Farewell

It has been a pleasure and honor to complete this class with all you ladies. This adventure has been been tough for me, but because of the support of everyone on discussions and more, I have become more aware of who I am and what I really want for my future. You all are strong and confident individuals who strive for the best of the children. I would love to keep in contact with everyone and continue to work together. I understand every state program is run differently, but exchanging ideas and advices would better each other as individuals working together from a distant. Here is my email to keep contact via email myang5812@gmail.com. 

Dr. Embree,

Thank you for being a supportive teacher. It has been a pleasure being in your class. You have guided and supported me through my whole capstone project. I am greatly appreciative of your guidance through out this class. I hope to stay in contact, whether it is a word of advice about child development.   

International

UNICEF still emails me updates about the work this organization has accomplish with the different countries working for the rights of every child. Child right begin with shelter, nutrition, protection from disaster and conflict and transverse the life cycle: pre-natal for healthy births, clean water and sanitation, health care and education.

There are so many career opportunities listed on their website, but the one that really caught my attention was the Communication Consultant, Public Advocacy, Division of Communication, in New York.

• Provide strategic communication inputs to the development and execution of UNICEF’s global communication initiatives in support of UNICEF's mission, objectives and brand; explore and recommends ways to enhance UNICEF’s overall public advocacy, communication and outreach efforts: use resources strategically to optimize overarching results

• Develop strong partnerships with key stakeholders whose support is essential to the achievement of public advocacy and communication objectives

• Develop and implement communication strategies and plans, including messaging, audience analysis, products and services

• Coordinate the production of advocacy and communication materials, e.g. videos, websites, publications, social media products and others

• Develop, write and edit feature and news stories, blogs, advocacy briefs, reports and web content

• Regularly liaise with other divisions, county and regional offices, national committees and other partners for content development, information exchange and collaborative communication efforts

• Provide monitoring and evaluation updates and reports as needed

• Advanced degree in communication, journalism or international development

• Five to seven years of experience in public advocacy and communication

• Experience developing and implementing global communication strategies

• Demonstrated ability to produce cogent and compelling text that aligns with communications objectives

• Experience with web management and social media desirable

• Has highest-level communication skills, including engaging and informative formal public speaking

• Able to work effectively in a multi-cultural environment

• Sets high standards for quality of work and consistently achieves project goals

• Quickly builds rapport with individuals and groups; maintains an effective network of individuals across organizational departments

https://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_92981.html

Save the Children invests in childhood and for our future. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. There was no job opportunity for this organization. There are ways to be involved with this organization and a sponsor for a child.

http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

National and Federal Level

This organization provides information, support, and assistance to parents, children with disabilities, their professional partners, and their communities. They are a strong believer that all individual differences in people are a natural part of life, and that disabilities provide children and adults with unique perspectives, insights and abilities which contribute to the overall well-being of society. There were no available positions available to the public and no details about any position descriptions.

http://fcsn.org/

Parent Helping Parent is to help children and adults with special needs receive the support and services they need to reach their full potential by providing information, training, and resources to build strong families and improve systems of care. I was not able to get into the screen for any available opportunities. 

 http://www.php.com/

Local and State Levels

I have lived in Fresno, California throughout my life and with the many programs provided for families and children, the programs that have stood out for me and catches my attention is First 5, Children Services Network and EPU Children's Center. I chose these three programs because each program have different services provided for the families and children to get assistance.

Children Service Network's mission is to work towards the quality of of care for children in the central valley.

 First 5 is to ensure that all children between 0-5 are born healthy and raised in a nurturing home and community, where they can grow healthy and reach to their fullest potential.

EPU Children's Center is to strengthen and empower families and children facing extraordinary medical, developmental and parental challenges.

There are no opportunities of career available with First 5 and EPU Children's Center. Children Service Network is a non-profit agency that provides service to families and children, but if there were any vacancies available, it would be advertised in the Fresno Bee Newspaper. To have an opportunity to work in one of these agencies would be something great because as a person, I have so much passion to help and guide children and families and to see something amazingly happen would make me feel so good and grateful. I know that I made a child and the family succeed is the greatest feeling ever.

Farewell and See You All in the Future Classes...

To all my fellow colleagues, I would like to thank everyone of you for all the support, comments and best of all the great posts and blogs. I hope to see you all in the future classes. My email is always open for questions and suggestions. I wish you all the best of your endeavors. Good luck and strive for your dreams.

