Welcoming Families From Around the World
Time Well Spent
Time Well Spent Funny thing about time, it feels endless until one day, it’s suddenly gone. That was my experience two days ago when I pulled into the parking lot of my work and suddenly realized my direction, my purpose, my research, everything was being taken away from me. Who am I without my syllabus, assignments, professors, and colleagues? For a moment I began to weep out of fear and loneliness until I remembered the words of Julie Olsen Edwards who reminded me that fear of the unknown is scary but, “You can’t wait until you know enough, we never know enough” (Laureate, n.d.). She is correct, and one thing is for sure, I am relentless in my early childhood efforts. Further, still, I will not go quietly into the night, but instead, I will dive into next week with the knowledge: 1. I am not alone. I have the skills and relationships to build a community of practice that will become the springboard for tomorrow’s all-incl...
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your post!! Just from the first few words I was captivated and started to feel all warm and fuzzy as if this child and family were coming to see me! You have such a creative way of making the reader feel as if we were right there. I did not think of converting a newsletter or any publication for that matter, into the families native language. The iTranslate Converse app is a great idea so that teachers can communicate with parents and vice versa. If I could be a kid again, I would want to visit your classroom!!
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ReplyDeleteHello Lynnette,
Wow...what a way to run with the communication school-wide to make your new family feel welcome at school. When we can involve our entire classroom and school community the work gets easier. The benefits of providing information in both languages with help to foster a smother transition for this student and their family. Great Work!
Lynnette,
ReplyDeleteWhat an impressive post! You have some wonderful ideas for including your new student from Cyprus. I love your idea of including a translator on the children's school iPads so that they are able to understand their new peer. My students use iPads as well and this is definitely a technique I would adopt. Great job, Lynnette!
Hello Lynnette,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post. I agree with your post. I like when you post those only human beings can move despair. Because human and art can fill in when there was no one present to children. I agree because children love being around other children and human.
Iesha