Extra-Curricular Activities since Irma; Why They Are Needed

Extra-Curricular Activities since Irma; Why They Are Needed

As a community our territory has been through a tremendous ordeal. Two category five hurricanes have made life as we knew it impossible to return to as almost everything has changed. With change comes the good and the bad as we all know; the good part is that we get to rebuild. It is a chance for change, to learn from our countless mistakes, to push forward, and a time for atonement. The bad part is the restoration phase and the inconveniences that we all have to suffer in order to make our futures brighter. One such inconvenience is the lack of extra curricula activities and adequate after school enrichment programs to sustain the new half day of school that we have adopted to ensure the needs of all are met.

 These half days of school are very strenuous on families and make it hard for parents, as well as students to actively participate in various ways. Yes, parents are allotted two hours a month to check in with their child’s teachers and schools, but many parents have more than one child and two hours may not be enough. Transportation and number of children should be taken into account as well as the needs of the child or children in question. Parents of students with delays or disabilities need to actively participate to learn routines and techniques to attribute to their child’s development. This too is true of students who exhibit challenging behavior due to emotional trauma/stress, parents need to be involved to ensure resilience is built upon with a support system; in this case the home and school community.

Every child on this island or in the territory at the times of hurricanes Irma and Maria have suffered a traumatic experience that WILL stay with them throughout their lives. When you really think of the ordeal we have faced as a community it must have been extra hard on the children. They did not have prior knowledge and experience that came with past hurricanes to mentally prepare for the storm (I got my experience with Marilyn and those after and still was in shock and dismay).

Every outlet for recreation that still exists has been ‘modified’ somehow leaving nothing much to help the youths cope. This is the time when we need those “Big Brother” enrichment programs to detour youths and adolescents from participating and engaging in self destructive behavior which can become the beginning of the path to becoming the next degenerate on the street corner.

The views expressed within this blog are solely those of Ms. Child Advocate and does not reflect on any of her affiliations. For more on the youths of the U. S Virgin Islands visit https://www.usviearlychildhoodlearning.blogspot.com . For more on the U.S Virgin Islands youths read Curriculum Choices, Learning Environment & Strategies, My Beliefs on Language Acquisition,  Respect Goes Both Ways: Teacher and Student, V. I Character, and Curricula Standards & Benchmarks

Learning Environments & Strategies

Learning Environments & Strategies

Jane E. Tuitt Elementary (My alma mater)

Learning environments should differ as we all have different norms, values, religions, and cultures. A developmentally appropriate learning environment should also illustrate aspects of all those included within the learning environment, which would primarily be its students. How many of us can truly say that the learning environment we have created for our students or even our children are sincerely tailored to suit their developmental levels, needs, and interests? I have seen classrooms that mirror all of the children and families connected with it, and unfortunately I have seen those that mirror prison cell walls (bland white with a few pictures scattered around the room). Classrooms that illustrate culture, facilitate developmentally appropriate practice through engaging activities and learning areas, and showcases content learned throughout different content areas are ideal learning environment and are necessary in this day and age.

The learning environment where I felt the most successful was in elementary school, specifically my intermediate classes. Unlike most I was lucky enough to have a great teacher twice as she switched from third grade to fifth just in time for my class. I would personally say that my reason for feeling the most successful within this learning environment is because the school collaborated with the community to ensure that many programs and initiatives were in place for students to engage in and interact with other students. Such initiatives included but weren’t limited to inter school/ neighborhood basketball leagues, essay writing competitions on various national and local initiatives (red ribbon/drug fee, laws of life, etc.), art competitions, and others alike. Other reasons I felt successful within this environment was because I it facilitated and encouraged reading in many ways; reading was used for extra credit points as well as a past time, which reinforced my love for reading cultivated at home.

If I had to label my prior learning environment where I had felt the most successful I would say that it would probably mirror the head starts now public standards as it was inclusive as well as diverse and learning objectives were primarily academic with some focus on collaborating with families and the community. Many times we assume that students are successful in academic so they are elsewhere also when they may need guidance, as an advocate for children it is a teachers’ job to ensure all needs are being met and do whatever possible to attribute to such; in many cases referrals to different agencies and organizations are greatly appreciated and helpful. I would create a classroom environment that is both engaging and learning friendly by creating learning stations within the classroom and in the outdoor areas that with facilitate opportunities of each child to grow at their own paces and explore their interests. In this respect my students will too be able to be engaged in their favorite past times while exploring their interests in the name of learning, because when children learn through play they learn to enjoy learning.

