Inclusive Summer Camp Culture

Magen's Bay Beach, U.S Virgin Islands

Inclusive Summer Camp Culture

This summer I had the opportunity to work with a local summer camp done through a local church on Magen's Bay beach on the island of St. Thomas. Your probably wondering isn't this normal as a teacher for me to work at a summer camp or with a likewise program; your probably correct as I normally do, but this one was different. This camp was completely inclusive of children regardless of their developmental delays, disabilities, or economic status; simply put it was amazing!

As a mother and teacher I have not seen any programs that encourage and incorporate inclusiveness for all at this level in any setting. All students were given equal opportunities and activities with the option of opting out for an alternate socially motivated activity. The environment was like a utopia rather than a summer camp. Teasing, bullying, and impatience were practically nonexistent ( as most of us know there's always that one or those few that have to ruin a good thing). The most exhilarating thing for me as a teacher and parent was that even in those rare moments when  a moment may arise the youths, adolescents came to the rescue and aid of their peers recognizing that they are all in camp as one group of all of God's children.

Every time I witnessed these glorious acts that made my heart smile I wondered why was it so hard for all children to understand and empathize as these children had and come to a consensus? Why was the world at large so behind, not mention the little ole island of St. Thomas? I came to one conclusion, our culture.

Culture is derived through the experiences of norms and values held within a society and in the Virgin Islands, we have the 'solid as a rock' mentality. We condition our children to be "hard" and tough inadvertently making them unsympathetic and unable to empathize with others.  As adults and parents we are guilty of the same mistakes accusing parents of not "training" their children and that they need "blows" (corporal punishment) when truthfully we just don't believe that everyone and child is different and most of them can't help their actions.

My fellow Virgin Islands, parents, professionals; by brothers and sisters please let us change this part of our culture and recognize the need for empathy in this world for those who need it and the rest that sincerely deserve it. Children and adults with special needs did not make the choice to do things differently; they actually had no choice.


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 Extra Curricula Activities since IrmaMaria.

Curriculum Choices

Curriculum Choices

Curriculum choice largely rely on the pedagogy of administrators and leaders within the community, since these leaders and officials are supposed to represent their communities and respective districts, but they often don’t. Most cases where curriculum choices actually mirror that of the immediate community or citizen of who utilize the schools in which they are implemented are the more affluent communities within our country. Curriculum choices should reflect the needs and views of the citizen which participate in the institution. Special needs, disabilities, culture, developmentally appropriate practices, and collaboration with families/community are all pertinent aspects to consider when making and implementing curriculum choices. While developmentally appropriate practice is necessary and pertinent to all grade levels and learners it is especially pertinent to early learners to provide concrete, foundational skills, and open a regular line of communication to build mutual understanding and consistency for children and parents to progress on. NAEYC states that the curriculum consists of knowledge and skills to be acquired in the educational program as well as the plans for experiences through which children learning can take place, for early learners this comes in the form of routines and experiences that will promote learning and development. Curriculum choices should consider and obtain goals, objectives, and resources that are best known practices. Familiarity with knowledge of skills and milestones across domains attribute to the enhancement of the experiences/ opportunities facilitated within the educational setting. 

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 Learning Environment & Strategies, My Beliefs on Language Acquisition,  Respect Goes Both Ways: Teacher and Student

Do You Know the Curriculum, Standards or Benchmarks for Your Child?

Do You Know the Curriculum, Standards or Benchmarks for Your Child?

As a parent I believe we should be aware of our child’s educational settings and climate. This includes school policies, norms and values, of course its curriculum and the standards therein. Having an understanding of such builds an underlying foundation of knowledge that is necessary for the development of the whole individual child in any and every setting. Many parents and educators alike think knowledge of the curriculum and its standards are necessary, but if you took a closer look we can find exactly how they complement each other to the benefits of the development of the whole child rather than the parent or teacher.

As a teacher, have you ever had to;

ü  Explain developmental milestones and benchmarks

ü  Scoring rubrics for standardized tests

ü  The need for remedial classes, tutoring and counseling

If you have, it’s time for a change and you should offer resources to parents that can attribute to their understanding. Likewise, I’m sure parents too have heard concepts that they don’t fully understand.

