The next section in “Teaching Hope” is called “Disillusionment”. The first page of the section alludes to the idea that teaching is painful. Our hopes and dreams of being the teacher that can save the world, make a difference in students’ lives and be the best teacher out there are brought to reality. This reality is that they may not happen, we may not always succeed, but our focus is not always winning or succeeding but instead continually finding and holding onto hope.
With the section beginning the talk of testing and school standards, it makes me frustrated that it is true, so many tests only do just that, test, and on things that most children do not know. “So why can’t they just ask us without using these stupid, confusing questions? If they don’t get us ready for college and just make us frustrated, why are we using them? They never ask about things that we know about. It seems as though they were set up to put us down or something.” (176) Why are we holding students, children to standards that are unreasonable and unreachable. But the idea of testing is only one of many problems that teachers face, along with minimal resources, bad classroom environments, no funding, being underpaid, and having the students labeled before they even walk into your class makes being a teacher as difficult as running a country. How are teachers supposed to effectively do their job without having the proper tools? Most schools, teachers, and administrative staff could reply that you find a way to make it work. Although as an optimistic person I would admit that I would do everything to try to overcome these obstacles, this doesn’t solve the problem of the obstacles being there in the first place. We need to fix these problems all the while understanding that no child is “un-teachable” there are only teachers who can’t teach.
Saying that, knowing that all children can be reached at some point, I turn to think, we may reach them in our classroom but how can we help their entire life? When do we stop being “just” a teacher, what can we really do to help that homeless teen, the pregnant girl, the boy who is beaten and has two parents on drugs? How do we help each student? We want to take on the world as teachers, but can we really? Do we strive to reach all or strive to really help some? It may be easier in many of these situations to turn away but if this is our decision we do nothing but add to the problem. There was a point “when it became easier to turn their backs rather than help those kids” but we CAN’T let ourselves follow down this path of ignorance. We need to help. I find myself wondering where to draw an emotional line. If I could, I would take every single one of my students home, but I can’t. So how do I balance being emotionally involved to help and being too connected? I am still working on that one.
SO many people in our lives as future teachers and in the lives of our students will have a say on what “should” be done. But we must realize that the “should be’s” and the judgments, the stereotypes, the racism, gender-ism, and so forth are only things that make us realize what long road we have ahead to change this world. We must be on the right path to help change because no one is going to do things “for” you, you need to do them yourself. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.” (201) Deciding to be a teacher is something that we must deal with every morning we wake up, it is a life-long journey. It is a 24 hours a day 7 days a week job whether or not people admit it, but emotionally and mentally your classroom and those students are a part of who you will be and become as a teacher. As with previous educational systems, thoughts and practices, everyday will be a challenge but waking up to the reality of teacher the good AND the bad is crucial. Learning never to give up, never quit, that is what makes a teacher.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
1950-1980 Education
This video made me so angry. I was frustrated at how many people were ignorant when it came to understanding and accepting people of other races and genders. In the 1950’s schools were full of the post war baby boomers. The job of schools, at this point in time, was to keep them safe and propel students towards a technological future”. Three out of five students graduated and 50% went on to college. But in this decade, schools were segregated and it was understood that different people were educated differently. There were different schools for the “whites and the blacks” and there were little to no opportunities for women. 17 states had segregated schools by laws with Mexican-Americans averaging only 5 years of schooling and 72% of disabled children not being in school.
From 1950-1970 there were many reforms that came to open schools to everyone. Equality was now a major concern, starting with the schools, it would, as many hoped, carry on through the rest of society. In Topeka, Kansas, the black and the white students were attending schools together but everything else they had or did was separate such as sports, proms, school government, and even the books were different. In Topeka there were 18 white schools with only four African-American schools. The term “separate but equal” was no longer equal, and segregation was still legal as long as the schools claimed to be "separate but equal". The NAACP stated that schools were never equal and they were inadequate. Schools could give employment to black teachers and they were highly qualified but many jobs were not open to them because of race. African- American teachers were interested in the whole child not just certain facets and wanted to expand learning. In 1950, the NAACP enlisted 15 black parents to enroll their children in white schools, with all of them being turned away and denied entrance. Through this we find the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, which ultimately ended 60 years of legal segregation in May of 1954. Schools began complying with the decision but it ended up displacing 30,000 black teachers.
