Final Blog Assignment

Upon reading this assignment I thought about the word consequences once again. It's a good thing I remembered that a consequence doesn't always have to be negative.  I have thoroughly enjoyed expanding my professional contacts outside my own city and even my own country. It has also been a great time to stay very much in touch with a dear friend. 
So what do I take away from this journey?
 First, hearing about the unique situations in this country and how they are handled has given me the opportunity to reflect on my experiences as a teacher and how I handle situations I encounter in the classroom. Next, it has given me a new view on certain concepts and thoughts. For example, during one of the assignments we discussed poverty. Hearing the experiences in South America helped me understand Stephanie's definition of poverty, and how this is something that occurs within our country as well. The definition of poverty is lack of necessities. One of the many necessities for our children is love, bonding, and support. Hearing about the children who are wealth in the materialistic aspect but go without these necessities, has opened my eyes to the fact that many of our children also go through this. As an educator it is my job to be a person who can provide those necessities. Finally, it has given me a renewed motivation to being the best educator I can possibly be. I have had the chance to look into the life of another educator and the impacts she has made. It has reminded me of just how important a caring, passionate educator really is for our children.

My goal is to remain in contact with Stephanie and her journey in South America, I would also like to remain in contact with the young teacher who was experiencing the students going through "trances." I would like to stay in up to date on how the administration was handling this situation.

Overall I feel this has been a very insightful learning opportunity. It is important we remain aware of the different experiences of other educators regardless of where they are teaching. All experiences are learning opportunities we can build on within the profession.

Professional Contacts Part 3

Stephanie chose to focus on the topic of the professional development she is required/provided in South America, and her professional goals.

They have a professional development committee that has to meet monthly to discuss the school’s professional development plan and arrange different meetings for the faculty to participate in together. It is very difficult being so far out of range of the “normal” world in terms of resources they could use or seminars they could attend. They use webinars mainly, as long as they are affordable and seem relevant to what is needed to learn. Every 3 months or so is when the faculty is required to meet together as a whole and watch and discuss the seminar. It basically refreshes and encourages them to be the best teachers possible. Professional Development is really important her because she  feels like in that particular situation, teachers really soak up any help, advice, support, and encouragement one can offer—even if it’s through a computer.

Her professional goals
To reach children and open them up.
 To follow where God leads me because that’s the safest and best place to be.
To help people.
To shine light into a dark world.
To encourage children and help them to see and believe in their importance.


It has been a wonderful opportunity to learn about Stephanie's life as a teacher in South America!  It is so encouraging.

A deeper look into Harlem Childen's Zone

From Harlem to Harvard

In viewing this website I found one area I had not explored yet which gave a very warming statistic about pre-kindergarten students: 100% were at grade level at grade level for the 7^th year in a row. One hundred percent!! That is amazing! We always strive for such a goal, but it is so excellent when we finally see it. They continued to talk more about this Pre-K program and what they teach within this program.  One of the main components was the emotionally responsive classroom which trains everyone in how to use a common positive language when talking to children. This program also has a 4:1 ratio and includes testing children at the beginning of the year and the end. By doing this they are able to develop an individual growth plan based on the findings.

Baby College

I had yet to read in detail about the baby college program which is designed for expectant mothers or mothers of children under three. This program provides information in the following areas:

*Brain development-  the importance of reading to your child

*Discipline- talks about not spanking, time out, and positive reinforcement.

*Health- making sure children are up to date on vaccinations. This prepares them for later head start programs and child care programs.
*Asthma-  How to handle asthma because it is so prevalent within the Harlem community.

I find this to not only be a way to inform parents of important information about caring for a child, but I also find it as a wonderful support group in which others can share their concerns and simply get to know other adults who share their concerns and interests.

Harlem Knights

Within my newsletter they mentioned that a Harlem Knights organization was formed so children were getting home safely. I decided to look in more detail as to why this decision was made now. I found a local newspaper that stated gang activity was at an enormous rise over the past year, which led many children not able to walk home from after school programs without getting pulled into the gang activity. Harlem Children’s Zone leader, Geoffrey Canada organized a group of people who assisted children home within the ten block radius of the campus.

Equity and Excellence in Harlem Children's Zone?

I find that the entire Harlem Children’s Zones program is designed with the understanding of equity and excellence. This community especially leader, Geoffrey Canada, recognized a need for the children and strives to make it happen. They strive for equal opportunities for these children despite the many challenges they may face on a day to day bases. Everything in this newsletter focused on the positive and demonstrates how no goal is unreachable within this program. Looking at the statistics is a clear example of that.

Insights

I feel viewing this website in more detail this week, just provided more information to support my growing belief in the fact that working together for a common goal makes things happen. Harlem Children’s Zone started with a small groups mission and goal, and has exploded into an enormous organization that is building and changing lives. I feel that if every community had a powerful program like this, we would eliminate many of the issues we currently have in education.

Getting to know my international contacts Part 2

This topic was fairly difficult for Stephanie to answer. Some of the issues regarding excellence in their school system were extremely different from what I expected to hear. I was thinking about discussions regarding the quality of the early childhood programs in regard to meeting standards, expectations, and materials available to them. However, the information she was able to provide falls along the lines of serving vulnerable children, one of the issues discussed in Columbia University's article. (2009), as well as helping those not part of the mainstream culture.
 Stephanie and some of her fellow co-workers from the United States find that one of the major issues related to providing excellence and equity in education is to ensure that those coming to Suriname to teach do not send a message that ," All things American are better" through their attitudes. First off simply because that is not always the case; water and preventive medication in Suriname are of better quality than the United States. Secondly, the focus is to ensure that they are there to educate children and only taking into account their background when it comes to education them, but not as a way of seeming better than others. With many of the local teachers being from America, this has been a problem previously within their school system. 

Also, I have had a hard time comprehending the other conversation we had. While discussing this assignment with some of her co-workers, she also had a chance to talk with a young local Suriname teacher. He mentioned the following experience at a local school, in fact a few local schools that led  schools to being closed. He said one school was closed today because several of the kids started getting into a "trance" and wanted to run into oncoming traffic

"They didnt say anything more, but I heard that this is the third time it has happened, happens in different schools. The news used the words "trance" but it should be "possessed". Apparently some of the kids are involved in "winti" which is what witch doctors use to heal or put curses on people. So what happened is ..one kid fell into a trance and suddenly several of the other kids started right after.
 In another school they were tearing their clothes off throwing desks, being completely "taken over"

The reason we both found this to be an interesting coversation for this topic was because it is an issue in several of their schools. Even though it may not be an issue I understand, it is something the teachers there are having to deal with. These issues also impact the systems ability to provide teaching and learning opportunities that are of excellence. However, as teachers and administrators this is a major discussion when it comes to providing excellence and equity in the schools. As a teacher, they hold the same mission as many of us do- to provide the best for each and every one of our children.  In this situation "the best" must begin with a way to help those who are encountering those "trances" and finding ways to help those children.

Again, after this last conversation my mind had been consumed by this situation. I think of the situations I encounter each day. Yes, I have children struggling with emotional and social skills, children who have pushed desk out of anger, and those who struggle with empty bellies every morning they enter school. After coming into work before my conversation with Stephanie, I was having one of those " it can't get any worse" kind of moments. In my mind I was thinking what my students ( and I as there teacher) face to be the worst. This conversation has left me thinking, " What would I do?" "How could I help those children?"