Relationship Reflection

(Telora Thatch- Mother) My mother is a very outgoing person who is devoted to the mentally, spiritual, and physical growth of all of those around her. My mother has always encouraged me to do what is right in the eye of God and not man. She never allowed me to run with the crowds which I’m thankful for because most of my classmates and childhood friends are either dead, in prison, or have several children with little education. As a child I was able to try a variety of activities such as dance, basketball, girl scouts, choir, and many more. I’m grateful that because till these day I still love to dance.

(Thelma Wright- Grandmother) My grandmother has always told me that my job is to be a young lady and get my education. She has taken me along on many trips traveling to varies places like FL, TX, MI, CA, and many more. At a young age I was able to see many parts of the USA, I believe this is where my love from traveling comes from.

(Aunt Von) My Aunt Von is what we today call Ol School. If you are around her you are expected to say ma’am and sir. She is an advocate for education. Before I attended school she would care for me. I remember learning my alphabets, numbers, personal information like my address, phones number,etc., personal hygiene, and many more things that aided in my success. I can also remember when I first started school I did not know how to tie my shoe, one evening when we went over she made me sit at the table and practice tying my shoe. I couldn’t get up until I learned how to do so. I was upset at the time because I was missing my show but that was my motivation to learn so in less than 5 minutes I had shoe tying down packed!

(Mrs. Glover-former teacher)  She pushed me through high school, molding me into a stronger, level-headed young lady. She instilled in us that we are nothing without God or education.

 Because of the people in my life I have become the women I am today.When you are speaking about Temeka Twinette Thatch three words will come to mind; boisterous, energetic, and enduring. I am a woman who strongly believes in her roots and values. I am the back bone of my family. In hard times you will never see me throw in the towel, why? I always have a positive outlook on life. When hurdles come, I refer to my favorite scripture which is Phil. 4:13 which states “I can do all things though Christ who strengthens me.” 

Quote

"Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate."- Anonymous

I love this quote because it is important that we set a good example for not only our students but our own children.

“It takes a village to raise a child”-African Proverb                                                                                                                                                                
 As educators we must remember this when working with children. It is not a one man show so we must work closely with parents, family, principals’, and others to ensure the best for each child.

Maurice Sklar prophecy 12/01/11 « Rapture In The Air Now ~

Maurice Sklar prophecy 12/01/11 « Rapture In The Air Now ~

Assessments

Teachers who develop useful assessments, provide corrective instruction, and give students second chances to demonstrate success can improve their instruction and help students learn (Guskey , 2003, p.6). As a pre-k teacher and having experience working with other young children I feel the children should be assessed through art work, take home projects, open discussions, and homework. This will allow you to see if the students understand what is being taught. I have assessed my students on their social/emotional skills. I look to see how they interact with others, if they know what to do if a stranger tries to take to them, and what to do in an emergency.  They are also assessed on letter and number recognition, and self help skills.   When working with children who are in kindergarten and first grade, I believe they should be assessed on their letter sound recognition, reading, writing, and math skills, as well as their social/emotional skills.
Two major forms of assessment, formative and summative assessment, are employed by secondary school teachers in China. Formative assessment is essential for providing feedback on a student’s progress so that any errors or difficulties can be identified and corrected (Fennell & Maccoll, 1983). The results of such an assessment would be a series of scores for each task in the progression, enabling the teacher to pinpoint problems, to provide students with detailed feedback on their progress, and to make decisions relating to how instruction should best continue. Traditional Chinese classrooms are predominantly teacher-centered. Teaching and learning are rigidly structured with virtually no flexibility for teachers and students to negotiate.

 References:

Fennell, P., & Maccoll, P. (1983). Assessment & Evaluation. Canberra: The Curriculum

Development Centre

Guskey, T.R. (2003). How classroom assessments improve learning. Educational Leadership,

60(5), 6-11.