The South defied the decision, saying they would not integrate. But in Little Rock, Arkansas we saw Dwight Eisenhower upholding the law and through armed forces nine black students would attend a white school. We began seeing the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr., as well as others who were strong advocates for rights of black people. In 1963 public schools had the support of Lyndon B. Johnson who advocated equal chances at education would lead to equal chances at life. He implemented programs such as Head Start and College Loans to help pay for school. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed equality in schools and equal education and opportunity. This Act was then followed by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act promoting quality and equality in education. Eight years after the Civil Rights Act, 90% of black people would attend schools. The 1960s brought about schools trying to keep up with the job market, reaching (and not attaining) the “American Dream”. In the Southwest, we found that Mexican-Americans rarely made it to high school with, in 1968, a 75% drop out rate. In Crystal City, Texas 87% of people were Mexican-American with three out of four teachers being white. We find the word “Americanize” coming back to our schools and society.
We begin to see the push for bilingual education and without results, students performed “walk outs”, 500 students not going to school. The school board was to blame and starting there, the Mexican-American community obtained four of the seven seats on the school board and began making improvements to education. The Bilingual Education Act was passed in 1974 giving even more opportunities to students speaking multiple languages. The Lau case pushed forward more advocacies for bilingual education. This case dealt with Chinese culture in San Francisco schools and also lead to the idea that equality requires that you treat each student differently. Thus $68 million dollars was given for bilingual education. With race and languages making strides in schools, gender became the widespread topic. With, in 1970, only 1% of medical and law degrees were being awarded to women and only 7.4 athletes being women, something had to change. In 1972, Title 9 was passed and demanded equal education for all genders (females more specifically). But even with this step forward books and school materials were heavily gender biased. Dorothy Raffel, a female athlete, who saw doors being closed to her, charged the government with not upholding the law for girls. Women because of Raffel began earned more degrees, participated in more sports and for the first time ever, were in the Olympics. In 1976 we found that children with disabilities were now the subject of discrimination. The 1970’sbrought about changes for these students as well, with more talking, more debates, came progress through communication.
It certainly looks as though, as a nation, if we do not have some group, race, gender, or ability to target for discrimination, our country is at a loss for what to do. I feel so frustrated looking to our history of education, knowing that my own race, the people who I would have mostly identified with, during those days, were so cruel to so many other groups of people for just being different.
From 1950-1970 there were many reforms that came to open schools to everyone. Equality was now a major concern, starting with the schools, it would, as many hoped, carry on through the rest of society. In Topeka, Kansas, the black and the white students were attending schools together but everything else they had or did was separate such as sports, proms, school government, and even the books were different. In Topeka there were 18 white schools with only four African-American schools. The term “separate but equal” was no longer equal, and segregation was still legal as long as the schools claimed to be "separate but equal". The NAACP stated that schools were never equal and they were inadequate. Schools could give employment to black teachers and they were highly qualified but many jobs were not open to them because of race. African- American teachers were interested in the whole child not just certain facets and wanted to expand learning. In 1950, the NAACP enlisted 15 black parents to enroll their children in white schools, with all of them being turned away and denied entrance. Through this we find the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, which ultimately ended 60 years of legal segregation in May of 1954. Schools began complying with the decision but it ended up displacing 30,000 black teachers.
The South defied the decision, saying they would not integrate. But in Little Rock, Arkansas we saw Dwight Eisenhower upholding the law and through armed forces nine black students would attend a white school. We began seeing the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr., as well as others who were strong advocates for rights of black people. In 1963 public schools had the support of Lyndon B. Johnson who advocated equal chances at education would lead to equal chances at life. He implemented programs such as Head Start and College Loans to help pay for school. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed equality in schools and equal education and opportunity. This Act was then followed by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act promoting quality and equality in education. Eight years after the Civil Rights Act, 90% of black people would attend schools. The 1960s brought about schools trying to keep up with the job market, reaching (and not attaining) the “American Dream”. In the Southwest, we found that Mexican-Americans rarely made it to high school with, in 1968, a 75% drop out rate. In Crystal City, Texas 87% of people were Mexican-American with three out of four teachers being white. We find the word “Americanize” coming back to our schools and society.
We begin to see the push for bilingual education and without results, students performed “walk outs”, 500 students not going to school. The school board was to blame and starting there, the Mexican-American community obtained four of the seven seats on the school board and began making improvements to education. The Bilingual Education Act was passed in 1974 giving even more opportunities to students speaking multiple languages. The Lau case pushed forward more advocacies for bilingual education. This case dealt with Chinese culture in San Francisco schools and also lead to the idea that equality requires that you treat each student differently. Thus $68 million dollars was given for bilingual education. With race and languages making strides in schools, gender became the widespread topic. With, in 1970, only 1% of medical and law degrees were being awarded to women and only 7.4 athletes being women, something had to change. In 1972, Title 9 was passed and demanded equal education for all genders (females more specifically). But even with this step forward books and school materials were heavily gender biased. Dorothy Raffel, a female athlete, who saw doors being closed to her, charged the government with not upholding the law for girls. Women because of Raffel began earned more degrees, participated in more sports and for the first time ever, were in the Olympics. In 1976 we found that children with disabilities were now the subject of discrimination. The 1970’sbrought about changes for these students as well, with more talking, more debates, came progress through communication.
