my 2nd event

I took a course at the Sherlock Center right here on campus in October. this course was from 8-10:30 in the morning and was about disabilities. this course also implemented the standards and how we can use them with all children. this class was interesting since i did not know much about the Sherlock center here at RIC. we got into groups and answered questions about different types of disabilities...autism, hearing impaired, speech disorder and so on. we then went into on different types of classroom materials that would be beneficial for each child that has a disability. a good site to check out would be www.ric.edu/sherlockcenter and the ride.ri.gov site.

my 1st event

the first event I did was during the summer, but ended in October. Due to my job I am required to take classes for the Rhode Island Early Learning Standards. the class I took was called Implementing a standards based classroom. this class was 36 hours, Wednesdays from 5:30-8:30 from July until October. we talked about the nine domains and what each meant. we had a binder and had articles to read each week as well as doing a lesson plan for different topics. we learned what four parts make up a curriculum...context, content, process and teaching and facilitating. I also had to do a project based on the for parts of the lesson plan and present it. we then talked about the different ways to do assessments on the children in the classroom. from taking this course i have implementing a new lesson plan format based on the standards, we post the standards up for the parents, send home family fun cards, we do observations on each child everyday and have binders for children's work. A good site to check out would be: www.ride.ri.gov and rields.com this site actually has the standards on it and courses to take for the RIELDS.

The Youth

After reading this article I understand a lot about helping out the youth. I have been working with children for 11 years and I know all about the changes that have been made. When I first started working in child care it did not matter if you had a degree or not. I mean in order to work in a classroom it did not matter. The way lesson planning was done was simple and there were no guides on what you needed to have in it. Requirements of DCYF have changed over the years as well. Now we have to have some type of degree in order to be a director, lead teacher, head teacher or even an educational coordinator. If you have no educational degree then you are just considered an assistant teacher. I know my center is only hiring if you have a degree. We are required to take classes based on the Rhode Island Early Learning Standards and to make sure our curriculum is aligned with them as well. Bright stars is a program that is now required for almost all daycares to be part of. I have to say without bright stars we would of never been able to get a grant to upgrade the classrooms or most recently receive one to redo the playground. We have to have these items in place in order to make sure our children are getting the best, quality and effective learning. Not only for the youth, by having programs in place to help them (youth in action or project night vision). There are also programs out there to help the younger students as well (resilient kids, the Sherlock center). I know that with my degree in youth development and other trainings I may receive will help me to be a better educational coordinator.

Resilient kids

This is the first time I have ever heard of resilient kids. I looked over their website from top to bottom and found some interesting facts. I like all the quotes they have on the site that keep changing. It is nice to see that they use the word "we" a lot. To me this is important because it is not just one person making a difference, but a team. I liked how they do different activities with the youth by giving ideas on their site. For example: The Art of puzzling and planting seeds. I like this, "Let the road of mindfulness lead you on the right path". This is so true because if you take the right path then it will help you succeed. This is a great tool for teachers and schools. They help them and the children with ways to reduce stress and behaviors. There goal seems to make sure that everyone they work with has a positive outcome. My only question would be: can resilient kids help teachers in a preschool setting with behaviors as well? I feel that everything that is out their is more focused on the public schools, but what about the younger children struggling with behaviors and learning.

Danger of a single story

This was my first time listening to this TED talk. I liked how she talked about how different cultures affected her. Society has put in our minds that different cultures are different and we judge them. Everyone is different, everyone does things their way, their culture is important to them, so we should not judge. Youth get a bad name because that is what society says. We as adults need to help guide the youth by being the example. I particularly do not have a story to talk about, but I do have one of a person trying to help the youth. Kobie Dennis is the founder of project night vision, located in Providence at the Salvation Army Building. He has been working to get the youth, 13-18 year olds off the streets at night. He has done midnight basketball in the summer, does fundraising to help the youth with school supplies and prom dresses. I have heard other people around me talk bad about the youth, but I also hear judgements all the time. Sometimes I feel like people take advantage of me because of who I am. I carry myself well and have worked very hard to get to where I am today. I basically brush it off and not let it get to me. On a last note: "Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity." This is a powerful statement and I wanted to end my blog with it.