HIV/AIDS

We often go through life taking for granted the simple things in life such as having friends, family, and our health. When I was about 6 I found out that a very close friend of the family had contract the HIV/AIDS virus. It was weird hearing the news because my grandmother had form an organization in memory of a close friend, which promoted HIV/AIDS awareness, clinics, and many other things. I understood what caused the virus, the dangers of passing it on to others, and the likely hood that the virus would eventually be the cause of her death. The thing that weighed down my heart the most was the uncertainly of her daughter faint because she was one of few childhood friends that I had. I can remember sitting down with my mother to talk about the situation and she explained to me that Tonya had contracted the virus through her boyfriend which was a drug user (needle exchange) When I heard this news I valued to never intake drugs and make it my responsibility to educate those around me about the risk factors and consequence of using drugs.  Within the 1^st year the virus took out Keisha’s dad leaving her mother and grandmother to look after her. I knew Ms. Tonya would not be around for ever so I wanted something to remember her by so I wished and prayed for a gap like hers. About 2 months later I had a small gap! The following month Ms. Tonya passed.  Keisha had to go stay with her grandma, resulting in us losing contact. I often wondered the effects of her coming up without her mother and father, my wondering ended about four years ago when my grandmother ran into her grandmother. She informed my grandmother that Keisha had been in and out of the juvenile system shortly after her mother’s death.  

I chose to talk about poverty because it is something that effects people all over the world. The children that I work with live in poverty, people I grow up with lived in poverty, and I too lived in poverty as a child. I chose to look at the poverty in Africa, one of the poorest countries. What is being done to fight poverty in Africa? We are taking action here in the US by hosting various events to raise money to help fight poverty such as the annual walk with the Aga Khan Foundation U.S.A The walk takes place in cities throughout the US. The National Planning Commission in South Africa has come up with a national development plan that will end poverty in South Africa by 2030. The plan plans to improve the government’s existing plan and work for to reduce poverty by improving the unemployment rate.

References:

David Breen.  (29  October). BRIEF: Annual walk at Lake Eola takes on poverty. McClatchy - Tribune Business News, Retrieved November 25, 2011, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 2497682601).

The National Development Plan Will End Poverty in South Africa By 2030 - Really? [opinion]. (2011, November 15). AllAfrica.com  (French Ed.), Retrieved November 21, 2011, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 2511723921).

SIDS

I chose to talk about Sudden Infant Death (SIDS) because I had a classmate who experienced this with her daughter. SIDS has left many with unanswered questions as to what exactly causes it, what factors play a role in either increasing or decreasing the likely hood of it happening.  

After reading, I have to ask, can we really list SIDS as a cause of death if we really don’t know what causes it. There has been an ongoing debate for decades about what actually causes SIDS. Here we are today, 2011, still torn about the cause of SIDS. The US is among the highest while China, Japan, and South America lead with the lowest cases of SIDS. Between 1970 and 1974 Japan had 37 infant deaths directly after vaccination and raked in 17^th place for SIDS. This led them to do a study and boycott vaccinations to see if the vaccinations play a role in SIDS. Vaccinations were stopped completely for two months, which meant that no child received a vaccination until their 2^nd birthday. They found that SIDS had pretty much disappeared; however when they lowered the vaccination age to 3 months, SIDS rose again.

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/vaccine_sids.htm

http://www.sidscenter.org/Statistics.html

Fiona MacRae. (2011, October 28). Babies 'should share a bed with their mother until the age of three' [Eire Region]. Daily Mail,11. Retrieved November 11, 2011, from ProQuest Central. (Document ID: 2496558781).

My Birth

As a child I used to be ashamed to tell people about my birth, I now use it as an opportunity to encourage others to seek prenatal care and other assistances during pregnancy.  During her pregnancy, my mother did not seek prenatal care because she had plans on getting an abortion. When her plans failed through she went into a denied that she was pregnant and denied her pregnancy to any one that asked. One stormy summer night while at work, she began to have pains but paid them no mind. When she went to use the bathroom, I slide out and hit the floor. She cleaned me up, cut my umbilical cord, wrapped me in a sheet, and took me home. When we arrived home my grandmother could not believe her eyes, she know I needed medical attention so she had me rushed to the hospital. After undergoing various test, they find that I was a preemie but in good health.

I share this story to encourage others to seek prenatal care and never be afraid to except the fact that you are pregnant. My own story has encouraged me to open a home for young girls ages 15-20, who want to keep their child and have nowhere to turn. 

After ressearching the cost of having a child in the US verses having a child in the UK, I have found that it is not only cheaper to have a child in the UK  but also in Canada. Having a home birth or a birth at a center is also my popular in the UK and Canada than in the US.

http://londonbirthpractice.co.uk/index.php/cost.html

http://www.costhelper.com/cost/child/baby-delivery.html