Building Relationships

Is it enough to just be smart, or know a lot of information, to be a good teacher? I think that the obvious answer to this question is no but how often is this type of question really dealt with? Of all of my schooling and learning about how to teach, I do not ever recall being given a lesson on how to talk to students. We read one great book about how to talk to children in a way that they will understand, but I am thinking about this in more of a relationship building manner. This quarter I have been teaching in a middle school and I am realizing more than ever that it is so crucial to build a relationship with students and gain their trust before they will be able to learn you. I can remember back to my own schooling, and it was about middle school where my relationship with my teachers went way far south. I would argue that this was partly because my social life with my friends was beginning to interrupt my relationship with my teachers, but also because my teachers had too many students to be vested in me. This cannot be the reason middle school and high school students and their teachers have such disconnects.


My dyad instructor has dedicated much of her time to working with each student individually. Luckily their class schedule has a homeroom period where they can come see her and during class she also allows quite a bit of time to be spent working on an assignment, leaving her a chance to speak with students who otherwise fly under the radar. A teacher told me a really powerful piece of advice a few weeks ago. She told me in all of her years of working in the high school she has noticed that when students are aware that she cares about their learning, they care more about their own learning. I realize that teaching is not a chance for me to become best friends with all of my students, but if finding out their favorite sport or listening to a problem or two of theirs helps them to be a better learner, I am game! And I can always use more friends, even if their 10 ;)

Being a Good Teacher When I Haven't Always Been a Good Student

As the quarter rapidly approaches its end and the program also moves swiftly along, I am beginning to think more and more about my future as a teacher. With this comes a huge amount of excitement as well as uncertainty. I have reflected a lot lately on the path I took to get where I am now and how this will impact me as a teacher. I recently met up with an old friend and found myself talking about old school memories and what type of experience this was for us. The more we talked about it and the more I thought about it, I realized that I have not always been a good student, or even enjoyed school. There were many years in school where I was far behind my peers and many years where I did not care about my own success in school. I feel that my past experiences will help me to relate with students who don’t necessarily take their education seriously.  On the other hand, my former feelings about school may have the potential to cause me to look at the more negative side of things. These are the some of the concerns I have been thinking about and cannot let get in the way of my main focus, educating students. 

A lot of students lack the concentration and focus needed to achieve academic success.  This is where I believe I can help them with making goals, and understanding that the end can justify the means.  It took me going to Australia/New Zealand for a “study abroad” program to realize that there was a whole world outside of my little bubble at home and its then that I decided I needed to do something with my life and school was a proverbial “hoop” to jump through in my mission to achieve my overall goal.  At this point my work ethic and motivation skyrocketed and my grades instantly improved.  If I can help one student get the light bulb to go off, and realize that they can achieve any goals they set for themselves, I will be ecstatic.   

Math's Story

I was recently involved in a very interesting conversation with a group of 3rd grade parents who had great concern regarding their children’s success in math. The deeper the conversation went, the more I began to realize that the true concern was for the student’s ability to read- and not only read but understand reading as a process of displaying information. The situation the parents were dealing with was that the students had shifted from common, numerical math methods to word/story problems. The work that was being done both in the classroom and at home, as homework, consisted of written problems and required written responses. Problems arose for the students that were not as strong in their reading and writing, their math was negatively affected by their struggles in another subject. On the other hand, children who were strong in reading and writing, and had the ability to think more logically about math, found that adding word to the numbers made it easier. The parents were beginning to notice that this was having a huge effect on their children’s confidence in math. All three of the parents I was talking with, who all had children in the same class, said that they noticed there was a huge, growing gap in the students when it came to reading, writing, and now math.

I left the conversation and could not stop thinking about what we had talked about and what a huge problem this is for young learners. In my own schooling, I was always the slower reader and writer and I can completely relate to this negatively impacting the other subjects I was otherwise successful in. Routman discusses holding students to a high standard in writing and with this comes making kids responsible for developing efficient reading skills. After having this conversation, I have to say I completely agree with her theories about setting high expectations for students. This was just one glimpse into how all subjects are strongly connected to one another and how learning is a whole package. I used to think that if a student is good in at least on area of schooling, they can succeed overall, and I am finding out that it is not this easy. Sounds like I will have my work cut out for me as a future educator, responsible for all subjects for all of my students!

We Are Digital Learners!

I could not have said any of this better. This is a short video about the power of technology in the lives of students. This quarter has really made me think about how important it is that we get on our students level and teach them in a way that they can easily understand. Enough of trying to force students to form to our thinking, lets shift our thinking to how they see the world.

Monitor.Check.Correct

This weeks reading from Fox talks about the importance of children's ability to use strategies including cross-checking, self-monitoring, and self-correction to ensure that identified words sound appropriate to the spelling and fit the context in which it is located. As I begin to spend more time with young readers, I am starting to see how important it is for children to have the skills listed above. If students, or any reader in general, does not self-monitor they will look past errors in their reading and writing and this can lead to inaccurate descriptions and understandings of written material. For children who are able to self-monitor, it is equally important for them to know what to be looking for. This is where cross-checking comes into play. This is where the reader must think about meaning and letter/word structure. Students who lack the ability to find words that do not fit in context or match their understanding of the English language will also misunderstand the material they read. Self-correcting seems, to me, to be one of the most important parts of reading. This would be when a student corrects a miscue that they find while self-monitoring and cross-checking. With all of this said, my question becomes: how will I, as a teacher, teach such important strategies to my students, when it has become second nature to me and when I will not have a huge amount of time to spend reading with each student independently?


