TIME WELL SPENT

To My Colleagues and Professor Darragh, I can't believe how time has passed. I remember getting my Bachelors in Health Sciences from Walden University in January 2013. It took approximately 3 months before I was bored and said to myself that I should go back to school for my Masters Degree. I was excited but as soon as those assignments started to roll in I wanted to strangle myself. Needless to say I persevered and completed my Masters. I am so proud of myself. I am a mother, grandmother, friend, aunt, sister, nurse, spouse, and a student. There were so many titles that I had to juggle that I was getting weary. But as time went by...the light at the end of the tunnel was getting brighter and brighter, which gave me the motivation to continue.

I have learned that there are so many organizations from which to choose to work with doing child advocacy work. Organizations such as NAEYC, Zero to Three and the Children's Defense Fund are just a few organizations I have researched. I have also learned that while the first early childhood program was initiated years ago to this day, education is evolving and ever changing sometimes for the benefit of children and sometimes not. I have also learned that even though disparities still exist in America, there are enough organizations on board to make the changes needed to close the education gap. Organizations such as the National Association for Child Development and The Center for Education Innovation are just two of those organizations. After researching for this course, the future for our children looks brighter just by knowing that so many people are making children a priority.

A long term goal of mine is to open my Karens Kidcare Learning Center, I want to expose children to the arts, music, etiquette, manners, cooking, math, reading and dance. I just have to focus on what next steps I have to take to get proper licensing. I have been motivated by all of my classmates who are already in the field and enjoy what they're doing.

To Professor Darragh and colleagues, I wish everyone well in all of their endeavors. I know we have had great experiences and educational insights while attending Walden University. Thanks for all your praise and encouragement. I hope at one time or another I have said a kind word to encourage you. As we embark in our new roles may we have honesty, integrity, empathy and passion in all we do. Take care and I hope to see some of you at graduation. I will probably do January and make a Disney trip of it also. Farewell to you.

Sincerely, Karen Mauney mochacinnamon@aol.com

JOBS/ROLES IN THE ECE COMMUNITY: INTERNATIONALLY

UNESCO- United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, the mission is to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information. One of UNESCO's priorities is to attain quality for all and lifelong learning. I am an advocate for quality education for all. I also believe that educators can instill the gift of lifetime learning in young children if given the adequate resources.One job I saw that interested me was an Administrator job which needed the qualifications of an advanced degree and fluency in English or French working with youth. www.en.unesco.org ISSA is the International Step by Step Association ISSA's goals are to ensure equal access to quality care and education for all children from birth until 10 years. One priority of ISSA is to advocate for inclusive early childhood systems and critical issues related to access, equity and quality. I am all for equitable education for all children. I feel all children are entitled to receive quality education regardless of race or economic status. Unfortunately, there were no job postings at this site that I saw. www.issa.nl FHI360- is the Science of Improving lives. It is a non-profit human development organization dedicated to improving lives in lasting ways by advancing integrated, locally driven standards.The key to improving lives is in generating, sharing and applying knowledge. To improve a person's life, I believe you have to receive a quality education. There was one job in particular that piqued my interest: Student and Family Engagement (SAFE) Officer Department of School and Community Services dedicated to supporting pressing education needs and challenges of children from early childhood to adulthood. Programs foster partnerships, build capacity to improve teaching and learning and to increase family involvement. Qualifications for this job are Bachelors Degree, awareness of culturally competent practices, experience in a school or youth development environment, ability to work alone an with teams, you must be a self starter, fluency in English and highly effective written and oral skills. I actually applied to this job. www.fhi360.org

EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

There were many organizations that I discovered but unfortunately many of the sites had no career opportunities at this present time. Citizens Committee for Children is an organization that educates and mobilizes New Yorkers to make the city a better place for children. They identify and promote practical solutions to ensure that every New York City Child is healthy, housed, educated and safe. The career opportunities page said to check back for openings. www.cccnewyork.org New Visions- The mission is to ensure that all New York City public school students regardless of race or economic class have access to a high quality education. One job posted was for Director of Development. Duties included meeting annual funding needs, strategic planning by identifying needs across the organization and determine and develop efforts to secure support, the ability to manage a team to reach clearly defined goals, delegate responsibility and support a seasoned staff in their ongoing professional development and to problem solve by using effective approaches to new challenges. www.newvisions.org The Center for Educational Innovation-Public Education Association was formed when two non profit organizations merged to form one common mission: working together to ensure quality education is guaranteed to every child. Reform efforts include the establishment of new schools, staff development, school leadership, research and extensive information services for families. No career opportunities available at this time. The Department of Education is in charge of the public and charter schools in New York City. There are Education Administrator and Supervisor positions available. There are approximately 135,000 people who work full time in New York City's public school system. You need approximately 10 certificates in various fields just to teach. Numerous openings are available. www.schools.nyc.gov

