Cherie's Random Thoughts

My relationship with Death has always been complicated. Since a very young age, I learned that death could come at any age. First with Robert, a childhood friend, and then Milton, another childhood friend. Both lost at a young age and dramatically affected my perception of death. Over the years since then many deaths came, a few more premature deaths with mom and my friend Colin. But when a person who has lived a very long life, well past the expected life experience dies such as my Grandpa, I reminded about a few things. Our time on earth provides precious gifts to all those that cross our path. As a preacher, my grandpa probably saw people at the worst and their best. He counseled thousands of soul with their relationship of God and was a role model for what it means to be a man, father, and love one for the family. Now matter when our final sunset arrives, we must remember every sunrise and sunset is a gift. A gift to extend love to others and help them become the best hum

This morning during my daily review of various blogs I follow I discovered the Seattle Times' project entitled, Under Our Skin . This was truly one of best projects I have seen in regarding the topic race.  The project highlights 18 interviewees thoughts on the following concepts:  institutional racism, a person of color, racist, ally, microaggression, all lives matter, politically correct, colorblindness, safe spaces, safe spaces, diversity, white privilege and white frailty.    It was refreshing to see such diverse perspectives on these topics in a way that helps us understand how different we think about concepts around race. This is critical to our current perceptions about race and ultimately reminds us of the importance of having authentic was we could discuss the concept of race.  Also, I found the addition of a video narrative of each of the participants very important in that it helped me to understand who they were as human beings.  The entire documentary takes ar

After reading Dr. Nico Rose's article entitled, "The Anatomy of Meaningful Work", I am reminded of two of the points he stressed in the article: one that meaningful work is not contigent on the type of work and comes from within.  Looking back on the various types of work I have had since my first job at age 11, I am reminded of the running theme they have had for me: they were all meaningful and had a great purpose in my life and the life of others. Whether it is when I worked at WaWa and would spend hours in the fridge & freezer with my boss, Tony, putting away the days delivery or when I had worked with preschoolers with special needs. As person who has always enjoyed the concept of work, I understand deeply the importance of it being meaningful. My rule of thumb as always been to give 110% and to always work on honing your craft.  Rose's article is one that all should read and play close attention to the seven components of meaningful work he list at the end o

Today I gave my first commencement speech at Wyncote Academy. It was truly a pleasure to fill in at the last minute for their original speaker. Here is a little taste of what I said today:  As early childhood educator I am always reminded of the power of words and their impact on our lives. It has been a little under a week since the death of Muhammad Ali, and he has left us with a few great words of wisdom that I would like to call “Words of Wisdom to get you through the next 25 years. Why do you ask I place such great focus on the next 25 years of your life? It is because they will be the years of tremendous growth for you as a human being. During this time, many of you will attend college and graduate, marry, beginning your dream job and much more. So I would like to share with you a few of Ali’s most powerful quotes and how you can apply them to the next 25 years of your life. The 1 st  quote of wisdom is Ali’s “ Don't count the days. Make the days count.”  This quote

Here are the direct links to specific tabs Manor college LibGuide for the Education Program. I have added the names of them to the URL to make them easier to search:  How to Find Books Creating an Annotated Bibliography Lesson Plans and Rubrics Standards Statistics Children's Literature Head Start  TEDTalks  Podcasts and Videos Cherie's Recommended Library Great Educational Articles Great Activities for Children Websites  Professionalism in the Field and in a College Classroom Professional Associations Pennsylvania Certification Clearances Classes Tab:  Manor's Early Childhood Faculty Manor Lesson Plan Format  Manor APA Formatting, Reference, and Citation Policy for Education Classes Manor College's Guide to Using EBSCO Effectively How to do a Child Case Study-Best Practice

In this article from Hechinger Report, the author discusses the scary fact that many students who are graduating from High School with A averages and have to take remedial coursework when they arrive at college.  Why are many students with ‘A’ averages being barred from college-level classes? - The Hechinger Report I have several questions about this issue: Why is this happening? Is a placement test best way to assess a students ability to do college level work? How effective is remedial education in the long run for students who have significant delays in skills? There is one fact that does need to happen. Remediation at the College level needs to change. At any given time a student could have to take one remedial course up to five depending on the college or university. The more remedial courses students have, the less likely they will complete college. Even worse, little is being done to address the hit to the human psyche, when you believe you are ready only to be told you ar

Last night I was reminded of how powerful the process truly is! As trained early childhood educator I have a deep interest in ensuring that students birth through adulthood understand that the process is what matters most. In the field, we often debate whether process or product is better. Some would say that the process is "meaningless play". Others, like myself, would say it is the "birth of genius".  Within everyone human being there lies a deep need for unstructured process-oriented activities or active play. Active play at every level of education is necessary for real learning to occur and helps learners maintain the "love of learning" that they lose from the demands of testing, school policies, and life stress.  On February 17, 2016, several Manor students, faculty, staff, and their friends and family engage in a very process oriented approach to art with the renowned, Jesse White. I could visibly see learning and "genius" happenin

Imagine it is Monday at 5:30 am. Your alarm goes off and you hit snooze. In your mind, you say you cannot do this and then you proceed to repeat this pattern four more times as your move through your work week. This is a story that happens in many household throughout the world and often is the result of a person’s lack of workplace satisfaction. Now imagine, it is Monday, at 5:30 am. Your alarm goes off and you get up. You feel refreshed and ready to go. You eat breakfast, read from your favorite blog post, and are excited about what the day begins. You leave for work ready to go! Recently, I had the pleasure of reading Shawn Murphy’s book entitled “The Optimistic Workplace-Creating an Environment that Energizes Everyone.” Murphy’s book reminds us all of the importance of creating environments where everyone thrives. Work environments that are ready to ensure every human being in the building reaches their potential. Often when people here the word optimism they often are wary o