This week's blog is a quote from one of the Early Childhood people I chose to write about in the discussion. I had chose the two people because they were here in Chicago. Samuel Meisels has worked on assessing children one of his methods is what we use in the head start program I currently work in the ESI which is the Early Screening Inventory to assess the children's development. Well I found a quote from one of his presentations that says "The best way to improve a child's performance is to teach the child, not test the child".( Meisels 2008)  I agree schools systems want to test the children there needs to be just as much focus on working with the children teaching them and trying to improve in the areas where it is needed. Sometimes it is good to test the children to find out where they are developmentally and that way the teachers can develop a plan to help the developing child.
Referenced
Meisels, S. J.,( 2008) Empirical Studies of the Ounce and Work Sampling in Infancy and Early Childhood[PowerPoint]. Retrieved from http://Erikson.edu/about/directory/Samuel-meisels

Aisha Ray is my second choice she is also from the Erikson Institute she has worked on many projects one that I was able to access was about how to prepare teachers to successfully educate all children there is an excerpt from the writing that says " A growing consensus acknowledges that early childhood teacher preparation and professional development must help all teachers gain knowledge and practice skills that contribute to the educational achievement of all children ( Ladson- Billings, 1999;NAEYC,2002;Ray,2000).  When teachers are failed of these skills they are not able teach and problems can arise. They should be prepared to teach children from all backgrounds of culture, low-income, special needs, second languages. Schools offer us classes that will contribute to our trainings to better prepare us for the adventures of teaching it is also up to us to take what we learn and use it appropriately in the classroom.

 A professional from the video segment is Louise Derman- Sparks Professor Emeritus at Pacific Oak College, Ca she was one of the first professionals that was on the video. She said one of her passions was that she always wanted to be a teacher. She felt that she could fix all injustices in the world through teaching. Her motivation to continue to work in the early childhood field is the joy that she had felt when she first began in the field. She said that it was the most joyful experience and everything had become whole. She strongly believes that the preschool years are the most fundamental because this is when the children are learning noticing their skin color, ethnic identity, the stereotypes of who they are. The providers are able to have an Anti bias approach in the classroom. She had stated that she thinks that the adults may then find a voice while teaching that they may not have had for the children.

Another professional in the video is Laticia Lara LCSW  Regional Manager Outreach and Professional Development Zero to Three She finds that passion begins with a individuals values, beliefs, ideas that lead to what is in their heart. Her personal and professional passion comes from her own background she mentioned being a woman, Latina leader, and experiences have a contribution to where she is in her professional career. Being from a Latino heritage she says that families need support. Her own family when they immigrated here her mother struggled because she needed bilingual support. She had to help her mother with going to the market because of the language barriers. She loves being able to help the families give the parents the resources they may need to thrive in their community.

Referenced
Ray, A.,Bowman, B. & Robbins,J. (2006). Preparing Early Childhood Teachers to Successfully Educate All Children: The Contribution of State Boards of Higher Education and National Professional Accreditation Organizations, A Project of the Initiative on Race, Class and Culture in Early Childhood, Final Report to the Foundation for Child Development, New York,New York.


"The Passion for Early Childhood"[ Course Media]