It certainly looks as though, as a nation, if we do not have some group, race, gender, or ability to target for discrimination, our country is at a loss for what to do. I feel so frustrated looking to our history of education, knowing that my own race, the people who I would have mostly identified with, during those days, were so cruel to so many other groups of people for just being different.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Reading Reflection 3
This section in “Teaching Hope” was entitled "Engagement" and very appropriate, for the section offered many scenarios in which teachers and students finally connected. This connection finally leading to an affirmation of the choice to be a teacher. The first thing that stood out to me about this section was the fact that teachers really do need to “draw parallels between the lives of the characters in the books we were reading and the lives of each student.” (pg. 105) There was an instant realization that this section was going to contain messages that were given, directly or indirectly to students or teachers that helped to change their life and their future. Teachers strive to “undo the message she received somewhere that she is bad and stupid”. (pg. 108) So many students are told they are bad, they are not going to make it, or even worse, they are ignored. Students in these situations need help, help they don’t even know how to ask for. Most of the time, it is the teacher helping the students but sometimes the teacher is the one that ends up getting the help.
The classroom should be a place not only to help students and even teachers but a safe place too. It should be a place where students can come together, in any way, shape, or form to unite and further more, celebrate the similarities and differences between their cultures. But so many times teachers, in order to help and have their students understand that their classroom is this kind of place, they “have” to “prove” themselves. Our students, our children in the class, know when they are different, know that they are, for a piece whether small, significant, or for their entire life will be judged on their appearance, culture, background, and abilities. One section that caught me was where we found a journal from one girl about her view of her own race and her struggles. The teacher then responds with her own experiences saying “I wasn’t just the ‘other’ color but that I was the ‘wrong’ color” (pg. 120) How can a child feel, let alone any person, a teacher, parent, or friend, feel so much sadness and hurt about something as their skin? I felt so upset reading this because I take the way I look for granted. Never having had a problem being white, never been looked or stared at, or even discriminated against for the color of my skin. How can I relate to my future students with this? The answer- well I have experienced being discriminated, judged, stereotyped and hurt- my hurt and my pain, now overcome with experience and growth can help others who are now feeling those emotions.
For so many students who come from a disadvantage, whatever that may be, they are automatically put into categories and separated by those around them. But when you find they are doing what they hate to each other, teachers find a moment, a moment when being the teacher is most important to act, to teach a lesson. Making students realize, as we saw through this section of reading, that harboring prejudices and judgments against others is wrong and making progress to change, however small, is always important. Finding, recognizing, and more importantly listening to their stories is what can create the first step on the long path of progress. Being an open person, putting your views, morals, religion, and other background aside, being a clean slate and open place allows kids to come and talk to you, to actually want to talk. All kids have something inside (pg. 134) and it is just a matter of time before it comes out, helping them as being more than just a teacher, allows whatever it is that’s inside to come out in a good way, instead of the alternate.
Are students scared to succeed? Are we as teachers scared to help them be more than what half of all the people in their lives have told them they “should” be? Children and teachers alike find comfort in just settling, fitting into the molds, characters that they are supposed to be. But being honest not only with yourself but with your students allows a connection, a true connection to be made and that path of progress finds another step taken.
The classroom should be a place not only to help students and even teachers but a safe place too. It should be a place where students can come together, in any way, shape, or form to unite and further more, celebrate the similarities and differences between their cultures. But so many times teachers, in order to help and have their students understand that their classroom is this kind of place, they “have” to “prove” themselves. Our students, our children in the class, know when they are different, know that they are, for a piece whether small, significant, or for their entire life will be judged on their appearance, culture, background, and abilities. One section that caught me was where we found a journal from one girl about her view of her own race and her struggles. The teacher then responds with her own experiences saying “I wasn’t just the ‘other’ color but that I was the ‘wrong’ color” (pg. 120) How can a child feel, let alone any person, a teacher, parent, or friend, feel so much sadness and hurt about something as their skin? I felt so upset reading this because I take the way I look for granted. Never having had a problem being white, never been looked or stared at, or even discriminated against for the color of my skin. How can I relate to my future students with this? The answer- well I have experienced being discriminated, judged, stereotyped and hurt- my hurt and my pain, now overcome with experience and growth can help others who are now feeling those emotions.
