January 15, 2014

Communities of Practice (CoP) in Arizona 

Early Childhood Development

*Arizona Department of Education- Early Childhood Education Unit-(http://www.azed.gov/early-childhood/)

The mission of the Early Childhood Education (ECE) unit is to provide leadership and support to schools, organizations, educators, families and communities in implementing programs that assist all children from birth through age 8 to become successful lifelong learners.
The ECE unit administers the Head Start State Collaboration grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services to establish linkages among Head Start, childcare, social welfare, health and state funded preschool programs, and K-12 Education (AZ Depart. of Education).

This state organization appeals to me because it is jam packed with resources regarding early childhood education. Their website has information regarding the latest developments in early childhood education regarding funding, childcare, policies, licensing and etc.

If I cannot find what I am looking for on the website, it is easy to send them an email or call them. In the past when I have made personal contact with this organizations, they were helpful and informative. My questions have always been answered.

*Alliance For Early Success- Arizona Division- (http://earlysuccess.org/partnerships/state-partners)

The Alliance For Early Success works with states across the country to advance state policies in health, family support and learning (Alliance For Early Success). Southwest Human Devleopment is Arizona's largest nonprofit dedicated to early childhood development. Arizona Alliance is the voice for children at the state and national level regarding issues such as health, child welfare, education and security. The following are just a few of the projects Arizona Alliance is actively collaborating with:
                  *Restoration of general fund match to the child care subsidy sytem
                   *Connecting early childhood to "Move On When Reading" early intervention program implemented by the Department of Education
                    *Collaborating on BUILD AZ to expand access to preschool, full-day kindergarten and home visits.

BUILD AZ-http://www.buildinitiative.org/OurWork/StateandLocal/BUILDStates/Arizona.aspx

BUILD is a CoP made up of public and private sector early childhood leaders, government agencies, businesses and child care communities. The Steering Committee focuses on: Communication, Early Learning, Professional Development, Health and Early Grade Success.

The overall goal of BUILD is to reframe early care and education to birth through age 8 as a critical component of the education component and policy framework.

I chose all three of these state organizations and/or communities because they appealed to my belief that policies and support in the Arizona Education system should begin at birth and move forward. Early success in preschool, creates learners that are prepared and ready to succeed in school and beyond.

Job Opportunities that are currently available and interest me:

1.Faculty Early Childhood Education- Rio Salado Community College
Salary-$44,012.00-$84,813.00
Location: Rio Salado Community College
Department-Instruction
Hours: Mon-Fri- 30 hours varied
Coordinates course/curriculum/program development and manages a large number of adjunct faculty and college supervisors. Provides leadership for Early Childhood and Human Development training, observation/evaluation and mentoring. Reviews and revises curriculum in the Early Childhood and Human Development disciplines, Serves on collaborative work teams with faculty, staff, administration and community stakeholders.  

Restoration of general fund match to the child care subsidy system

Alignment of subsidy policy with the quality rating system

Implementation of a statewide kindergarten entry assessment

Implementing a statewide longitudinal data system

Connecting early childhood to “Move on When Reading” intervention program being implemented by the Department of Education.

Collaborating on BUILD Arizona to expand access to preschool, full-day Kindergarten, and home visiting.

- See more at: http://earlysuccess.org/partnerships/state-partners#sthash.XraNKvaC.dpuf

Restoration of general fund match to the child care subsidy system

Alignment of subsidy policy with the quality rating system

Implementation of a statewide kindergarten entry assessment

Implementing a statewide longitudinal data system

Connecting early childhood to “Move on When Reading” intervention program being implemented by the Department of Education.

Collaborating on BUILD Arizona to expand access to preschool, full-day Kindergarten, and home visiting.

- See more at: http://earlysuccess.org/partnerships/state-partners#sthash.XraNKvaC.dpuf

Skills and experiences needed-Graduate degree in Early Childhood Educaiton, experience in infant/toddler through age 8 settings, experience developing and teaching online post-secondary courses, experience managing, training and mentoring faculty, leadership experiences, demonstrated expertise in curriculum development, teaching and program supervision with fields of early childhood education or a related field.

2.Social Services Manager (CPS-Child Protective Services)- Pinal County
Salary-$55,704.00-$76,594.00
Location-Salt River Indian Community
Department-Supervisor
Hours: Mon-Fri - (Some on-call evening and weekend hours required)
Supervises and mentors the CPS staff so they attain the technical and customer service skills along with experience necessary to perform independently and attain further career progression goals. Provides leadership, training and assigns, coordinates, schedules then reviews staff workflow. Provides training and assistance as needed. Prepares draft EPARs for assigned staff that are reviewed and given approval by the Social Services Department Director. Develops the program's budget requests and financial plans to monitor and maintain operating budget for assigned programs and services. 