This past year, my teaching program has required me to read a number of articles that have contained new information for me; words I had never read before and concepts I knew nothing about. Some of the articles have even felt like a whole new language. At times, even now as a proficient reader, I find myself making up words that I do not know to get through these articles. A number of times, I have had to reread a sentence or section for clarification. I have also had to go back and redefine a word I didn't know because what I thought it meant did not fit the papers or articles context. Although I am aware that I also follow these strategies to help me correctly read material, I often do it without realizing that this is what I am doing.


One other thing. I continue to get caught up with the fact that I will not be able to sit independently with each of my students and use the teacher prompts Fox suggests, like we have been doing in our literacy class. I am committed to making sure that each of my students gets a little of my undivided attention, however, as my program advances, I am realizing that my time and help is going to be stretched thin.


Overall, I understand the importance but am having a hard time seeing how I can effectively help students learn these strategies without always being aware of their reading. I can only hope that reading more of Fox's book will help me learn what is the most important things to focus on and how I can effectively work with all of my students independently.

I was asked to read this article:
http://uwbtech.pbworks.com/Autumn-2010-Assignments-C15

and watch this video:


and respond, and this is what I thought...

As far as the article goes, I find it so crucial and helpful to have a number of different opinions when I am dealing with a situation. Blogging is a great way to get multiple perspectives on a topic of your choosing. This quarter, I have also seen where blogging can be a fantastic avenue for sharing quality information and classroom material. I recently visited one blog where the blogger had uploaded an entire unit on writing poems using technology, such as texting it and tweeting it. I can imagine that if a teachers mind is as full as my mind is right now it is not always an easy task to think of small details or new ways to approach old information. This is where blogging can be so useful. I kind of think as blogging and blogs as a place where people choose the most important details from their experiences and place them in one spot to share. I think we are all so luck to have this tool as we begin our adventure of teaching.

This video clip makes a very powerful statement. It is a bit of a pun that the video was about technology and was created using entirely technology. This goes to show how powerful the computer really is. The video talked about things such as linking people, making information movable, organizing thoughts, and creating a common place for interaction, all things that todays society has become dependent on. I was recently talking to my finance's grandmother about a school assignment I was doing, and she asked me how my group members and I were going to collaboratively complete the assignment when we are too busy to meet up. This showed me a glimpse of the transformations that have occurred with technology, just in the last 20 or so years. At one point in the video, it discusses this idea of how far we have come, and this makes me think about how far we are going to go. The video ends with the statement "we need to rethink ourselves". What an amazing statement about the relationship between the human world and the cyber world.

My Literacy History

The more I begin to think about literacy, and its importance to my students, I think about how important writing and reading have been in my own life. When I was growing up, I was never the best reader or writer. Throughout most of my life I was lower than grade level in reading and struggled with many aspects of writing, including organizing my thoughts and grammar. Although this was the case, writing and reading have become huge outlets in my life.

When things are going bad, writing is a great way to get out my feelings and emotions, especially feelings and emotions that are personal. Many things I have read have also made a huge impact on the way I live my life and my core beliefs. One really inspirational book can make me look at life through a whole new lens. I once read a book about a young boy who was always a problem at school and everyone teased him. At home he was being severely beaten by his parents. This book has helped me on my making judgments on people I do not really know. My goal now becomes to get students to realize the power of reading and writing, like I have.

One thing that Regie Routman has helped me realize through her book, Writing Essentials, is that a person does not have to be a perfect writer for writing to be one of their strengths. Anyone can write powerful pieces. Making students feel excited and ambitious about writing is key to their success.

I am very excited to dig deeper into this book. As I mentioned before, writing has never come easy to me. Routman discusses how important it is for the teacher to recognize the writing process as "purposeful, manageable, and joyous" in-order for this to transition to the students through effective teaching. In my working with children on writing, at times, I have given them a little slack, knowing that it does not come easy to everyone. Routman has pointed out that, although this is the case, students must be held at a high standard. With this, there are going to be mistakes along the road. This is simply the learning process. My new opinion about teaching students to write is that you embrace the process and celebrate the product.

PH-O-N-I-C-S

Last Tuesday was a very exciting day in my literacy class. I got to meet my reading buddy. Before arriving to class, each of us were asked to bring in a book that would be appropriate to read to our Kindergarten buddy. My partner and I decided to bring Olivia and Ruby in Her Own Time. The most amazing thing about the whole situation was that our reading buddies name is Ruby. What are the odds? This definitely got us started on the right path! 

I can already tell that working with Ruby is going to be an amazing experience. This gives me the opportunity to read some material on literacy and then work directly with a student who is in their prime of learning how to read and write. My first experience with Ruby's literacy was through a worksheet. The most interesting thing that happened with the worksheet was that when Ruby was unsure of how to sound out a word she referred to the pictures and did the same thing when she was unsure about how to write a word. Rather that using inventive spelling, Ruby felt more confident drawing the word. It is amazing to me, how when we do not know something we try to connect it to something that we do know. 

