Time Well Spent

Three deeply felt learnings from this program:

·         I am very passionate about children and advocating that every child deserves a quality education. It should never be about who your parents know or how much money your family brings in every month for a child to receive a quality education. This course really reiterated to me the importance about being an agent of positive change. It is very easy to notice and speak about the problems you see going on around you but it is very difficult to actually step up and try to change them.

·         I learned the importance of communities of practice. They “are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly” (Wenger, 2006. p.1). Once you decide to step up a make a change it is vital to compose your community of practice. Find other people who share your passion and support your cause. I learned to think outside the box when compiling your community of practice. Try to incorporate people of every level. Parents and families, other colleagues, well know organizations, people at the state and federal levels, even celebrities. Amassing your community of practice is important; they will help you succeed in accomplishing your common goal.

·         I learned the importance of learning about the history of your cause. Researching what has been tried and failed or tried and succeeded will help you plan your “angle of attack”. Learning what research has been completed or not completed is vital too.

One long term goal:

My long term goal is to not stop learning. I plan to utilize my master’s degree and work in the early childhood field for at least the next 5 years. After which I will go back to school to receive my Ph.D. in Education. I do not have a lot of hands on experience working in the early childhood field and would like to obtain that before moving on in my educational journey.

Farewell message to my instructor and colleagues:

I cannot believe this part of my journey is over; it seems like it just begun! I want to thank everyone for being on this journey with me. We worked hard and had many of early mornings or late nights trying to work school work into our very busy lives but we did it! We accomplished the goal we set forth, congratulations. Thank you for all your blog and discussion posts, I learned so much from them.

Thank you,

Brande

Reference

Wenger, E. (2006). Communities of practice: A brief introduction. Retrieved from http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/