Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

The three local or state organizations that I chose to research are Boys and Girls Clubs of America (Alaska Branches), the Alaska Association for the Education of Young Children (AAEYC), and the Alaska Head Start Association. Although I am very firm on working for the military throughout the duration of my career, I wanted to take this opportunity to branch out and look into a few other organizations that could be of potential interest to me. I also think that it is important to be aware of other organizations in the state you live in to build communities of practice. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Alaska was an obvious choice since my current place of work is basically a military version of a Boys and Girls Club. Some significant differences between a Department of Defense organization and a Boys and Girls Club are the funding, staffing and demographics. The Alaska Association for the Education of Young Children is a local affiliate of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The AAEYC serves the needs for early childhood education professionals in the state of Alaska. The Alaska Head Start Association is a branch of the national program that is so well known amongst early childhood professionals.

One position that sparked my interest on the BGCA website was the Dragonflies Assistant Teacher. This position seeks an Assistant Teacher for a Pre-K classroom. The organization is seeking someone with at least 6 months of experience tutoring, mentoring, or supervising children.

One position that interested me on the Head Start website but was not open in Alaska was the regional field specialist. This sounded interesting because the position was a part of a regional team that assessed early childhood education practices at various Head Start locations.

Most of the positions that were available for the organizations I looked up required an Associate’s Degree or a CDA. Some also required several years of experience working in the early childhood field. I am thrilled to almost be completing my Master’s Degree, but I am so concerned about the transition I will face. All of my work experience has been primarily with children and youth ages 9 and up. I do not have a whole lot of experience working with younger children. I do, however, have a passion for advocating for all youth which I why I chose to work towards my Master’s Degree in this specific field. I hope I made the right choice.

References

www.akheadstart.org/

www.akaeyc.org/

www.bgcalaska.org/

Thank You

Wow! I cannot believe another class has come and gone! What an experience it is been having all my classmates follow me on this journey. I want to thank all of you for your kind words and  positive opinions. I wish all of you the best of luck and hope to keep in touch!

Week 6 Blog Assignment

I believe that the hardest groups to leave are the ones you have been through the most with. I worked at a job for three years with a wonderful group of people who I attribute a lot of my professional success to. They weren’t only wonderful because we eventually grew so close, but it was a great experience because we learned so much from, one another, even when the lessons weren’t so easy to learn. At the end of our journey together, I was mostly saddened because I had so many memories that bonded us. We were like a family. I feel like I will feel similarly when I complete my Master’s program. Earning my Master’s Degree has been a goal of mine for a long time now and it was something that I contemplated on completing back and forth for some time. When I first started, I was immediately reassured that I made the right decision by the support from my fellow classmates. Now that I am a little closer to finishing, I can already tell how the adjourning stage of this journey will be. I sure know it is something that I never will forget.

Week 5

When thinking about conflict resolution, several work scenarios come to mind. I have a staff of 8 who rarely take me seriously due to my age. I have had to call several meetings where this has been addressed and most of the time things get resolved through communicaton. There really is something to be said for "talking it out".

Week 4 Blog Assignment

The thing that most surprised me this week based on our communication assessments was how I scored myself. I expected the differences in scores from my colleague and friend; however I was surprised to see my hidden communication anxieties come out in my score. I also learned that I am far more verbally aggressive in my mind than I am in person. Meaning, I do not actually say what is on my mind in confrontational situations. I do not know if this is a good or bad thing. I am mostly this way at work. I am most likely fearful of getting in trouble from my supervisor and am always cautious about maintaining a professional persona.

Week 3 Blog Assignment

Think about the cultural diversity you see in your colleagues at school, in your neighborhood, in your workplace, and also, possibly, within your family. Consider all the aspects that make up culture, including race, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, varying abilities, and so on.

 •Do you find yourself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures?

                Fortunately, I have been raised in a multi-cultural environment. I also fortunately work in a very multi-cultural environment so I do not think that I communicate differently with diverse groups of people. Although after visiting my 90 year old grandmother in Ireland, who is losing her hearing, I suppose I communicate a lot louder with her than I would anyone else.

Based on what you have learned this week, share at least three strategies you could use to help you communicate more effectively with the people or groups you have identified.

One strategy I also use is to treat everyone the same when speaking to them. My boss will speak in a nice tone of voice with one employee and the next second she snaps on someone else. This doesn’t make her look too good because of the biases present. Another strategy to help better communication is get to know who you are communicating with if possible. This way you know what could be offensive. Lastly, always follow the platinum rule!

Week 2 Blog Assignment

For this week’s blog assignment, we were asked to watch a television show once with the sound off and again with the sound on. Since I am not an avid television viewer, it was fairly easy to find a show that I do not frequently watch. The show I chose to view is “Keeping up with the Kardashians”. This is a reality tv-show about a large glamorous family in Los Angeles. While watching the show with the televisions volume turned off, this is what I observed:

•What do you think the characters’ relationships are based on the ways in which they are communicating? Just by watching the family members communicate without any sound, I could definitely tell that the people on the show were family. There seemed to be a sense of closeness as well as some bickering going on.

 •What are they feeling and expressing based on the nonverbal behavior you are observing? I observed a lot of tension between some members of the family and lots of non-verbal facial expressions.

This is what I observed with the sound turned on:

 •What assumptions did you make about the characters and plot based on the ways in which you interpreted the communication you observed? I assumed that they were family members who were close and experienced lots of arguments on a regular basis.

 •Would your assumptions have been more correct if you had been watching a show you know well? I think my assumptions would have been the same. While I do not what this show on a regular basis, I know somewhat about the dynamic.

This was a very interesting assignment that I never would have thought to do on my own. What was particularly interesting is that I grasped what was happening fairly accurately without having the sound on. That just goes to show you how critical non-verbal communication is and how one can be affected by it.