Time Well Spent

New insights from this course:
1. I learned how to create a possible community of practice for my strategies I would like to implement.  I evaluated .y community of practice each week to determine if it was the best community of practice to incorporate into my project. This inspired me to actually talk with a leader of a community of practice in my local town, the leader of passage homes.

2. I learned there are many types of leaders in the field.  I reviewed each leadership roles and reflected on the type of leader I would like to become.

3. I learned I have a passion for helping others better their quality of life.  I learned I want to pursue my passion so that I can make a difference in the world.

One long term goal: to publish children's books.

Dr.Darrtt I would like to thank you for your patience and understanding as I chose my topic for my project.  I would like to thank you for your time and dedication to each of us as we completed our last course. I would love for you to support me when my book is published next year :) again thank you and I enjoyed this course.

To my colleagues we made it :) I am so proud of each of you. Thank you all for your encouraging words throughout this course. I wish each of you the best and look forward to hearing and seeing your future goals come true :) I will self publish my 1st Children's book in 2015 and I pray you all support me. My email is tjones21dec88@gmail.com my Facebook name is tipjones my email to search for me on Facebook is tjone182@mail.nccu.edu

International Job roles

Save the Children is an organization that helps children in 120 different countries world wide. I chose this organization because of the many different services they offer. They offer health, nutrition, crisis, preschool services, and other help for children. I also like how the website shows facts about the services they provide.
http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6146357/k.2755/What_We_Do.htm

ISSA is an organization that supports early childhood. They connect professionals, families, and communities of young children. I chose this organization because I like their mission:
"ISSA's mission is to support professional communities and develop a strong civil society that influences and assists decision makers to:

• provide high quality care and educational services for all children from birth through primary school (birth through 10 years old), with a focus on the poorest and most disadvantaged
• ensure greater inclusion of family and community participation in children's development and learning
• ensure social inclusion and respect for diversity"

http://www.issa.nl/content/mission

FHI 360 is a non-profit organization working to help individuals reach their full potential.
I chose this organization because of their values.
Our values

• Innovation to meet the evolving needs of our beneficiaries, funders and partners.
• Mutual respect for diversity and cultural differences.
• Passion driven by a personal commitment to make a positive difference.
• Accountability for our work, measuring, reporting and continually improving all that we do.
• Commitment to excellence assured by the highest ethical, quality, operational performance and scientific standards.
• Teamwork across disciplines and geographies, within the organization and with our partners

Communities of practice

Triangle family services is an organization that offers a number of resources for families in need.  Their website states " TFS accomplishes its mission of “Building a Stronger Community by Strengthening the Family” through one of TFS’ focus areas that include Family Safety, Financial Stability, and Mental Health.  These direct family services directly impact children from economically disadvantaged and/or abused homes". I chose this resource because a family member used their services to prevent homelessness.

http://www.tfsnc.org/about/

Passage home is an organization that offers resources for families in need as well. 
Passage home website states "we come alive when we’re connecting families and neighborhoods to resources and opportunities. Whether we’re helping a struggling family with affordable housing or an addict with recovery, our approach is the same. We meet people where they are and provide them with the resources necessary to gain economic sustainability". I chose passage homes because my mom used their services to help with her drug addiction.

http://www.passagehome.org/about/who/

Telamon is another organization helping families in need. Their website states,
"Telamon brings human services to people and communities in twelve states, doing business in two of them as Transition Resources Corporation. Chartered as a nonprofit organization, our purpose is to improve the lives of those in need. We do that through the operation of a diverse array of programs for farmworkers, children from low-income families and other groups with special needs". I chose Telamon because I am a former employee. 

http://www.telamon.org/

One Job opportunity that interest me is a success coach. I would help families receiving government assistance maintain a lifestyle with out needing assistance.  This would include helping families build and or establish credit,  Financial classes,  enrolling in school,  investment opportunities, ect.

Contact information

I would like to share my personal email address, my facebook, and my instagram.

My Email- tjones21dec88@gmail.com

My facebook name is Tip Jones I am from Raleigh NC. If you can not find me you can type in tjone182@mail.nccu.edu  and that should work.

