Friday, December 18, 2015

Reflecting about My Collegial, Professional Learning Community

I am not a classroom teacher, although I feel that I have always been a teacher if only for my children. Because of that, I need the expertise of my collegial, professional learning community. Each and every one of us has something to contribute to the early childhood systems. Whenever I need input, I would consult with this group who has proved to be dedicated, devoted, and passionate early childhood professionals.

Have I had experiences of being a part of a caring and collaborative learning community? I feel fortunate to have been a part of community advocacy group. Whenever I have an idea, or a letter, or an article, the group can improve the idea or the article in amazing ways. Sometimes it would be something I had forgotten like the time I forgot about transportation for my hypothetical family project, and my colleague reminded me of that. Sometimes, it was an idea I had never thought about before. I have come to depend on our collective thinking process to make something even better.

Sometimes, I feel frustrated by a process that appears to not be working. The collegial, professional learning group can boost my self-confidence by giving me ideas of how to work through or around a thorny issue. That could be because some of our group members have had the experiences and can share their expertise.

Ultimately, it is much more fun to work within a group that shares the same goals. I hope I have been as much fun for others as they have had been for me.


Saturday, December 5, 2015

My Hypothetical Family Situation

Who am I?

I am a mother of a deaf child and seven other children ranging from ages 14 to 1. We moved to the United States from Syria in 2013. My family speaks Arabic; and today we are still learning English. My husband works in a food store that sells Arabic food, and I am a seamstress. We have no family in the U.S. We are dealing both major political and religious circumstances. We are working to become citizens of the United States; although we have experienced some of the American generosity, we are occasionally targeted for our Muslim religion.

My 2-year-old deaf child is the next to last child. We just found out that she is Deaf. We have never met anyone who was/is Deaf and have no idea what to do. We want her to maintain her Syrian heritage and speak Arabic as well as English.

Today, we are concerned about what services there are for deaf children. Can she go to school? We are concerned about her future; can she succeed in life? Whom will she marry? Ultimately, how will we communicate with her?

Has anyone of you encountered a family like that? A family with similar situations but different circumstances?