Identity in Context

This chapter hit all the right points. Being a youth can be hard to find your identity. This is when they start to find themselves, but let's not forget that it also begins when they are preschoolers. They are understanding their bodies, feelings, other relationships with children and want they like to play with. The author spoke a lot about Erickson, which I remember from many psychology classes. Mitch asks Julian to do some work on what other people think or see of him. Here are the four different identities: 1. Foreclosed Identity- an individual has committed to a life direction or way of being without exploring it carefully and without experimenting with alternatives. 2. Diffuse Identity- is a state in which there has been little exploration or active consideration of a particular identity and no psychological commitment to one. 3. Identity Moratorium- one actively explores roles and beliefs, behaviors and relationships, but refrains from making a commitment. 4. Achieved Identity- when the identity crisis is resolved and the commitment to the selected identity is high. So when it came to me writing my own context map I felt like I did not have to much to put on it. I have done one of these before in a social work class. I feel like I know my identity, but a lot has happened in my life gnat has made me who I am today.

The Construction of Adolescence

This article was very well written and made a lot of sense. Reading this gave a new insight on what adolescents go through. Also when I was reading this I was thinking about how it was when I was growing up and most of what they said was true.
As I was reading this chapter I highlighted some words that caught my attention:
Rude, disrespectful, hostile, unappreciated, maligned, ignored, or spitefully treated. These words all have different meanings, but they stood out to me. Some adolescents can feel all these or be called these. I know from experience that I have felt unappreciated while growing up and even to this day I sometimes feel it too.
As I kept reading I came across some more words:
Allegiances, cognitive development, theoretical thinking, tested knowledge, theoretical imagination, experimenters, construction of adolescence, interpsychological development, scaffolding, zone of proximal development. I may not know what all these words or phrases mean, but they stood out to me. I know what cognitive development is because it is one of the Rhode Island Early Learning Standards.
Now as I sit here thinking about the ten people that have helped shape my life...I cannot think of that many. I have probably only three in my life. The one person that comes to mind is a long time friend and coworker of mine for eleven years. We started working in our first daycare and developed a life long friendship. She was there for me when I got married and I was there for her when she got divorced. She lost a dog during this time and I was there for her as well. She was there for me when I found out I was pregnant and then when my son was born. Then she left and went to another daycare as a director. She asked me to go with her so I did. When we worked at our second daycare I grew so much as a teacher. I became the lead head start teacher in the preschool classroom, was part of BrightStars and took a lot of trainings. She has showed me so much over the years on how to be a better teacher for these young children of ours. She has always encouraged me to strive and be the best. Then she moved to another and the last daycare. She asked me to go with her again and of course I went. I have become more knowledgable with BrightStars and the Rhode Island Early Learning Standards. I have used my knowledge to help make the other classrooms up to par. Currently I am working on my Bachelors and due to this amount of knowledge I know, she is making me the educational coordinator. I feel blessed to have her in my life and this is one friendship I will cherish for a lifetime.

Color blind or invisible

Black, white, yellow, or invisible we are all human; well that's what we want to think or what we want people to think of themselves.  

I have had the opportunity to work with a "Black" gentlemen named Kobi Dennis at Project Night Vision in Providence, which is similar to Youth in Action and focuses on the youth of the Chad Brown housing projects, and to be honest I was nervous.  Here I am going to meet with guy who, runs a program with the youth in "Chad," who i am going to ask to help me with a project in one of my Non Profit classes.  Let's be honest "Chad" doesn't have the greatest reputation. I'm thinking oh boy I'm in for it, I was scared.  And honestly it couldn't be farther for the truth, this man treated me like family from day 1, to the point my family was at a community yard sale on Broad St and he introduces us as his "light skinned family".  It's been almost 2 years since our first meeting, and he made it a point to reach out to wish me a happy birthday. 

What does this have to do with race/racism and being color blind? I can honestly say that Kobi is inspiration, he doesn't care who you are, what color your skin is, religion.  The only thing he cares about is the community and that children in his community succeed. This "Black" man stands proudly with anyone who sees that the children are the future.  He isn't a "BLACK" man to me he is an inspiration, someone that when I'm done with school I will stride to be like, someone I want to emulate.  

Why should we be color blind? The world never will be, we can only treat each other as humans and brothers and sisters. 

I have felt invisible when I have gone into a new class or a new place of work. I have also felt this way in my own family, which is all I am going to say about that. 