My instagram is missesmsjones.

Thank you to everyone who commented on my post and your feed back. I wish everyone the best :)

Saying Good Bye

I was a girl scout when I was a little girl. I started when I was in 2^nd grade and left when I was in 9^th grade. The hardest aspect about leaving girl scouts was not knowing if I would ever see some of my friends again. Also knowing I was getting older and my life was about to change. I think high performing groups are hardest to leave because so much good came out of the group. Leaving girl scouts had to be the hardest because I had the most fun, I met so many nice people, I met my best friend in girl scouts, and I traveled the most with girl scouts. Closing rituals were bridging over ceremonies and banquets where we took pictures, gave speeches, gave hugs, and wished each other well. I imagine we will adjourn from the master’s program by wishing each other well, writing reflections, and having graduation. Adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork to ensure you grow, change, and reach goals. After you have reached these goals it is important to celebrate your success and create memories.

Communication Insights

What Surprised me the most this week is how aggressive I can be when I communicate at times. I set a goal to work on this so that I can be a more effective communicator. One insight I gained this week is that I need to be more willing to let others know when I do not have time to talk and or listen. This can help me personally to ensure I put my self first and others respect my time. I am very people oriented and often times I put other peoples needs before my own. Another insight I gained is that some of my previous schemas can hender me from listening to new information.

Cultural Diversity

            I work with a lot of Spanish speaking people. I talk to them about regular everyday life however I spend most of our communication times trying to understand what they are saying. I often get them to repeat what they said multiple times because I am interested in learning Spanish.  Sometimes it is difficult to communicate with them when they are speaking only Spanish. I know a little bit of Spanish but not enough to understand a full conversation. I communicate with them differently. I use more nonverbal language, I often times show pictures on the computer to help them understand what I am saying. I sometimes talk slower to see if they will talk to me slower. When communicating with a Spanish speaking parent I always make eye contact and have a translator. I also use nonverbal cues and read their facial expressions. Also I do a lot of hand written communication with parents. I will write down what I would like to say and have a Spanish speaking Co-worker translate it for me.

interperting communication

I watched Orange is the new black on Net Flix

Based on the ways the characters are communicating they are getting to know each other. They are asking a lot of questions and explaining a lot. Some of the characters know each other. Some of the characters are in love.

Some of the characters are happy because they are smiling and jumping up and down. Some of the characters are worried because they are looking all around and moving their eye back and forth. One of the characters is sad because she’s crying. Two of the characters are in love because hey keep smiling at each other and looking into each others eyes.

   What assumptions did you make about the characters and plot based on the ways in which you interpreted the communication you observed?  I assumed how the characters were feeling based on communication I observed.

Would your assumptions have been more correct if you had been watching a show you know well. My assumptions would have been bore correct if I had been watching a show I know well. Mainly because I know the characters and can base my assumptions off of previous episodes.

Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope I have for working with children and families who come from

 diverse backgrounds is that they will be treated with respect from people from any culture so that they may feel powerful, have high self-esteem, feel important, feel that they matter, and most importantly to feel they can overcome any unfortunate circumstance they may face.

One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to raise awareness on different issues such as isms and microagressions to help promote equality and social justice for all people.

I would like to thank all my colleagues in this course for your feedback, your time, your new insights, and all your hard work. I really liked reading my blog and discussion comments from others it was really helpful. Thank you for your kindness when we shared personal stories as well. I truly felt you guys were sincere and nonjudgmental and that made it easier to share personal information. Thank you again and I wish all of you the absolute best and everything you do. –Tiffany  

Welcoming Families from around the world

The name of the country I chose was Chad, Africa and I chose to work in a child care center.

Five ways in which I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive is to research information about the country.  I will use my information to plan activities to get to know the family. I will also research the languages spoken in the country. Next I will make sure I have an interpreter to help me communicate effectively with the family. Finally I would make sure I have pictures of important items from the families culture present in the classroom.  

With these preparations I hope to empower the family to share information about their country and culture. I also hope to gain knowledge from the family. Most importantly I hope to create a positive relationship with the family and to help make their transition to the USA comfortable.

