Personal Childhood Web

Good Morning lovelies!

Hope everyone had a phenomenal week. This week was my first week as an assistant teacher for my pre-school and I had a ball with my babies! I have good chemistry with my co-workers and to make things all the better, once I complete my six required Early Childhood credits this semester, I will be lead teacher by late spring :) (My state requires a certain amount of ECE credits to be "qualified"....even though I am technically already teaching and lesson planning for my classroom because the previous lead teacher had no clue what she was doing.)

Anyhoo, this week is all about webs! (No, not the spider kind that I call my fiancee out to get at 3am) As much as I love Charlotte and Wilbur, this week's web is all about connections- personal connections. Just like my students, I was once a little crumb snatcher myself with a set of people that were trusted to love and care for me to ensure my development. Whether it be close family and/or friends, there were people in my life that were present before, during, and after my early childhood developmental stages that helped shape and mold me into the bright young woman I am today :)

Without further rambling, here are the two people that have contributed to my development throughout the years and, still, today currently.

1) Of course the number one is my mother. My mother, Crystal Taylor, is a single-mother of four that raised me and my siblings by herself. My mother is a self-made entrepreneur that owns a successful transportation service in Chicago for the past 17 years. For majority of my life, she has supported me and my siblings off her faith, determination, and motivation to succeed alone and created a business (FROM SCRATCH) that can be passed down within our family to end the cycle of generational poverty within our immediate family. My mother is not only the woman that has inspired me to go after my dreams and conquer the world with no apologies, but is my role model and my biggest supporter in everything I do. She is the most self-less, giving, and compassionate person I know- and I am not just saying that because I am her daughter.

My favorite memories as a child with my mother are those late nights during the early stages of her transportation company where we would be in a huge lot with semi-trucks and school buses until almost midnight changing oil, anti-freeze, cleaning windows, buckling seat belts, sweeping floors, and cleaning the seats. I used to HATE staying late but I always got McDonalds as a treat and did my homework to PowerPuff Girls while my mom made phone calls and did office work until it was time to go home. (Fun fact: I know how to change tires on a school bus and jump start an engine ☺☺)

Me and my mother when I was a child

Me, my mom, and my brothers and sister on our mom's birthday this past weekend on 1/22/2017

2) The second person that has influenced me during my childhood is my Uncle, Henry Taylor. Because I was raised without a father, my uncle- my mother's brother- stepped in to fill those shoes and has been more of a father-figure to me than an uncle. My uncle is someone I, also, aspire to be. My mother gave me my wit, determination, and motivation for success; my uncle took that a step further and gave me ways to develop my character by showing me patience, understanding, and  grace. My uncle is the president of one of Chicago's top-ranked health clinics with the first urgent care center to open in the Midwest. He provides quality health-care for low-income families in accessible locations. He treats everyone the same, whether he is shaking hands with the mayor of Chicago or a teenage mother, my uncle shows the same amount of respect to anyone and everyone- and has given that trait to me.

My uncle has taught me it is better to be self-less than selfish, be patient and listen rather than rush to be heard, and hold my head up high with grace and civility even if the situation may call for me to do otherwise. (Trust me, I have been in MANY situations where his "grace and civility" lesson was put to the test. I'm a bit sassy and fiery so I tend to get angry faster than others.) He is more of a father to me than anything because he has always been there for me in my times of crisis and need and has taught me life-lessons that only a male's perspective can give a young woman. He helped raise me, even allowed me to live with him for a few years during high-school to be able to go to the school in his district in the suburbs so I could escape the violence in my community. (I was the Fresh-Princess of Bel-Air)

My favorite memory of him is when he took me and my cousin, Jessica (his daughter), to a father-daughter dance when we both were eight. He and my cousin went every year and I always envied her a little because that was something I could not do with my father because he was not present in my life. My uncle bought me flowers and came to my house to invite me to the dance with my cousin one year and I was so excited. My mom took me out to get a new dress and shoes and I went to the salon to get my hair curled. My cousin wore pink and I wore red since it was for Valentines Day and my uncle took us both to the father-daughter dance that evening and then to dinner. It was the first time I saw how a real man was supposed to treat a woman and it helped shape how I navigated my love life.

