffer from depression after the passing of my son. As a Black woman, mental illness is something not talked about within our community and if it is brought up, "church can fix it".
When I was diagnosed with depression, I was in denial. I was a "strong Black woman" that worked hard, was independent, and could handle anything life threw in my direction. I emulated the women around me, the women that raised me; so how could I get depression when countless of women before me endured just as much pain as I but have not buckled?
I had to let go of my complex of being this "strong Black woman" because it was not a rose-colored compliment but an insult to the feminity and fragility of my womanhood as a Black woman. Black women are often "forced" to be strong because we have no other choice but to be. We often are the sole providers for those around us and work hard inside and outside our home for the comfort of ourselves and others- often times in unsafe spaces that damage our mental state due to social norms and social oppression.
But outside of that, I experienced a the loss of a child. I lost my first.and only child after experiencing a traumatic birth. It was something that I thought I could get over if I prayed, listened to Gospel songs, and pushed in the back of my mind; and for awhile it worked. Working 60-80 hours a weeks became a distraction for some time but it eventually impacted my work to where I had a mental breakdown over something as small as tearing tape.
My family even saw drastic changes in me
. I lost weight, wasn't eating, was not my "bubbly, outgoing" self , was more reserved at family functions, and often would stare into space in mid-conversation. I knew something was not right when I had unnatural thoughts of intentionally ending my life to see my son again.
I finally sought out help and entered therapy. Surprisingly, it was not what I thought it would be as what is portrayed in the media. My therapist was so sweet, kind, and understanding. She didn't pry intly answer if I didn't want her to, and she allows me to discuss my feelings in detail dating from distress from childhood.
She even runs group therapy for women that lost their children in either miscarriage, stillborn, or death after birth- like myself. I attend every month and it is truly helpful. I get to meet women who are going through what I am going through or have been through it. I hear their testimony and hear how they often felt the same way I felt. From my solo and group therapy lessons, I have learned that it's OK to be weak because it shows I am human.
Sometimes we have to take care of ourselves before we can take care of others. As a woman and a mother, my first thoughts even before my son was born was to make sure he would never want for anything. I was only concerned about him, not me. Although a mother should always care and love her child, the child should not always be top priority. By that, I mean self-care and self-love are needed in order to maintain a healthy rationship between mother and baby and that requires small little "me"moments.
Getting a manicure or a massage is something that could rejuvenate the mind, body, and spirit and that allows the mother to be able to give more of herself to her child without overexertion.
In The United States, we are consciously aware of mental illness, but we aren't actively in progression of assuring mental health services are a) funded b) accessible to all indivuals and families c) fully staffed in our most vulnerable places and d) destigmatized. Many women are evaluated during their in-house stay for any signs of mental illness after the birth of their child and their six-week check up. However, not much follow up is done after that-in which is why my depression was diagnosed almost five months later.
In contrast, Japan does not address nor fundmental health in their country. The issue of mental health is considered "taboo" and often unspoken. There are mental health physicians that are scatted across the country in some accessible towns, but the prices could be very costly. "Succumbing to mental illness" is seen as a form of laziness and/or weakness and plays against your work ethic.
Compared to countries like Japan, The United States is fairly progressive in terms of accepting mental illnesses, but lack of research in vulnerable populations, accessibility, and funding for mental health programs are setting progress back for many.
It is imperative that mother's seek out counseling for any type of mental illness they have or they may develop; but mostly importantly, take time to themselves!
My son is and always will be my world. My fiancee and I are trying to conceive again in the near future to give Isaac a little brother or sister. However, I will do things differently starting with taking time to take care of myself. I cannot give my love to my children if I cannot give love to mysf first.
Happy weekend to everyone and I hope everyone had a fantastic week. This week, we had discussions concerning how multi-contextual and interdisciplinary.
Since I am a mother that experienced this personally, I chose to discuss how mental health of a mother can affect the quality and care of the child and their families. I suffer from depression after the passing of my son. As a Black woman, mental illness is something not talked about within our community and if it is brought up, "church can fix it".
When I was diagnosed with depression, I was in denial. I was a "strong Black woman" that worked hard, was independent, and could handle anything life threw in my direction. I emulated the women around me, the women that raised me; so how could I get depression when countless of women before me endured just as much pain as I but have not buckled?
I had to let go of my complex of being this "strong Black woman" because it was not a rose-colored compliment but an insult to the feminity and fragility of my womanhood as a Black woman. Black women are often "forced" to be strong because we have no other choice but to be. We often are the sole providers for those around us and work hard inside and outside our home for the comfort of ourselves and others- often times in unsafe spaces that damage our mental state due to social norms and social oppression.