Skills and experiences needed-Master's degree from an accredited college or university in Social Work, Counseling, Psychology, Early Childhood, Public Administration, Sociology or closely related field and five years full-time professional level experience in a social work setting, or supervisory or administrative capacity with professional level staff.

3.Case Manager (DD Specialist)- Tucson, Arizona
Salary-Salary Commensurate with experience. Excellent Benefits package.
Location- Tucson, AZ
Department-Supervisor under the direction of the CRS/SS Director
Hours: M-F 8:00-5:00
Responsible for a case management load consisting of children receiving services through Pantano and the Department of Developmental Disabilities. This position may assist the nurses and psychiatrists with assuring that the clients medial records are up to date and meeting standards. The Case Manager will have contact with clients and families, will respond to clients concerns or crises, and will coordinate delivery of services as required. Conduct home visits, if necessary, and obtain information or gather documentation from clients.

Skills and experiences needed-Master of Science in behavioral health, early childhood development or closely related field and two year experiences in behavioral health field. Must have good verbal and interpersonal skills to interact with clients, visitor, and coworkers. Must have excellent record-keeping skills, be able to multi-task and capable of independent functioning.

All three of these positions appeal to me because they are positions where I can help make a differences in young people's lives. In addition, I am a person that enjoys challenging jobs that demand independence and large amounts of interaction with others. The salary and benefits are good for too.

The Alliance works with states across the country to advance state policies in health, family support and learning. Alliance support includes: funding, technical assistance from national experts, and convenings to promote partnerships and the exchange of good ideas.   Click on an Alliance State Partner to see who our partners are and a summary of their work.   - See more at: http://earlysuccess.org/partnerships/state-partners#sthash.XraNKvaC.dpuf

The Alliance works with states across the country to advance state policies in health, family support and learning. Alliance support includes: funding, technical assistance from national experts, and convenings to promote partnerships and the exchange of good ideas.   Click on an Alliance State Partner to see who our partners are and a summary of their work.   - See more at: http://earlysuccess.org/partnerships/state-partners#sthash.XraNKvaC.dpuf

FIVE STAGES OF TEAM DEVELOPMENT

http://kidgreen-donna.blogspot.com

August 11, 2013

The hardest team for me to leave happened this past Spring-2013. My husband and I had the opportunity to coach a little boy's 7-8 year old baseball team called "Thunder". Clearly, we went through all five stages of team development. Initially, during the "forming" stage, we had to make contact with the parents, introduce ourselves and set up an initial meeting.

Soon, the team developed into the "storming" stage of team development. The children were excited about starting on a new team. Many had never played baseball before. The parents connected and began to cooperate in organizing who would bring snacks, and other responsibilities needed.

Within a couple weeks, the team moved into the "norming" stage. As the children and coaches began to get to know each other and establish a tight-knit relationship amongst each other. The children started learning many of the components involved in the game of baseball.

Eventually, the "performing" stage took over as the students started playing actual baseball games against opposing teams. Soon they learned if they played hard and listened to the coaches and used their new skills, the team would play better.

Finally, the end of the season brought about the "adjourning" stage of development. Our team had a pool party. When my husband gave a little speech about how the players had greatly improved and how hard they worked together as a team, many of the parents cried.  

The hardest part about saying good-bye, was knowing that we would never all be together again as a team. We had spent the last three months together almost every afternoon, and now it was coming to an end.

A ritual we had used before each game was to huddle up and hum the tune "Thunderstruck" (ACDC). Everyone would laugh and smile when we did this, even the opposing teams. This was our special ritual, and we did it one last time at the closing ceremonies.

The adjourning process I will follow for my fellow master's program colleagues, is to sincerely wish them great success in their futures. Also, several of them I am hoping to stay in contact via email.

Adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork in that it helps give closure to the process. In addition, it allows teammates to think back on the positive and negative outcomes. Many teams will work together again on future projects, whilst others will end that particular team forever (O'Hair & Weimann, 2012).

References

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Non-Violent Communication

August 4, 2013

http://kidgreen-donna.blogspot.com

Several years ago, I was having difficulties meeting the needs of a parent of one of my students. My stress level was very high at the time as I was supervising 23 students with Autism, or communication disorders. Also, I had the responsibility of supervising 13 teaching assistants, several therapists and may student teacher aids.