 (Fun Fact: My uncle is the patriarch of our family and is the most respected. My fiancee, Stephan, reminds me and my family so much of my uncle that I am blessed to have found a man to marry that I know will make me feel special everyday like I did that night at the father-daughter dance. My uncle even approves of him...A LOT)

(Fun Fact #2: I named my first-born son after my uncle. Isaac Henry Taylor Dilworth)

Me and my uncle as I went off for prom in 2010

My uncle on the far left, my cousin next to him, my mom, my cousin in the middle in the graduation gown, my aunt, my cousin (Jessica), my cousin (Annika)

Last but not least, the LIGHT OF MY LIFE, my son, Isaac Henry Taylor Dilworth.

05/20/2016-05/30/2016

Happy Thursday lovelies!! 

Special shout-out to Dr. Dartt and the rest of my ECE class. Hope this semester is off to an amazing start :) 

Today I played hookie (shhh....Don't tell my boss) and took a little "me time" and did some of my favorite things. Being a Pre-K teacher and being around young children gets to you a bit when you are still spiritually healing; so why not take one of your PTO's. Other countries do it, so should we :)

 Of course I had to do a little retail therapy and found myself catching the semi-annual sale at Victoria Secret finally (Gotta get ready for V-Day 😉), got my nails and feet done, and finally settled down for lunch and some good reads at Barnes and Noble. 

Which would be a FANTASTIC segway into tonight's blog. 

Anyone who knows me knows I love reading. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always had an affinity for reading. I rembwr up until seventh or eighth grade my mother would buy me Nancy Drew books for Christmas and I was just has happy as the kid next door that recieved the newest PlayStation system. Reading has always been my gateway to another world and, quite frankly, adventures I wish I had. 

Everytime I read, I have this outerbody experience where I visualize the setting, characters, the movements, the dialogue, everything plays out like a small film in my mind and the words direct each page. I have always been a fan of the romantic genre (of course) and have grown to like a bit of mystery and adventure of late- one of my favorite books of all time being "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" that embodies the romance, suspense, noir, and adventure that I get quite a thrill out of when reading. (Anyone who has NOT read the book, read it. And if you watch the film, don't watch the crap English version. The Swedish version is the best)

Well, today I decided to switch it up and learn more about my craft as an educator. Being new to the early childhood field, I want to learn and absorb as much as I can to better serve my students. So.....*drum roll*.....I got a little busy and read a few of the following: 

 Before I say anything else, if you have NEVER heard of Kozol, please pick up his books. (I recommend Savage Inequalities) He is a genius in his craft and the books are written simply yet chalk full of information.

As I was reading, I began to reflect on how I can make social change starting when children are young. I talk a lot about my experience with my older babies (yes, they will always be my babies) and this it because I have watched them grow and mature from the lessons inside and outside the classroom. However, a lesson you teach a child at ten is not the same lesson you teach a child at three; so how can I differenciate my approach????

Kozol had a chapter in his book where he specifically talked about Early Childhood and how low-income families do not get the quality resources or early childhood education as their counterparts to begin their children off on their quest towards quality education. (Sounds vaguely familiar from the video clip from this week 😊😊😊)

Well, one of my favorite quotes is the following:

"Tell me, I forget. Teach me, I remember. Involve me, I learn" - Ben Franklin

I wrote this quote in every classroom I teach in and I ask my kids what it means. Their response is all the same, " they want to be included in the learning process".

I feel like we as educators, and even just as adults in general, feel like we are the experts in knowing how children should be taught and what they should learn in order to be successful; and to an extent I agree. I'm not going to argue with a toddler about why they can't eat seven pancakes just because they want to. I know seven pancakes is not good for you, even if you may not understand it right now.

