Thank you

Hello,
I just want to thank each and every one of my classmates and instructor Sisie. This class has been very challenging for me. I came into it not knowing a thing about what was required. I have never had to write a research paper.  I was confused, and stumbled into it with my eyes wide open.  Good thing I did because if I had closed them I would not have gained as much knowledge as I have this quarter. Reading the post and discussions of others helped me to understand most of the time what I was to do. And Sisie helped me to understand how to do it. I know I was a hand full but its not over yet, I got to do another internship.   I am more encouraged after having this class and with the help of classmates I will make it through.Well have a good break everyone see you in the next class. Good luck to all.

Blog 4

     Blog 4

      Dorothy Thompson

     Date:   2/28/12

 I volunteered in an infant/toddler multicultural classroom and spoke with the director, teacher and parent. There was a lot of language in the classroom, both Spanish and English. There was music in both languages.  Parents had to spend an hour a day in the center. I was told that this was to help young parents gain parenting skills.  As I sat in the classroom playing with a couple of children the teachers were sharing information about a child that needed a helmet for his head. His head was slanted in the back. He was a very intelligent child and was on task developmentally.  I was surprised to hear them say that the child had a flat head because of him laying on it too much.  I watched as children were taken care of by caregivers, student aids, and parents.  I was able to help provide care for a child also as I volunteered in the classroom, I read books, sang to them, and provided basic care.

 I was surprised at how the staff talked about the child in the classroom with all these people in the classroom. I feel that only the director and teaching staff should have discussed this in private.  I feel that this breached the confidentially of the child and his family.  I feel that confidentiality is very important. Information about children and families should not be discussed in front of people that are not staff directly in contact with the child. They treated confidentially too casually.   I ask the director if they valued confidentiality. She answered, yes why?  I mentioned that I was concern about confidentiality of parents and children and wanted to know what to do if it occurred if I was in the room. She said that it should be reported.  I later asked the teacher in the classroom, do you all value the confidentiality of families and she said, all the time. She then looked at me with a look of surprise. I was surprised because of what I had heard between her and other teachers and parents in the classroom.  I learned not to take families for granted.  I learned that if I am to be an advocate for families they have to be able to trust me with information that is very sensitive to them and that I must earn that trust.

The insights I want to share is the confidentiality of families and how it felt to be in an environment different from the one that I am accustom to.   I know how it must feel for those Spanish speakers to be in a country and not understand the language.  I felt very uncomfortable in the classroom with so many Spanish speaking people.  Half the time I did not know what was going on.  I just interacted with the children and observed as I would with all English speaking environment.

Blog 3

Blog 3

Observing and Interacting With Program Director(s) and Other Administrative Staff in Your Setting:

I will you address advocacy issues with professionals in your setting by expressing how I feel when children are not identified in time to get the help they need under the age of three years old.  When there is a concern about a child, I feel that that child should be observed and assessed to assure that the issues are because of exposure, or are developmentally delayed.  I understand that it is not easy to identify a child if you are not a provider for that child and again some children can be spotted instantly by just knowing the benchmarks of development.

I would like to find out more about how to possibly become involved with current advocacy programs in my setting by seeking resources and programs used to assess children who appear to be delayed.  Also I would ask questions to find out who I am to speak to for procedures if I had a concern about a child.  I would also want to know what I can do to help the child.  The difference I would like to see in my field is teachers trained to identify children with disabilities in need of services at an early age. I would also like to see teachers be qualified to implement individual education plans and family individual plans for children of early intervention plans in center base programs. I would like to see resources available in center base programs.

Today I was pleased to be able to interact with the director.  There was a teacher out and she was filling in for the teacher that was out. There was also the health nurse that comes out once a month.  She was talking about diaper changing and the changes that are to be taking place in the classroom in reference to sleep time and focus on sterilizing diaper changing table.  There was also a memo about hand mouth and feet in the center.  I spoke to the director about a concern I had about one of the babies that was five months old that just laid there on his back.  They have different theories of when children are considered developmentally delayed. He would not lie on his tummy without screaming, he would not bend his knees while being exercised, and he would not try to turn his body.  I assisted while they assessed his gross motor skills.  They were not aware that there may have been a concern about the child.  He laughed and smiled when talked to and just started reaching and grasping toys.