This one particular student was one of the higher functioning students and was capable of attending most of the regular education classes with minimal assistance. We initially put him in regular classes, with a group of other students and one teaching assistant for the group of 5 students. The parent was not happy with this scenario. He wanted his child to have their own personal assistant whilst in the regular classroom. The initial meeting became very heated as he told me his son deserved his own assistant. I defensively agreed that he did, but so did the rest of the students, but funding would not allow it. I proceeded to let him know we had non-verbal students with much higher needs that required the few one-on-one assistants we had. Certainly, I was not using the best communicative skills I could have used to show respect and responsiveness in a positive manner. In turn, it only made the parent more defensive and angry. At one point, he should up and took a swing with his fist across the table where I was sitting. Needless to say, the meeting ended promptly with the police being called.

During the second meeting, with administrators  and our security officer present, I used non-violent communication and the 3R's. We agreed to provide a one-on-one TA for two of his most difficult classes. There was just too many other students to allow him his own TA for the entire day. The parent was not happy with this solution, but agreed to try in on a trial basis of one month. Using a less violent form of communication, we were able to agree on a temporary solution.

Eventually, the father demanded the State Department of Special Education become involved and also hired a lawyer. Throughout most of the meetings we had, the father would scream and kick and pound on the desk. However, I noticed that the others involved in the meeting remained neutral, listened intently to his concerns, acknowledged his concerns, and then offered suggestions for resolving some of the issues. During one meeting, the Principal told the father that we would not continue the meeting unless the father was able to give those involved in the meeting the same respect they were giving him. The father immediately sat down and seem to compose himself in a more relaxed manner.

 

By the end of that very long school year, the father and I were communicating in respectful ways towards each other. He complimented me on his son's progress. In turn, I complimented him on what a supportive parent he was. His son remained in my program until he moved up to the High School

Over the course of that school year, I learned several communication strategies that I have continued to use during both my professional and personal life. 

Strategy one: Remain calm, even when those around you are screaming and accusing. Tell them in a calm and passive voice to please give you the respect you are giving them, so that we can all work out a solution to this problem.

Strategy two- Don't get defensive. The one you are communicating with does not want to hear what others need, or don't have. At that moment, they are only concerned with their specific issue. Create an environment where you show you are listening and really care about the person's concerns. In turn, this will typically ease some of the tension and provide an opportunity for a solution to be found.

Strategy three- Use NVC and the 3R's in order to build a cooperative relationship with those around you. When you are dealing with difficult situations, or people developing a trusting relationship can take time. However, if you are consistently using these strategies, eventually a positive relationship or solution to the problem can be found.

Donna- The Communicator

http://kidgreen-donna/blogspot.com

July 27, 2013

How do I evaluate myself as a communicator compared to how others perceive me as a communicator?

After taking the Communication Anxiety Inventory, Verbal Aggressive Scale & the Listening Styles Profile and comparing them to how others evaluated me, I was surprised about a few things.

My personal scores indicated I am  "People-oriented" and show empathy and concern for others. My verbal aggressiveness falls in the moderate range, indicating a good balance between respect and consideration for others viewpoint, and the ability to argue fairly. My communication anxiety was in the low level- showing I am comfortable communicating in most situations.

My co-worker scored me the same in my listening styles and communication anxiety inventory. She also scored me me in the low range for verbal aggressiveness scale which was a more positive step than I had scored myself.

My husband scored me the same in my communication anxiety inventory. In addition, he scored me in group 2 for listening styles profile- viewing me more as "business-like" and preferring clear, to-the-point communication that outlines a plan of action. Also, the biggest difference in the evaluations between myself, co-worker and my husband- he scored me as "significant" range for the verbal aggressiveness scale-indicating I might cross the line and involve personal attacks that can be hurtful to the listener.

This was the one thing that surprised me the most. It certainly made me more aware of how I am less argumentative at work, and more so at home.

Insights I gained about communication this week- was the self-concept we have of ourselves, are not always the way others see us (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012). I admit that when I get really stressed out, my husband is the one that I typically go to to vent. He is aware that I need to let steam off, but I am now more aware of how it has made him perceive my verbal aggressiveness, and I would like to improve in that area.

Also, my co-worker commented to me that she has been amazed at how calm I remain at times when it has become very stressful in our classroom. It makes me feel good to know, she perceives me in that manner. However, many times my heart is racing and I am panicking inside, even when no one else seems to know.

References

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Communicating and Cultural Diversity

July 21, 2013

http://kidgreen-donna/blogspot.com

I see cultural diversity frequently in my career, especially when I make home visits to families who have recently moved to the United States, mostly from Mexico. Also, I encounter religious diversity when I visit the church my husband was raised in. In many ways it is different than the church I was raised in. In addition, I have several very close friends whose sexual orientation is different than my own. 

