Time Well Spent

   It is hard to believe that I am completing my Master's program at Walden University. It has been a long journey and at times challenging but well worth it. I have found many things that I have learned and will take with me in my professional career in the early childhood field.
   One thing that I have learned from this program is the importance of understanding and keeping abreast of issues and trends in the early childhood field. This program has taught me that knowing issues and trends in the field can help professional to help better support the developmental growth and well-being of young children and their families. Another aspect of the program that I have learned from is the importance of having connections and professional relationships with my colleagues. Being a part of a community of learners has taught me the values of sharing ideas, opinions, and listening to others about topics in the early childhood field. This can help me to broaden my understandings and have an open mind. The last thing that I learned from this program is the value of having a continuation of professional development. Continuing to learn and grow in my own knowledge about the field of early childhood will not only help young children and their families but my own career goals as well. All professionals to strive to know and understand more about the field and all of it's aspects.
   One long term goal that I have is to continue my work in the early childhood field by helping to support and educate other professionals in the field. I would love to continue my work in the field and further my career by teaching future educators. Being an instructor at a community college or provide work with other training of professionals is something that I would want to strive for.
   I would also like to take this time to thank all of my instructor and my colleagues. My instructors have provided me with ample amounts of information and knowledge that I will definitely take with me in my professional career. My colleagues have allowed me to express my knowledge, as I have heard from their opinions and experiences as well, and provided me with positive connections to their professionalism within the field of early childhood. I am fortunate to be a part of this program and I am excited to see where my degree will take me in my career.

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

   I was able to research different international organizations in the early childhood field. There are many different organizations that appeal to me and there are some that have job opportunities that would fit my interests.
   One organization is the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This organization's mission is to contribute to building peace, eradicate poverty, and sustain development and intercultural dialogue through education, science, culture, and communication. One main reason this organization appealed to me is that they strive to attain education for all and lifelong learning. Looking at job opportunities in this organization I found many different opportunities in many different offices all over the world. While I would not want a job internationally I would be more interested in staying  in the United States. They offer different jobs as well as internships in their recruitment. I think this would be a great and interesting job to have, especially with their influence on lifelong learning.
   Another organization that I found is the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI). This organization reaches out on a global level to the community of educators and advocates who unite knowledge, experience, and perspective in order to exchange information, explore innovation, and advocate for children. I found this organization interesting because of their mission to ensure the developmental growth and well-being of children worldwide. While I did not find any paying jobs, I did find how to apply for volunteering and internships. The internships help handle global education issues. I think even an internship at this organization would be great to gain experience in helping global efforts to improve education.
   The last organization that interested me was the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). I have always heard of UNICEF and I am interested in what their organization has accomplished and their mission. UNICEF has the mission to ensure the well-being and rights of every child on a global scale. While I did not find any jobs at this organization I think it would be an interesting job to have. Having a big influence on the well-being and rights of children from all over the world would be very rewarding. I think UNICEF is a great organization that has great international influence.

References
Association for Childhood Education International http://acei.org/
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization http://en.unesco.org/
United Nations Children's Fund http://www.unicef.org/

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

There are three organizations that have appealed to me during my research of communities of practice for my challenge of inequities in teacher preparations.

   One organization is the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). This organization has many different resources and means of assessing the quality of higher education programs in the early childhood field. NAEYC has different accreditation programs for help higher education programs better prepare teachers to work with young children. While looking at their jobs page, I also saw where there was a job for senior director for higher education accreditation. Even though this job would require me to have more experience in higher education, I believe it is a great job to potentially look at in my future as well as what their requirements are for a job such as this.
   Another organization that I found was the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. This organization is there to help and support educator preparation and it is dedicated to promote high-quality, evidence-based preparation programs that assures educators are ready to teach all learners. In searching for job listings on their website I came across a job search page for many different jobs within the higher education field all across the U.S. There was even a section for a few jobs to be found outside of the U.S. I think this would be a great start to look at different potential jobs within the higher education field. 
   The last organization that I found is The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). This organization help establish accreditation to programs to help ensure high quality teacher preparation. Accreditation applies to schools, colleges, and departments of education. This organization can help in my community of practice because of the knowledge of teacher preparation standards that are assessed throughout many different schools and programs. There were no job listings on this website but there are many valuable pieces of information about how to be accredited from this organization. Being accredited will allow me to help find jobs that I know are readily prepared to educate future teachers.