As a parent have you ever heard;

ü  Not developmentally on level

ü  Developmentally delayed

ü  Below benchmarks and milestones associated with age

ü  Needs remedial classes, tutoring or counseling

If you have then you should familiarize yourself with the curriculum used, standards and benchmarks associated with your child, and as your child’s teacher of resources that you can utilize to further your understanding, knowing which curriculum your child’s school uses and sharing the standards/benchmarks associated can greatly benefit the teacher, parents, and the student; it can also initiate a great line of communication.

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 PTA, Parent Committee, & Volunteering: Get Involved , Simple Classroom Management Tips, Ethical Leaders Anyone? and Respect Goes Both Ways: Teacher and Student

Common Core In the U.S.V.I for 2014

Growing up in the U.S Virgin Islands has afforded me a bird's eye view of the struggle that is upon the youths within our territory; overcoming adversity, violence, poverty, and the hardships of economic poverty affect everyone, including students. While there are, thankfully, much more advocates for the well being and education of youths within the U.S Virgin Islands, there is still a lot  of work to be done with regards to preparing them for the ever changing world they were brought into. Our new hope, and commissioner, of educational institutions, has pledged to implement new programs and standards meant to impede the stagnant wave overcoming us. I only hope that the doing of so doesn't move at the snails pace that the government is known to have with regards to public projects and education and that it is adopted with the same briskness that we tend to take with style and music trends. A personal hopeful that I would like to see implemented on a 'sooner rather than later' basis is the implementation of the Common Core State Standards that our territory adopted in 2008.

 "The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy." - Common Core State Standards Initiative 2012

While many may be unfamiliar with it as I was it's mission statements are very clear as are their standards and our students can only stand to benefit from its implementation. There is a big gap between the materials being taut in our schools and information necessary to successfully succeed within today's world and for many students (like myself) it is unfortunately only realized in college or at what would be the beginning of their careers. The common core standards advocate for the implementation of much needed programs and materials that can prepare our students for the 'real world', a world that is constantly changing to meet rising needs. Our territory is known for its cultural diversity and wide array of entrepreneurs and our students should be prepared to meet the needs of our society to be able to constructively contribute to its betterment. Rather than uniforming our students wardrobes for fear of violence and insecurities, of which are still breed in turn, we need to uniform the educations they receive in order to ensure they have equal opportunities in succeeding in life's endeavors.
 Implementation of such standards can also help lay to rest the stigma's of public schools versus private schools within the territory; with all educational institutions within the territory aligned with those abroad we can be sure that our children will receive adequate information pertinent to their educational developments and growths. As many others, our territory still has problems lingering from the 'old year'; violence, crime, and economic strife's, but as a community we can all stand together to ensure a brighter future for the U.S Virgin Islands and its children.

This year we would like to volunteer our time through various youth/ child centered programs and organizations within the territory. We would like to ask the assistance of the public for assistance with recommending programs/organizations that may need help within the St. Thomas community. All responses can be addressed to usvi.childhood.learning@gmail.com or through our website usviearlychildhoodlearning.blogspot.com. Thank you all and Happy New Year!!

The Assessment and Placement of E.L.L students in the U.S Virgin Islands

Assessment and Placement of ELL’s In the U.S Virgin Islands

     ‘I once was blind, but now I see’ a quote I've heard within the forms of theater and music, but one that hadn't applied to me until this course began. As I previously noted within my blog post reflection I was one of the people within our society that stigmatized those of different nationalities (particularly Santo Domingo’s) wondering how is it possible to be born in an English speaking country and attend native English institutions without ever understanding English. I am now ashamed of my ignorant thoughts; I can’t believe that I had let such things blind me from the real issues and truths; it was the fault of our own governments and educational institutions. The only reason they are unable to comprehend and understand English fluently was because they were never accurately taught how to do so. Because of standardized testing and the high demand for better results from schools, many things fall through the cracks and bilingual programs have been a constant variable in the equation. It is my intent to illustrate the purposes and challenges met by teachers when assessing and placing students within bilingual programs and offer some solutions that may help to make the identification and transition smoother.
     
       Assessments, formative and summative, are pertinent in the placement of English Language Learner’s to ensure progression. Formative assessments ensure the appropriate selection of instructional strategies, while summative assessments are basically used as a test to ‘rate’ or ‘scale’ a student’s progression. Teachers depend on this performance based assessments to be able to assess a student’s understanding of skills and to determine initial placement within classrooms. Through visual observation as well as portfolios that illustrate the student’s progress teachers monitor student’s language acquisition/ proficiency. Student’s progression rates will vary due to environmental factors and social interaction through language, formally known as BICS (basic interpersonal communication skills).