 The lead teacher said that it was a cultural thing.  She explained how different cultures expect their children to develop at different paces.  Although I disagreed with her because of what I have been taught, I continued to listen and watched as they played with the baby to assess his level of gross motor skills.  The baby is Hispanic but I don’t think that had anything to do with it.  The director felt that it was exposure; the child just needed the opportunity to try to improve the skills she said.  This child is three days older than his cousin who is moving around, reaching, grasping, turning over from back to tummy, interacting with peers and adults, kicking, reaching and more. They are completely at different developmentally levels to be the same age. They also live in the same house.  That was very interesting to me and I feel that as a teacher the child’s delay should have been noticed.  Even if it was not a concern a flag should have arose. These are times for advocating for children.  The nurse said to observe and work with the child and document improvements.  After which they will talk to mom, and consider referral.  I Interacted with a young parent that was sitting nervously patting and shaking her son. I encouraged her to sit him in bouncer and talk to him and read to him as she stroked his hand gently.  She read, talked, and stroked his hand and he listened to her as she read to him. I thought that was awesome. 

Blog 2 Assignment

Name: Dorothy Thompson    

Date: 1/30/12
Name of Program/Setting:  Infant toddler classroom

Who I spoke with: I spoke with the lead teacher in the classroom.
What I learned about …I learned how they set up the classroom, how they plan for their children and how they implement the lesson plan. I learned that everything I learn in the classroom is not the same for when you go into the child care centers. There are different rules.  Do not go in there expecting to see what you were taught in the classroom.  It is amazing how the teachers work with the infants and young toddlers.  Children and teachers are learning all day. Every minute is a learning opportunity.  The children are like sponges and they learn as they play and interact with peers and adults in the classroom.  The classroom has multicultural families, as I watched the teacher interact with the parents I find that no matter what your ethnic background the outcome is the same.  The families want to be treated with respect and they also want quality care and education for their children.

Two insights, experiences, or quotes that I will share in my blog this week…

The insights I want to share are that no matter what I have learned in my classrooms it is up to me what I take into that child care classroom with me. It is not what I do but how I do it. It is up to me how I want to approach the educational needs of the infants and toddlers.  I have also learned that not everybody have the same technique and passion for teaching.  Also it is hard to go into a classroom, observe, and ask a teacher questions that you have the answers to, because of what you saw in that classroom, and the teacher do not understand what you are asking.  It made me feel that I was testing her which was not my intention.  I wanted an explanation for what I saw and did not understand why it was done that way.

Discussion 2

I find it hard to narrow down my topics for early intervention; the more I narrow the broader it appears. I think I will focus on the topics of: What is Early Intervention? What is the purpose of early intervention? What are the three primary reasons for intervening early in a child’s life? I may be able to narrow down more but I feel that these questions will be enough to fulfill the requirements the research paper.

Advocate Blogg 1

I chose to interview a head start teacher in a center base preschool program.  She expressed her concerns about children in need of early intervention that are not getting it and who are not identified in time. I find that there are more children from different cultures with different languages being pulled together in the preschool/head start programs.  There is a need for teachers to communicate with families of different cultures and languages. I work in a program with families that I cannot even understand.  I feel so helpless in the classroom around them.  I chose to do my research paper on early intervention. The questions I have related to the topics that I chose are how are assessments scheduled and performed/what are they looking for? Also how to communicate and educate parents of resources and their rights for services for their child with disability if I can’t communicate with them?  Also the type of help that is available for child through the early invention program?

This interview has given me the hunger to gain knowledge that would support me in finding resources related to information on disabilities, and how to help parents to get assistance for their child.  How to communicate and advocate for families that do not understand and speak the same language that I do?  I would like to be a large part of making a difference after identifying the need for services alone with understanding the process and roles of the providers that provide the services.  Also I would want to know how to perform the assessments, and how to plan and implement the IFSP/IEP for students and families.  I want to be the voice for families and children with disabilities in early childhood programs.

I have noticed and identified children in programs that need extra help based on the milestones they are to be performing.  I find that parents are in denial or do not know how to initiate help.  They cannot describe what they need.  It takes professionals to educate and initiate resources for parents.  The questions I have related to my own experience are why does it take so long for the process to gain services for children and families?  How is the service to be implemented in the classroom with limited classroom staff?  How can untrained teachers implement the IFSP/IEP in the classroom?  How do parents make sure the plan is being followed to maintain success?

Specific aspects of the topics in which I am most interested is what does the early intervention program do?  What is the assessment process, and the actual providing of services to the children and families identified with the need for special needs services for the children ages three and under.  My concerns are the language barriers in the classroom.  The greatest knowledge of an early intervention topics are, how to interact and support families who do not speak the same language that I do? What type of disabilities can be serviced through the early intervention program?  Who provides the services?  How are the outcomes measured?

Initial Blog Dorothy Thompson

I made it!