The more I am reading and learning about literacy I am realizing that it exists everywhere. Reading and writing skills are taught through nearly every aspect of the classroom. In both my main placement and my dyad placement posters cover the walls, rules and procedures are written on the board, and almost all of the work that is done includes some type of writing or reading. Not to mention that the teacher speaks to the students throughout the entire day. All of these parts of a classroom require the students to be able to read, write, and understand the English language. 

Without such tools as phonics, which reflects the relationship between letters and sounds, as pointed out in Word Identification Strategies by Barbara Fox, students would have a much harder time sounding out how to read and write words. Fox points out that phonics is helpful in having students learn new words, develop a large reading vocabulary, read fluidly, and become independent readers. When I first read this concept, I thought back to my schooling and initially thought that I was never taught using phonics. However, the more I think about it I think I began reading and writing this way all on my own. Just like everything else we learn, we have to connect it to what we already know. By teaching children how to make sense of more advanced words by connecting parts of the word to words they already know makes this process comfortable and logical.

Being A Literate Self-Advocate

The fact that I am blogging about what it means to be literate in our society brings a whole new dimension to the idea of literacy. In class we have defined being literate as having the ability to partake in America's democratic society through an informed understanding of our words, text, and vocabulary.  After discussing the importance for being literate in class, I tried to think about what it would be like to not understand the world around me. I tried to imagine needing to buy groceries and not knowing how to find the grocery store or having no idea which bus would take me there. I tried to picture myself not being able to read what ingredients I needed to make a meal for my family or how to pay for my groceries when I was finished shopping. It is hard to believe that there are children and even adults in America who can not read and write and here I am blogging about the topic; a type of literacy that is in a sense futuristic.


"It is difficult for a librarian or teacher to convince children to question society's attitudes. But if a child can be shown how to detect racism and sexism in a book, the child can proceed to transfer the perception to wider areas." For me, this quote really defines the process it takes to be literate in today's society. However, I would make a few minor adjustments to the statement; I would add that children are rarely persuaded by adults, but are rather more influenced by their own discovery of knowledge. I would go on to argue that children who come to their own understanding of information, have ownership, and therefore are more likely to apply what they are learning to their lives. The last week has really made me realize that being literate is less useful when you do not apply it to your success and advocacy.


The Teale and Sulzby article brought up many great points about literacy being not only a learned cognitive  skill but a sociopsycholinguistic activity.  Children began exploring their literacy abilities at a very young age. The article points out that children must be taught steps of information that cam build upon more information, especially when it comes to literacy. As children grow up and become more and more sophisticated learners literacy should be an area in which they build upon. Before learning letters children can connect sounds to words and things. When they start to learn letters they will add these to what they already know about how words sound and what words look like. They will eventually connect letters to form words and words to form sentences and so on. If children were taught each of these steps individually they may never make a complete connection in their thinking and therefor a child could never be able to complete a piece of thoughtful writing even if they knew about words, sentences, and paragraphs.


I also really enjoyed some of the ideas that were discussed in the Teale and Sulzby article for ways to bring literacy into the classroom in a fun manner. I have seen a number of these activities done in classrooms including the mailbox idea as well as the dramatic play areas. One of my favorite examples of bringing literacy into the class was in a 5th grade class I observed during my undergrad. The was an area in the room called the debate center. It included a bulletin board, an extra student desk, paper and pens in the desk, and different news paper clippings covering the bulletin board. The activity was for the students to rotate through the center when they were finished with whatever they were currently working on and have a chance to debate on a topic of their choice. The teacher would cut out newspaper articles that seemed interesting or relevant to the students and the students would journal about the article. Most article were either for or against something and the students had to take a side and explain their reasoning. After each student wrote on an article that interested them, they hung their writing on the wall with a tack behind the original article. When I observed the class I noticed that some of the students spent most of their time reading other peoples opinions and others felt very passionate one way or another, and wrote very expressive responses to the articles and to the other people writing on the same topic. In the class weekly meetings the articles and responses would be discussed.  I was very impressed with how this method was able to get the students to read, form their own opinion on a subject, and express their opinion in a intelligent manner.  Overall, I am excited to see what this quarter can add to my collection of tools and tricks when it comes to making kids literate.
 

My Influence

One thing that I have really thought a lot about this week was the poems that we read last week. First of all, I find it fascinating how very diverse of a group of people we are and how each of us came from an entirely unique walk of life. The other thing that I have been thinking about was the nerves I had regarding this assignment. I am normally a person who does not often get anxious about reading aloud or even sharing personal details about myself, but for some reason, with this assignment, I got very anxious and nervous when it came time to read it. What this has made me think about is what we, as teachers, will ask our students to do, and whether or not we would feel comfortable doing these things if we were in their positions. I think that it is important to keep in mind that students may have a fear of a certain assignment or task and this can negatively affect the way they approach an assignment or the effort they put into the assignment.

