Passion

My passion is to make all children's learning experience a positive one.  I want to make all the kids I come encounter with to feel safe and accepted.  When parents drop their child off in my care, I want them to be able to go off and feel confident and assured that their child is in a nurturing environement.

I feel that with my own experience of teasing and bullying, that I have followed the correct career path.  It is my goal to prevent the ridicule and humiliation that can sometimes go along with being different.  I can help even one student feel confident about him/her self, than I am happy with that. 

This course has helped me to realize and put in perspective why I chose diversity education.  I feel more confident in my abilities to accomplish my goals and dreams.
Along this path, I have read many blogs by my fellow colleagues, and it has been a pleasure to take this course with all of you.  I wish everyone the best of luck in your future endeavors and maybe someday our paths will cross again.

Sexualization for Early Childhood

This weeks article did not surprise me much.  Unfortuantely, I have seen so many children wearing provocative cloathes.  With the role models children have to pick from it is not surprising that we are seeing this at such young ages.  Just recently, I had a fifth grade girl that was standing in bus line and singing lyrics from a song that I was not famliar with.  I asked her what the words meant, and she said she's not sure she just likes saying the lyrics.  Unforunately, this happens so many times.  Kids  repeat what they hear without fully understanding what it is.  
If the music industry isn't bad enough, we have the reality tv shows!  I despise the show with the little girls all made up in makeup and dancing provocatively...I don't know the name but it's something Tiaras.  This show is degrading to these beautiful little girls, I think it is more the mothers living  a fantasy through their child...sick! What is more despicable, is that these little girls think that they are so much better and prettier than other girls...now we are raising and promoting bullies!  Just last year I had a first grade student that after lunch would come in the classroom and stick her fingers down her throat to make herself sick!  When confronted about it she said she was fat and needed to get thin...the girl was perfect weight for her height.  As a society we have put way to much emphasis on appearance and image.  People have now developed a model for Barbie - because according to men she has the perfect figure, but realistically it's not possible, but our young children don't understand that. 
As educators, we need to help our students build and maintain a healthy image of themselves.  I truly believe that it is never to young to promote positive self esteem in any child. 

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

 

Growing up I experienced ableism.   My family is from the south and although I was born and raised in Michigan, I have a southern accent.  Many people make comments and tease me about the way I say certain things.  Sometimes this bothers me and other times I just ignore them.  Growing up I had severe speech impediments, classmates would say and make fun of me and say I was dumb because I couldn’t talk properly.  As a result, I now find as a teacher that I am very partial to students who receive speech services.  I can understand their fears and the shame they feel.  When dealing with any type of “ism” you feel isolated.  I remember I would feel angry towards those that would tease and mimic me.  I hated going to school and always had severe stomachaches because of the stress. 

I think that this experience has been beneficial to me though in that I can relate to families with speech impaired children.  I can discuss with them that the support they give the child and the necessary services are all important for helping the child become successful.  I am also finding that I need to be careful with my bias of children who tease other students.  I have found that I am more strict with them and have little tolerance for the behavior.  I think this also leads me to be unfriendly to the parents when discussing the issues.