Thank you

"Your support and the knowledge throughout this semester, that we have done the RIGHTthing deciding to pursue our education. Thank you very much for your kind words, love and care you give to me through out the process. You are all incredibly important to me and I appreciate you!"



There is no perfect teacher and no teacher can ever say that he/she has reached their full potential ever. There is always room for growth and to learn new things.

Through this semester I can truly say that I have picked up some good ideas from other teachers. In our field of education, this is not called copying, but modeling. All of you have been eager to share  your experiences with me, and for that I'm truly grateful. Much success, Rachel

Saying Good Bye

A couple of years ago, I belonged to a group for people who were unemployed. The group offered support and up to date information needed to re-enter the market place. Though I was self-employed as a freelance writer, I enjoyed the cutting edge speakers and information about the business world.

I made a special connection with the leader and we visited from time to time. I had missed a few meetings because of other commitments and one day when I came, he was gone. I was shocked and disappointed that I did not get a chance to say goodbye and to thank him for his positive impact on my life.

In another situation I belong to an online Facebook group and felt bonded to the members who had been in it for a year. Suddenly one of the members was no longer there. Again, I was shocked and disappointed. I felt a sense of loss about her absence.

Later I received an email from her that said,”I had no clue it would be so difficult to leave the group. I feel like I have lost my best friend(s) in the world. I never thought about grieving in the sense of leaving a group, but that sure is what happens.”

In the end  I  wrote the people on the group an email expressing my sentiment.

My advice is  :Do take time though to process your thoughts and feelings and to seek closure for yourself whether it’s you are the one left behind or you are the one choosing to leave. You will be emotionally healthier and you will keep your relationships strong.

Non Violent Communicaion

Non violent communication  is a system designed to help one apply these principles in daily life.  It consists of four basic steps that one can use when attempting to communicate with others, particularly in a difficult situation.

The basic four-step process is: 

1) making a pure observation without judging,

2) identifying a feeling within yourself,   3) finding the human need behind the feeling, and 

4) formulating a request (not a demand).  I will add a fifth step as well, which is to ask for feedback.

  I find that if one actually follows these steps, it will drastically improve your communication skill with everyone.  You will find you will be far more effective and will not “turn off” people nearly as much.

Verbal Aggression

Verbal aggressiveness is a method in communication, when one is verbally attacking another in order to  express oneself or to win an argument. When using verbal aggressiveness in communication, the communicator wants to intimidate others. Most of the time one uses verbal aggressiveness when one feels that they are being attacked. After feeling attacked verbal agressors begin to attack others. This method of communication is toxic, and it is not effective.

Often times when I communicate I’m not aware, of how effectively I’m communicating. For example, there have been times when my voice gets louder, and I’m not aware. Usually the person I’m communicating with will point this out for me. As communicator we are not always  conscious of our tone and body language during conversation. There have been many times when I’m upset, and try to cover it by acting professional, and not upset. People are able to still tell by my demeanor that I’m upset. From experience my verbal aggression has led to many relationships ending, because people feel disrespected by the way I communicate. Without communication a relationship is dead.

When asking my fiancé to take the communication test with me, his answers resemble the answers that I gave.  I’m really close with my fiancé so I feel like he knows me very well. He is able to rate me the same as I rate myself. I have a tendency to be slightly biased with how I rate myself. My fiancé answers to some of the questions were slightly stronger than my answer. Since most of our relationship is rated based upon our communication , he s able to rate me stronger than the average  person.

My personal goal is to try to be less aggressive when I’m communicating. If I feel triggered by the conversation, I can walk away, or communicate non-aggressively that I feel attacked. Various times that I have become verbally aggressive have been when I personally felt like I was being attacked.  If I happened to feel attacked I can respond by  expressing my self in a healthy manner. I know personally this works with my fiance. When I tell him I getting angry we both agree to talk at another time, once emotions aren’t as high.

Watching Interview On Mute: Body Language

I know this may seem weird but I do this all the time, but I try not to watch shows. Instead, watch the news, interviews, or speeches. My favorite one to watch on mute is the Lance Armstrong interview on Oprah's show

Watch it on mute. Pretend that you don't know that this is one of the world's supposed most elite athletes confessing to cheating, which you think would elicit shame. Just watch it and try to think of the emotional state this guy is portraying.

