I cannot express my gratitude to everyone that has helped me along my journey. Engaging with all of my classmates allowed me to look outside my own box, and create amazing opportunities for the students and families that I work with. There are so many things that I have learned about myself throughout this process, and given myself a dream for the future. Many of the insights that I have gathered have come from information that has been shared with me by my colleagues.

In finalizing our capstone project, I truly hope that we follow our future dreams that we have set for ourselves. I know, for myself, I never thought that I would have a Master's degree, let alone finish my Bachelors. Now, I have a bigger dream, a dream that takes careful, and strategic planning, to someday get my doctorate. I hope that I have enough faith in my abilities' as an educator, and as an advocate for children and families that I take the time to pursue my dream.

I hope that we all remain in touch, and can continue to learn and grow from each other!

International Jobs/Roles in the Early Childhood Community

People to People is an organization that was put together with the idea of exploring the world, because people are just people. Their mission " to bridge cultural and political borders through education and exchange, creating global citizens and making the world a better place for future generations"( http://www.peopletopeople.com). This is a very exciting organization that works with students, and has teachers travel with them to grow their educational experience.

In order to be a leader here are the requirements:

• Demonstrates the experience necessary to responsibly lead and mentor students
  

  Acts with diplomacy when engaging new cultures or personal backgrounds
  

  Has passion for learning and focuses on fostering teachable moments and 21st-century skills before and during travel
  

  Helps to resolve travel issues and models a positive attitude
  

  Displays sufficient stamina to participate in all program activities (this can include walking more than six miles a day, hiking uneven terrain, handling luggage, and providing up to three weeks of student supervision)
  

  Communicates in a professional manner with everyone on the program, from students to fellow leaders to service personnel
  

  If you think that you are qualified for the positon, just fill apply online! I think this is a great organization that is working with children and families to explore what our historic places has to offer.
  

      International Justice Mission is something that I have known about for some time, but never thought to post about it. IJM is an organization that travels to different countries to protect "the poor from violence by partnering with local authorities to: rescue victims, bring criminals to justice, restore survivors, and strengthen justice systems" (http://www.ijm.org). I read their book back in my undergrad studies, Terrify No More, and it is an amazing book about these individuals that have retired from their positions, or dedicate their time to these missions. There are cops, lawyers, social workers, doctors, nurses, everything that you can think of to help control a situation that might arise, when they are out in the field. IJM has a lot of positions available, the only one that was posted to work directly with the children was a Trauma Social Worker, which would be able to work with children that had experienced sexual trauma. The person filling the position had to have a Masters in Social Work, and be fluent in Spanish, due to the requirement of travel. They do offer Internships and Fellowships.
  

      Travellers WorldWide is an organization that is set up to get volunteers, and interns into schools across the globe, to help their teachers educate these children in English. There are a variety of places that you can travel to, for different lengths of time as well. There are no specific qualifications that are required to be able to go, but once there you will be required to set up lesson plans and instruct. The current teacher, and principal will help with this transitional period. These classrooms are not just set up in schools, but also orphanages.
  

      I was intrigued by the information that I found this week. It gave me a lot more insight on things that I want to add to my resume, and others ways that I can help children and families. The early childhood field covers so many different areas of families with different needs, and no matter how long I've been in the field, I've always missed someone I could help.
  

  
   

Jobs and Roles in the Early Childhood Field

In researching some of the communities of practice that were recommended to me by a colleague, I came across a job opportunity with the Hand in Hand Parenting organization. This organization works with families to help educate parents on any questions that they might have, about raising their child(ren). "Hand in Hand Parenting
is an organization dedicated to transforming parenting through providing support, resources, and training to parents from all backgrounds and economic circumstances. For 25 years, our cutting edge yet adaptable approach, Parenting by Connection, has given parents practical tools to resolve universal family challenges" (Hand in Hand, 2014). They currently have an Executive Director position available, with the job skills requiring:

• Success in fund raising, totaling over $1 million dollars a year
  
• 7 Years of leadership experience
  
• Strong financial and operations management experience
  

This job was intriguing for me, because of the work that they do with families. This job requires a lot of experience in fundraising, which I am impressed that they put an amount of what they would like to see from their job candidates.

The second organization that I looked into was Amma Parenting Center. It is an organization that partners with the local hospital, March of Dimes, and a local toy store. What this organization does, is offer hospital classes to expectant mothers to ease the transition from pregnancy, to birth. I was very interested in their website, and was excited about what they currently offer to parents. In conducting further investigation they also offer classes to fathers, and a lactation support class (Amma Parenting Center, n.d.).

The only current job opening that they have is for an Infant CPR Instructor. There were no specific qualifications that were listed with the posting, there was just an email to use to contact an individual if you were interested in the position. This company sounds very enlightening to work for, and am curious to see what job openings they will have in the future,

The Office of Women's Health was informative as well. I like the way that the information is presented and offered to women. Not only do they offer information to pregnant women, but also to teenagers, and women that are looking to get pregnant. There is informational resources on everything from an ovulation prediction calendar, to a printout question sheet for your babysitter. I like that there is a broader listing of information that is available to women (Office of Women's Health, 2014).

There are not any job postings that are available through their website, but there are links to opportunities for internships. Participants on different educational journeys are encouraged to apply for an internship with the company. Once they have completed their degree, and have completed their internship, there are opportunities for a permanent placement (Office of Women's Health, 2014).

Researching these different organizations gave me more ideas on how I can expand my current CoP, and what information is currently out there, and what additional resources I feel are necessary that are not out there. I am happy that I have looked outside my current CoP and found other opportunities that are out there, that I can benefit from their current knowledge on my challenge.

