Your Personal Research Journey

I chose classroom effectiveness as my topic for the simulation. I chose this topic because I am passionate about the well-being of children and them being a valuable part of society. If we slack on their training in the early stages of development we risk them not being successful later on in life. Professionals are the driving force behind their students and are responsible for their educational success. Professionals should be educated, well trained, and have a strong passion for working with children. Our classrooms will consist of children of different ethnicities, cultures, and varying abilities, therefore we have to be prepared to support the needs of all the children we come in contact with. A child’s ability to function within society will rely upon our ability to teach them to do so. Professionals should have some accountability when it relates to a child’s educational development.

As professionals we will not be able to do this without the help of other professionals, administrators, parents, and the community. So, if you have any information that will help me as I research classroom effectiveness it will be greatly appreciated. I will also be willing to share with you any information that my help you with your research topic.

"My Supports"

I have some support factors that are very important to me and without them dealing with everyday issues can be challenging. The love and support of my heavenly father and my dependence on his Holy word has brought me through dangers seen and unseen. This spiritual support has been my shelter when I had no other supports to rely on. I can’t begin to imagine what life would be like without it.

The love and support of my children and their appreciation of me is very important. The emotional support they provide is important because it keeps me focused and more able to make decisions that will have a positive impact. I also have emotional support from my friends. There will be times and situations that you may need a stronger support system to tackle live most challenging moments.  My church family and some family members are always there to offer their support both spiritually and emotionally. I have five children two are disabled and they require a lot of my time and attention. There disabilities also come with many challenges that can become stressful. It’s during these times when the love and support of my family and friends is needed the most.

 

"My Connections to Play."

Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.

Kay Redfield Jamison: Contemporary American professor of psychiatry

A child who does not play is not a child, but the man who does not play has lost forever the child who lived in him.

Pablo Neruda

As a child I enjoyed playing. Back then play to me was so much more exciting and more meaningful because we created most of it. We had toys we played with that were bought but I had for fun with the toys we created on our own. As a child my parents encouraged us to play more outside because we were not allowed to play in the house. Even in school we had more time for recess than children do now. I can remember how Mr. Carter would take us to a big field on his mother’s land and lets us play baseball during the week. I also remember on the weekends our church would allow us to participate in different activities at the park or the local gym. I had video games as a child but I preferred to play outside.

Play today for children is so much different from when I was a child. You don’t see as many children outside playing as you did when I was a child. Video games, computers, and the lack of parental encouragement are some reasons I believe play has changed.

Playing as a young child helped me define who I was and what I was good at doing. It helped me build positive relationships, gain respect for others, and how to interact with others in a positive way. I also encouraged my children to play when they were younger so they could experience what I did. My children are totally different from me when I was a child I remember playing outside beyond elementary years but they act as if they are allergic to being outside. The older they got the less time they had for outside play. They love to dance, sing, and technology, but outside play is very important in how they develop. But I now have the luxury of engaging in play with my nephews who love to play especially outside.

Relationship Reflection

     Healthy relationships are an important component of health and wellbeing. There is tons of evidence that strong relationships contribute to a healthy, happy, and long life. Relationships are designed to help fulfill important needs. They also require you to give something that someone may be lacking or longing for. Relationships are also important because they can have a long lasting effect on others. No one person can deal with all situations alone. We will face some difficult situations in life and the relationships we have with others can help us deal with them much easier than ding it alone.

   There are so many people who I rely on and have built strong relationships with. All these people help me in different ways and have made life so much easier for me.  My mother has always had a positive effect on my life. Because I was a teenage mom she helped and supported me so that I was able to be a better mom to my children and also be able to finish school. My family is the strongest support system I have. Not Just my immediate family but my entire family the Davis Family. Although we may not see each other regularly, and we may fuss and fight, we have a bond that can never be broken. My church Family has instilled in me certain values that have taken me a long way in this life. Because of this we are able to change the lives of so many people within our community. We are actively involved in outreach services that require us to work closely together which has strengthened our relationships beyond just going to church. This is what makes these relationships also partnerships. The relationship I have with my children is like no other. We are far from being perfect but what we have taught each other over the years we stay with us for a life time.

With any relationship there are challenges. These challenges come in many forms. So many people are not aware of the positive attributes that relationships bring. This unawareness can cause unnecessary strain. Jealously is one thing that can be a challenge in developing relationship. Bias opinions can also present challenges in building strong relationships.

  These relationships impact my work as an effective early childhood professional because I am familiar with how they can have a positive impact on a person’s life. They also help me to help others who may not understand why they are important. The most important thing is me knowing the affect these relationships had on my life and how they helped me to become successful. Without these relationships I may not have been able to accomplish so many things. This is also true for young children; they will need as much support as they can get to be successful. We should not take that for granted by allowing different challenges to prevent children from building positive relationships.

 

When I Think of Child Development

Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.

Plato, Greek philosopher.

Testing for Intelligence

Viewing children holistically will require you to be totally committed to measuring and testing every aspect of development related to their growth. In order to do this and obtain the most accurate results you have to take in consideration every aspect of the child. There are so many things that will need to be considered when viewing children holistically. When creating standards for children they should not be based on what we think is best for everyone, but based on the individual. The state requires that all children take the same standardized test not taking into consideration their individual needs. One test should not be the determining factor of a child’s future academic success. No child learns or develop the exact same as another. There are also other factors related to development that needs to be considered. A child cannot be accurately assessed if you do not take assess every aspect of development and take in consideration how they are developing. While student assessment does not seem to be going away anytime soon, we must be cautious of how these instruments can be used. If used correctly, research suggests that they can point educators in the right direction with respect to student needs. However, if used as a weapon in international and national educational warfare, researchers also warn that such instruments might yield mass destruction.

US researchers have revealed that student assessment do not match in any two countries. In England, schools provide multiple measures of performance that serve multiple purposes. Schools assess student progress through both a national examination and teacher-made tests when students reach the ages of seven, eleven, fourteen, and sixteen. These exams are primarily used to measure the effectiveness of the schools in delivering the national curriculum. All schools must follow nationally prescribed content and pedagogic methods and set targets for individual pupil learning. Gipps, Clarke, and McCallum (1998) assert that this system places too little emphasis on assessment of learning and too much on assessment for learning.

 

Gipps, C., Clarke, S., & McCallum, B. 1998, April. The role of teachers in national assessment in

England. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research

Association, San Diego, California (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 419

836).

Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

Many years ago in my home town we had a chemical plant Woolfolk that was started operation in 1920 during WWII that manufactured different pesticides.  Fort Valley is a small community in Ga. And we had to travel in the area of this plant to get to places we needed to go. This plant was in operation for many years. My grandfather, father and several other family members worked in this plant. It was also located on the same street where my family went to church.

In the early 1980’s  after people in the community that died had arsenic in their system an inspection was done on the plant and revealed that arsenic and other chemicals had seeped into the ground and ground water. Several people in the community became ill and homes and surrounding businesses destroyed due to the EPA’s findings. People in the community became concern about their safety and any health issues that may occur from the contamination. The entire community was under stress wondering what and how much damage the plant had caused and if our community was even safe.

Africa is a country that I would definitely like to learn more about, because of the number of plants they have. Because of the number of plants in Africa could this be part of why so much sickness and disease occurs in this country. Chemical companies are making efforts to reduce the effects of chemical plants globally.

http://www.grida.no/publications/et/ep3/page/2617.aspx

http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/recycle/live/casestudy_woolfolk.html

http://www.epa.gov/region4/superfund/sites/npl/georgia/wolchemga.html