My Daily Supports

My first support will  be my teacher aide . Without her my life will be miserable. She helped me with all the daily task including redirecting children while I'm teaching my lesson.

My second support will be my classroom management system which I learned from the Texas School Readiness Program also known as CIRCLE.

My third support will be Pre- K team . We are AWESOME and WE ROCK !!!!! we divide the week lesson plans, door objectives, and board objectives, homework, etc,. This make all the tedious paper work a lot easier.

My fourth support will be my principal. She has been a tremendous support since the first day I was hired. She provides me with :tips" and coaching when I needed and also she had helped me overcome personal problems .

My last support will be my FAMILY especially my daughter Zolange and my son Jeremiah.

Because of Zolange I learned that life goes on  and Jeremiah is my inspiration for living it ....

"My Connections to Play"

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."-George Bernard Shaw
“The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground.”- G K Chesterton

When I was younger I used to play with my brother and sister and all my cousins and neighbors. Playing in the neighborhood was safe since all the neighbors took care of each other. The way that we used to played is actually similar of how children play thse days. I used to love playing with dolls and with my kitchen set. I also like to play teacher. I love being an early childhood educator because I LOVE TO PLAY!!!! Playing is way of interact, of using my  imagination and of dreaming…

Relationship Reflection

I chose this picture of my son's Head Start  2010-2011 class.  During that school year he  had the chance to be with some of the children that were on my first year teaching . They  were 3 year old . For me it was a great surprise when the director told me  that he was with my old students because the parents requested it. I build positive relationships with parents and they trusted me as well as my choices. As of today we keep in touch and sometimes we do get togethers . My first year teaching was UNBELIVEABLE. I was lucky to count with an excellent teacher aide that as of today  is still my coworker and my friend and this was our third year together, but I quit Head Start to joined  Judson ISD and be a Pre- K teacher. That's another example of building relationships and partnerships. I work hard for Head Start and for the school and both the principal and my director were happy to have me in the team and because of that, when the principal was in need of a new Pre- K class she went straight to me to offer the position, as a product of the positive relationship between the Head Start Program and the school .Communication, hard work and team work regardless if we were working for two different employers, my mission and vision were my kids. I endured it and it was worth it. Now I continue serving the same families and children in partnership with Head Start . It was an AWESOME feeling when one of the parents went to the Head Start Director and told her that I was a gem because of the way that I advocate for children and families. Being an early childhood professional and building relationships sometimes will be hard but if we are persistent and we are committed to our children  parents will see that , just keeping them as individuals will make the difference  and never giving up on the children. All of them have something special we just sometimes need to work harder to make them believe it . We are responsible to plant the seed of their instructional journey, it is on us if is going to grow  and blossom....

My family are another example of relationships and they  are extremely important in my life. I am what I am because of them . My parent  showed me  to be strong and to stand up when I fall and to ALWAYS look forward no matter what and I showed my daughters and my son the same.  Now that I'm 33 and I'm living the most painful moment a mother can experience, they have been always with me and with my children. Life is not easy and if we don't have positive relationships it's going to be harder to continue. Relationships are extremely important and they fulfill our lives. As a single mom I am so proud that my 16 year old daughter is ranking 19/522 of her class and she is going  to graduate early, and I feel special and important because she is a product of my sacrifices and my efforts....

Quotes...

A child can ask questions that a wise man cannot answer.  ~Author Unknown

While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.~Angela Schwindt

I want to thank all my classmates for all the thoughtful information we shared in our blogs and our discussion questions. Special thanks to Lori Madsen for all her ineresting posts since our previous course otgether and also toNorma Rodriguez for being a classmate, a coworker and most of all a FRIEND in good and bad times.

Testing for Intelligence ?

Considering a commitment to viewing young children holistically I believe they should be assessed  in socio/emotional skills .It is important for children to develop  good social skills in order to succeed in the future school years. Possessing good social skills will help them to follow rules, being a team player and also to be responsible. To start this even though I'm not a big fan of homework, I believe that homework should be introduced since early childhood to start teaching children the concept of being responsible and to practice achieving perfection.

