Monday, January 22, 2007

January 15th, 2007

January 15th, 2007

My mom runs an unlicensed home day care in my home town where I have gained much valuable experience with children. My mom has always had this day care ever since I was a year old so I have been fully emerged with children since I was young. Since then I have learned many things in both roles. Being a child and interacting in such an environment to going to being a teenager helping out in such an environment. I strongly believe that socialization among children is essential and they can learn very quickly how to talk and communicate with one another. This is important because they learn how to function. They learn how to share; they learn how to respect each other and even learn about compromise and how to argue. The latter two may seem negative but in reality are very important as they are a part of life. Children need to know how to resolve issues and problems themselves in order to learn. With the intervention of an adult though, the adult can guide them and show the outcomes of resolving conflict. My mom’s service is probably the most influential factor in me deciding to pursue a career in education. I have a great appreciation for kids and believe that we can learn so much from them as much as they can learn from us. I do not know a greater and more important career and I can not imagine a job for myself that does not involve working with children.

January 12th, 2007

January 12Th, 2007

Yesterday in my first English 110 class we talked about what exactly culture is and how it influences people in society. Culture is everywhere and there is culture in every person. The culture that we are a member of directly affects how we act in society. What we wear, what we do and maybe more importantly how we communicate are direct results of culture. For example, in some cultures it is disrespectful for a female to look into a males eyes while talking, however in our culture it is shown as disrespectful not to. This is the same for language, in every culture we communicate with different words and different words mean different things. Children learn at a very young age what is appropriate and what is not appropriate. When i watch children interacting in society i think it is bizarre how they know how to act. I especially notice the different ways to communicate and act when I babysat. When I showed up at a house the children would act very crazy and wild and misbehave more but as soon as their parent left they calmed down and became very respectful children. Children know when it is OK to act up and when it is time to not. I find it amazing that children also know how to act in society such as what is acceptable in church is not acceptable in situations such as at home. Children learn very quickly the different cultures that they belong to. This also directly relates to how they talk and communicate in the same way was they act. I have learned that children pick up on things very fast and many parts of society do not have to be taught, but are learned as a child gets older.

Elng 325

January 11Th

As I start out in ELNG 307 i really wonder what this class will bring me. Will I learn about children's literature and language even more? I hope so as I have a great interest in how children learn how to read and write. Thus far in the elementary education program I have learned a lot about theorist's and their theories in the field of education and am interested in learning how these theories are applied in the classroom and how they actually deal with children. I have also learned many approaches when it comes to classroom but am very interested in learning about the literacy of a child and how it progresses over time. I have a basic understanding of children's development through literacy, speech and art and understand that they all can be linked very closely. I am interested in finding out just how closely they are related and how children learn language through play, society, family and other places in society. I think that through this journal I will be able to organize my ideas and be able to see my personal progression through the next semester of learning even more about the field of education. I look forward to having this opportunity to be able to reflect everyday on this topic.