Another thing that I thought a lot about after class on Wednesday was how to best deal with kids when each are so unique in their needs. As this quarter has progressed I have begun to realize that I do not need all of the answers immediately and that not all tricks and tactics will even work with each student or each situation. One of the key ideas that was brought up last week was that there is no one correct way to deal with all of the classroom issues that are sure to arise, but rather it is important to create a set of tools to choose from depending on the students and circumstances. I am confident that this collection will grow along with my experience and time in the classroom. I can remember one time when I was working in a classroom and I had two students who had a lot of trouble getting along. The teacher attempted to put them in a group together in order to teach them to work out their problems. This did not work out how the teacher had planned and the two students spent a bit of time working independently with me after they fought. In order to effectively deal with the situation I had to handle each kids uniquely. One kid needed more freedom to work off his anger where the other kid required much more focus and wanted to spend time working through his problem with me. This is just one example, of many, where I experienced having to use different tactics to handle a common problem between multiple students.

This idea of what a child needs and how important it is to teach according is really pointed out in the Hargreaves article. This article discusses another issue that I have been thinking a lot about since I have decided to become a teacher. Emotions and being emotionally involved in my students, in my opinion, is a huge aspect of school that is often times over looked. This article does a good job of covering the aspects of this topic. A great description that was used to explain good teachers was that “they are emotional, passionate beings who connect with their students and fill their work and their classes with pleasure, creativity, challenge, and joy” (P. 835). They go on to explain how the “cognitive scaffolding of concepts and teaching strategies are held together with emotional bonds” (P. 835). I have always felt like one of my strongest attributes as a teacher will be the ability to connect with people emotionally but I have never found evidence of the true benefits until this article.

There is one part of this week’s reading that has me feeling a bit nervous. I realize that it is very important to have a good understanding of your students in order to be able to effectively educate them, but I have begun to notice that this will be a lot harder than I had originally thought, especially after reading the Hargreaves article. The idea of spurious emotionality is mentioned and this has me thinking. Hargreaves explains this type of emotion as something that happens when a person mistakes their feelings for the feelings of someone else. I can definitely see how being a teacher who assumes or interprets their students feelings for simply the feelings they are having can create a false relationship. A teacher must remain open to the student’s interpretations of their own feelings and opinions in order to have a true understand and emotional connection. My main problem with this, like so many other natural human habits, is that spurious emotionality seems like a characteristic that all people have and exists and may be very hard to recognize, let alone deal with in my classroom.

The last thing that I was thinking about this week that was explored in the reading was the idea of my position and my power. The Raywid article starts off by using an explanation of how teachers often feel subordinate to higher positions in the school system, which is exactly how I have been feeling up to this point. She explains how teacher often “see themselves as relatively powerless- in relation to the negative external forces against them” (P. 78). I was very enlightened to read on and find that in fact teachers do have a lot of power in the classroom and at their place of work. I guess I have always know, just never realized, but teachers do have a lot of impact on how their classroom is run, organized, how the class atmosphere is, what and how the students learn, and much more.

Overall, this week along with the readings and the class discussions have made me realize that I will be a huge influence to my students and that emotional connections are essential in all aspects of teaching. I have also had a chance to reflect on how much influence I have had on students in classrooms just as a visitor. I cannot hardly wait to get my classroom and start experiencing all of these relationships.

WWKD: What Would Kids Do

Wow! This week gave me a lot to ponder on. The conversation that we had in class on Wednesday night about religion in the classroom really got me thinking. First thing that I realized was that the subject was especially touchy to people who have great interest in religion. I, myself, am not a very religious person and therefore find that I am not as extreme about my opinion on this topic as other people are. Just in conversations that I have had outside of the classroom I have noticed a trend which is: parents who are religious seem to have a stronger opinion on what is being taught to their children. A great friend of mine is Jewish and him and his family practice Judaism. He was very opposed to his children receiving education about religion in the classroom even the teaching of his own religion. He even argues that the teaching of history should be done so without any reference to religion at all. On the other hand, a few of my other friends who are not religious in the same intensity said that they would not mind it if their children were to be educated on the facts of religion and how religion plays into our society. One common argument was that it would never be alright for teachers (or any authority) to try to manipulate their student’s freedom of choice. Something I found interesting was that a few of my friends made the argument that because they are not religious they do not know how to teach their children about the influential aspects of religion, aspects that they all agreed are important to a complete understanding of our world.

There is one tiff that I feel a bit obligated to make in this blog entry and that is the extreme link between religion and state that we cannot seem to break. I realize that religion is a huge part of American culture and that it has made huge impacts on our history, which I agree are important to teach about, but I continue asking myself why is it that we cannot teach the facts of religion and the truth about state without being offensive? Our society has put these two topics together and therefore it seems necessary to teach both in order to teach either. It is also important to point out that religion is not the only are where parents become offended and where teachers can overstep there influential boundaries.

Teachers have to be working towards helping their children become able to formulate their own opinions and beliefs. I really enjoyed the example that was used in the Ayers reading with the anti-bias library. I have always said that I will strive to raise my own children with as many options and experiences as I can find to fit into their lives. I have realized through my own life that it only takes one short reading or article to spark my interest enough for further investigation and discovery. In my classroom, I can see it being really beneficial to provide an area where my students can make new discoveries and maybe find something that can become of special interest to them. I will strive to set up an area for further knowledge and help them realize that learning can be fun and interesting.

