More Than What You See

[morethanwhatyousee]

Blog Post Part 4: The Ending

Throughout this semester we have had many assignments due that focused on different systems. Each assignment I will be discussing in this blog has helped me change my systems thinking throughout the past few weeks. The assignment on Family and Community Treasures focused on one’s own values they have within their systems. Everyone has a treasure they value but their systems continue to change. Zera (2002) states, “Because systems are constantly changing and evolving, they are consistently emerging into something new” (pg. 19). In other words, systems change but their treasure don’t necessary change. I chose this assignment that has affected my thinking because before I did not think of treasures being used in family school community partnership. When it comes to children, getting to know more about them and the systems around them is important in many aspects like communication with families, including the community, and being part of a child’s life outside of the school environment.

The next assignment that changed my perspective was the Assumptions Reflection. Before doing this assignment, I would make assumptions about children and their families. I would not know the whole story but would assume different thoughts about them. This assignment had challenged my systems thinking because I was used to making assumptions about others. Okimoto and Heilman (2012) states, “In other words, the bad parent assumption should only occur in conditions where the stereotype of a good mother is inconsistent with necessary job attributes. Thus, we should be able to diminish the bad parent assumption by manipulating situational characteristics that increase perceived fit” (pg. 712). Therefore, Okimoto and Heilman explain that assumptions are based on the stereotypes shown for “bad parents”. At my job there are many single families that are raising their children. These families work very hard to care for their children. Today after doing this assignment my thinking as evolved where I stop myself from making these negative assumptions about children and their families.

The third assignment that I did not think was as important as it is now Community Systems Mapping. The goal for this assignment was to explore the community of a school. It is important to know about the ins and outs of a school. At first, I only thought it was important to only map the school itself but incorporating the community of the school is a key factor for children. Environment is a system that is present in the school’s system. As an educator it is important to know about the environment children are in. Richards, Brown, & Forde (2007) states, “This is concerned with the institutional approach to community involvement in which families and communities are expected to find ways to become involved in the school, rather than the school seeking connections with families and communities” (pg. 64). The educational systems should not only just communicate with families and the community but also to involve them in the schools. Being culturally responsive is a great way to support children in and outside of school. After doing this assignment, it has allowed me to think about the systems mapping of the community and learning more about the environment.

The fourth assignment that had challenged my thinking on resources is the Text Selection assignment. For this assignment I chose the theme of friendships to look for different texts like books, videos, poems, and songs that I would use to discuss the topic of friendships. I chose the theme of friendships because children interact with peers. When analyzing the texts, it was key to critique them on why I would use them or not. This assignment was challenging for me to do because for some text I could not find a gap or push further to critique. Analyzing text is not just books or poems for reading but others read differently by looking, listening, hand gestures. This makes me think about how children read text and how it is important for teachers to find text children can analyze.

The last assignment that really made me think was the Breaking Down Barriers video assignment. For this assignment, I had to look for a barrier that is present in family school community partnership. The barrier I chose was family involvement in a child education. Communication between the school and families of the child because it builds bonds. Keyes (2002) states, “First meetings with parents, often the first personal connection that is made, set the tone for the subsequent relationship, making it critical to be aware of issues of cultural styles in conversation, space and eye contact” (pg. 184). The relationship of teachers and families are very important for a child’s education. I chose to pick this assignment because there are barriers that are in family school community partnership. Knowing about these barriers helps me think about ways to better them in schools today.

Reference

Keyes. Carol R. (2002). “A Way of Thinking about Parent/Teacher Partnership for Teachers.”     International Journal of Early Years Education. Pg. 177-191.

Okimoto, T. G & Heilman, M. E. (2012). “The “Bad Parent” Assumption: How Gender    Stereotypes Affect Reactions to Working Mothers.” Journal of Social Issue. Pg. 704-724.

Richards. H. V, Brown. A. F, & Forde. T. B. (2007). Addressing Diversity in Schools: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. Teaching Exceptional Children. Pg. 64-68.