       The most complex part of assessing a student for placement is using the results of said testing to create instruction. The report teachers receive, report of students overall level of acquisition, is most useful in this aspect. The scores for each domain are listed which makes it easier for teachers to plan instruction to best fit the needs of their students. This sheet should be upgraded by all staff members involved with the students learning so that all teachers are aware of progressions and can make the appropriate changes to meet those students needs academically to help them further progress. Teachers are expected to create differentiated assessments for students, and it is more than understandable for none of us are the same or two of a kind, but it is also a tedious job for an educator with students from different levels and nationalities within their care. Working with others (colleagues, conferring with parents) can prove to be rewarding for both teachers and students.
All teachers working alongside one another, ESL and mainstream, to create the assessments needed for incoming or returning students annually would elevate a lot of the stress involved within making those assessments. Creating assessments annually even though testing is done quarterly saves a lot of time, as well as having a team of teachers all specializing in different aspects contributing to the creation; it all equals a recipe for success. Through this strategy teachers are afforded more time for instruction, individualized or otherwise. Teachers are also giving better rounded assessments so in return the information received on their students is vast and accurate, giving them the ammunition needed to fuel their progression onto a pathway of success. Through this solution teachers are afforded an opportunity to help each other help the students, as well as themselves.

        Other ideas that help in developing differentiated assessments include familiarizing yourself with the state’s English language proficiency standards for your grade level, and only plan tasks for the levels of the students in your class. Keep all assessment tasks as simple as possible, while noting that students at level five or nearing there should be conducting tasks similar to that of natives. I also personally think that it would be effective for all school to utilize a supplemental grading report which reflects the progress make in each of the four domains; listening, speaking, reading, and writing. This is not something that I am aware of in our school within the territory but I think that it would be quite effective for students and parents would be able to identify target areas and work on them outside of the classroom to help reinforce skills learned.  Engaging a student is the best way to ensure participation and progression, by involving the community and the families within a student’s academic endeavors students are given three times the amount of support than they can ever receive in the classroom, as well as instruction from those who identify with them the most and those who know who they learn the best.

 References

Baralis, C. L. (2009). The long-term effects of a K-5 dual language program on middle school student academic achievement and biculturalism. (3405271, Hofstra University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 242-n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/231001355?accountid=32521.

Holloway, L. (2000, Oct 04). A challenge to bilingual programs in teaching English. New York Times. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/431580464?accountid=32521
Brian, A. G., & Fabiano, L. (2007). Assessment and intervention for bilingual children with phonological disorders. ASHA Leader, 12(2), 6-7,26-27,31. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/218087462?accountid=32521

Syrja, Rachel Carrillo. How to Reach and Teach English Language Learners: Practical Strategies to Ensure Success. John Wiley & Sons P&T, 08/2011. <Vbk: 9781118397077#page (35)>.

Educational Institutions Need New Blood

In the U.S Virgin Islands we have been plagued with leasing opportunities and a stagnant economy which has in turn caused many of us to ignore topics of great importance for immediate needs that supersede these topics of great importance due to dire need. Well our practices have left us,our children, and our futures in a dark place; the blind eye that we have taken to the deviants of society have left us arrogant and ignorant to a more progressive means of evolving as a society. If we do not take care of such problems now then our ideologies and norms will be lead astray in the future; now is the time to put our futures at the forefront and begin shaping a better future, and what a better place to begin than our educational institutions and educators. Many of our founding fathers ( and mothers) of education spend their entire careers assessing and philosophizing the best practices to utilize for the progression of different children with different needs, and we have only two programs in place within our public education institutions that offer such programs typically to English language learners. Years ago our local government adapted to the common core standards, but our schools have yet to implement them. We need to ‘mobilize the educational movement’ to meet the needs of our students and educational institutions as we do our electoral and violence campaigns for it is just as important if not more so.