I think another aspect of making school interesting to kids is to allow them a choice in what they learn and how they will do this. It would be very beneficial to allow and even request class involvement in planning curriculum and designing their learning. Kids should get a choice in what they study, what they read, and the projects they complete. I also think, like Ayers, that it should pertain to their lives. I would make the bold argument that people learn the best when learning about something that is significant in their lives, in which they find applicable to their surroundings. As a professional, I realize that it will be up to me to make learning relevant to my students.

This argument takes me in a complete circle back to my previous concerns about how schools and teachers have so much restrictions coming from higher up authority. I am having a hard time understanding how teachers are supposed to make such an influence on their students when all of these critical lessons will be so hard to incorporate in their daily lesson plans. Or will they? In my opinion teachers should be allowed to create whatever learning experience they see fit for their students. Having the credentials to be a teacher should give them enough authority to make these types of choices. However, I understand they should be able to meet certain requirements. One specific one is mentioned in Ayers: being able to “demonstrate to colleges and the wider school community that what they are teaching is legitimate and worthwhile” (Ayers, P. 93).

One quote that really stuck with me from this week’s reading was that “there is no ‘teacher proof’ curriculum that will humanize and energize the classroom of a deadly dull teacher” (Ayers, P. 87). I must remember that the excitement in my classroom cannot be falsified; I must be genuine in my enthusiasm and charisma. I hope to have as much compassion for my students as Vivian Paley discusses in “You Can’t Say You Can’t Play”. The amount of detail that goes into the success of each student is admirable.

Complete Acceptance

This last week has made me think a lot about the setting I will be working in. The type of classroom I will create and how this will affect my students. The Sapon-Shevinopt article talks a great deal about building a strong community in the classroom and providing a safe environment where students feel comfortable to learn. This article points out that there has been little education available to teachers on this subject. It is obvious to me that providing a place where students feel free to be themselves and are able to overcome their weaknesses without shame is crucial for their success in school. When I think back to my own education, I remember quite a few times when I was too uncomfortable to ask questions for fear of humiliation, and therefore never received clarification. When I would go without asking questions, I would often times never completely learn the material. It would be a shame to allow this to go on in a classroom when there are things that can be done to promote a comfortable learning environment.

With the standards that are set for kids today it is important that us, as teachers, make every effort to set up an area for learning that is safe and comfortable. If a student is not comfortable in their class they will not fully engage in the learning process and this will significantly affect how well they do. I believe that all kids have a desire to be accepted and like to feel wanted. Throughout my life I have met a number of adults who have a pretty hard shell and are not easily affected by being disliked or put down, I have never seen this in a child. I think that what often happens is that a child will put up a hard wall after they have been teased or put down in some way and are now more vulnerable to harassment. This is often a cycle that the ‘weird’ or ‘dumb’ kids get caught up in. I find a great deal of inspiration in discovering things that these kids can do, skills and attributes that they have that can positively attribute to their class and their school. As a teacher, I will constantly be looking out for different talents and strengths my students have to offer. Sometimes I wish one of my teachers would have noticed that although I was poor at one thing I was very good at a number of other things.

I think an equally important issue in the classroom that must be acknowledged and dealt with is student-student interaction. Kids treating each other poorly is a huge problem in today’s society. Bullying, teasing, and abuse are all common problems in our schools today. In order for classrooms to become like a community, the relationships between the students must be dealt with. I am optimistic to say that all it takes is a bit of understanding between each of the students for them to see that everyone is not so different from one another and that all students have strengths and weaknesses. Along with wanting my students to feel good in the classroom with their peers, I too want to feel safe and confident teaching them. I am a bit nervous, especially with the older students, that they may be able to read through me or put me down for one of my faults. This will push me even harder to ensure that my classroom remains a community and a place where respected relationships exist.

As a teacher, I see one of my challenges being trying to make my students unite when the larger community surrounding my school might not. I have spent a little bit of time in schools where extreme socioeconomic differences exist, gangs are present, and other neighborhood conflicts exist. It is amazing how much of this is evident through even first and second graders. I remember one time when a second grader came to school, took off his coat and when he went to put it on the back of the chair he got really angry. He grabbed scissors and began to cut his coat. The teacher caught this quickly and asked him why he was doing this to his coat and he told her that it was because his blue coat had red on the inside of it and his dad didn’t like the color red because his color was blue.

I realize this week, while looking at school and classroom communities that students truly come from all walks of life. We had a discussion in class once about parent volunteers, and I don’t mean to beat a dead horse, but it is important to remember that not everyone lives the same life and what may seem life an easy task for one parent or person may be impossible for someone else. I am very passionate about allowing children to be themselves and not judge children or their families. Another thing that I will add to my ‘to do’ list for teaching will be to hole noting against my students until I know the whole story. This may sound a bit cheesy, but I watch the movie Blind Side this weekend and it really made me think. As a teacher of that student it would have been very easy to get angry with him for not having his homework completed, or disgusted by the fact that he wore the same outfit everyday and this would not have been my judgment to make. Nor would it have been any of the other student’s judgments to make. If all children were accepted the way he eventually was how would things be different? I keep coming back to the same thought: the smallest acceptance can have the hugest impact on a child’s life.

