I recently found the website for an organization called the Division for Early Childhood. The organization is actually a resource for teachers and parents of young children with special needs. Their mission statement reads: “The Division for Early Childhood promotes policies and advances evidence-based practices that support families and enhance the optimal development of young children who have or are at risk for developmental delays and disabilities.”

I was really impressed by the information this organization offers on their website. Of course, you can pay for a membership to the DEC, which allows you access to peer-reviewed journals, conferences, and collaboration. But even without paying for a membership, the organization provides lots of resources that can be very useful for early childhood teachers. On the website, you can gain knowledge of appropriate practices and policies, collect references and support for plans and actions, collaborate with other professionals and parents, find information on current policies and advocacy, and provide resources for parents.

I came across a site called Early Childhood News that has created a radio talk show specifically addressing early childhood.  At first I was skeptical, I’m not a big fan of a lot of talking on the radio.  After I decided to look past that and give it a listen. It was very interesting to my surprise and if that doesn’t sell you, think about it this way. The information is very useful and important, why not have some tell you about than have to fish around for it yourself.

Rae Pica, the host, is a very well known author and early childhood expert.  She discusses many different topics concerning children from birth up to eight years old.   She bounces around to different topics so theres always something new and interesting being discussed.  Previous topics she has covered include children and play and stages of development, among many others.  You can listen to it right on the site or download it to your computer and transfer it right to your mp3 player or cd.  While you’re there, take a look at the rest of the site.  It is extremely helpful for educators as well as parents.  There is even an area that contains ideas for activities that can be done with young children.

Promoting diversity in the classroom is an extremely important part of educating children.  Especially with early childhood, this is a major initiative for teachers. I found a site called Creative Diversity which sells products that can be used in the classroom to promote diversity.  Their products range from multicultural instruments, to different outfits and props for dramatic play centers, books, and manipulative’s.  These different items can sometimes be a hassle to track down when preparing the classroom in the summer but this site incorporates everything you need all in one place.   There are also several books geared towards teachers to spark ideas for a multicultural curriculum.

I came across this site which is a great resource for parents. The site includes a variety of common topics that parents with young children may fight helpful. Some of the articles on the site discuss readiness for kindergarten, techniques for teaching your child how to read, and one i found particulary important, ways parents can create a partnership with their child’s school. This site is very informative and they have so much information linked right through the site. Any type of worry, qualm, or question a parent may have, they can find directly addressed on this site. Check it out!

After reading Vaidhyanathan’s article Naked in the ‘Nonopticon’ I couldn’t help but feel naked myself. What I mean by this is, it kept me thinking about all the instances that I have provided seemingly harmless information to online websites without giving it much of a second thought. Once I realized the extent of that information now, I felt like I was a lot more in the eyes of the public than I had previously thought. It gave me the feeling of being exposed for all to see. Today it is much more common place for people to log onto a site and simply type in personal information without thinking about repercussions. I, for one, never thought about the idea of websites selling my information to other websites or to even read the privacy clauses in depth. This article has changed my outlook on privacy on the internet but not to a completely closed off view of providing information through the internet.

Because so much of society today is centered around the internet and technology it is impractical to completely close yourself off to the idea of putting information online. Sometimes it is cheaper to buy something online which requires giving out your address for shipping and some type of payment information. Even the Rowan site has a lot of personal information on it and there’s really no way you can deny the university that information. I think being more cautious of where you’re inputting what information is the best way to go about protecting yourself. Make sure you know where your information is going and if theres a privacy clause make sure you take the extra five minutes to read it, it could be to your benefit.

I thought that this video was adorable! This is a clip of a little 6 Year Old girl named Connie Talbot who made it all the way to the Britain’s Got Talent final round. This video is older, I believe it is from 2007, but I think its is just too cute to pass up!

One of my major ECE areas of interest is in creating interactive and DAP-oriented learning centers. Jane Chastain is a kindergarten teacher who has posted a website for her classroom. On this website are some great pictures of the learning centers she has set-up. In the photos, you can see the many different centers she has established, the materials included, and organization she has for each center. Click here to view the website. Her centers look really pragmatic and ideal. It is definitely worth a look!

The Dr. Seuss books have been a favorite of mine as long as I can remember. The silly rhymes and stories that fill these books have stuck with me throughout my years and now, as a future educator, I believe that these books are excellent for teaching many different concepts to children. Not only do they teach great concepts, but they are very inspirational and motivational.

One concept that can be addressed through these books is Diversity. The story “The Sneetches,” for example, talks about two different types of creatures called the Sneetches: the Star-bellied Sneetches and the Plain-bellied Sneetches. A problem arises when the Star-bellied Sneetches claim they are the best Sneetches because of their stars on their bellies. These snotty Sneetches would stick up their nose at the Plain-bellied Sneetches and leave them out of games, parties, and other activities. However, a sly stranger named Sylvester McMonkey McBean created a machine that could give the Plain-bellied Sneetches stars, but only for a price. The angry Star-bellied wanted to show that they were the best Sneetches, so the sly stranger offered to remove their stars with his star removing machine, but only for an even greater price. Soon this became a confusing battle of removing and adding stars, and when the stranger had taken all their money he packed up and left, leaving the Sneetches all mixed up. After this, they decided to accept all the Sneetches, Star-bellied or not, and they said that Sneetches, no matter what kind, were the best “Sneetches of the beaches.” This creates an important lesson for children, teaching them to accept each other as is and not to focus on the little differences.

There are also many books that can help teach the children concepts about themselves. A few examples of this are:

“The Foot Book” which describes different shapes and sizes of feet;

“The Eye book,” which talks about eyes and what they can see;

“The Tooth Book,” which explains who has teeth and who does not and also teaches children how to take care of their teeth.

For more information about these books, and for other Dr. Seuss resources, visit this website here.

As future educators who will be dealing with young children, it is important for us to learn how to handle situations.  One television show I love to watch is Supernanny because I learn some really great tips.  I’m sure I will use them in the future, it will certainly come in handy when I am a teacher.

Here’s a clip from one episode.  All episodes are different, but each one has great advice for dealing with children.

    After reading the article, having a class discussion, and reading what my peers have said I had several thoughts running through my mind.  I always used to wonder why all these websites are free, how they could afford to be free.  I started to understand when my friend bought a livejournal account.  I had no clue why someone would pay monthly for an account that I had for free, when I realized she didn’t have ads on her page and she had more room to upload icons and pictures.  Then I realized, she was paying them so they didn’t need the ads.  So really, no it’s not free.  Those ads were paying for me to have an account.  No matter what, someone is paying something somewhere.
As for privacy, I don’t believe there is any way that people will NOT put party pictures or videos up, nor do I think they should have to.  However, it’s true that employers and schools shouldn’t be able to access these things.  The perfect solution is what Facebook has been doing, upgrading their privacy options.  This way people can have their media up there without worrying about who will find it inappropriate.  Having the ability to control who sees what is a really bright idea.
When talking about identity, last semester I wrote a paper about how the media affects identity, both positively and negatively.  Hiding behind a computer screen, it is easy to create a totally different personality.  For example, many myspace accounts are fake.  I agree with the discussion in class that facebook encourages authenticity.