But outside of that, I experienced a the loss of a child. I lost my first.and only child after experiencing a traumatic birth. It was something that I thought I could get over if I prayed, listened to Gospel songs, and pushed in the back of my mind; and for awhile it worked. Working 60-80 hours a weeks became a distraction for some time but it eventually impacted my work to where I had a mental breakdown over something as small as tearing tape.
My family even saw drastic changes in me
. I lost weight, wasn't eating, was not my "bubbly, outgoing" self , was more reserved at family functions, and often would stare into space in mid-conversation. I knew something was not right when I had unnatural thoughts of intentionally ending my life to see my son again.
I finally sought out help and entered therapy. Surprisingly, it was not what I thought it would be as what is portrayed in the media. My therapist was so sweet, kind, and understanding. She didn't pry intly answer if I didn't want her to, and she allows me to discuss my feelings in detail dating from distress from childhood.
She even runs group therapy for women that lost their children in either miscarriage, stillborn, or death after birth- like myself. I attend every month and it is truly helpful. I get to meet women who are going through what I am going through or have been through it. I hear their testimony and hear how they often felt the same way I felt. From my solo and group therapy lessons, I have learned that it's OK to be weak because it shows I am human.
Sometimes we have to take care of ourselves before we can take care of others. As a woman and a mother, my first thoughts even before my son was born was to make sure he would never want for anything. I was only concerned about him, not me. Although a mother should always care and love her child, the child should not always be top priority. By that, I mean self-care and self-love are needed in order to maintain a healthy rationship between mother and baby and that requires small little "me"moments.
Getting a manicure or a massage is something that could rejuvenate the mind, body, and spirit and that allows the mother to be able to give more of herself to her child without overexertion.
In The United States, we are consciously aware of mental illness, but we aren't actively in progression of assuring mental health services are a) funded b) accessible to all indivuals and families c) fully staffed in our most vulnerable places and d) destigmatized. Many women are evaluated during their in-house stay for any signs of mental illness after the birth of their child and their six-week check up. However, not much follow up is done after that-in which is why my depression was diagnosed almost five months later.
In contrast, Japan does not address nor fundmental health in their country. The issue of mental health is considered "taboo" and often unspoken. There are mental health physicians that are scatted across the country in some accessible towns, but the prices could be very costly. "Succumbing to mental illness" is seen as a form of laziness and/or weakness and plays against your work ethic.
Compared to countries like Japan, The United States is fairly progressive in terms of accepting mental illnesses, but lack of research in vulnerable populations, accessibility, and funding for mental health programs are setting progress back for many.
It is imperative that mother's seek out counseling for any type of mental illness they have or they may develop; but mostly importantly, take time to themselves!
My son is and always will be my world. My fiancee and I are trying to conceive again in the near future to give Isaac a little brother or sister. However, I will do things differently starting with taking time to take care of myself. I cannot give my love to my children if I cannot give love to mysf first.
Saturday, March 11, 2017
10 days of happiness
Good Morning friends :) We are in a new class for the next eight weeks with Professor Horton and thus far, I am thoroughly enjoying the course. This is by far one of my favorite and hardest blogs to write because it involves my personal birth story of my son, Isaac.
I am the PROUD mother to an angel in heaven,my guardian angel- Isaac Henry Taylor Dilworth.
My son is and always be my biggest accomplishment. I have birth May 20th, 2016 at 9:49pm from emergency c-section. My son was 24+6 weeks and extremely premature. I had severe preeclampsia with blood pressure 278/190 and higher and medication was not helping at all. My body was close to breaking down and suffering from seizures and stroke.
I was admitted three days before my son was born, May 17th, 2016, because my blood pressure and the doctors that cared for me wanted to keep my son in longer but were unable out of fear of the placenta ripping from me due to my blood pressure.
Everything happened so fast and I barely remember anything. I was put under general anesthesia for my C-section and I remember waking up to my family and my fiancee congratulating me on my birth.
The staff took care of me and my son very well. I often fought with the staff because I was on bed rest majority of the time and I wasn't supposed to see my son. (They knew that wasn't going to work. The devil in hell couldn't keep me from my son)
He, unfortunately, got very sick halfway through his stay from a bacterial infection that attacks his underdeveloped lungs. On May 30th, 2016, my son passed away at 11:55am in my arms as I held him for the first time. I replay that day in my mind every day over and over again so I would never forget how my son looks, feels, smells, or how he looked at me for the first time in my eyes and with his dying breaths smiled at his mother.
