Words of Inspiration and Motivation

One quotes or excerpts from writings or speeches of each of the two people you identified for your Discussion assignment this week.

President Lyndon Johnson

1.)    "The Great Society is a place where every child can find knowledge to enrich his mind and to enlarge his talents.... It is a place where men are more concerned with the quality of their goals than the quantity of their goods." (http://americanhistory.about.com/cs/lyndonbjohnson/a/quotelbj.htm)

2.)    "Once we considered education a public expense; we know now that it is a public investment." (http://americanhistory.about.com/cs/lyndonbjohnson/a/quotelbj.htm)

Lillian Katz

1.)    “We are doing earlier and earlier to children what we shouldn’t do later.” (http://www.empoweredbyplay.org/2011/06/words-of-wisdom-from-dr-lilian-katz/comment-page-1/ )

2.)    “please do not confuse excitement with learning,” adding, “You can be addicted to excitement and that is a dangerous thing.” (http://www.empoweredbyplay.org/2011/06/words-of-wisdom-from-dr-lilian-katz/comment-page-1/)

One or two quotes about passion, motivation, and wisdom from the professionals in the media segment you watched during Week 2 of the course

“Most of passion comes from Intrinsict motivation” (Raymond Hernandez MS.Ed)

“I always wanted to be a teacher” (Louise Derman-Sparks)

Personal Childhood Web

My Five People
1.) Antwanetta Vinson
2.) Dianne Hankerson
3.) William and Katie Wynn
4.) Charisse Averett
5.) Bryant Sims

Introducing the people who helped shaped me into who I am today!
     Antwanetta Vinson is a hard working woman who raised four children and had four children by the Age of 26. She had her first child at 15, her second at 19, her third at 20, and fourth at the age of 26. Antwanetta did not let having four children stop her from achieving her dreams, which was to become a respiratory therapist. At the age of 32, Antwanetta received her Associate Degree from Tidewater Community College and is now a Respiratory Therapist working at the Naval Hospital. Antwanetta influenced and shaped me into what I am today by telling me to receive my education first before having children and that I can be anything I want to be in life. She nurtured me by teaching me right from wrong, providing me with the necessities I need rather than want, and by making me work hard for the things I want in life. This person, Antwanetta Vinson is my MOM.

     Dianne Hankerson is a great woman who helped make me the woman I am today. She was a no non sense woman and did not believe in disrespect. She works as a Administrative Assistant in a local Breast Center and loves being around family. Dianne helped raised me since my mother gave birth to me at the age of 15. Without her, I do not think I would be here today. Dianne had influenced me, by leading as an example in my life. She taught me to provide for myself so you will never have to depend on a man. Dianne made me feel special by her actions and love that she provided me with everyday. Dianne Hankerson is my GRANDMOTHER.

    William and Katie Wynn where do I begin with these two individuals. To start off, they were the greatest grandparents a person could ever ask for. My great grandparents kept me until I started elementary school to make sure my mother graduated from high school. My great grandparents disciplined me often, but also was so compassionate when it came to me. Many people would call it being SPOILED, but I call it being loved. My great grandparents were my inspiration and showed me how to love people. I will never forget my grandparents cooking for me, helping me with homework, and watching me for over four years while my mother finished school.

   Charisse Averett is my heart and my Aunt. When I was having trouble with my mother's husband, my aunt came up from Georgia and raised me until I was 18. That had to be the greatest gift she could have ever done for me. My aunt taught me to strive for high achievements and nothing less. She made sure I brought nothing home less than a B and if I did, she would make sure that I brought it up. My aunt influenced me and told me to be the best me I can be and never let anyone tell me that I can't be what I want to be in life.

   Brian Sims is my dad. You all may wonder why I chose a person who was never involved in my life and this is why. Due to Bryant's absence in my life, it made me strive even harder to be successful to prove to him that I did it without him in my life. Every girl want the love of her father, but not many are blessed with that option. Bryant humiliated me numerous times as a child in front of people by telling me that I was not his child. After that day, I left him alone for good. He influenced me by being absent in my life, which made me want to become a successful and blessed woman that I am today.

My Grandmother Dianne, Mom Antwanetta, and myself at my mom 40th Birthday Party.

The greatest great grandparents in the entire world, William and Katie Wynn

My mom and I at my college graduated on May 4, 2013 from Norfolk State University Summa Cum Laude

My heart, my grandmother Dianne

                                             My best friend in the entire world/Aunt Charisse

Personalizing Your Blog

 

The title of a children's book that I love is "Clay Boy. " Clay boy is a story about two people who children grew up and they want another child. The man decided to make a boy out of clay. He sat the clay aside and there, clay boy was born. Clay boy was always hungry so he ate anything in sight including the towns people. He saw a goat and wanted to eat the goat. The Goat tricked clay boy by telling him to close his eyes and he will jump into his mouth. Clay did just that and the goat ran into him with his horn and broken clay boy into pieces. The town people were so thankful that they painted the goat's horn goal to match is golden eyes. What I love about this book is how the two adults wanted another child so bad that they made one out of clay not knowing that he would eat up everything in the town. I like how it took a goat to save everyone from the starving clay boy.