I was raised and born in Puerto Rico , a commonwealth of United States of America. They are also under the NCLB .They developed  a plan to be used in all the public schools of the country "Comprehensive Scholarly Plan" . This plan is aligned with the requirements of the NCLB but it's target is to individualize instruction for the benefit of the children. They develop  power point presentations to be used by the teachers . Private schools are also under the same regulations but some of them uses other standardized testing as a review  prior to the "Pruebas Puertorriquenas de Aprovechamiento Academico". For example my daughter who studied  6 years in Carvin School was assessed by the IOWA standardized test.
For more inforrmation visit http://www.de.gobierno.pr/ppea

Consequences of Stress on Children’s Development

In Puerto Rico children that lives in public housing experiment high level of violence . My ex husband was a victim of this violence. Because of his strong family support(he uses to live with this grandmother) he grew up as a healthy child, but he was exposed to drugs and murders . He grew up to be a member of the US Forces and he is currently disables. Even though we are no  longer married I feel really proud of him because he became one of the exceptions of the children that live in public housing in Puerto Rico....

Violence also affects the countries of Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. The war as reported in the article" Violence 'Affecting Afghan Children's Mental Health"affect 1 of every 5 children in these countries who  suffers  from anxiety and depression and 30% do not go to school.

To  access the article

http://www.rferl.org/content/violence_affecting_afghan_childrens_mental_health/24333449.html

Healthy Water

1.1 billion people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water, roughly one-sixth of the world's population.
• 2.2 million people in developing countries, most of them children, die every year from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.
• Half of the world's hospital beds are filled with people suffering from water related illnesses.
• In the past 10 years, diarrhea has killed more children than all the people lost to armed conflict since World War II.
• Despite the size of the problem, we have made little progress against it.  There were only 181 million fewer people living without safe drinking water in rural settings in 2004 (899 million) vs. 1990 (1.08 billion)
• 50 percent of people on earth lack adequate sanitation. Another way to look at it: Nearly half of the world's population fails to receive the level of water services available 2,000 years ago to the citizens of ancient Rome.

Water is essential for living is really heart breaking to see how many children cant received the education they need or even dying because they don't have access to clean water or they need to help their families.

Water crisis is affecting the world and it is or responsibility to use it reasonable . As an educator and as a parent it is my responsibility to teach students the importance of maintaining our natural resources and to use them adequately .

For more information and facts you can  access the following websites :

http://www.globalissues.org/article/601/water-and-development#Thescaleofthewaterproblem

http://blueplanetnetwork.org/water/facts

My Birth Experience

  

I want to share with you these two pictures of my son Jeremiah Yahir who was born October 29 2006. He is my only son and the only grandson in the family. He came into my life went I thought I was no having more children. He is now 4 and my daughters are 16 and 13 years old. My 16 year old is a Senior and he just started Pre-K.

 My whole pregnancy was very different from my other two since I developed Gestational Diabetes and after delivery I developed Post Eclampsia. The labor lasted more than 24 hours and it was induced due to the diabetes, but my body reacted as if I was a first time mom.

One factor that affected my labor was the fact that the nurses failed to call my doctor in time since they didn’t believe that I was about to give birth. My son was delivered by a nurse form the emergency room; it was her first time …

The first picture he turned completely blue and unable to cry or breath , I was scared to death  I remember one of the nurses telling another nurse to put him on my chest and as soon as they did he started crying and it was fine …

Since I knew it was my last pregnancy and I didn’t have any pain medications, I decided to breastfeed. Now I have a healthy, lousy, smart, happy, little boy that we love to death. I believe that my decision of not using any drugs during the labor and the fact that I breastfed until he was 2 years old are the main reasons of him being sol healthy today…

I read an article form Bolivia that births take place in home but they prefer to go to the hospital but can’t due to financial strains, distance and other factors.

Others prefer to give birth at home because they feel more secure and don’t trust the doctors. I identified myself with the statement; I believe based on my experience that as in every profession there are authentic professionals devoted to their careers and others lack of that passion.

My doctor didn’t fail it was the nurses and their incompetency, their lack of professionalism that put my son and my life at risk. And this is the same fear that some women in Bolivia feel in regards to hospitals.

References

Otis, K. E., & Brett, J. A. (n.d.). Barriers to hospital births: Why do many Bolivian women give birth at home ?. Retrieved from journal.paho.org/uploads/1218139293.pdf

Good Bye :(

I just want to thank you all for your comments to my blog and wish you the best as students and as professionals in the early childhood field. Let's continue making a difference :)

Examining Code of Ethics (NAEYC)

Ideals

I-1.1- To be familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continue education and training.

I-1.3- To recognize and respect the unique qualities ,abilities, and potential of each child.