My Cultural Story

This week, as I continue on my path to becoming a teacher, I have had a lot to reflect on and ponder. First of all, I ask myself, what will my role as a professional be and how will I achieve this professionalism. I am confident that this class, as well as the rest of this program, will help me to have a better understanding of what role I will be playing and how it can most productively be played. The whole process this far has kept me a bit nervous about what is to come and has me a little flustered because I struggle with not having an organized trail of thoughts. With every issue that has come up in the readings and in class discussions, I remain confused and contradicted. I can almost always see the positives to the negative side and vice-versa, this has me all jumbled up. While I continue to struggle with this, I can also see that this may be beneficial in my career. In order to be a professional, I would argue that a person has to have the ability to see things in numerous ways, to be dynamic.

One of the issues that we read about this week discussed culture in the lives of the students. It has always been an interest to me how so many humans can come from such an array of dispositions and make up a community, society, country, neighborhood, etc. I think that it is important to remember that each and every person has their own culture and traditions and that they are all equally important in that child’s life. Just like the student’s that I will someday have, I also come from a particular life and have certain cultural characteristics that are equally important to me. Although it may be a bit difficult to accurately puzzle together all of my future students and create an environment where everyone feels equally accepted and important it will also be very exciting. I think that in my own experience I have learned the most about culture from firsthand accounts and experiences of those around me. I am eager to learn from my students as well as allow my students to learn from one another. I love the way Ayers puts it, “one person’s cultural common sense is another’s exotic behavior” (P. 76). I am excited to be able to teach children a lesson I was taught at a very young age which was: even though someone is different they are not better or worse.

My ideal class setting would be one in which I have students that have an array of cultures; combining these cultures will create a unique story. Together our class, made up of different cultures, will eventually make up a culture of their own. The way students will begin to interact between themselves as well as the way I, the teacher, will interact with them will be unique to my class. I have also come to understand that my classroom culture will change from year to year as my students change. With this, I will also be growing my garden of cultural experiences and understandings from year to year. I have done a number of things in my life that has forced me to look at life through a new lens and I have learned a huge amount from these experiences. I started elementary school in a classroom that was made up of half hearing impaired and deaf children and half hearing children like myself, I have lived in Australia and New Zealand, I spent two weeks of my time in Australia living with an aboriginal family where I experienced many of their customs and beliefs, and I have also taken part in a number of Lebanese rituals. This is one part of teaching that I can truly say I am excited to experience and learn from.

Another thing that I would like to discuss is a question that was brought up during class last week. We were all asked: ‘what aspects of schooling will affect me that I am not prepared for?’ This stirred up a lot in me. There are so many aspects of schooling that will affect me and, because my education has just begun, I feel like I am little prepared for any of them. I know that I will be dealing with all sorts of problems from dealing with parents to preparing for testing; I have not been officially taught how to deal with most of these situations yet but am confident this is what the program is for. Although I am confident that this program will help prepare me for my time in the classroom, I am also aware that there will always be times in my career where my best judgment will need to be used as well as relying on my colleagues for support.

I have been getting a bit caught up from time to time with the idea that I am not going to have all of the answers when I teach and that I could be responsible for ruining my student’s lives. I have begun to realize that I must remain confident and know that teaching will always be a work in progress. I have always thought of myself as a lifetime students and this is exactly what I will be. Going along with what I said before, I think that in order for me to be a professional teacher I must remain willing to work on my teaching styles, my interactions with my students, my leadership in my school and district, and most importantly myself.

Student's Contributions

This past week has forced me to take a closer look at the students that I will one day teacher versus my job as a teacher. In the past I have gotten a bit wrapped up in the skills that I will have to learn and what my responsibilities in the classroom will be. I have now realized that there is a great deal of mutual learning that goes on in the classroom, that I am not required to have all the answers (phew). Students have just as much to offer as teachers and I must not kid myself by thinking that I will be the only one bringing anything to the table.

The TED Talks video that was posted to the wiki really made me think about how much kids have to offer and how much growth our society has gone through due to the actions of children. First of all, Adora, the girl that gave the presentation, was absolutely brilliant both in her delivery and the content. She made a number of strong statements that got me thinking about this topic. One thing that she said that really caught my attention was that “the learning between teachers and students should be reciprocal”. I would agree with her completely. While it will be crucial for me to move my class in a progressive manner and help them to understand content and gain knowledge, I also think that students have such a fresh look on things and often times this can provide great insight and understanding for adults.

I would argue that although this sounds great and that teachers should just listen to their students more, I think there are definitely habits that stop this from occurring as often as it should. As adults we often think that we have seen more, experienced more and are better educated than children and therefore know best. I would also argue that it can feel a bit uncomfortable to have a conversation where the adult does more listening than talking. As I reflect on my own experience with children, I realize that when I have been in a discussion with a child on whatever topic, they usually bring up a point that I had not thought of or found a connection that I had missed. Although it may be difficult at times to remember to close my mouth and listen to my students, I will strive to do this throughout my teaching career.