However, asking a toddler what they want for breakfast is something I would do because they are intelligent and astute enough to associate the time of day with what is traditionally eaten around this time. Maybe today they want pancakes. Tomorrow they want cereal. Next week, French toast. Just because I want something for my toddler, does not mean the toddler does and that is where the disconnect comes into play. There needs to be more conversation, more dialogue, and more student-led/centered learning.

Children are little people (clumsy, silly, loud, and sometimes dirty little people) and they have ideas of their own. Children are natural creative thinkers that see the world on a different spectrum than we do as adults. Their creativity, imagination, and spark of interest is what field their desire to grow and learn all that they can. Why not help foster that instead of stifle it?

Working in the traditional school system has shown me that our current education system is too bent on testing material instead of teaching it. Children want to learn-I have my eigth graders excited for their test review in my History class- but that spark and curiousiry gets lost when the delivery grows monotone and authoritarian.

Taking a students question and helping them DISCOVER the answer is much more rewarding than teaching it out of a book. My approach to how I can bring about social change at a young age is to bring out my kid's interests and revolve my concepts and ideas around those focal points; even taking those points a step further to ideas they hadn't even considered.

Especially dealing with urban education (which is its own beast), having a dialogue with the children not only shows that they are heard, but it builds trust and ultimately a mutual respect (which is something any teacher who has taught in the inner-city knows they need)

My goal as an educator is to smoothly transition into early childhood and adjust my teaching strategies to a younger audience to where I feel like I am actually teaching and not "babysitting". I want to create lessons plans where I can teach a two year old the the it's OK that the sky and her best friend's hair is blue; or a three year old that hitting his friend Timothy isn't nice while also teaching him that only sitting next to Billy and not Henry because Henry is different than you is wrong.

I literally just started this journey and I have much to learn and digest in order to sharpen my skillset but I am confident and prepared.

Until next time!

Chanel

(I attached some cute photos for your viewing pleasure)

Pictures of some of my students in a few of my teaching adventures 🤗🤗🤗

 Me in Andover, CT doing an environmental education course with my 4-5th graders.

My 7th grade boys building a mock Dakota Pipeline to test to see if the oil is capable of passing over a large body of water without ruining the Sioux Tribe water supply. (It wasn't btw 😉😉😉)

My 5-6th graders in Shouguang, P.R.C excited to video chat with my peers from America during "Post Cards to America Week. 

"Don't fight the fabric, CHANGE it"

Good Evening :)

One of my ALL TIME favorite films since I was young has been Legally Blonde starring the amazingly talented Reese Witherspoon. The story begins following the narrative of a bright-eyed, ambitious young women, Elle Woods, who initially begins her college career in fashion design and management. The film takes a climactic twist when her boyfriend of several years, Warren, breaks her heart with an unannounced breakup because she was not "serious enough" to fit the image of the wife of a lawyer and future politician.

Taking the breakup hard, Elle decides to prove to Warner, her close friends, and surprisingly herself that she is not just a stereotypical "blonde bombshell" with a large chest and small mind, but an intelligent and confident woman that doesn't settle for societal standards on the opinions of women and goes after what she wants without sacrificing her unique style and personality. She ends up getting accepted into Harvard law, graduating with honors, proving that Blondes can have fun and be a force to reckon with, and snagging herself a new and IMPROVED man ;)

Of course much happened within the movie, and it's sequels, but one line that stood out that has resonated with me since was "Don't fight the fabric, change it!" (It occurred in the sequel when Elle was wedding dress shopping and trying to add beading to a silk dress. I won't say much else; you have to watch the movie 😊)

I did not understand why I had connected so much to that phrase up until recently when I had graduated from undergrad at UIC. I was a Political-Science major with a concentration in Urban Politics and Education. I truly LOVED my time at UIC and once I enter my third year, my interests began to truly pique and I knew I made the right decision in switching majors- I was originally a psychology major and had a career goal to become a sex therapist. (Ooh La La)

As much as I enjoyed my undergraduate years, I realized that the company around me did not align with me or my personal/professional beliefs. I became one of the only students of color in my lectures and discussions and when the topic of race, poverty, and policy came to the forefront of a discussion, a debate always ensued because of the overwhelming bias and misunderstandings my peers had against communities of color and life outside of their own circle in general.

