Personal Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal Paper - Essay Example They lived in a broken down shack. They slept on the floor, and they did not have any electricity or running water. My grandmother was the caretaker, while my grandfather supported the family. He worked in the tobacco fields. My mother’s sisters and brothers all pitched in to do all the chores. They had no specific roles. They all cleaned the house together, took turns sweeping the floor, and fetching water. My grandfather and his family finally migrated to New York in 1951. Upon relocating to New York, my family did not move into a Hispanic community, instead they moved into an African American community called Harlem, which is a predominately African American Community. It is believed my grandfather wanted to get away from the Hispanic community. It was very difficult for them due to the language barriers. The family did not speak any English except my grandfather. Upon entering school my mother, her sister’s and brother’s were all placed in the same grade, because they lacked the ability to speak the native language. The school gave them a bilingual teacher who taught them to speak the native language. She was also a big support to my mother’s family, and due to the school support, and the support of the community my mother’s family adjusted very well to their new environment. All of my aunts and uncles married, and soon branched out into different communities, and had children of their own. I was born and raised in a New York City Housing Project (NYCHA) called Jefferson, which consisted of a multicultural community. I resided in the home with my mother, father and five siblings. Despite my mother never obtaining an education she was very active within the community. She did voluntary work as a school Para Professional with special needs children, and my father worked in a garment factory. Most of the friends came from single-families households. Their main sources of income were either

Journal 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Journal 4 - Essay Example Their experience showed that contrary to common sense, aggression, accidents and the stress of enforcing rules are all reduced and transformed when rules were discarded by the staff in a collaborative process. There were three non-profit site centers (63 students in a university campus, 42 children in a workplace setting, and 32 children in high school). All are in inclusive settings with resource teacher consultants for children with special needs. There was a lot of diversity in the three centers including speakers of English as a second language, newly arrived immigrants, children from a single parent family, etc. All centers were practicing the conventional way, which was rule-based. There was an abundance of Do’s and Don’ts, in other words, over-regulation, which was suffocating the children. They also found out that it was draining the teachers just policing and redirecting the children. Finally, they found out that there was a better way of doing these things. With the influence of the Reggio Emilia Approach in their series of workshops, they were able to question old concepts and approaches. They initiated new and innovative ways to make learning more meaningful and stress-free. The operative word was â€Å"collaboration†. With brilliant results emanating from the reduction of rules in a setting, it also led to explorations with the physical environment, such as redesigning the layout of the cots at naptime, enlarging the block area from 4 ft by 6 ft to 10 ft by 20 ft, thereby giving ample space to chidren with better results. They also started redecorating their environs with Monet prints, flowers and even the bathrooms to make for a calmer effect on the children. As a result, the rule-driven, clock-driven practice was changed into values-based, responsive pedagogy. Of course, there were some who were resistant to change. Eventually, they had to embrace the new innovation because it lessened