How I Feel About Language Acquisition

My Beliefs Regarding Language Acquisition

I am almost certain that my beliefs about language acquisition are distorted by my own personal experiences, but I am also pretty sure that I am not the only one. During my tenure at Ashford I was afforded many opportunities in the form of resources. These resources have aiding my professional development as well as my personal development with regards to my family. Starting with the pragmatics of language, language attributes to the different theoretical perspectives on language acquisition and the effects of environmental influences on such, the knowledge I've learned as have had the pleasure to apply in my assistive positions have made me an ideal facilitator and advocate of early learning and language development. I have learned from my many afforded literature resources that opinions on this matter come a dime a dozen so I seek to offer a different theoretical perspective, one based on my personal experiences and observations; every child is different and learn or develop in different ways. Oddly it seems simple enough and I am sure I have heard it somewhere before, but it isn't often enough applied. Sure we can say that the child with a speech impairment will grow out of it and doesn't need professional help/ coaching, while another does because of their 'impoverished environment'. During the history of man stereotyping has never gotten us anywhere so why continually apply it to those too young and are incapable of defending themselves? 

What we know for certain is that children are born with the innate capacity to learn language and that the main requirement for doing so is exposure to language and opportunities to use it; we also know that although they are able to overcome physical and environmental challenges to learn language, there appears to be a critical period during which language learning is optimal (Piper,2012). It is certainly time we apply this mantra to every learner and recognize that speech and language disorders will continue to exist regardless of cultural disparities or environmental influences.

References

Piper, T. (2012). Making meaning, making sense: Children’s early language learning. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.

Too Much Violence: USVI Shootings Near Preschool's 2

Too Much Violence: USVI Shootings Near Preschool's 

 

(photo credit to associated press) 

Since the beginning of school two weeks ago I'm sure most parents would agree that things have been hectic; settling back into routines, conforming to new ones, etc. So this weekend I decided to let my hair down and get back into my old routines of reading daily publications from groups and people with like interests, but I was a little taken aback by some articles I'd read with regards to the homicide of Jermaine 'Bird' Williams in the parking lot of his child's preschool, George's Christian Academy in Whim, Frederiksted after school. According to numerous reports by local and associated press this father was shot in the parking lot while awaiting his wife to sign out their child after school. Students and school personnel were evacuated to secure room where they called for help from emergency responders but it was to no avail for the violence had already taken this father of three's life. Local public and private agencies came together to aid in the evaluations of students and staff scorned by the incident as was indicated by those in the Office of Child Care and Regulatory Services, but the ignorant violence has not ended nor has the arrogance of our community turning a blind eye to what is unfortunately becoming regular and that is too much violence within and near our schools.  

In 2013 I wrote a blog post, Too Much Violence; USVI Shootings Near Preschools, which illustrated for those who were unaware the rising amount of violence not only in schools but near schools that house our early learners. Different reports of gunfire at various head starts in Bovoni and in Berg's Home caught the attention of many concerned citizens and parents who spoke with officials from the Dept. of Human Services and the Virgin Islands Police Dept. expressing their concerns for the safety of their children. After a vote parents and officials came to the decision to send students to other Head Starts within the community that weren't experiencing such troubles due to violence in the community. That same year a similar incident took place on St. Croix regarding another parent who was shot and in the parking lot of their child's school after dropping off and killed trying escape inside the preschool housing two employees and ten children, causing the center to close.  

Nonetheless, as disturbing as all of this is, the fear and pain spread by the incident in question news and internet sources have chosen to ignore the blatant disregard for the lives of children within our territory in or out of school and call on legislators for stricter policies and legislations to defend our children while in learning institutions they have taken to the more 'popular' trend of 'blaming the victims'. According to reports made, rather than highlighting the severity of the crime instead many have taken to reporting the death of a gangster and gunfire fights that have since emerged in alleged retribution acts, basically glorifying the tragedies taken place causing more danger for residents of our islands.  

I am no politician nor legislator and my opinions are solely my own but when will it be enough to not only ignore the arrogance of others and educate them for the better? What will it take to stop turning a blind eye, to stop promoting and glorifying violence and the things that attribute to it? We are all members of this community and we are all members of families, but most importantly we all went to school and it was once considered safe.  