Zera, D.A. “What Is a System and A System Perspective?” (2002). The H.W. Wilson Company.  Pg. 18-20.

[missveganmommy]

[morethanwhatyousee]

Hey Shayna, 

Great barrier that you presented. Your video explain clear evidence of this barrier. What are some ways that you can implement effective actions when you can't talk to the families that are rushing out or when you are handling another activity at the moment? 

[morethanwhatyousee]

Hey Jessica, I agree that there is a barrier of communitction between teachers and parents, has educators what is your plan to bring together the family and school system to open up the lines of communication and substain it. Courtney Hibbert

Hey Courtney, first getting to know the families is an important aspect because knowing their availability to communicate is key: after knowing their availability, then bringing up meeting would be a great way to communicate with families and school. This would allow school and families to listen and have a discussion about their child.

[morethanwhatyousee]

Breaking Down Barriers Part 7

Sharing:

One human system I was able to show this vlog to be a college student. Before showing this vlog to them a potential influence through the video I hope to get from was the importance of communication between families and teachers. This individual does not have children at this moment, but I hope that this vlog can influence them for the future of their children and the involvement of the families. After showing the video to the individual they were surprised to know that family involvement is a barrier. They were interested in the information provided in the video about ways communication is affective and not affective. The individual was able to see the goal of the vlog which connects to the system theory tenet what are the goals of the system? The goal was to inform others about barriers help form family school community partnership.

The other human system I was able to show this vlog was to a parent. Before showing the video a potential influence, I hoped to see what the impact a child has when they see their families be more involved in their schooling. After showing the vlog to the parent, they were amazed to see how family involvement is important to the child but also to the teachers. The parent is already involved in their child education, but they appreciated the video because they were able to see the importance of it. The system theory that was presented is how are the systems changing and evolving? The system is changing the way they think about family involvement in their child and communication with teachers.

Reference

Cooper. Camille Wilson. (2009). “Parent Involvement, African American Mothers and the Polities of Educational Care.” Equality & Excellence in Education. Pg. 379-394.

Keyes. Carol R. (2002). “A Way of Thinking about Parent/Teacher Partnership for Teachers.” International Journal of Early Years Education. Pg. 177-191.

[morethanwhatyousee]

Breaking Down Barriers Part 6

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Breaking Down Barriers Part 5

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Breaking Down Barriers Part 4

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Breaking Down Barriers Part 3

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Breaking Down Barriers Part 2

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Breaking Down Barriers Part 2

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Breaking Down Barriers Part 1

[morethanwhatyousee]

I enjoyed your post on Assumption, I must admit, I make assumptions, all the time about people and there capabilities sometimes I am right and sometimes I am wrong. Assumption are apart of life, we just have to be mindful of the people situation, As a educator what are someways you can minimize making assumptions about your students and their capabilities? Courtney Hibbert

A way to limit assignments about children and their capabilities is to give them a chance. Observing and getting to know the child is very important to see the skills they have. When knowing their skill it would help to continue to build on other abilities.

[morethanwhatyousee]

Hey Jessica, I enjoy reading your modification on the movie FAP into a comic portfolio and the importance of communication between family school-community partnerships. Based on your post & questions to your audience, my questions to you would be 1. How would you establish clear & good communication to families? 2. How would you revise or modify your communication skills if a family or family member is reluctant to participating in a FAP?-Leslie

Hey Leslie,

A way I would conduct good communication between families is have a meeting with them throughout the year to allow them to express their concerns or questions. This would allow me to listen and understand families. A way I would revise families that reluctant to participate in a FAP is to explain to them the reason for the participation. Explain to families in person has a clear instruction of what to do. If this does not work then making a plan with the families to accommodate participation.