I realized I was educating my own colleagues, even a few of my professors, on subject matter relating to race, ethnicity, and policy and began rethinking the idea of applying to law school. I knew I wanted to be an advocate for my community and other communities of color, but I wasn't quite sure if law school was the correct mode for be to do so. By the time I would be in the court room, the action I want to avoid taking place would have already occurred and I would only be sweeping up the mess.

Through my experiences during my undergraduate years inside the classroom coupled with my interest in policy and education, I decided to venture off and try teaching informally through summer programs, summer camps, environmental education programs, and teaching English abroad in China, France, Costa-Rica, and Japan. I have learned about myself and my interests immensely through my travels and experience and came to realize I am a constructivist educational philosopher that believe whole-heartedly that children learn best through hands-on, engaged learning methodology.

Johnathan Kozol, Diane Ravitch, Loris Malaguzzi, and Paulo Freire are the fairy-godparents that guide my teaching philosophy, approach, and outlook on education and how children should learn inside and outside the classroom. However, these philosophies are not always popular when it comes to traditional classroom teaching and I was often faced with resistance from administration and skeptical colleagues that were "veterans" in the field "before I was even thought of." 😑😑😑

My very first step into my "career" was as a seventh and eighth grade teacher for a private Lutheran school on Chicago's South side. I absolutely LOVED my job and how well my students responded to my ideas and lesson plans. However, because I am a fresh graduate in a system with educators that are not always receptive to new and creative ideas that can enhance the quality of education we give our students, especially African-American and Latino students, I was constantly monitored, instructed to follow "the model that works", and forced into a box where I felt I could not allow not just my personality to shine but my beliefs in education to ring through in my teaching. My students went from doing daily and weekly hands-on projects, hands-on gaming that worked against rote memorization and massaged analytical understanding, and interactive group work to weekly testing, work sheets, and essay writing that did not gage their critical thinking skills but their "knowledge of standards".

After much consideration, I realized that a traditional classroom environment was not the best fit for me or my beliefs and ventured into early childhood. I have worked as an assistant infant teacher due to my lack of Early Childhood experience and education and have ambitions on teaching Pre-K in with Head Start to low-income children from my community. One thing I know and have realized is the access to quality education starts young and for Black and Brown children, that is where the education gap begins. Children's brains develop the most before the age of five as well as their language acquisition. Children from disadvantaged communities are often not sent to schools or child care centers that offer a curriculum that stimulate the growth and development of those skills as their counterparts in more affluent areas.

Also, early childhood education is the epitome of creativity and imagination that sparks the interest of learning at a young age. My biggest strengths are my creativity, imagination, and divergent thinking that makes my decision to switch to ECE long overdue. My weakness is that I genuinely enjoy teaching an older demographic and as a career, I would like to eventually merge the two into creating a curriculum that could stretch across the board to older students as well as development curriculum for Head Start. ( And I have no idea how to go about it 😫)

I ultimately have much ambition but I am still trying to figure it all out- I'm only twenty-four (24). I do know that I want to change how children ultimately learn, especially in at-risk areas, and bring new and creative concepts to the forefront of the education conversation for all grade-levels- beginning from birth.

I am new to online learning and, honestly, looked at it with stigma. However, after having my life turned upside down from the loss of my son and having to take time to rebuild myself and my life, I chose online schooling because it fit within my schedule and allowed me the space to learn at my pace without feeling the pressure of being around too many people at one time. I am interested to see how it functions and making connections with my peers and colleagues via the internet as opposed to the traditional classroom setting but very optimistic. I tend to dominate conversation and often think my opinion is the only one with merit; however, through growth, maturity, and professional experience, I have learned that we all have something to contribute in our unique way and it all deserves to be heard and considered.

