"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!
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
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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