Personal Experience with Oppression

I remember being pregnant with my first daughter I was a junior in college. I had no job and relied on financial aid to help me pay my tuition. I applied for Medicaid for pregnant women to help with my prenatal care. When I applied I remember feeling like the white woman helping me did not look me in the eye when she talked to me, she was very short with her answers, and seemed to have an attitude. She even said things such as we will help you with transportation, we can assist you with child care for your other children, we will help you find a place to stay, and we will help you with employment.  The entire time in my head I’m saying I have a car, an apartment, no other children, and I can’t work until I’m done with school. It was at that moment that I told her mam I am a college student, this is my first child, I have a place to stay, and I am not currently looking for a job but I will when I graduate. She looked up at me and said you are the first young black girl to come in here with no kids and in college good for you.  I was furious. The woman assumed that because I was a young black girl that I had children, didn’t work, and wasn’t educated. She then tried to make me feel good by saying good for you. Reflecting back this is a form of oppression. If I could go back I would really explain to the lady how her comment made me feel and how she shouldn’t assume things about a race just because she works in a field that helps individuals in those situations.

Microaggressions

I remember a few months ago in Wal-Mart I witnessed a microagression. A white female customer walked up to a light skinned black female employee and said “hola I need some one who speaks English please”. The employee looked at her confused and asked her in English “how may I help you? The customer said “o great you speak good English”. The employee smiled and said “English is the only language I speak”. The customer laughed and said “great I thought you were Mexican”. I felt the customer was extremely rude for assuming the employee spoke Spanish and I felt she should have apologized to the employee. I feel the employee handled the customer in a professional manner however I knew she was upset by her facial expressions.

                                             

Dr. Sue video message had a profound impact on the way I view stereotypes. I now try my best to think about how I communicate with others so that I will not offend them. I also now know how individuals feel when they are the target of a microaggression. My observations this week has inspired me to raise awareness of micro aggressions in my community.

Culture and Diversity Through the Eyes of Others

Young African American Male said “Culture is shared beliefs, goals, and practices. Diversity is different cultures mixing together to work in a certain environment”.

 

Older African American Female Early childhood teacher said “Culture is your way of life, how you celebrate holidays, how you view life, and what you share with family. Diversity is different cultures living in environments, working in environments, and learning in environments together”.

 

Young African American Female, first grade Teacher said “Diversity is when people can respect and accept others differences and ideas, understanding that people and situations differ but in order to be diverse we have to accept that our very own uniqueness is not the ‘right’ way all the time. Culture is what makes us diverse. It’s our beliefs, experience, and values”.

 

The aspects of culture that was included in the answers I received are culture is shared beliefs and practices of people, culture is a lifestyle, and culture is an individual’s outlook on life. The aspect of diversity that was included in the answers I received is diversity is different cultures working together. The aspects that were omitted was deep culture, culture is not limited to gender and ethnicity. Thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity influenced my own thinking about these two topics. I began to think of how other cultures live in the same environments and work in the same environments but there are still problems with racism.

My Family Culture

I pray nothing like this ever really happens. However if it did the three items I would choose to take with me in this event are my Grand mothers Ashes, A family picture with me and my two daughters, and my grandmother’s obituary. My grandmother was a HUGE part of our family. She instilled in the entire family to be close to each other, to talk daily, to gather as a family as much as we can, and help each other in time of need. She was very loving, caring, and would help anyone when ever she could. To explain to others what each items means to me I would show them the items, draw pictures of a heart and place all the items inside. I would also try to make gestures to show how important the items are to me. If upon arrival I were told that I could only keep one personal item I would be devastated. I love my grandmother and children with everything in me. My grandmother molded me in to the woman I am today. My daughters teach me so much about my self and others. I love them with everything in me. I wouldn’t know how to choose which item and I know I would be very emotional. I am a big cry baby so I know I would be crying and begging to take all my items!

Through this exercise I learned what was most important to me. I learned to reflect of what matters the most to me. I also learned that I do not have many material things that I value. I learned to think about what would be most important in a tragic event. I had never thought about this before but I enjoyed this assignment.