I watched it twice. First time was on mute; second one with audio. The first time, it was hard to get a good grip of his state. He was pretty cold and wasn't sharing much body language. As far as his facial reaction went, it had more of a calm atmosphere. Though, Oprah seemed somewhat baffled based on her face and body language.

After watching it with volume, I now realized that the short video clip was more of a Q&A for Armstrong (i.e., did you cheat? Yes. did you feel remorse? No.) In essence, it was more of a technical interview; hence, he didn't really show much emotions through his body. Conclusion, the clip was too short and only focused on yes/no questions. Hence, his body language and facial expression displayed "Yes, I'm answering a question."

Poverty

I have subscribed to the podcast by Zero to Three, "Little Kids, Big Questions". They aren't  any podcasts about poverty as of yet. However, they do provide TONS of resources about poverty. They have everything from quick fact sheets to in depth research, emerging policy, and resources for professionals and parents. Zero to Three focuses on the impacts of poverty on child development for children ages birth to 3 years old. There is a direct correlation between economic hardship and compromised development. There are two common measures of poverty within the USA: poverty thresholds and poverty guidelines. The poverty threshold is updated by the Census Bureau, was the original poverty measure, but is now only used for statistical purposes. The poverty guidelines, a.k.a “federal poverty level” (FPL), are updated annually by the Department of Health and Human Services. The primary purpose is to determine eligibility for certain federal entitlement programs. Some of these programs include Head Start/ Early Head Start, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. What I found most interesting is Zero to Three states that research indicates that a typical family needs an income two times the FPL to meet their most basic needs. That is pretty shocking! It makes me wonder why the minimum wage level isn't raised and why the poverty guidelines aren't raised to reflect this difference. Some other astonishing facts are that "12 million infants and toddlers live in the United States" (www.zerotothree.org) and that the number of infants and toddlers living in low‐income families increased by 41% between 2000-2009.

Free Arts For Abused Children

How It All Began

Originally founded in 1977 as Free Arts Clinic, Free Arts for Abused Children was born out of the determination of two women who understood and appreciated the inherent therapeutic value of the arts: Carolyn Sargent, a woman who, as a child, used art to emerge from the sadness and isolation of hearing loss, and Elda Unger, an artist and aspiring art therapist. Both women recognized the need for children in foster care to have meaningful engagement with the arts. By conducting arts workshops, Carolyn and Elda gave the gift of creative self-expression to children in need of positive outlets for their experiences.
 

Free Arts Mission & Vision
Free Arts PROGRAMS inspire hope in the lives of children who have experienced abuse, neglect, poverty and homelessness through innovative creative arts programs and positive interactions with caring adult volunteers.

Free Arts envisions a society of individuals from different communities, cultures and life experiences connecting through the healing power of art to interrupt the cycle of violence, create understanding, build self-esteem and nurture better lives.
 

Growing Programs
Free Arts started with a single PROGRAM at a residential facility. As Free Arts grew, thousands of children participated in the Free Arts Day Program and soon thereafter the Weekly Volunteer Program. In 1993, the organization began coordinating arts activities in the waiting areas of the Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court in Monterey Park, a courthouse dedicated exclusively to child abuse, neglect and abandonment cases. In 2009 we expanded to the McCourtney Juvenile Justice Center in Lancaster. Free Arts also introduced the Parents and Children Together with Art (PACT) Program in 1994 to help families in crisis.

Today, Free Arts has four thriving cornerstone PROGRAMS, each of which relies heavily on the dedication of community volunteers who use art as a bridge to connect with vulnerable children.

Reaching Out Around the Country

Free Arts for Abused Children is the legacy organization for a network of affiliates across the United States. After experiencing success in delivering our program models for more than 15 years, an expansion effort was launched in 1993 when an AFFILIATE AGENCY was founded in Arizona. Since that time, several Free Arts affiliates have been established including Free Arts Minnesota and Free Arts NYC. Please contact them directly for information about their local PROGRAMS.