I do feel that we need to teach not only our youth about this topic, but our younger children as well. We as adults need to set the role to our children and let them know it does not matter what color you are and to treat everyone the same or treat them the way you want to be treated.

What's your sign? Ideology quiz

This was the first time I have taking a quiz like this. I actually had to read the questions more than once. On a personal note, I felt like I wanted to put a number 1 on more than one of the statements. After adding up my scores I came up with Risk, Resiliency and Prevention. I can honestly say I agree with it. I do care a lot about the youth and the key issues that come up with them. I do feel that we as adults need to guide the youth to make the right decisions. It does however not necessarily begin with the youth. I believe it begins with our youngest children. We need to help the youngest ones to develope the skills they need to be able to make the right decisions.
I was not too far behind for the Positive Youth Development sign. I do agree with this one as well. We do need to help with the strengths and positive growth in our youth as well as figuring out how to build on this for them. Overall I was pretty happy with the outcome of the quiz. I know that youth work is important and it is a good idea to get them more involved. If we can get the youth to be positive role models then our younger children will succeed as well.
Christina Boone

A World Where Youth Hold the Power

The main ideas of this article is to talk about what Youth in Action does. They have teenagers that run the organization and help make decisions. The organization was started by teenagers that wanted to build strong relationships with their communities. The organization spoke a lot about Providence and the people that live there. They spoke about how the building was an important part to the organization. It is amazing to read about how they decided to design the inside of the building. The article also spoke with other youth about how they have been impacted. Youth engagement through the entire building was a big part of setting this program up. They want the youth to strive and make changes in the community.
I personally do not have any examples from when I was a youth. I do want to say that these programs are not necessary important only in Providence, but in other parts of the state as well. Every town needs to have programs for the youth. I do agree with the fact that the building is important for a successful program. I work at a daycare and the inside and outside of the building definetly needs to have a good sense of energy. For me it is also the classrooms for each age group as well.
I do have someone that does have a youth program in Providence called Project Night Vision. Reading this article makes me thing of him and all the things he does for the youth in Providence. He makes the youth a big part of his organization and they help out as well. When I was growing up I never had the opportunity to be part of a youth program. Working with 3-5 year olds, we are getting them to strive and help them to be part of the community. It all begins at a young age, but the youth is important as well since sometimes they get left behind. The main goal should be to have every town in Rhode Island with a youth program. Let's make a difference one youth at a time.
Christina Boone

Blog post #1

     Working with the youth or children is rewarding. I have been working with children for eleven years and it has it's ups and downs. I will say I have had days that have been rough and others that have been fun and exciting. I currently work with the ages 3-5 and all I can say is wow. For example: just listening to the conversations the children have with each other is great. Just the language these children have is unbelievable. So I do agree with the article when they say it is rewarding to work with the youth. I personally love to see their progress and watch them grow.
     Youth work is an educational practice. I would definitely say that this is true. Just because I work in a daycare does not mean I do not need an education. Times are changing and the requirements to work in a daycare have changed. Currently I have to take classes about the Rhode Island Early Learning Standards. Daycare workers have to be certified in all three classes they offer. Also it is required to have knowledge in Iters and Ecers for BrightStars. It is a high demanding job working in the daycare field, but like I said before it is all for the children and making sure they succeed.
     This article really said everything that I currently do and believe in. Working with the youth or children is a way to make a difference in their lives, even if it is just one. I have a friend who is the founder of Project Night Vision in Providence, working to get youth off the streets, he goes beyond the call of duty. He does a lot for the youth in Providence by having car washes, backpack drives, midnight basketball leagues and much more. I feel like in this field you have to go beyond the call of duty. I know in my own classroom I do go beyond. I am always striving to do better and improve how I run my classroom. I am always looking for classes to take and looking for new ideas. For example, I am currently taking the next Rhode Island Early Learning Standards class on classroom. We talked about curriculum and lesson plans. From taking this course I have changed my planbook and it was for the good of the classroom and for the children. I have to say it is working really well and the children are learning and growing because of the change.
     I will continue to learn and grow as well as help our youth and children be successful.
Christina Boone

 

ALL ABOUT ME!!!

I like to golf

 

 

 



My husband, Randy and son, Anthony

 

My dog, Sergio

My 6 year old son, Anthony