When I am with others that may have different values, beliefs or practices than myself, sometimes I find myself acting differently than I would if I was with people that shared the same values and beliefs as myself. For instance, when I am around my friend who is gay, I act the same way as I always do. However, when when are around some of her friends that I do not know very well, I tend to become more subdued and make more of an effort to not say or do something that might offend them. In turn, I think I may come across as "snotty", when I am not like that at all.

Also, when I attend church services with my husband's family, many times I feel out of place because I don't do some of the things they are doing during the service. It makes me feel like I am an outsider and should not be there, even though I know I believe in the same things that they do. 

Becoming an effective and strong interpersonal communicator can help others communicate more effectively with those that are different than what you are used to (Beebe, Beebe, & Redmond, 2011). As a strong interpersonal communicator, one becomes aware of and sensitive to issues and attitudes of those that may be different than yourself (2011).

Also, developing skills on how others communicate can be very effective in learning how to appropriately communicate with each other (2011). In addition, making efforts to learn more about other cultures and embrace the differences can be very beneficial in opening the barriers that may have previously existed.

Finally, first find things that you have in common with others. Once you have established some commonalities, began building a relationship where each gains new insights and knowledge about each other. You would be surprised, how this can become enlightening and life changing for all involved.

References

Beebe, S.A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). Interpersonal communication: Relating to others (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

July 13, 2013

Red Sox vs. A's 

http://kidgreen-donna/blogspot.com

For my blog assignment this week, I chose to watch the Boston Red Sox versus the A's (Athletics). The game was just starting and I put it on mute. Having never watched a game with the sound off, it was amazing how you can just look at the players and audience and know how the game is going.

The non-verbal communicating I observed was frequent and obvious throughout the entire game. A batter came up to bat, rubbing his helmet, chewing gum, looking very stern and serious. He was clearly communicating to those in view, that he was intensely getting ready to hit the ball. When he struck out, he shook his head, tensed his body and frowned. The pitcher smiled at the same time, did a little skip and jumped up. The relationship between these two, clearly showed they were opposing teams and the pitcher was very happy to have struck out the unhappy batter.

When the camera was focused on the audience behind the plate, it was easy to observe many types and ages of people. There were two young boys sitting next to each other engaged in looking at something other than the  ball field. One boy would point and then they would both start laughing. Their relationship appeared to be close siblings or good friends. I noticed them smiling and chatting with each other throughout the entire game. Others were engaged in conversation-heads down, looking very serious. One lady had her arms crossed and appeared to be uncomfortable or cold. The woman sitting next to her did not look happy either. They appeared to not be having a good time at the game. My assumption was they may be a couple, who was having an argument and not happy to be there.

In addition, when a batter would hit a ball, you would see many people jump up and down, waving hats, mouths wide open and they appeared to be yelling as they smiled. One lady was dancing around and shaking a pom pom after a player hit a double.

After the 4th inning, I rewinded the game and turned on the sound. Most of what I had observed with no sound, still made sense. You could hear the crowd yelling for the players and screaming with excitement when certain players came up. When Papi from the Red Sox came up to bat, the crowd went crazy yelling and calling his name. I did not realize how excited everyone was about him coming up to bat, when I watched it with no sound on. The noise level was more prevalent than their non-verbal communication.

Overall, I really enjoyed comparing watching with sound and without. It really is amazing how much we communicate without even using words. My "aha" moment was how excited the crowd was that Papi was up to bat. Many across the stadium were yelling his name or "Red Sox". The noise level was very loud and I never even realized the excitement was so great until the volume was up.

Donna

Greatest Communicator

Great Communicator

July 6, 2013

http://kidgreen-donna/blogspot.com

The greatest communicator I have personally known was my late grandfather- J.C. Traweek- "Dandy". Dandy was a large man both physically and the warmth for others, he carried around. He spend his life first as a Chaplin in World War II, then as a Pastor and also a Professor at Amarillo College. He was able to stand in front of a church audience and capture everyone's attention, including the very young. He would speak with such passion and conviction that you had no other choice but to listen. When he wasn't preaching, he was counseling those in need, ministering wherever he went, and always making time for his many grandchildren. As a young child and on up into adulthood, I knew I could talk to Dandy about anything. He would listen intently and always knew what to say to make you feel better or look at things in a different way.

He was fluent in several languages and spend lots of times ministering and helping others down in Mexico and South America. Over the years, people from many different cultures would come to Dandy for advice and/or counseling.

He has been gone for over ten years, but I still sometimes get out cassettes we have of him preaching and also conversations that were recorded at special holidays and functions over the years. He powerful voice, was also kind and sincere. He came across as intelligent and humorous, and always had the right answers.

I just hope I can be even half the communicator he was.

Donna