We are all devoted educators, otherwise we we would not be pursuing higher education to help develop the next generation of young minds and future leaders. The best part, we all have something to contribute that is unique and different from a perspective that could bring new development into how we can educate students.

"Don't fight the fabric, CHANGE it"- Elle Woods

Welcome!

Happy New-Year and welcome to my blog :)

I'm Chanel and currently a Graduate student at Walden University studying Early Childhood Education with a concentration in Teaching and Diversity. I earned my undergraduate degree from The University of Illinois at Chicago in Political-Science with a concentration in Urban Politics and Education Policy.

As a career, I am still testing the waters; unsure of what GOD has planned for me or my life. Originally set myself to become a family lawyer and realized that my heart was not truly in it. Someway, somehow I found myself deeply invested in education and policy- merging two of my deepest interests together and fell absolutely in LOVE. I enjoy teaching all age-groups, though I have an affinity for middle-school children, and have taught in several countries as an ESL teacher.

The thrill of experiencing new cultures, meeting new people, getting lost, trying new things, and getting to know yourself in an entirely new environment is the thrill I receive from teaching and traveling
 Being African-American, traveling, and teaching allows me to have teachable moments with every step I take and with every "hello" I give. It's a phenomenal experience I encourage anyone and everyone to consider as it provides a newfound perspective, cultural appreciation, and a world-view that was never considered before that metaphorical "walk in another person's shoes".

Lastly, I am quite sure the theme of my blog  has raised questions; which I am more than happy to answer. I am a PROUD mother to an angel born May 20, 2016 at 9:49pm. My son, Isaac Henry Taylor Dilworth, was born at 24+6 on May 20, 2016 instead of his intended due date of September 3, 2016 due to my severe preeclampsia.

Because of his extreme prematurity, he had underdeveloped lungs and kidneys that were unable to handle an infections he had contracted during my birth. He lived on this earth for ten beautiful days and made his transition home on Memorial Day, May 30, 2016.

Through his death, it was revealed that I have a wild strand of E.Coli in my digestive track due to my immunity to most antibiotics and that I can pass this to my next unborn child (ren). Isaac's death not only saved my life but the lives of his future siblings; giving me eternal gratitude to my first-born son. Every single day, I think of my son and the moment I got to hold him for the first time as he prepared to return home.

My life shut down for the remainder of 2016 after that day and I fell into depression. Life became mundane, my relationship with my fiancee became torn, and I found no reason to continue to live life happily. I was angry at GOD, myself, my fiancee, and the world for taking my child away from me. My child, my reason for breathing, was no longer here and I felt there was not much else to look forward to.

My wonderful fiancee and Isaac's father, Stephan, and my family were a big support during the time of my depression and helped me get back to a safe and happy place. I rediscovered my passion for writing (hence this blog) and took steps back into my rightful place- the classroom with Bright young minds. Heck, I was even pregnant in Marmand, France during my time teaching at a Spring Language camp. Some of my fondest memories are my son's little kicks he would give right before lunch time during a lesson and my students would want to feel :)

I have no idea what GOD has planned for me, but I know he gives his roughest battles to his strongest soilders. I love teaching and can see myself teaching Head Start for at-risk children in my hometown of Chicago, on the south side where I was born and raised. Soon after, I would transition to curriculum development that would assist in meeting the needs of Early Childhood education for minority children and bring insight and development on how the educational gap can be bridged started from birth.

Aside from my career aspirations, I plan to get married later this year to my fiancee on our son's birthday and possibly have another addition to our family when the time is right. Other facts about me are that I am an Aries, lover of all things taco, proud plus-size fashionista, and I love to read romance novels during my spare time (considering writing and publishing one actually ^___^

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and keep an eye out for more of the innermost thoughts of my soul.

Chanel