The emphasis we have put on standardized testing doesn't help the students,but it makes them timid to know that this test is/can be used to rate their IQ’s. Jean Piaget used standardized testing of reasoning for use with children. His research became the foundation for his method of interviewing; used to study the development of children intellectualism. A method of such sort should be in place within our educational institutions, but they are not, instead we have children being promoted year after year without learning their essentials, as well as children not being promoted at all for ignorance on the part of the educator for not providing engaging/progressive work that would meet that child’s needs. I recognize that within the public school systems it may be hard for educators to this with all students, but with the tenacity and dedication that I've seen educational professionals refer students to alternative programs (just to get them out of their classroom), their should be a program in place that children can be referred to for child centered learning to improve their intellectual standing and eventually prepare them for integration with the rest of the school population once more (as is done within the alternative programs for troubled students). Piaget stated “thus i engaged my subjects in a conversations patterned after psychiatric questioning, with the aim of discovering something about the reasoning process underlying their right but especially wrong answers” (Morrison, 2009). We too need to develop a curriculum which encourages our teachers to utilize such questioning techniques to improve/promote thinking within all areas of education; early learners to intermediate and high school. Many of the actions carried out by adolescents today are the products of false beliefs and norms taught to the young by the ignorant to promote their own norms and beliefs. If we can teach them within the classroom and at home about the different philosophies of life and get them to ask some of the hard questions and answer such questions, many of the outlooks that they've received through ‘distorted lenses’ on the streets can and will change.

Piaget’s theory of learning was based off of cognitive development; it explains how individuals think, perceive, understand, and learn (Morrison, 2009).He viewed intelligence as the process by which children acquired knowledge, not where knowledge is measured by intelligence. Piaget's cognitive theory states through direct experiences with the physical world, children develop intelligence;

• Active learning- children develop knowledge through engaging learning activities (physically and mentally)
• Adaptation- the process of building units of knowledge through interactions with the environment consisting of two processes; assimilation and accommodation
• Assimilation- process of fitting new information into existing knowledge units
• Accommodation - changing/ altering old units of knowledge to update with new information
• Equilibrium - a balance between new and old knowledge, developed through assimilation and accommodation.

While these studies were intended for early childhood learners I don’t see why we can’t implement it throughout our public school systems, Pre-K through 12 grade. Many early childhood programs follow published and recognized curriculum's, in the USVI though we haven’t ,made any such determinations. Most early childhood care takers teach at minimal levels providing children with little opportunity for learning. The program curriculum's that early childhood educators adhere by are out of date and by far not meeting age appropriate standards. A curriculum is a set of objectives that define the knowledge or information that children will be taught; if the curriculum is continued at it’s pace children are the only ones losing. Our curriculum's need to include age appropriate, progressive activities that children can learn from such as health classes, fruits & vegetable awareness, physical fitness, and every classroom or facility should have at least two learning centers for a variety and to keep children engaged within their learning activities. Teaching our children the basics just isn't going to cut it anymore, the world is changing and if we don’t catch up we all will be left behind.

While locally I haven’t heard many ill talking about new common core implementations, I have read quite a bit of controversy via online resources and chat rooms. To the best of my understanding, since I've never taught at elementary or secondary schools,the standards and curriculum provide a process that includes a shared vision of expectations with multiple pathways for attaining them (Strickland, 2012). I don’t understand why so many educators feel that they are being told how to teach now, if in any case they are being told ‘what’ to teach, not ‘how’ and it is for the benefit of the children. While many will not be able to go to Ivy league schools with such standards all children, regardless of class and background, can have the same education levels and opportunities to expand their horizons. Its not about the teachers, but the students.

With the use of underlying factors within Piaget’s stages of development we could adapt his techniques and research to fit our culture and it’s needs.While our government has promised us the use of Common Core Standards it has still yet to be implemented, although it’s being claimed to be ‘progressing’ since it was announced September 30, 2010. Other than Piaget there are many other theories to be considered that fit a wide array of our shortfalls; Vygotsky, Erikson, and Gardner are all influential educators whose lives work were dedicated to many of the problems that we face now; when will we dedicate our lives to the education of the future? We rally and protest for everything except education, but we wonder why our children aren't doing well in schools; we blame teachers, the institutions and even politicians, all of which do have a hand in educational structure, but so do we as the parents and taxpayers. Virgin Islanders we've rallied against eight percent cuts for government workers, drugs, crime, and violence, all topics that are rampant within our society. But it is also time we take a stand for those who cannot stand for themselves due to lack of knowledge; they are unaware that they are behind and will be until we do something to change that. The next time we rally, it should be for our children.

Strickland, D. S. (2012). Planning curriculum to meet the common core state standards. Reading Today, 29(4), 25-26. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/926994517?accountid=32521

Morrison, G.S. (2009). Early Childhood Education Today. Pearson Education, Inc.,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458