Saturday, March 15, 2014

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

The agencies that I have chosen play an invaluable role in the field of early childhood care and education, the community, and the children and families that they service.


Bright from the Start Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning holds the dutiful task of ensuring that the needs of children and families are met through various learning facilities, organizations and programs. Its mission is to achieve academic success through high quality programs that promote and support learning from infancy, preparedness for school and school performance reform. One of the positions available with Bright from the Start is Child Care Consultant. Some of the responsibilities of a childcare consultant are that they make certain that rules and regulations are being followed, provide technical assistance to professionals and families in the field, and are approved trainers. I chose this organization because I believe that they set the bar for what high a high quality program should look like and how it should operate. One of the systems for measuring quality though Bright from the Start is Quality Rated. Local learning facilities can become rated though a system recognized by the state. If a facility receives the highest rating of a “3” then it is published as having achieved the mark of fostering the holistic needs of children and families. These ratings are publically available for families, investors, and childcare providers to view. I like the fact that if you score under a “3”, then they provide the program with fundamental materials and funds to towards meeting those needs effectively. I would like to work for an organization such as this one to share my experience and expertise in the field. I would like to assist early learning facilities in providing adequate services to families to gain self-sufficiency, decreasing the achievement gap, and dispelling inequities within learning.

The United Way Foundation is an organization that supports education, income, and health. This organization provides an array of services to children and families in need. Their mission is to stabilize communities through resources provided to families that improve their overall success in society.  I chose this organization because they serve as advocates for families that face adversities such as poverty.  As an advocate for positive social change, here is where my passion meets reality.  I understand that in order to realistically assure that children are successful I must make certain that their caregivers have the necessary tools for survival. The current position of Development Officer struck my interest. This liaison oversees strategies for acquiring gifts, donations, and grants for local communities. It is critical that programs are financially supported they are expected to maintain high quality programs.

Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private charitable organization established for children facing adversities such as social injustices. Through public policies, human services, and communities, The Annie E. Casey foundation seeks to meet the needs of children and families by way of initiatives, grants, and projects. I have a professional connection with this organization being that it found the learning facility for which I am currently employed. The community that I work in has been deemed “poverty stricken”. To break the cycle of crime, high dropout rates, and low thriving families that has plagued the community for generations, they have foundation an early learning and literacy resource center to support the socio-economic needs of parents, developmental needs of children, and the ingenuities of communities to enhance their well-beings. As the Director of Evidence Based Practiced, I envision myself having the responsibility of measuring quality through data and research and utilizing this information as a pertinent piece in providing viable corroboration of how imperative it is to applaud early childhood care and education and its vital existence in the lives of children and families both locally and globally.

 

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Sunday, October 27, 2013

THANK YOU!!!!!




Communicating is an integral part of our daily lives. Being competent and effective is extremely vital in our interactions and conversations with our colleagues, friends, loved ones, children, families, and communities that we serve. Our online learning community has played a valuable part in providing me with the much need advice, perspective, and suggestions that have engaged my thinking and added insight contributing to my professional and personal achievements. And for this I would like to send an enormous thank you to each of the individuals that took part in this journey with me. I will continue to communicate through this blog. I would like for us all to maintain this support until we finally get the chance to share our experiences face to face. Until then, I wish you all success in your professional and educational endeavors. See you soon!

Sincerely,

Dionna L. Palmer

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Adjourning




“It’s so hard to say good-bye to yesterday”…. BOYS II MEN

As I was studying the Five Stages of building a team, I ran across this wonderful video that broke down these stages  through one of my favorite movies: Remember the Titans”.

                “Adjourning is the stage of group development in which members reflect on their accomplishments and failures as well as determine whether the group will disassemble or take on another project” (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012). I believe that highest performing groups are both the easiest and hardest to leave. When a group is high performing, there is a sense of accomplishment and success achieve within these groups making it easy to adjourn. The trust and commitment of each individual establishes a bond that supports meaning in their relationships making it hard to say good bye. When I have adjourned from a group, some of the rituals that took place were: closing ceremonies, presentations, and just a simple ending session. I imagine adjourning from my group of colleagues in my master’s program through our graduation ceremony. I imagine meeting and hugging each and every one of them, thanking them for making my online learning experience a wonderful one, as it has been. Adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because it is signifies growth and learning experiences as a team and also serves a segue to more team projects.   

 

 


 

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Disagreements and Conflicts


In the field of early childhood care and education, teachers, parents, and administrators play an integral part in the holistic success of the children we service. But sometimes the influential individuals that are a part of this web of supporters do not agree. I was currently the mediator for a situation that happened between a teacher and a parent. To make a long story short, the child broke out with an unidentified rash, so the teacher approached the parent, questioning her about his condition. The teacher then proceeded to bring the child inside of the building, away from the other children. The parent was offended by her child being isolated. The parent went to the assistant director requesting that her child be taken out of that teachers’ classroom. When the incidence was bought to my attention, I took a minute to reflect on the situation. I wanted to think about the intentions of the teacher and the feelings of the parents. I took the opportunity to talk to both the teacher and the parent. And then we took the opportunity to meet together to dispel the friction and tension between the two that had developed. Two strategies that I have learned about is the Platinum Rule and Active Listening. The Platinum Rule allowed me to get them both involved in considering the perspectives of the other person. This broke the ice for them to begin talking about how their relationship was before this situation happened. Then, I was able to incorporate the process of active listening to successful get the two women to effectively communicate and eventually apologize for the confusion and give each other hugs. The parent actually bought lunch for the teachers the next day.