References
http://aacte.org/
http://www.ncate.org/
http://www.naeyc.org/

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community

   It is important for me to grow professionally in the field of early childhood education. Right now I am currently a teacher in a two- three year-old classroom but I hope to grow and move on to other opportunities soon. Before moving on to these other opportunities I have to research and look at different organizations on the local and state level that can help me find different career opportunities. Many of the career choices I am looking for involve teaching/training professionals or potential professionals in the early childhood field.
   One organization that I found was the Partnership for Children of Johnston County. This is an organization that I am well aware of in my local community that helps young children and professionals in the field of early childhood. Opportunities at the organization include providing trainings for other professionals in the field. These trainings can include many different topics in the early childhood field. I think this is a great organization that I could potentially be a part of.
   Another organization that I am well aware of is NCAEYC. This is the North Carolina chapter of NAEYC and I have attended many different conferences that have been arranged by this organization. Potential career opportunities with this organization could be to help the community of early childhood professionals in their own professional growth and development. This organization does not only help professionals in the field but also as advocates for early childhood in communities and the state.
   The last organization that I was interested in was the NC Institute for Child Development Professionals. This organization has many different resources and tools to help professionals that teach adult learners in the early childhood field. Through this resource I could gain certifications and look for career opportunities that are related to the field. It is important as a professional that I look for opportunities to grow and I believe this organization can help me find the resources to do so. No matter which career path I choose, I can be well prepared by doing my research on career opportunities and use my knowledge pertaining to the early childhood field.


References
http://www.partnershipforchildrenjoco.org/
http://ncaeyc.org/
http://ncicdp.org/

Week One: Merging Passion, Vision, and Practice

This week we were able to create a Wordle that represents our passion and interests in the early childhood field. Here is my Wordle:

I look forward to working with each of you on our last course of our program!

Thank You

   I would like to take this time to thank my colleagues throughout this course! I have learned so much from not only the information and resources from the course but from my colleagues. Everyone's personal experiences and insights has helped me to fully understand about communication and collaboration. Hopefully I will get to continue working with a few of you through our specialization courses. To the ones that are going into a different specialization I hope that you all are able to succeed in not only what is left of your Walden education but in your professional goals as well. I am glad to share this educational journey with you all!

Team Development

   During the adjourning stage of team development, it is the time when the team members complete their tasks and say good-bye. I believe that during this stage it is harder to leave some groups than others. A group that would be hard to leave is one where the team members made real connections with one another and even had high performance throughout the project or task. I believe that groups with clear and established norms can be hard to leave because of the high performance situations and the positive interactions through these norms and performances.

   I have been a part of many groups. Some groups were hard to leave while others were very easy. The groups that were the hardest to leave was when I made real connections with the other group members. One group for me that was the hardest to say good-bye was at my last job. I had to leave because I found a better job suited for my family but it was hard for me to leave my co-workers because of the connections that I made. We helped each other greatly professionally and personally and had great team building experiences. Having time to say good-bye was a great ritual that helped me to leave and know that I was making a the right decision. It made me still feel support from others about my decision and that my former co-workers would still be in contact with me.

   Upon leaving my time at Walden University I believe that having the support and knowledge from my other colleagues will help me to feel better about having to say good-bye and prepare me for my future endeavors. Having the time to say good-bye and taking what I have learned can help me in leaving my colleagues that has helped me along the way to gain my master's degree.