It's been quite a journey... And We Made It!!!!

As I begin to write this last blog in our Master’s program, I have mixed emotions.  I am happy to have reached this milestone, but sorry to lose the continuity of my new-found routine.  I will miss the discussions and my interactions with my professors and colleagues.  I will miss the daily learning… although I understand the importance of following through with my extended learning.

Choosing three deeply felt learnings was a challenge; there are so many.  First of all, I learned so much about myself, as an individual and as an early childhood professional.  I realize that, although I’m not a spring chicken, age is not a factor in learning.  Yes, I wish that I would have pursued my Master’s degree many years before, but, in spite of that, I am proud that I did it now.  I have learned that anything is possible if you have a strong passion for it.  I have lost friends who did not understand that school work came first, but I have gained the respect of my true friends.    I have come to respect my husband in a new light, realizing how lucky I am for his support, understanding, and pride in me.  He has always been my rock, but in this instance, he has taken over my chores and responsibilities so I could study and read. 
Next, I learned that I do not know all that I thought I knew about early childhood education.  This field changes by the minute.  I do not believe that curriculums can be pre-packaged; I do not care if they are NAEYC approved or not!  As educators, we need to step back and reflect on each group of children we are lucky enough to teach.  We need to adapt our curriculum to the needs of our young students and their families.  Although I present workshops, I need to push myself and to continue to grow.  I need to attend more workshops at the conferences that I attend, listening to the ideas of others.  While I do not have to agree, I do have to hear.  In addition, the importance of families is critical in our early childhood classrooms.  We MUST know our families; our classrooms MUST reflect our knowledge.  When I was a director, my teachers’ classrooms were all pretty and quite structured; but they did not reflect their children.  All of the classes looked the same.  I still see this; I have a passion to change this.  Of course, this boils down to my new-found passion for anti-bias learning, which cannot occur unless teachers learn about their students and their families.  The mom who I thought was lazy because she did not come to a parent meeting might just be the mom who had to work an additional shift to pay a bill.  I have left my biases behind me. 

Finally, from this particular course, I have learned I cannot solve all of the problems at one time, but rather, I need to pick and choose.  This has helped my organization skills tremendously.  While I wanted to solve the lack of diversity education in every preschool classrooms throughout the United States, I slowly accepted to change all of Florida.  Then, with some guidance, I limited my challenge to one particular school; my goal became workable.  I struggled with this, shed more than a few tears, and even laughed a bit.  The intense impact of this realization was real and can be applied to my personal life.  My job situation is very unique, because I do not have one job but several.  Sometimes, it is a challenge to remember where I am to be at what time or what exactly I was to do in this class on a particular night.  This class has given me the power to organize my goals to where they are workable.  I can still tackle various jobs, but I only need to accomplish so much on a particular day.  Working on one particular workshop at a time does not mean that I cannot handle more; rather, it means that I can complete this workshop in a positive manner, giving it my utmost attention.  Perhaps, in many ways, this course has assured me that I do not have to get a 9-5 job; I can, in fact, do it all, just in a more organized fashion.  I can continue to reach for the stars and succeed, one step at a time. 

Which brings me to my long term goal of continuing to teach early childhood professionals.  Initially when I started my company, I wanted to present workshops within the state of Florida. Then, I began to present throughout the United States; I love the huzzle and buzzle of traveling except when I am stranded at the airport for a night!  Listening to early childhood professionals in and about Florida and within the United States has given me an amazing pride in the field of early childhood.  It has been awe-inspiring. I definitely want to train internationally.  This might take some time, but I am not giving up.  At the June NAEYC conference in San Francisco, I made an awesome educator from Singapore, and she invited me to present… at first I thought she was joking, and I played along with her.  But, we have been in contact several times via e-mail. I do not know if this will happen, but how phenomenal would this be?  I’m ready to move further, reaching more educators.  I love presenting, sharing, and making a difference in the lives of young children; it is definitely what makes me tick.... it is my passion. In addition, now that I have some spare time [?], I hope to write some additional Creative Beginning Steps' books, perhaps one on science and math... and maybe one just for infant and toddler teachers.  My first two books [art and reading] have been well received, and I had the best time putting those activities together. 

WHEW!  Will I make the impossible happen?  Probably not, but dreams to come true.  Receiving my Master's Degree at this time in my life is proof.  I wish my mom was alive to see this, but in some way, I can feel her pride.  
There are no words to thank my colleagues for their support and constant communication that helped to make all of this possible.  I so appreciate every one of you.  I know that I will remain in touch with many of my colleagues who I have formed life-long friendships with; YOU know who YOU are!  Our discussions have taught me so more than our text books.  It’s been an amazing ride, and I know you will each make a huge difference in young children’s lives.  YOU CAN DO IT; YOU WILL DO IT.  I’m putting my contact information at the bottom of this post, and I look forward to keeping in touch! 

Dr. Teri, you have knowledge, patience, and humor… you are so organized.  Your numerous weekly messages kept me on track, most of the time!  Most importantly, I thank you for teaching me the meaning of the happy dance.  That meaning will remain with me forever.
I will miss this experience a lot, but I will hold tight to my learning.  Will I go on to obtain my EdD or PhD, I have not made up my mine!  I just might!  I hope to meet many of you in Orlando during the graduation in January 2014!  PLEASE KEEP IN TOUCH... we can become our own Community of Practice.

Lois Wachtel

beginningsteps@bellsouth.net                                        561-488-2231, 561-699-5841