Now to shift gears a bit, there were a number of points that were made in the text that related to this topic as well as brought up new ideas for me. I became a bit contradicted with the part of the reading where the author lists all of the skills that he lacks and discusses how he would feel if school administration created a curriculum to correct these deficiencies in him. While I completely agree that not all students are going to be interested in all topics, and each student will have unique abilities as well as likes and dislikes, I would also argue that some skills are simply important for everyone to develop. I would also point out that although Ayers makes a good point, he also stretches the argument a bit.

I assume that school administrations as well as teachers are not expecting that kids learn everything about everything but rather they learn information and skills that will be the most beneficial in their lives. I would go as far as to say that it would be beneficiary to all kids that they hold a bit of knowledge surrounding math and also have the ability to read as well as other skills. Now, am I arguing for standardized testing and strict classroom content, no, however I am suggesting that all students should be required to gain particular abilities that can support a flourishing society and nation. I am assuming, due to my contradicting feelings and arguments here, that this could be one of my larger challenges in the classroom.

I also see time management being a difficult thing to deal with in a classroom. Not only dealing with making time for all lessons and subjects, but more importantly making time for each of my students. I was really interested in the part of the reading by Ayers where he talks about focusing on each student individually and writing notes on his findings. I could see how narrowing my attention on each student individually would allow me to have a better understanding of them as a person and their role in the classroom as a learner. I think that if each teacher could make time to complete this exercise they would have a much better understanding of what direction they need to head in, what issues will arise, and how to best deal with each student. Often I think had my teachers known just known me better as a person and discovered my talents, I may have liked school much more and excelled further. One more thing to add to my list of goals as a teacher…

Up to this point in my progress toward becoming a teacher, I am finding that I contradict a lot of my arguments and continue to struggle with understanding how I am going to organize all my thoughts into a plan for teaching. I am beginning to notice that just loving kids is not enough, nor is just being really smart, there has to be complete balance and dedication. One of my goals as a teacher has always been to have an impact on all of my students, even the ones that are not my favorite. As a student myself, I have felt what it is like to be the student that is behind and misunderstood and I will strive to accept all students and hope to have an impact on everyone.

A Teacher's Impact

Due in class today is an assignment that deals with my experience as a student and how I have come to the decision to become a teacher. It is amazing how much knowledge and insight a person can gain through reflection. Many of the things that I wrote about in my paper were issues that have had a huge impact on the person I have become and the path I took to get here. However, many of these stories and memories have not come to the surface of my thinking in a long time. The main conclusion I have come to, through this assignment, was that teachers are responsible for not only the knowledge student’s gain in their classroom, but the experience students leave with as well. In my experience, positive teachers got me excited about learning and had confidence in my future, which pushed me to strive for success. On the flip side, teachers that were not supportive and had little involvement in my education caused me to feel ashamed of my progress and gave me little motivation. I also realize after reflecting on my education that one great teacher can redirect a child’s whole path.

When I think of the teacher that I want to become a whole bunch of words come to mind: caring, compassionate, devoted, professional, influential, creative, understanding, willing, hopeful, dedicated, empathetic, important, considerate, and so on… Although this sounds great, I am aware that problems will come with directing these words into an action where I can serve as a teacher of knowledge as well as a significant member of a student’s support group. I feel like so often teachers get so wrapped up in the mechanics of teaching certain material and reaching specific goals in a specific amount of time, they forget the other, equally important role they are playing in a child’s life. My goal as a teacher will be to find effective ways to connect learning and reality for my students.

Along with this week’s assignments, last week’s discussion brought up a number of clarifications for me. One thing that really stuck out to me from last week’s discussion was the part about teaching the truth versus teaching and having the ability to find the truth as well as being able to question the truth. I was lucky enough to have found the IAS program at UWB where this way of thinking was the center of my education. I am aware of how much more beneficial it is to be able to find the answer and question the answer than to simply be told the answer. As a grade school teacher, I think it is detrimental to teach kids the ability to self discover and ask questions. In my own experience, I feel that having the ability to do this sets me apart from my peers who constantly believe everything they hear.

Another thing that stuck out to me from the discussion was the argument that teachers have to stop being so helpful and put more pressure on students to find their own answers. This goes along with what I was just talking about. I think that often times it seems easier to correct a student when they mispronounce a word rather than having them figure out how the word is supposed to be said in the context of the material. In reality it is more beneficial that the student discovers their own errors and learns off of their own mistakes. In any career a student chooses to pursue they will be responsible for finding their own answers and there will almost never be a person who will spoon feed information to them.

This week has really shown me how important life skills and relationships are, possibly more so than curriculum and content. I realize that there must be a balance between what is being taught and how it is being taught, however, I think that there is much more recognition placed on material and student achievement in schools today. This goes back to the same old argument between government control and teachers judgment. I would assume that if teachers had more power over the content they taught, they would have more control over the underlying lessons they were able to include and therefore make an even larger impact on their student’s lives. I am not very knowledgeable yet on how teachers are assessed but I think that it is important that teachers be evaluated on their teaching methods and their relationship with their student as well as the success of their students.