I-1.11- To provide all children with experiences in an language that they know, as well as support children in maintaining the use of their home language and in learning English.

I choose these ideals because they represent my goals and my responsabilities as a teacher.
I-1.1 Represents my new journey in Walden University
I-1.3 Represents the purpose of what I choose ot be teacher.
I-1.11 Is more personal and it represents me as a Bilingual givng my best to help ELL children...

Early Childhood Resources From Walden University

• NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf
• NAEYC. (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller
• FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/snap33.pdf
  
• Turnbull, A., Zuna, N., Hong, J. Y., Hu, X., Kyzar, K., Obremski, S., et al.  (2010). Knowledge-to-action guides. Teaching Exceptional Children, 42(3), 42–53.
  
• UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf 
• World Forum Foundation
  http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/about.php 
• World Organization for Early Childhood Education
  http://www.omep-usnc.org/ 
• Association for Childhood Education International
  http://acei.org/about/

My Favorite Early Childhood Resources

•  Sturges, T. (2008). Parking Lot Rules & 75 Other Ideas for Raising Amazing Children (Ballantine Books Trade Paperback  ed.). New York: Ballantine.
• http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Parents.shtml
• http://www.family-service.org/  

Soleil

Custody Battle :(
Another day without you and still awake :( 6 more days till the 28... I just needed a place to write how much I love you and how much I miss you...

Words of Inspiration and Motivation

From the video The Passion of Early Childhood~

  “Parents need support and with resources and access to resources parents can thrive.”- Leticia Lara LCSW

 “I truly believe that I’m not here to save the world. I’m just here to make a difference in the community that I’m working "      

Raymond Hernandez MS ED

  “We as professionals in the early childhood field have an opportunity to shape a child’s life for the better.”-Sandy Escobido

~From the people I admire in the Early Childhood Field~

~Haim G. Ginott-Child Psychologist~

  “I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized.”

  “Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.”

~Maria Montessori~

  “Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.”

 “The greatest sign of success for a teacher... is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist.”

Personal Childhood Web

My Parents Iris and Jose Santana

I was so luckyto be raised by both of my parents. My mom was a nurse but retired when my father was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Im so proud of him since he is a Purple Heart Vietnam Veteran and he has been able to control his illness and give me his support .This picture was taken February if it wasnt because of them and their unconditional love to me and my children I wouldnt be a teacher and a student.

My Siblings Velia and SFC Santana

My sister follwed my mom steps and is a RN in the Veteran Hospital in San Juan Puerto Rico. We were opposites since kids physically and in character. With her I learned how to be compasionate towards other people.My brother followed my dad steps and he have served our country for 14 years. My brother was my inspiraton since I was little. I learned from him to never give up. He was always taking care of me and people call me "Santanita " because we looked alike. Now that Im an adult and even though Im his little sister because of what he teaught me now Im his support and in who always he counts when he is in trouble.

My grandmother Rosalia

My grandmother passed away when I was 16 years old. She was my everything . She was also my neighbor and  I used to visit her in my  bike and she taught how to play cards and to love God. I was very sad when she passed away since it was after weeks of telling her that I was pregnant, then she became really ill and I never knew if she forgive me . Deep inside my heart I know she did because my daughter is the most precious git that God had gave me and I know it was because of her blessing.

Mrs.Zenaida My kindergarten teacher played an important role in my childhood . When I was in Kinder I learned to read and it was because of her support and because she was always keeping me busy. When I was in 7th grade her son was my volleyball coach till I was in 10th grade.

      

My best friend Luryan

We are besties since we were in second grade. We were always together to the point that we started to look like twins :). She became like my other sister. With her I learned the true meaning of friendship.I havent see her since I moved to San Antonio and we dont talk as much but we never fogort our birthdays. My oldest daughter called her Titi Lury. But the most important thing is that I know she is always there in good and bad times FOREVER :)

My favorite book...

 

I have 2 daughters Zolange 16 years old , Soleil 12 years old and my baby boy Jeremiah Yahir 4 years old. When my daughters were born I used to read them Love You Forever. When my oldest daughter was 8 years old I found the Spanish version . Then when my son was born I found I Love You Because You're You and now that he is 4 he already memorized it and he laughs when he sees the picture. I think he identifies himself with the little fox :) When I became a teacher I really enjoyed Mercer Meyer Litter Critter's books and so does my son. Our favorites book are Just a Mess, Go to Bed and All By Myself...