My birth was traumatic due to circumstances but the care I recieved was phenomenal. The NICU team worked over time on my son and because of them, I have momentos that I otherwise would not have like his foot prints, crochet hats and blankets that he was laid in, his name that was written in green glitter in his incubator, etc.
Also, the social work office was a gift from GOD HIMSELF. Mary- Ann Fontana was an angel in disguise the day she came to my to to invite me to scrapbook night. I was not going to go because I felt lethargic and just wanted sleep but something told me to muster up strength and go. Mary-Ann took photos of my son, the only photos that I have of him living, and helped me and.my fiancee create a scrapbook of our son. Three days after scrapbook night, my son passed away.
As far as my care in The United States compared to another country, I chose France. I taught in France last spring from late February to early May for a spring language camp in Aurabelle, France ( close to Geroux- Les Bains) I was very close to giving birth in France if I stayed an extra four weeks so I decided to go home and skip the offer to teach for the summer sessions until August. ( My son was due September 3rd, 2016)
I LOVED the French healthcare system. I had almost half my monthly checks go to taxes but it was well worth it because my health care was top notch and FREE!
I had prenatal check ups every week to a local doctor in Marmand, the closest "major" city in the region I worked that my employer paid for, my medication that I took for my elevated blood pressure was less that five euros ($3-5 USD), I had a midwife come every three weeks I was there to check on me and my baby as well as give me information on birthing in France if I chose to, AND information on maternity leave and reimbursement to pregnancy related expenses if I stay in France for the entire duration of my pregnancy.
I loved how compared to the US, France seemed to care about the overall health and wellness of the mother and Child. I had great care at the hospital I gave birth in as well; however, I rarely saw my doctors after giving birth, I did not have anyone come see me concerning how to care for a newborn or information on breast feeding, and there were no post-natal follow ups or home care visits that I would have recieved if I was in France.
In retrospect, I would have given birth in France and flown my family out to see me. My employer already promised me employment once my maternity leave was complete and I had subsidized housing through my employer. Plus, my son could apply to have dual citizenship at eighteen!
Either way, May 20th was the best day of my life and whether in France or the US, I was met with doctors and support staff that showed true compassion and concern for me and my son.
I love you Isaac Henry Taylor Dilworth, always and forever.
I am the PROUD mother to an angel in heaven,my guardian angel- Isaac Henry Taylor Dilworth.
My son is and always be my biggest accomplishment. I have birth May 20th, 2016 at 9:49pm from emergency c-section. My son was 24+6 weeks and extremely premature. I had severe preeclampsia with blood pressure 278/190 and higher and medication was not helping at all. My body was close to breaking down and suffering from seizures and stroke.
I was admitted three days before my son was born, May 17th, 2016, because my blood pressure and the doctors that cared for me wanted to keep my son in longer but were unable out of fear of the placenta ripping from me due to my blood pressure.
Everything happened so fast and I barely remember anything. I was put under general anesthesia for my C-section and I remember waking up to my family and my fiancee congratulating me on my birth.
The staff took care of me and my son very well. I often fought with the staff because I was on bed rest majority of the time and I wasn't supposed to see my son. (They knew that wasn't going to work. The devil in hell couldn't keep me from my son)
He, unfortunately, got very sick halfway through his stay from a bacterial infection that attacks his underdeveloped lungs. On May 30th, 2016, my son passed away at 11:55am in my arms as I held him for the first time. I replay that day in my mind every day over and over again so I would never forget how my son looks, feels, smells, or how he looked at me for the first time in my eyes and with his dying breaths smiled at his mother.
My birth was traumatic due to circumstances but the care I recieved was phenomenal. The NICU team worked over time on my son and because of them, I have momentos that I otherwise would not have like his foot prints, crochet hats and blankets that he was laid in, his name that was written in green glitter in his incubator, etc.
Also, the social work office was a gift from GOD HIMSELF. Mary- Ann Fontana was an angel in disguise the day she came to my to to invite me to scrapbook night. I was not going to go because I felt lethargic and just wanted sleep but something told me to muster up strength and go. Mary-Ann took photos of my son, the only photos that I have of him living, and helped me and.my fiancee create a scrapbook of our son. Three days after scrapbook night, my son passed away.
As far as my care in The United States compared to another country, I chose France. I taught in France last spring from late February to early May for a spring language camp in Aurabelle, France ( close to Geroux- Les Bains) I was very close to giving birth in France if I stayed an extra four weeks so I decided to go home and skip the offer to teach for the summer sessions until August. ( My son was due September 3rd, 2016)
I LOVED the French healthcare system. I had almost half my monthly checks go to taxes but it was well worth it because my health care was top notch and FREE!