Now, to contradict what I just said, I do think that it is important for teachers to be able to provide evidence of learning and student growth. My argument against standardized testing is the same as everyone else’s; that the test are unfair and the format is unlike other school work, however, I would also argue that teachers should have more judgment on the success of students. In today’s society, in order for a person to become a teacher they have to complete a college degree and have a great deal of training in education and working with children. So, I do not understand why their education and training does not give them the power to determine the status of success in their classes and with their students. I really like the example that was given in class about teachers maintaining forms of evidence of learning other than test scores. Creating a folder for each student that held student’s papers with evaluations and the criteria for that paper, along with other assignments and projects seems like a feasible solution. This portfolio style of evaluating would not only benefit the heads of education programs but also the students. This could serve as a reflection piece for the students.

Once again, I have made a number of claims as to how I am going to operate as a teacher and what I will strive to change in the education system. This all still seems very overwhelming but having completed the reflection on my own experiences in school, I am confident that I will someday be a successful teacher. I must keep in mind the power my teachers had in my learning and the impact they made on my life.

Not All Butterflies and Fairytales

Where to begin… Throughout my first day of class, I kept thinking about how I was going to be capable of become a good teacher while at the same time dealing with the plethora of problems that are attached. This class was a lot to take in and forced me to really analyze my decision to become a public school educator. What I came out of the class realizing was that it was ultimately up to me – my judgment, values, morals, and knowledge – to become an influential teacher to my students allowing them complete opportunity to prosper. I realize that I must not only set high goals for my students but be willing to collectively work hard to reach each student’s goals. This week’s reading has also pointed out that it is important that teachers stay flexible and moldable for the ever changing environment that is the education system. The goals and realities of children are constantly changing due to shifts in society norms and, as Ayres points out, it is up to the teachers to reflect these shifts in their teaching. What a teacher is presenting to students must be current and relevant in order for the students to become engaged and active learners.

I have realized after this initial class and reading Ayres, CH.1 that dedication is critical. I think that it is crucial that teachers, including myself, have passion for children and teaching. Passion is crucial when you think of how long the education process is and how many obstacles have to be conquered. I can honestly say that passion is not lacking in my desire to become a teacher, mentor, advocate, and friend to my future students. I am constantly amazed at how intelligent children are, even at a very young age, and how eager children are to learn. I am the most amazed at children who may not always fit in or do not know the most information but have very different skills to the environment that are equally important. The story in the reading that brought out a bit of emotion for me was the story about Jose, the skateboarder. I think that often times children like Jose are over looked and get lost in the fast paced classroom, however, like in Jose’s case, these children often times have a unique set of skills or views that can be very beneficial to everyone. It is often times stories of less fortunate, miss fit, and slower children that remind me of my passion to teach.

It has been my own experiences in school that has ultimately shaped my attitudes and feelings regarding schooling and education. I feel very fortunate to have had a very successful education thus far. The elementary school that I attended was in a middle to lower class neighborhood and was very diverse in population. In middle school I transferred to a higher class neighborhood and remained there until graduation. Throughout my education I had a number of great teachers and a few less than enthusiastic teachers. I remember a few specific things that my teacher said to me and the support I felt that helped me succeed as well as the lack of recognition and the immense pressure that made me want to give up all together. I also remember the amount of pressure that was put on me outside of the classroom that affected my learning. One unique circumstance for me was that I was able to experience a school with little funding as well as a school that was well off financially. I am very aware of the advantages and disadvantages that both of these schools offered me. I have come to understand that not only will this program and my previous education help me with my classroom, but equally important are my experiences in the classroom as a young student.

One significant quote that I pulled from the reading was the part that talks about why Ayres chose teaching. He explains that he chose teaching “to share my life with young people, to shape and touch the future” (Ayres, P.5). This statement holds very true for the way I feel about my life as a teacher. Not only am I excited to share knowledge with children that will shape their future but also spend my life surrounded by children that will shape my future. I know that children have more to offer the world that any book or study could explain. I also feel strongly about children’s desire to be heard and understood and I am excited to spend my life dedicated to listening and accepting the thoughts and views of my students. I have come to the realization that if everyone would stop and listen to what children had to say, we would all greatly benefit. There is no other being that is so imaginative, creative, passionate, loving, and less understood than children, and it is up to us to help guide them in a direction for growth and development that will eventually give back to our future.

In conclusion, after my first day in class and now that I have completed the first chapter in To Teach, my overall feeling about teaching and working with students is still excitement. I realize that I am only at the very beginning of my education and am very anxious to find out more about how children behave and how to effectively teach material that will allow each child to grow to their fullest potential. The main point from the Ayres reading is that it is crucial to become aware that a teacher’s dedication to teaching can ultimately impact the future for the teacher, the students, and society as a whole. Also, all children are different and each has their own attributions to make to the classroom and to their environment. I can only hope that as my education continues, and as I gain more experience with kids in a classroom, some of these abstract ideas and concepts will make more sense and become more organized in my thinking of schooling and education.

One thing that I must keep in mind is that teaching is not all butterflies and fairy tales; in fact there is a much harsher side and very difficult circumstances that will challenge my passion for teaching. Ultimately, I realize that it is up to me to keep my passion for children and the future of our population in the forefront of my thinking while riding the rollercoaster that is the education system.