Dr. Williams, thank you for all your support and understanding. One of the few professors who stuck to the APA style without cutting the corners. I hope to have you as a professor again in the future. As my Master's program is coming more to an end, the professors are more stern and thank you for that.

The Journey of Education

If a group has fulfilled its goals and objectives, it will move into the adjourning stage. This may happen rather quickly for a project-specific team. At this stage it is important to achieve closure for the group on a positive note. Group members may feel a sense of loss and their motivation may decline when the group's work comes to an end. Some observers have even called this the mourning stage of group development.

Through out the years, the many groups I have had in my life the hardest ones were my coworkers and families. I learned so much from them as so they have learned from me. Some of the families I still keep in contact with and others I would see out in public and greet with a big warm hug. One of the groups I have a hard time leaving is the group who participates in the relay for life for the American Cancer Society. We all went from representing ourselves to becoming a group and have worked together to make sure goals are met. 

When my Master's come to an end, it would be hard to say good bye to the supportive classmates and professors. We all respond through technology and to communicate through discussions, blogs, and emails. The trust we have with each other is the great knowledge ones have to offer others. Adjourning is important because if you ever needed guidance or information you can always go back to the group because you left with a positive note.

Disagreement

“It's okay to disagree with the thoughts or opinions expressed by other people. That doesn't give you the right to deny any sense they might make. Nor does it give you a right to accuse someone of poorly expressing their beliefs just because you don't like what they are saying. Learn to recognize good writing when you read it, even if it means overcoming your pride and opening your mind beyond what is comfortable” (Lorenzana,  2016). 

Disagreements and conflicts can occur at any time of the day during work hours or one's daily life. The many disagreements I have had with work and personal life I have resolved them in a respectable way or was never resolved. I am currently in process of putting my daycare together, but a disagreement I have had was with my supervisor. She was a good person, but working with her was not quite agreeable. She came into the facility new and changing things without knowing her staff or the families. She demand things and did not care for anyone's feelings or concerns. At that time I was an Assistant Director/Preschool Teacher and I asked to talk to her in private. As two supervisor, no staff wants to see the main people of the building arguing and I did not agree to the changes she made and expected to change overnight. 

The 3 R's, respect, reciprocal and responsive could have positively impact on this disagreement. She made a comment about everything I said and interrupted when I was talking. The only thing, we agreed on was that she never said thank you, or please. I thought I was bad when it came to interruptions, but she was by far worse than me in communications. It is important to let everyone finish their opinions without any interruptions or putting my opinion in before they finish their opinion. As a professional, it would help us guide towards a positive communication rather than negative. We can set a positive way of communication so the children and families can see that there are other ways to resolve the issue. Another good communication was have good eye contact when you are talking to someone. 

This was how I felt with her everyday. 

Lorenzana, Ashly (2016). Quotes about Disagreements. Retrieved

     from http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/disagreement 

Who I am as a communicator...

     I am a good listener when it comes to people talking to me.  My best friend’s grandma told me, “you have always listen and never judged me. I appreciate you for that.”  I don’t always have people opening up to me about their problems, but I can listen to people when they talk.  Public speaking is very nerve wrecking for me.  I don’t know if others do it, but I have a habit of talking with my hands and it makes me less nervous, but I am nervously shaking.  This assignment was interesting to do.  I asked my best friend and a parent to evaluate me.  

     When doing this evaluation, I noticed that the scores were somewhat similar.  I am surprised with the score I have with Jenna and Ana in a group setting.   I tend to become overwhelm and nervous talking to a large group.  I always talk too fast and using my hands, but my legs shaking nervously. 

     The insights I gained this week is knowing my strengths and weaknesses.  Communication is how we process information whether it is through memories, perspectives and people around you.  Getting to know your perspectives, the way you see things and how we make expectations to improve our ways as a better communicators by not judging a person by their cover.

Culturally Communication

“If we are going to live with our deepest differences then we must learn about one another” (Levine, 2016).

  Communication is the biggest factor for anyone, but talking to someone from a different culture or individual, I have to watch what is being said and my body language. Body language is a big part of communicating with anyone because it shows exactly how one feels about the individual or group. I haven't really interact with other groups or culture in awhile, but my neighbors are Punjabi and they don't say much or give eye contact. They are very to themselves.

·    The strategies that I have learned the first three weeks and actually would use would be surely to keep eye contact and make sure it is positive and friendly. Make sure talk as clearly as possible so that they can understand. Being open about one's surrounding and the many cultures that are around without offending anyone. Most of all I would greatly show respect and empathy  for those who do not speak English.

