Mod 2 Reflective Thinking (1)
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Southwest Tennessee Community College *
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Course
COMM-2100
Subject
Communications
Date
Feb 20, 2024
Type
rtf
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4
Uploaded by babynels777
Mod 2: Families Today
Reflective Thinking
Reflective Activity: Family Diversity in a Kindergarten Classroom (worth 5 points)
Imagine yourself as the Kindergarten teacher of the children represented in each scenario below. Read each scenario. Think about: Which of these families would you feel comfortable working with? Which would you not feel comfortable working with? What is causing this discomfort? Rate your ability to work with each family 1-5 based on the scenarios below. Then, explain why you feel as you do. (You will not be graded based on your feelings. This is simply an opportunity to examine your potential biases and need for additional training.) Answer on this sheet.
Rate your ability to work with each family from 1 – 5.
1 = a family that you would feel comfortable having their child in your classroom 3 =a family that you have some reservations about being about to effectively support 5 = a family that you would be uncomfortable working with Family One
Bobby and Janet Weaver have been married five years. They married the day after Janet graduated from high school. Bobby did not finish high school. Five-year old Sarah, blond and blue-
eyed just like her parents, was born before their first anniversary. Bobby and Janet live in an apartment
down the street from her parents, and around the block from her married sister. Most of their free time is spent with either Janet’s parents or her sister’s family. They have no contact with Bobby’s family, as Janet believes they are a bad influence on Sarah. Janet has not worked outside the home much during
their marriage. They are hoping to have another child next year. A second pregnancy ended in a stillbirth last year. Bobby earns $34,750 on the production line at a furniture factory. Janet started working part-time this year to help save for a down payment for a first home purchase. Her mother cares for Sarah after school while Janet works. Janet’s income of $750 a month after taxes would not go far if she had to pay for child care.
____2__ (place number here) I feel this way because. . . I do not see a problem with this family. It seems they are a typical family, and it seems that Sarah has a good support system. However, I would have some reservations because I would have concerns about payment for childcare.
For each module you will have 2 Reflective Thinking activities to complete. The
first will always be titled “Reflective Activity” (worth 5 points) and the second “My
Reflections” (worth 10 points). Follow the directions below to complete the
Reflective Activity and My Reflections. Save your work and upload to the
Reflective Thinking Dropbox. Be sure to review the Grading Rubric for each
activity (attached to the dropbox). ECED 2040
Family Two
Salvatore and Teresa Rodriguez have lived in this country for six years. They have limited English skills and speak Spanish at home with their children. Occasionally one of their relatives has come to stay with them, but the rest of the family has stayed in Puerto Rico. Right now Sal’s twenty year old brother, Joseph, is living with them while taking an auto mechanics course. He plans to be married later this year, and he and his new bride will live with them until they can afford their own home. Teresa misses her mother, who has not seen her two children since they were babies. Maria is seven and has cerebral palsy. She is in a regular Kindergarten classroom, but receives physical therapy and speech therapy, as well as being in an ESL program. Tony is four and stays home with his mother, although Teresa does work part time in a bakery. Her husband works the second shift on the maintenance crew at the bus depot, so he can be home with the children while she is at work. This is necessary because Maria needs extra care. Then rent a five room house, which they chose for the safe neighborhood and large garden.
___5___ I feel this way because. . . Under normal circumstances I would not have any problems with accepting this family. I do feel that I would be uncomfortable working with them because of all of Maria’s
needs. I do not know much as physical or speech therapy, and I also do not know much about caring for children with cerebral palsy. I also do not speak Spanish and because the family has limited English skills I would not feel comfortable talking to them about important things concerning Maria... I know these are things that I could learn and someday I may feel comfortable enough to work with a family such as Maria’s.
Family Three
Marquita Howard is 22 and has always lived with her parents in a middle class black neighborhood. Her grandmother has had a stroke and now lives with them too. Marquita’s daughter, Shantana, was born when she was 16 years old. Her mother cared for the baby so Marquita could finish high school, but Marquita’s mother has now gone back to work because of increased family expenses. Marquita still hopes she might someday marry Shantana’s father, Tom, who is in college. Tom is white, and although his family does not approve of his interracial relationship with Marquita and are not involved in Shantana’s life, he comes to see her and the baby every week or so and tries to give
her financial support when he can. Marquita has been working at a clothing store in the mall since she graduated from high school and would like to study computer programming at the community college. However, she can’t afford to quit her job. She is considering going to night school, but worries about the added burden on her mother of caring for Shantana at night, in addition to her grandmother.
_____1_ (place number here) I feel this way because. . . I currently help single mothers in the same position as Marquita and I understand the feeling of not wanting to burden anyone, especially a grandmother. I would also try to offer addition help when possible. Although, I do have concerns about Shantana and how she feels with her father only coming around for financial support, when he can. Family Four
Mostafa and Adala Haseeb Ahsan grew up in Pakistan, and their marriage was arranged by their parents. They came to the United States for Mostafa to attend the local university’s graduate school program in engineering. They will be returning to Pakistan when he graduates. Before their children were born, Adala was a mathematics teacher at the secondary level in Pakistan. They both speak English fluently, as well as Urdu, the national language of Pakistan. Mostafa and Adala are devout Muslims and leaders in the local Muslim community. They are raising their two children, Jameel, age 2,
and Fatima, age 6, with their Muslim beliefs, and Fatima may not eat certain foods, such as pork or
meat that has not been blessed. She also has missed school for their religious observances, but is a bright child who learns quickly and is one of the top students in the class.
_____1_ (place number here) I feel this way because. . . I would not have any problems with accepting a child into to class because of their beliefs. I don’t see a problem with a child missing school because of religious observances. If I was informed a head of time that she would be missing school, I would check with the parents to see if it would be ok to give her work to do at home so that she would not get behind in her work. I also would not mind making sure she did not eat food that was not approved by the parents, as I would not want to offend anyone and their beliefs. Adapted from:
Gestwicki, C. (2006). Home, School and Community Relations: A Guide to Working with Families. Delmar Cengage Learning.
My Reflections: (worth 10 points)
Reflect on the module, looking back at the value for you! First, review the Learning Outcomes and Key Words. Then, write about significant gains or learning that you acquired through the module learning resources and activities, and reflect on how this new information is meaningful and valuable to your current or future work with families and children. What have you learned? What do you find most valuable to you and why? What would you like to know more about?
With each module you will complete this reflective activity by thinking about what you have learned and what the content means to your professional growth. You have three options for sharing your personal reflections: a Journal, a Wordle, or a Web. The instructions and samples for the three options are available on My Reflections Instructions, which is attached to the dropbox. Read about the three options. Select one of the three and complete your reflection. Submit it on this document with your Reflective Activity. Be sure to review the grading rubric, also attached to the dropbox, before completing your activity. In this module I learned much more about the different types of families. I can truly say that I only know about dysfunctional families, and single mother families and reading about the different kinds of families was very interesting to me. I also learned much more about diverse families and because I don’t know many people outside of my race I feel that the new things I have learned will be able to be applied to my classroom one day. I also learned that more than 14,000 students in Tennessee were homeless in the 2012-2013 school year, and this is something that I would like to know much more about because I was one of those students. I would like to much more about what it is that can be done to help struggling families. I would also like to learn more ways that I could possibly include teaching students about diversity in an early childhood setting.
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