[morethanwhatyousee]

Hey Jess, I likes your post, as a future educator hw do you think y'all be able to open parents and teachers and administrators minds to new ways of thinking, I believe it can be challenging to change people minds when they have been thinking a certain way for so long, change is natural but also difficult. Courtney Hibbert

Hello Courtney, 

Homework's that world open families, teachers and administrators to new thinking is learning about the child’s culture and implementing those in the classroom. It opens doors for other teachers to learn more about their children. 

[morethanwhatyousee]

Family Assessment Portfolio

This assignment was deigned to help readers find a deeper connection in family school community partnership. Good teachers find ideas and ways to modify their resources to their own systems. The Family Assessment Portfolio is a text that describes many ways to learn about children and their families.

After reading the text I was able to see ways teachers can get to know their child through Family Assessment Portfolio. An idea that was described in the text was a guide to creating a child scrape book. The text provides an example of the scrape book which helps others see what it looks like. This is relating to our class today because it helps us teachers not only learn about the child but also about their families. This idea builds communication between teachers and families which is very key. When I think about this assignment is helps me see other ways that I can modify it to today’s generation. I think about how many families don’t have access to technology at home. This information allows me to think about what resources schools can provide for those children.

My thinking has changed in a way where I have thought of different kind of families. An example of this is families who live in a shelter or families that don’t have the resources to make videos about their child. In the Family Assessment Portfolio text, it provides an idea for families to create a movie that’s 10-12 minutes long. This is a great idea but a way to modify it is creating a comic book with children and their families. It would be a great activity for families and their children to do together.

In Systems theory a question to think about is What are the goals of the system? In the article “Family Assessment Portfolio: A New Way to Jumpstart Family/School Collaboration” written by James R. Thompson, Hedda Meadan, Kenneth W. Fansler, Sarah B. Alber, and Patricia A. Balogh (2007) state “FAPs empower parents to provide critical information that they want school planning team members to know. FAPs ensure that family voices are heard, and get family/school communication off to a good start” (pg. 22). In other words, the goal for the family system is to provide information to the school about their child. This allows families to be heard and have good communication between both families and schools. Another question is how are systems interacting with each other? In the article “A Way of Thinking about Parent/Teacher Partnership for Teachers” by Carol R. Keyes states “On the one hand, teachers and parents who have had successful interactions with each other, observed or heard about others’ successes, and/or felt that efforts were worthwhile are more likely to have that personal sense of efficacy” (pg. 183). Therefore, the interactions between the systems are important. In this case it’s between the families and teachers about the child. From this assignment I was able to see why it is important to have clear communication between families and teacher. In what area should communication be important for the systems? What are some ways to get to know the families and listen to what they have to say.

Original assignment: https://ccnymailcuny-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/jmontoy005_citymail_cuny_edu/EZvD1k6gAcBNieL1rxuzDRkBw-E3DwCENIn0TZ_CJuaHyQ?e=N9bBhz

Reference:

Keyes. Carol R. (2002). “A Way of Thinking about Parent/Teacher Partnership for Teachers.” International Journal of Early Years Education. Pg. 177-191.

James R. Thompson, Hedda Meadan, Kenneth W. Fansler, Sarah B. Alber, and Patricia A. Balogh. (2007). “Family Assessment Portfolio: A New Way to Jumpstart Family/School Collaboration.” Teaching Exceptional Children. Pg. 19-25.

[morethanwhatyousee]

I enjoyed your post, but what would you do to help educate your future students and community on assumption,to help build a partnership.

I would help my future students and community by being an example. I am not 100% assumption free but I can inform them why negative assumption are not the way to go.

[morethanwhatyousee]

Hey! Thank you for sharing your comic, very inspiring! I feel like I am learning more about you through your comic and posts. I can also relate to the negative stigma there is around the immigrant community. Question: what is your assumption(s) that you may feel would be an obstacle in your classroom?

Hey! Thank you for this question! An assumption I feel would be an obstacle for me in my classroom is families not giving their child the attention they need. This would be an obstacle for me because I would question why families would not want to be more involved in their child’s life in and out of school. I would overcome this by listening to the families and getting to know them. It would help me understand them more.