                The Pre-K Master Teacher that works alongside myself is an individual that I have sought input and advice on several instances. I consider her an extremely effective communicator. I asked her how she learned to be a more effective communicator as it relates to conflict resolution skills. Her response to me was, “I learned how to become an effective communicator by going through countless conflicts that I had to find resolutions to.” This statement was so profound. I completely agree that one way to become an effective communicator is to go through the process of communicating over and over again, finding ways to be a neutral entity, and compromising for the better good.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Communication Evaluation


 

                This week’s blog assignment included an evaluation that I conducted on myself and I had to choose two other individuals to evaluate my effectiveness in speaking, listening, and communication anxiety. The three assessments began by informing me that the best way for this assessment to be accurate was if I were to be honest. The test was pretty simple in strategy and technique. They contained 20-21 questions per assessment and ranged in degrees from always to never.

                Comparing the three evaluations revealed that the Listening Styles, Communication Anxiety Inventory, and Verbal Aggressiveness Scale all ranked within the same category. For Listening Styles, I scored highest in Group 1 deeming my style to be people-oriented. In Communication Anxiety Inventory, my score ranged in the 21-33 categories, labeling my communication anxiety Low. Verbal Aggression scale ranked at a Moderate level with my scores averaging between 53-68.

                One thing that surprised me the most is how all three of our evaluations were similar. I believe that most of the time I cope with anxiety, avoid verbal aggressiveness, and listen effectively. It made me feel good that others think this way about me as well. It a very tedious task to supervise 18 adults and try to be consistent and calm even when everyone else is in an uproar.

                Two insights that I have learned this week have encouraged me to continue striving to become a competent communicator. The evaluations served as an instrumental tool in envisioning how well I am doing and also some improvements that I need to make. It was equally important to know how others evaluated my ability to communicate. Part of being an effective leader is the ability to listen, speak, and deal with anxiety, not only for you, but for all others as well, including children, families, colleagues, and teachers. I think that as professionals, these assessments should be done on a regular basis for each individual in the work place. Being a competent and effective communicator both professional and personally has the limitless possibility to overcome barriers in communication, dispel cultural myopia and bias schemas, and positively influence our interactions and engagements with everyone that we come in contact with.

               

 

 

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Communication Strategies


Communicating across cultures can be a challenge. As I reflect on this week’s blog question, I can honestly say that I do not communicate differently with people from other cultures but, however, sometimes my communication skills are similar and differ between contexts. For example, in my professional occupation, I communicate utilizing a linguistic intelligence solely related to early childhood care and education, while in a relational context I may utilize a different language context from my speech repertoire such as euphemisms or slang, which is more relaxed and informal when I am around friends and family.

Strategies that I could use to help me communicate more effectively with various people or groups include:

(1). Practice active listening

(2). Avoid cultural assumptions

(3). Practice being patient

(4). Ask for clarification

(5). Check for understanding

(6). Develop cultural awareness

 

 

Communication Video: http://youtu.be/8-hGDlifwhg

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Verbal and Nonverbal Cues


 

                For this week’s assignment, I chose to watch a football game. Being that I am not really in to sports, I figured that viewing this game with sound off for the first half, then on for the second half, would be both a challenge and good experience for me as I try to master the skill recognizing verbal and nonverbal cues. The characters’ relationships based on the ways in which they were communicating, were that of uniformity and cohesiveness. Because football players do not have time to talk while they are on the field, I believe they relied largely on instinct, eye contact, hand gestures and body movement.  As  I watched the second half with the sound on, I observed the teams relationship as being in tuned with one another. I believed that they utilized a deeper level of concentration that allowed them to use nonverbal cues on the field as their ears. I didn’t make any assumptions about the characters  or plot for which I interpreted from the communication that I observed. I am, however, impressed with the way the team members were able to perform at a high speed regardless of the roar crowd, the expectations of the coach, and the pressure to win the game. I believe that my impressions would have been the same if I had been watching a television show that I like, such as Law & Order: SVU.  I believe this is true being that some messages are subliminal causing viewers to pay closer attention to nonverbal cues such as gestures, body movement, environments, or tone of voice. I believe that this assignment was a great experience in creating an awareness and responsiveness to verbal and nonverbal cues. Being that communication is multifaceted, across a variety of contexts, it is essential to becoming effecting in interpreting what you see, hear, and listen to when working with children, families, and communities in the field of early childhood care and education.