I had prenatal check ups every week to a local doctor in Marmand, the closest "major" city in the region I worked that my employer paid for, my medication that I took for my elevated blood pressure was less that five euros ($3-5 USD), I had a midwife come every three weeks I was there to check on me and my baby as well as give me information on birthing in France if I chose to, AND information on maternity leave and reimbursement to pregnancy related expenses if I stay in France for the entire duration of my pregnancy.
I loved how compared to the US, France seemed to care about the overall health and wellness of the mother and Child. I had great care at the hospital I gave birth in as well; however, I rarely saw my doctors after giving birth, I did not have anyone come see me concerning how to care for a newborn or information on breast feeding, and there were no post-natal follow ups or home care visits that I would have recieved if I was in France.
In retrospect, I would have given birth in France and flown my family out to see me. My employer already promised me employment once my maternity leave was complete and I had subsidized housing through my employer. Plus, my son could apply to have dual citizenship at eighteen!
Either way, May 20th was the best day of my life and whether in France or the US, I was met with doctors and support staff that showed true compassion and concern for me and my son.
I love you Isaac Henry Taylor Dilworth, always and forever.
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Standards to live by
Good Morning loves.
This post will be a bit shorter than usual because I'm currently hospitalized for food poisoning. I have a blazing migraine and can barely hold down any food and all I want to do is sleep but I wanted to get this blog up and posted.
The three ethics from NAEYC that I personally identify with are:
Recognize that children are best understood and
supported in the context of family, culture,* community,
and society
• Respect the dignity, worth, and uniqueness of each
individual (child, family member, and colleague)
• Respect diversity in children, families, and colleagues
I chose these three standards because I am a huge advocate for diversity inside and outside the classroom. With diversity comes different cultures and people from various backgrounds that we may or may not understand. Understanding a person's background and culture not only give us insight into the child's unique tapestry but how we can understand children and learn to teach based on their upbringing.
Understanding that certain children from from communities that are high sensory would encourage educators to use more methods of sensory integration in there lesson planning and teaching strategies. Some children may come from households where there is a lot of manual labor or hand work. Using this knowledge, teachers are able to incorporate more kinestetic forms of teaching .
Students are a reflection of the world around us and we as educators must adapt to this change by reflecting the diversity as well as by adapting our lessons, teaching strategies, and communication to better serve each family that walks into our classrooms.
This post will be a bit shorter than usual because I'm currently hospitalized for food poisoning. I have a blazing migraine and can barely hold down any food and all I want to do is sleep but I wanted to get this blog up and posted.
The three ethics from NAEYC that I personally identify with are:
Recognize that children are best understood and
supported in the context of family, culture,* community,
and society
• Respect the dignity, worth, and uniqueness of each
individual (child, family member, and colleague)
• Respect diversity in children, families, and colleagues
I chose these three standards because I am a huge advocate for diversity inside and outside the classroom. With diversity comes different cultures and people from various backgrounds that we may or may not understand. Understanding a person's background and culture not only give us insight into the child's unique tapestry but how we can understand children and learn to teach based on their upbringing.
Understanding that certain children from from communities that are high sensory would encourage educators to use more methods of sensory integration in there lesson planning and teaching strategies. Some children may come from households where there is a lot of manual labor or hand work. Using this knowledge, teachers are able to incorporate more kinestetic forms of teaching .
Students are a reflection of the world around us and we as educators must adapt to this change by reflecting the diversity as well as by adapting our lessons, teaching strategies, and communication to better serve each family that walks into our classrooms.
Friday, February 10, 2017
Resources to encourage
Good Evening lovelies and Happy Friday! I hope you all had a fantastic week this week and your weekend is off to a great start.
As you all know, with the current state of our nation and all the controversy surrounding him and his presidency, there has been this new phenomenon of "fake news" or "alternative facts" -____-
With any good story, fact, news article, journal, or other source of information used to convey a persuasive opinion, there needs to be cold, hard FACTS to support the author's claims. I mean, what use would me claiming that the first American open-heart surgery was performed by an African-American surgeon, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, in 1863 without citing credible references? (Cobb,1944) See.....You have to cite facts to support your claim for your own credibility as well as to legitimize your claims *drops mic*
So this week, we were disuccsing the credibility of resources and which ones to trust when in the world of academia. As educators, we cannot preach to our students to research and cite facts to support their claims from credible resources if we cannot do the same.