References

Amma Parenting Center. (n.d.). Programs. Retrieved from Amma Parenting Center: http://ammaparentingcenter.com

Hand in Hand. (2014). Executive Director of hand in hand parenting. Retrieved from Hand in Hand Nurturing the Parent-Child Connection: http://www.handinhandparenting.org

Office of Women's Health. (2014, January 13). About Us. Retrieved from Office of Women's Health: http://www.womenshealth.gov

 

Local Opportunities

One organization that I found is the Newhouse organization. This is a school that they have started within a domestic violence shelter. They have hired a teacher that is Special Education Certified, and they stick to the local school district requirements. They are actually a part of the Kansas City Public School System and work side-by-side with them, so that the students within the shelter are receiving the best educational opportunities available to them. In order to become a volunteer at Newhouse, you must be at least 18 years of age, pass a background check, and attend an orientation/training.

Project Eagle Community Programs "mission is to nurture the healthy growth and development of the community's most vulnerable young children and families by providing a foundation for school readiness and strengthening family engagement" http://www.projecteagle.org/. They have Head Start and Early Head Start classrooms set up around the Kansas City area. They currently have an opening for a Lead Teacher job requirements are: a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education or Child Development. Classroom experience with older toddlers and preschoolers. Ability to establish trusting relationships with young children. Ability to communicate effectively and establish partnerships with other classroom teachers, center staff, community partners, and parents. Willingness to work in a highly collaborative environment. Desire for continued professional growth. Ability to lift up to 50 pounds. Basic computer skills. Ability to individualize care based on individual children's needs (medical, educational, family situations). Ability to become CPR and First Aid Certified within 30 days of employment.

The Family Conservancy has different information on how to help families, child care centers, and children that are homeless. Their mission statement is "helping children and families achieve a lifetime of success" http://www.thefamilyconservancy.org/about-us/overview. They have online resources that are available, as well as classes that are offered within their center. They currently have job openings for: Practitioner II, Head Start Fiscal Coordinator, Head Start Mental Health Specialist, Part Time Child Care Teacher, and a Part Time Practitioner II. The requirements for the Practitioner II: Master's degree in Social Work, or related field required. Three years prior relevant working experience and expertise in serving young children and their families required. Written and verbal communication skills required to interact with health professionals, vendors, and agencies in a professional manner, developing rapport and enhancing business relationships required. Working knowledge of community resources required.

www.healthychildren.org is not a local agency but an online resource that has valuable information for parents, regarding their children. They offer news, tips and tricks, medical advice, and so much more.

All of these organizations are looking out for families that could be going through a hardship, and have opportunities available to them. There are a variety of resources that each one offers, that can help a variety of people looking for assistance.

Passionate Hope EDUC 6358

My hope for the future is that my students leave at the end of the school year feeling proud about their culture, who they are as an individual, and how to thrive with others that are just as unique as them. The past year I was transferred to a school where there were a lot of behavior concerns. I spent most of my year redirecting and correcting those issues, and this year I want it to be different. I want my students to be able to enjoy learning about each other, and know that every day we come together, we are a family unit.

I hold a lot of pride in some of my teaching, and wanting my students to learn that we are a family working together. I feel that so many of my students do not have an abundance of people in their lives that they can turn to, and I want them to know that your classmates and teachers are there for them. It is an exhausting field working in some of the neighborhoods that I do, but I would not change it for the world. They teach me more about myself than what I had ever thought was possible.

Thank you to all my classmates that gave me feedback on all of my assignments. It helped me grow as an individual, and it will help me grow when I start the school year again. I am appreciative for all the support and dedication that everyone has put into the class, and I am excited about working with you all in our FINAL class!!

What I have learned EDUC 6357 (week 8)

My hope is that in learning about diversity, and how to create an anti-bias classroom, that I can truly respect all the cultures, and uniqueness that comes into my classroom. I hope that I have the proper amount of compassion when it comes to talking with parents about tough topics. I have no doubt that I have compassion for the students, I cry whenever I talk to parents and I tell them something amazing that their child did. I am a big softie. Which is why I think that it is hard for me to approach some topics, is because I do not want to upset anyone. In order to reach out to all my families, I have to at least be willing to take that step!

    My goal is to get my students involved! I want them to be able to ask the questions that make us all need to research the topic, and then bring it into the classroom. I want them to be able to understand about diversity and the beauty of everyone being unique. With this goal, I hope that it makes parents stop and assess some of the situations that they put their children in, which would compromise their ability to see an anti-bias society.

    Thank you to everyone that has visited my page over the course of this class. I have enjoyed reading your comments and suggestions, and take them to heart. I have learned some much from all of you, in reading your blogs as well, and cannot wait to finish out this program working with you all again!

UNICEF Oficina Regional para America Latina y el Caribe (UNICEF in Latin America and the Caribbean)

I chose the Latin America and the Caribbean because I thought that this is a central location where many tourists go to vacation. I did not think that they would be aware of the "real" conditions of the country because they are being shown "the wealthy" side of things. Is the grass really greener on the other side?

 
Here is the truth of the matter. 35 million children do not enter into an educational program.
                     90% of 68,000 thousand children acquire AIDS through their mothers pregnancy because treatment is only offered to 1/3 of the women.
                     Over half of the children in this region are living in poverty.
                     85,000 children die each year as a result of violence in the home.
These statistics are very upsetting. There are so many children that are living in extreme conditions that affect every aspect of their development. UNICEF is working at helping organizations that are working with these children and families, to change the outcomes. They are also working with the media to use them for the cause to change attitudes and behaviors of others around them.
It is sad to think that so many people vacation to these beautiful places, but there is so much hurt that is happening behind the scenes. I do not think I could go to any of these places just to vacation any more, I would have to volunteer my time somewhere!
http://www.unicef.org/lac