EXPLORING ROLES IN THE ECE COMMUNITY: LOCAL AND STATE LEVELS The Children's Aid Society is an organization that helps children in poverty to succeed and thrive. The organization is 160 years old. The Children's Aid Society serves New York's neediest children and their families at more than 40 locations in the 5 boroughs. The caring starts with prenatal counseling and ends with college and job preparatory training programs. All of the child's life from health care to academics is addressed. Their mission is to help children in poverty to succeed and thrive. One job I saw was for Lead Teacher. Qualifications include having a Masters in ECE, having a valid teaching certificate issued by New York State of Education, and two years teaching experience. Another Job offering was Family Advocate. Duties included parent workshops, advocate, coordinator, supporter and recruiter. NYC Charter School Centers Charter schools are independent of the Department of Education. Each school is held accountable for advancing student achievement. One job was Elementary Teacher. Qualifications include, committment to working in under-served communities, NYS teaching certificate, 2 years of teaching experience, Masters Degree in education. Another job was Associate Learning Coach which had the qualifications of NYS Teaching certificate and experience achieving results withing high needs urban population. The last job that piqued my interest was Operations Manager. Duties including maintaining students information on a data base, managing immunizations, conducting bi-yearly inventory of student files, and assisting the Director. New York City Department of Education has 135,000 full time employees working in the New York City's public school system. For any job you need at least 10 different certificates. For teaching you need the teaching certificate plus certificates in child abuse, violence, etc. To be a School District Leader which is a supervisory position the school district, you must possess a SDA which is a school district administrator certificate. These organizations appealed to me because they all deal with children and the betterment of children. I will definitely have to figure out how to get some experience under my belt before changing careers. There are also numerous certificates that I will have to achieve before I even can start to use any other skills that I have obtained in my past or in my studies. References www.childrensaidsociety.org www.nyccharterschools.org schools.nyc.gov

5 STAGES OF TEAM DEVELOPMENT

I have belonged to many groups of people working together. I have been a PTA member where the goals were to identify and eradicate any obstacles in the way of our children having a quality education. I have been part of study groups in nursing school. We bonded because we all had the goals of passing our exams and gaining our licenses. I am presently in a neighborhood beautification group. We gather every Saturday morning that we are available to clean up and plant flowers on a dead end block around the corner from me. My undergrad experience with groups here at Walden University had me in classes with some of the same people. We had the goal of getting our Baccalaureate degree. I did meet a few classmates at graduation, but sadly many did not even show up for graduation. The groups usually have a closing celebration after a task is completed. I usually remember the members with fond memories but we usually don't exchange personal information after reaching our goals unless we have something else personal in common. The group of classmates I have met during my Graduate classes has been similar. Some of us have had all our classes together so far. Soon we will split to our concentrated courses. Hopefully I will get to meet some of the students at graduation next year. The adjourning phase is important because this is when the group can celebrate their success of the project. If there was not success, this is where brainstorming could be done to discover why the project was not a success. Adjournment brings closure. If the group was a high performing group there will be sadness about the conclusion of the project. If the group was low performing without success it will be easier to leave the team. I do hope my Walden University closure will provide the opportunity to keep in touch with some of the other students

.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

I don't usually have conflicts. Maybe once a year on my job. I work for NYPD. There are so many bosses..sergeants, lieutenants, captains, commanders etc. Then there are civilians like myself. We work as a team at my job. Everyone knows how to do every aspect of the job...whether it is drug testing, writing review slips, giving instructions to candidates etc. Another civilian had disrespected me by slamming a door after saying a derogatory remark to me. At first I was going to avoid the situation but avoidance is not the way to go. If you avoid someone disrespecting you, it will happen again and again. I confronted this person coming from a place of being disrespected and not liking it. Her voice was raised and so was mine. We were in an enclosed room but I was so mad at myself for letting her take me to that place. I just said what I had to do not so nicely and that was the end of it. I walked away to continue doing my job. Now this person is someone who I am very close to usually but when she is pressed for time working she can sometimes get anxious and nervous. It bothered me all that evening after I had left the workplace. The next day I said "Good Morning" to her and she answered begrudgingly. Later that day I went in her office and touched her shoulder and said "you know I hate when we argue". That was the end of that episode. We continue to work together but in the back of my mind, I know she can loose it at any time so I am alert to any change in behavior. The way that we handled that situation was a lose-lose situation. We both were yelling, not listening to the other and were acting very unprofessional for about 30 seconds. We should have made that a win-win situation by discussing what set her off and dealing with that issue. Instead I chose to ignore her in the beginning which probably is the reason that her temper escalated. By discussing the situation and arriving at a solution that satisfied both of us, we both would have remained calm and professional in the workplace.

COMMUNICATION SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES OF SELF TEST RESULTS

This weeks assignment allowed us to take self-tests on our communication styles, techniques and listening skills. Secondly, we were to ask two friends/acquaintances/relatives that are close to us to take the same tests also. After tallying the results, we were to compare the results for any differences or similarities. I was most surprised that my anxiety level was visible to others prior to speaking in front of others. I researched our textbook to find that in some cases rather than anxiety, I have communication apprehension. Communication apprehension is described as "when an individual feels uncomfortable participating in a group conversation" (O'Hair & Wiemann). I do feel comfortable if I am sitting in a group talking but if I have to step to a podium in front of a crowd of people then anxiety sets in. One insight that I gained insight to is communication processing. This is one aspect of communication where I am sure there is a glitch in some people's minds. On my job, instructions have to be given daily to adults. Many understand but many need the information to be repeated more than once. These instructions are simple. I believe some people may have problems with their communication processing by being distracted by the thought of having to be undressed in front of others which blocks their processing. Another insight was the interaction appearance theory. I have learned that you can't judge a book by it's cover. Appearances have nothing to do with the job a person might have. It is not until you begin to interact with someone that you learn all about them.