However, the first three resources are some of my own design where I feel could be beneficial to us Early childhood educators. I am a HUGE proponent of multi-culturalism in the classroom and reaffirming a Child's personal and cultural identity. Here a few resources to help us educators with those components in the classroom:
Kendall, F. E. (1983). Diversity in the Classroom: A Multicultural Approach to the Education of Young Children. Early Childhood Education Series. Teachers College Press, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027. Retrieved February 10, 2017
Trawick-Smith, J. (2013). Early childhood development: A multicultural perspective. Pearson Higher Ed. Retrieved February 10, 2017
Last Resource is a quote from one of my favorite Educators
We don't need a melting pot in this country, folks. We need a salad bowl. In a salad bowl, you put in the different things. You want the vegetables - the lettuce, the cucumbers, the onions, the green peppers - to maintain their identity. You appreciate differences. Jane Elliot
Here are a few good resources for us Early childhood educators to keep in mind when conducting research:
As you all know, with the current state of our nation and all the controversy surrounding him and his presidency, there has been this new phenomenon of "fake news" or "alternative facts" -____-
With any good story, fact, news article, journal, or other source of information used to convey a persuasive opinion, there needs to be cold, hard FACTS to support the author's claims. I mean, what use would me claiming that the first American open-heart surgery was performed by an African-American surgeon, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, in 1863 without citing credible references? (Cobb,1944) See.....You have to cite facts to support your claim for your own credibility as well as to legitimize your claims *drops mic*
So this week, we were disuccsing the credibility of resources and which ones to trust when in the world of academia. As educators, we cannot preach to our students to research and cite facts to support their claims from credible resources if we cannot do the same.
However, the first three resources are some of my own design where I feel could be beneficial to us Early childhood educators. I am a HUGE proponent of multi-culturalism in the classroom and reaffirming a Child's personal and cultural identity. Here a few resources to help us educators with those components in the classroom:
Kendall, F. E. (1983). Diversity in the Classroom: A Multicultural Approach to the Education of Young Children. Early Childhood Education Series. Teachers College Press, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027. Retrieved February 10, 2017
Trawick-Smith, J. (2013). Early childhood development: A multicultural perspective. Pearson Higher Ed. Retrieved February 10, 2017
Last Resource is a quote from one of my favorite Educators
We don't need a melting pot in this country, folks. We need a salad bowl. In a salad bowl, you put in the different things. You want the vegetables - the lettuce, the cucumbers, the onions, the green peppers - to maintain their identity. You appreciate differences. Jane Elliot
- NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap
- NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf
- NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf
- NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf
- NAEYC. (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf
- NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf
- Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller
- FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://community.fpg.unc.edu/sites/community.fpg.unc.edu/files/imce/documents/FPG_Snapshot_N33_EvidenceBasedPractice_09-2006.pdf
- Turnbull, A., Zuna, N., Hong, J. Y., Hu, X., Kyzar, K., Obremski, S., et al. (2010). Knowledge-to-action guides. Teaching Exceptional Children, 42(3), 42-53.
- Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
- Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
- Websites:
- World Forum Foundation
- This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. Make sure to watch the media segment on this webpage
- World Organization for Early Childhood Education
- Read about OMEP's mission.
- Association for Childhood Education International
- Click on "Mission/Vision" and "Guiding Principles and Beliefs" and read these statements.
- National Association for the Education of Young Children
- The Division for Early Childhood
- Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
- WESTED
- Harvard Education Letter
- FPG Child Development Institute
- Administration for Children and Families Headstart's National Research Conference
- HighScope
- Children's Defense Fund
- Center for Child Care Workforce
- Council for Exceptional Children
- Institute for Women's Policy Research
- National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
- National Child Care Association
- National Institute for Early Education Research
- Pre[K]Now
- Voices for America's Children
- The Erikson Institute
- YC Young Children
- Childhood
- Journal of Child & Family Studies
- Child Study Journal
- Multicultural Education
- Early Childhood Education Journal
- Journal of Early Childhood Research
- International Journal of Early Childhood
- Early Childhood Research Quarterly
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Studies
- Maternal & Child Health Journal
- International Journal of Early Years Education
Here are a few good resources for us Early childhood educators to keep in mind when conducting research:
Part 2: Global Support for Children's Rights and Well-Being
Note: Explore the resources in Parts 3 and 4 in preparation for this week's Application assignment.
Part 3: Selected Early Childhood Organizations
Part 4: Selected Professional Journals Available in the Walden Library
Tip: Use the Journal option under Search & Find on the library website to find journals by title.
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