Levine, Deborah. (2016). Quotes About Cross Cultural Understanding. Retrieved from    

      http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/cross-cultural-understanding

Full House to Fuller House

Everyone remembers Full House a television sitcom that was broadcast every night or Friday nights. Now it has returned as Fuller House on Netflix. One of my favorite sitcom when I was younger and still don't mind watching it once in a while.

In a continuation of Full House, D.J. Fuller is a mother of three young boys and is a recent widow. D.J.'s sister Stephanie, her best friend Kimmy and Kimmy's teenage daughter all move in to help her raise her sons. The house is now a lot fuller!

With no sound and watching the expression of their faces and body language, they all seem to be very open and loving to each other. There was a scene in the first episode where D.J's expression was frustrated, she runs upstairs, picks up her son and is in tears because there was so much going on before she went upstairs. With a lot of hugs and smiles with the characters, they all seem to get along and have good communication with each other.

My assumptions about the show was having the main characters in the television show and not just the kids. I thought that the main characters like John Stamos, Bob Saget, Lori Loughlin, David Alan Coulier, and Mary Kate Olsen would be on the sitcom, but the focus was on Candance Cameron-Bure and her three boys. My assumptions were wrong with the whole sitcom. Watching the show without the talking and with the talking, I have a better understanding of what was going on and the expressions on their faces.

Competent Communicator

To think of someone who is effective in their communication, I would choose my brother in law. He became the first Hmong American elected to the Fresno City Council representing District One. He worked his way up from an investigator for the Public Defender's Office of Fresno County before spending six years as the Deputy Director for Fresno's Center for New Americans. He was very professional, modest and presented himself with dignity. If I had a model of choice in communication, I would pick him because he would tell me the do's and the don'ts if you were speaking in public or the choice of words to sound appropriate and professional. To serve as a politician for two terms, just shows that his communication towards the community is heard and he follows through with action.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Communication+quotes&safe=active&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiMyoKjwajLAhUK_
mMKHXG8CasQsAQIKQ&biw=1366&bih=613 

Professional Hopes and Goals

·     

   

       Working with diverse families can be challenging because not knowing the unknown without hurting the other person's feeling or the family. A goal to be set as an early childhood professional would be have a family from a different culture bring one of their favorite dish to share with the other families. Another one is have a big paper tree be placed in each classroom have the families add one thing about their culture that no one does not know. Each family would do that so something new is added to the tree. This will let the children know, everyone is different, but we all are the same. It starts from the family with diversity and continues with the providers.  All good teaching begins with a respect for children, their innate curiosity and capacity to learn.  Curriculum should be rooted in children’s needs and experiences.

Another 8 weeks with supportive colleagues and a professor. I wish you all the best in your endeavors. I hope to see some of you in the next following classes.  Thank you for all the comments, criticisms, and support. 

  Dr. Horton,

  Thank you for another 8 weeks. I appreciate the support, comments and criticisms to help me grow as a writer and individual. I hope to have you again as a professor in my future classes. 

·         

Families From Around the World...

In every day life you hear the different ethnicity around the world, but never knew much about their cultures and living status. I have always been interested in the Filipino culture and the people. 

I am a director of a small social service agency and I had a family of six coming from the Philippines.  I was unaware of their status and especially their culture. I always heard the Filipino was similar to Hispanic families, but if they were from their homeland, they would be more traditional. I started on my research about the Filipino culture and their people and this is what I have learned.

1. The family is the center of the social structure including, the immediate family, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, godparents, sponsors and close family friends.

2. They must live up to the standards and if they fail, they will shame not only themselves, but the family too.

3. The family will not eat until the hostess invites them to eat. When eating they are often served family-style. 

4. Their official language spoken is Tagalog.

5.  A handshake with a welcoming smile is a standard greet. 

6. English is generally used for education, governmental, and commercial purposes. 

Five ways to be culturally responsive:

1. Being committed to knowing the family and their culture.

2. Being more sensitive to how they deal with conflicts.

3. Be alert of my own biases.

4. Ask questions.

5. Work with the family to develop a sense of trust.

Being prepared to meeting a new culture and family is much more than just research. Hoping that the information I did gathered and research would help me part way with the family. Setting all my biases aside is the first major step to going forward with anything. Gaining the family trust is another major step, knowing everyone and having an understanding of how I would benefit the family. Every family is different and I could not base my information on books, internet or any resources because knowing the family at a personal level and business level means much more.

Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression...