The views expressed within the blog are solely those of Ms. Child Advocate and does not reflect on any of her affiliations. For more on the U.S Virgin Islands youths read How Was Your First Day Of School, Too Much Violence: USVI Shootings Near Preschools, and Violence And Abuse In School 

  

Guy Benjamin Elementary is Closing; What Now?

Guy Benjamin Elementary is Closing; What Now?

So in many recent reports that I've read the Department of Education is receiving a lot of ‘heat’ from the general public, and members of the St. John community. I completely understand it of course; I mean the situation is one that no one would have hoped for. The students, faculty, and staff at the Guy Benjamin Elementary School along with parents have long voiced their opinions and concerns about lack of support it receives, declining numbers, and more recently an ‘invisible operating budget’. The school closing didn’t really come as a surprise to many since there have been rumors of such all year since the removal of kindergarten and first grades to the Julius Sprauve Elementary School in Cruz Bay. So, exactly what is all the fuss about?

At a meeting held at Guy Benjamin School for parents and students on Monday, Education Commissioner and Superintendent gave the awaiting parents the daunting news they’d feared for so long. While education officials only cited one reason for closing the school, declining students and operating costs, all of the arguments coming from parents and even teachers involved had little to do with the benefit of students. Attendees of the meeting cited how the school has always met the standards of the AYP report, and that residents of Coral Bay would now have to ‘commute’ to Cruz Bay in defense of the children. Other concerns expressed pertained to the area of the school (being around bars) and the amount of funding being saved by closing the school.

Those remarks almost seem selfish to me. In a school that has been operating without a principal or ‘checkbook’ how parents can and teachers alike expect the institution to continue with the same results. And while there were a few in attendance, mostly those affiliated with the school, haven’t heard of any actions taken by the community or the parents of students at Guy Benjamin Elementary to thwart the long awaited decision of closing the school. I did however read reports of education officials urging residents of St. John to consider enrolling their children within Guy Benjamin to hinder the pending decision, but one can only assume it was to no avail since the enrollment ratio for the next school year compared to the last were still very slim    While all students can benefit from a lesser student to teacher ratio, parents and educators should look at the benefits of this merge;

·         With the space at the closing elementary school new, necessary programs like an head start or even a K-12 institution may be implemented (which is well needed on the island)

·         Funds saved by the department can be used to enhance student life on the island itself as well as at the remaining school

·         Education official spoke of transportation for students of Coral Bay to the Julius Sprauve school in Cruz Bay under the supervision of teachers/aids; that is much more than most, if not all of our students within this territory (At least in my own experience it is mainly/solely the bus driver) and abroad.

Anyone can appreciate that change can sometimes be challenging, especially for children so young, but as adults (teachers and parents) should consider working on making the transition easier for all involved and encouraging already discouraged students to look on the bright side of things, after all the children are the ones who are really being affected the most aren’t they?

For further readings on the U.S Virgin Islands on topics of education and our children please read “Alternatives to Suspensions and Expulsions”, “Families Matter for the Achievement and Development of Goals”; and “ So Carnival Warrants Closing School Now!?”

This blog post is the opinions of Ms. Child Advocate and does not reflect on the institution’s she is employed for nor is those she affiliated with through volunteer work or otherwise. For more opinions from us please visit our blog page usviearlychildhoodlearning.blogspot.com or email us at usvi.childhood.learning@gmail.com  and like us on Facebook or follow Ms. Child Advocate on Twitter.

Children's Corner; Poetry

The Day

It hangs on its

                stem like a plum

at the edge of a

               darkening thicket.

It’s swelling and

               blushing and ripe

and I reach out a

               hand to pick it

but flesh moves

               slow through time

and evening

               comes on fast

and just when I

               think my fingers

might seize that

               sweetness at last

the gentlest of

               breezes rises

and the plum lets

               go of   the stem.

And now it’s my

               fingers ripening

and evening that’s

               reaching for them.

BY GEOFFREY BROCK

Children's Corner; Poetry

Earth Day

I am the Earth
And the Earth is me.
Each blade of grass,
Each honey tree,
Each bit of mud,
And stick and stone
Is blood and muscle,
Skin and bone.

And just as I
Need every bit
Of me to make
My body fit,
So Earth needs
Grass and stone and tree
And things that grow here
Naturally.

That’s why we
Celebrate this day.
That’s why across
The world we say:
As long as life,
As dear, as free,
I am the Earth
And the Earth is me.



BY JANE YOLEN