I heard this song this week and it reminded me of my experience, it tested me to become better, it was unpredictable, I never could have known how it would change me, and challenge me. We are now at the fork in the road, where will we go from here?
This has been an amazing journey here at Walden’s. I thought back to the first course I took and remember how worried and nervous I was to do courses totally online and thought how am I going to make connections with my colleagues. Little did I realize how wonderful it would be to share thoughts, ideas and receive a variety of perspectives that would open my mind to new ways of thinking, and challenge me to look beyond me small (but significant) world. What I have learned through this program is;
1. Relationships are built by listening to others and keeping an open mind to things I may not understand. As we learn more about each other we can build bridges of understanding and trust.
2. To continuously keep up on research and advocate for what is best practice for the children and families we serve. To realize the importance of understanding the issues and trends in the early childhood field, and to look through our personal, professional and local lens when considering the issues we are addressing, and to be mindful of the unintended consequences our actions can create.
3. During our communications class I learned a lot about myself and my communication style and the styles that others might have. To learn how to collaborate with others, keep my own voice, and ways to create teams and groups that can be motived to make change happen.
4. Lastly, that I can be the creator of change, I always saw it as something out there, that others did, and I learned from them, but now I know that I am part of that group, I can be a part of the community that makes a positive change for the early childhood field.
When I think about a long term goal I know it is to work with adults and offer professional development that will increase the effectiveness of teachers. I can see myself working at a college level preparing pre-service teachers for the field.
THANK YOU!!! To all of you, as we traveled this road together I cannot express with words how much I have appreciated your wisdom and knowledge. We all came with different experiences, I have enjoyed and will cherish everything you have shared in the discussions.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfectly wonderful musical tribute to our journey! Thank you for taking the time to add it to your post because it truly helped me to reflect more deeply and consider how amazing the past two years have been for me. Quite honestly, I have been tapped out of creativity and energy here on the home stretch (coupled with the holiday season and lots of things going on with the family) so I did not do my normal twist of pictures or add-ins to my final post. I am grateful that you did!
I felt much the same way as you when I began the program . . . quaking in my boots and not sure if I could do it . . . especially when it came to setting up the blog, my google reader, and APA formatting!! But we did it and I am patting myself on the back. (Can you feel me patting you on the back as well?) Congratulations!! We have made it to yet another fork in the road of our journeys in life.
You have done an amazing job of summarizing your most significant lessons learned. I feel as if I could have written them all myself so I will say a hearty "amen" to them all.
Your first reflection about relationships is something I have just been walking out with a classroom and co-teacher change in the past four months. I have gone from a co-teacher who was basically a "mini-me" -- half my age, caucasian like me and very very similar talents and lifestyle -- to an even younger African American woman who lives a totally different lifestyle than me. We have been building a bridge for the past four months and I have come to see the value of just listening to her.
Just yesterday she came into the classroom in the middle of nap after her lunch break and before mine truly all hot and bothered. Her little brother (16) was shot in the face several weeks ago, has been in the hospital since then, and they truly did not know if he would live. He is facing many surgeries to reconstruct his lower face from the wound and is still in a combative stage, fighting his reality of being in a hospital bed. Yesterday when she was visiting him at lunch (we work on a hospital campus) he had been fighting with the tubes and things and had pulled his trach tube out, in addition to the fact that he had some facial tissue coming out of his wound. She was in the hospital room by herself trying to manage, his alarms were going off, and as she struggled to find and put on gloves to help him she could see one of the nurses sitting at the desk doing nothing to help her. (On top of the fact that this was one of the parents of a child at our center -- a male parent). She came back so upset because she felt as if she was being ignored and he did not care about her brother.
I have especially learned over the last two weeks of our relationship to sit back and wait, to be there for her, and to allow her to talk when she wanted to talk and share what she wanted to share. It was only this week that I finally asked her where he was shot (because I only knew that he had been shot, was in a coma for at least a week, and almost did not live, but I did not know the situation surrounding it at all because she didn't really want to talk about it). Throughout the last four months I have been frustrated and would walk away from my day often feeling overwhelmed at the change I have faced in my classroom move, but have finally seen the fruit of this particular journey and see now the bridge that we have built.
Many, many wishes for more epiphanies for you in your journey and wherever you may go. Many the road rise to meet you, may you truly savor and enjoy the people and the conversations that you have, and may you continue to touch and change many lives and situations.
Cindy
Cindy,
DeleteIwill keep your co-worker and her brother in my prayers. She is lucky to have someone who is willing to listen... just listening can bring so much of the unknown to light. It is amazing when you can put what you have learned to practice. I have always felt putting knowledge to practice is the only way to see what is truly worth keeping in 'tool boxes' as we walk through this life. thanks for sharing and I hope you can see how important you are to the people around you.
Merry Christmas,
Chris