What fuels my passion for early childhood education and watching the joy on the children's faces. When the children answer a question correctly, they become extremely excited. I love the fact that I help get them to the level they need to be in their education.

Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that they feel comfortable around other diverse  individuals. I understand that coming from another country can be hard especially if it is your first time in that country. I would want them to not be scared of a new environment but instead embrace it as their second home.

One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to have professional accept children and families for who they are and not produce microaggressions. Teachers and professional tend to judge parents based on how they talk, walk, look, or even dress especially families of different cultures and backgrounds. We should make these families feel comfortable and welcomed in the early childhood field. We are educators not judges. Our children deserve the best and we should honor and give them what they deserve.

Since the class is coming to an end, I would like to thank my colleagues for reading and commenting on my blog as well as discussion board post. I have enjoyed commenting on you all posts as well as interacting with you all  through discussion board. You all have educated me on various topics such as culture, diversity, microaggressions, and isms. I want to wish you all the best luck in your careers.

FAmily Country of Origin: Japan

My Family Country of Origin: Japan

Five Ways to prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family
*Research on Japanese cultures including what could be or not be offensive.
*Learn about their popular foods and beverages that families love to eat.
*Take classes on how to speak the language so it can prepare me to communicate with the family.
* Visit families in my local area to gain information on the culture.
*Obtain the family history of the family I am welcoming so I will have some insight on them.

My Statement: As an educator, I like to prepare myself when meeting families for the first time, especially families from other countries. I decided to that my family of choice will come from Japan. I chose Japan because not many early childhood education program have their natives in attendance. Because I am not familiar with the Japanese culture, I would do some research on the country, learn about the culture in regards to what offense them and what they love to see from other countries, learn about their popular food and drinks, take additional courses regarding language development in Japan, visit local families in my area to gain additional information on the culture, and review the family history of the family I will be welcoming. I hope that prepping for the family will benefit both me and the family in the sense of courageous, value, and honor. Courageous for having the courage to step out and learn about the country and  family, the value that I have for the family background, and the honor to know that a individual cares about your family and culture.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

   When I lived in Pooler, GA, a small town outside of Savannah, GA, I remember living in an all white neighborhood. I loved it to a certain extent, but I hated being the only African American student in the neighborhood. I remember one night, a group of Caucasian males set a tree on fire across the street from my house and sent the fire department to my house. If it wasn't for my aunt and uncle being home, proving that I was in the house, I would have been charged with arson and taking into juvenile detention. Another incident I remember was riding the bus to school and being the only African American on the bus. My bus driver put my seat all the way in the back of the bus and I truly got offended. I took that as an insult because they way she did it bring me back to segregation days. I remember my guardians storming into the school wanting answers on why I was being mistreated on the bus due to my race. My aunt received her answers and the school no longer bothered me for the rest of the year.

    The prejudice I went through throughout my eighth grade year diminish equity in the sense of freedom of speech, because every time I tried to tell the bus driver my feelings she would tell me to shut up and sit down, the fact that the fire department though I set the tree on fire due to my race, and the type of prejudice the down showed towards African American people. There were not too many African American people living in the down due to prejudice type of town it was. Many people would rather live outside that town then inside that town.

 This incident brought hurt, anger, hatred to my heart against white Americans. I hated talking to Caucasian people, I did not like them looking at me, and I ended up hating the school I attended. It took for me to change my heart in my older years to not have hatred in my heart because all Caucasians are not that way. I had to learn how to forgive those who hurt me and let the lord handle my battles. I am more happier today because I no longer have that grudge in my heart against different race because of what one person did to me. In order to change this incident into an opportunity for greater equity, the bus driver and Caucasian children would have had to change their ways . They were the cause of the hurt and pain and if they wouldn't have done what they did, the opportunity for greater equity would have still been there.  

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

This week I went to a grocery store called "Farm Fresh" with my two year old son. While at the grocery store, I observed a woman with  four children buying a shopping cart full of groceries. A person behind me made a comment saying "I bet she gets a lot of food stamps." My question to myself was, "Did you hear the children call her Mom? What if the children are her step children, or her nieces and nephews? "What if she was  babysitting for a family?" Just because she had four children will her does not make her the mother or even on government assistance.  When the lady paid for her groceries, she used a debit card to buy the basket full of groceries. The person behind me stated, "Uh must be a military family then." The ironic thing about the entire incident was the person  who was behind me was the one using food stamps to buy her groceries.

When I think about the incident, it was sort of disrespectful to assume someone is on assistance because they have a lot of children. I felt embarrassed for the lady behind me, due to the fact that she was using food stamps herself. That's why as an individual, I do not judge people who needs government assistance because I once was on it. I am proud that I do not need to use it anymore because it shows the blessings that God has provided in my life. The woman who was in front of me smiled and walked off, which showed that she got the last laugh after all.

Based on my observation, the effects of stereotyping still exist, and in reality will never die. Stereotyping can ruin a person reputation, especially when you have no clue what a person is going through. Just because a person has a lot of children does not mean they are on government assistance or have a lot of fathers for each child. Assumptions is what hurt a lot of people emotionally because they feel like they are a target of peoples ignorance.