     I don't recall having any negative situations or incidents I had to step in. I do remember having a positive prejudice when I use to work as a director in the biggest facility.  I had a mom who was Caucasian and adopted a Japanese girl from Japan. She was two years old when she started the daycare. When I was short a teacher, I stepped in the class and during circle time, we talked about different race and color of the skin. Her exact words was, Ms. M. I am white like my mommy huh?? Followed with a big smile on her face. I agreed with her and smiled. Then the whole class went on talking about it is okay to be the color you are and it is mean to call each other names. 

     It is a great feeling when you are a teacher and you are teaching children about being positive. Children are a sponge, they pick up the negatives to the positives of comments and reaction of adults. 

     The more I was more in the classroom full of preschoolers I made sure multicultural was more in the curriculum and letting the children learning more about each other. For example, I had an activity for homework for the child and parent to do together. The activity was to make a family quilt, pictures of their family members and words to describe their family. When they got to school, the child would share with the class. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=prejudice+quotes&safe=active&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=657&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiB9Nek9_jKAhVFxGMKHebwD90QsAQIIg&dpr=1#safe=active&tbm=isch&q=prejudice+with+children+quotes&imgrc=aOwkET0AZkoWtM%3A 

Awareness of Microaggressions

     As long as I can remember, I have always got, "are you sure you are Asian?" "You don't have an Asian name." "Are you sure you are not Mexican?" "Maria is a very common name for Mexican people." "It isn't a fake name is it cause all Asian people have their name then aka their American name." 
     
     At first, I would chuckle and laugh, but when people continue to pick at the question, it gets frustrating. Sometimes I feel like I have to make up an Asian name so they would feel better that my name is not Maria and I am not Mexican. 

     I have realized that no matter what you do, who you are, how you do things, what your name is, or your ethnicity, there will always be a racial, bias, or stereotypical remark towards you. With the new generations, many of these behaviors are learned behavior by the parents. Racial, stereotyping, bias, and discrimination cannot be controlled. Parents have control over what comes out of their child's mouth and the things they do. For example, I had a step-parent teaching his step son about calling Black individuals the "N" word and as long as his step son did it outside of school, it was okay for him to say or hurt them. The mom was unaware of what was said to her son, until I met with her in regards to his comment. 

"Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome" (Park, Rosa., 2001-2016).

Parks, Rosa. (2001-2016). Racism Quotes. Retrieved from
     http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/racism.html

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture...

My best friend is turning 34 and is half Irish. Her definition of culture is family values and beliefs, customs, music and the literature. Diversity to her means the different nationalities that makes the world a better place. We are not the same nationality, but we have an understanding of each other.

My high school friend is Hispanic. Her definition of culture is family, religion, clothing and food. Diversity to her means having respect for others who are different from their own. She was raised as a Catholic and truly believes in it. I grew up with a Catholic family, but didn't follow into the religion.

A recent friend I became close to is Filipino. His definition of culture is family, food and values. His term of diversity is the different nationality around the world that makes everyone unique. We have our differences in other topics, but respect each other as individuals.

Everyone has their definition of culture and diversity. They have their ways of celebrating and teaching their children. With the differences we have makes us unique and learn more from each other. 

My Family Culture..

Being evacuated to another country with limited belongings would be hard to do. On the other hand, if I had the choice of taking the three items with me, it would be the traditional dress my mom made me, wear an extra pant, and a hair brush. The first arrival to the destination, I am afraid and lost in thoughts because I do not know how others would feel about my culture. I would cooperate with the dominant culture until they get an understanding of my culture. If the dominant culture want nothing to do with the culture, I would keep to myself and my family.

The traditional dress my mom was made by hand and each of the colorful piece was sewn on for the decoration. (This dress and outfit is off the web, but it is similar to the one my mom sewn for me.)

This is the full traditional outfit.

The dress I would take with me

With the hard work and effort put into this dress I would not leave it behind. If for some reason my mom did not make it through the changes, I would have something that would mean more to me than a picture.

An extra pant for the road because I do not know if there would be any jobs available to work so I can buy clothes.

A hair brush is a must. I would not want my hair nappy and knotted hair.

Honestly with the insights, I have appreciated my culture and other culture more, even when I know everyone is set in their ways of living and values, but I know we all learn from each other. Working as an early childhood provider, all bias has to be set aside and open the cover like it is a new book. The funny thing was when I was a preschool teacher, all the students who were head strong and always got into trouble were the ones put in my class. Yet they never gave me the trouble they gave the other teachers.