For so many students who come from a disadvantage, whatever that may be, they are automatically put into categories and separated by those around them. But when you find they are doing what they hate to each other, teachers find a moment, a moment when being the teacher is most important to act, to teach a lesson. Making students realize, as we saw through this section of reading, that harboring prejudices and judgments against others is wrong and making progress to change, however small, is always important. Finding, recognizing, and more importantly listening to their stories is what can create the first step on the long path of progress. Being an open person, putting your views, morals, religion, and other background aside, being a clean slate and open place allows kids to come and talk to you, to actually want to talk. All kids have something inside (pg. 134) and it is just a matter of time before it comes out, helping them as being more than just a teacher, allows whatever it is that’s inside to come out in a good way, instead of the alternate.
Are students scared to succeed? Are we as teachers scared to help them be more than what half of all the people in their lives have told them they “should” be? Children and teachers alike find comfort in just settling, fitting into the molds, characters that they are supposed to be. But being honest not only with yourself but with your students allows a connection, a true connection to be made and that path of progress finds another step taken.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Down to Business
Thursday September 16th
Today, Dr. Grace is sporting an outfit that says, "Let's get down to business!" With brown dress pants and brown shoes, we find that brown definitely is one of her best colors! A coral colored long sleeve shirt is covered by a beige button down jacket with detailed stitching. A great business outfit to get the students really working!
Today, Dr. Grace is sporting an outfit that says, "Let's get down to business!" With brown dress pants and brown shoes, we find that brown definitely is one of her best colors! A coral colored long sleeve shirt is covered by a beige button down jacket with detailed stitching. A great business outfit to get the students really working!
1900-1950 Education
1900-1950
This video on education through the years 1900-1950 was definitely not what I anticipated. I expected a boring movie with lots of facts and dates that made the educational system look dull and uninteresting. Instead, the movie was really detailed and described situations, events, and people I have never heard of before. The beginning of the video opens with the idea that through these specific years most schools were aimed at “Americanizing” those that went to school, more specifically those who were of various nationalities. From the years 1890-1930 there were 22 million immigrants that came to America, most of whom were searching for the “American Dream”. The neighborhoods in and around cities were full of social pressures from education. The people were feeling as if they had to be “like everyone else”. There were 125 children applying at once to schools, which were only part time at that. This introduces us to child labor. There were 2 million children working in 1910, I was shocked. I never realized how many children had to work, or in some cases choose to work instead of going to school. But much of this was due to the schools being dangerous, seen as a dark, unsanitary, and a sick place. As child labor laws were put in place the practice of education came to change.
John Dewey came into the educational scene, known as the “father of progressive education”; he believed that school should focus on the whole child, to learn by doing and exploring inside and outside the classroom. Gary, Indiana soon became a place of interest as William Wert pushed himself into the education scene and suggested new ideas for students. He created modern, lavish buildings and curriculum that kept students moving (from class to class), which lead to students having a “rich school experience”. As a follower of Dewey, he gave students opportunities to learn with zoos, art, nature, automotive classes, animal care, and other various aspects of life, as well as introducing health and hygiene to the school scene. With 53 different nationalities in schools, the social and economic scene was falling into disarray. Labor strikes and riots erupted affecting every aspect of society. With 200 cities adopting the “Gary” plan, 30 New York schools were now following the example lead from Dewey and Wert, thus creating violent controversy.
But this provided more controversy with students only being prepared for social work, working in factories or industrial education. With the election of Highland, a new person in political power, schools returned to traditional education. Teaching was now focused on patriotism, citizenship, and language. Ages were mixed in the classrooms and so were languages. Schools continued to expand but were focused so highly on education favoring the majority or the “white American” population. Until Melwood P. Coverty proclaimed that schools are not one size fits all and introduced “science of school management”. We then began to see “tracking” come into play and students divided by jobs. People were now going to school to get a job versus to get an education. It is unbelievable that we allowed our schools to be so discriminatory towards so many people, cultures, and ages. We move into IQ testing and the problems that came with it, facing the various ethnicities. Laws against child labor only added to more children in the classroom being tested and being segregated by their supposed IQ. This discrimination hurt many students with aspirations for particular jobs and futures held back by their IQ.
Towards the end of the movie, not only was I frustrated and overwhelmed with the problems in the early education system but I was sad for all of the students who were held back by people telling them who they "should" be. I wondered if I had been born in the age of all of this going on, where would I have been put and what would have happened to me? After WWII we see that more students were staying in schools and the education system adjusting more for life. Schools began including relevance to students’ lives. In 1958 the national defense of education act changed schools. This era was one of mass education and different groups were educated differently. I sat trying to absorb all of the information that I wrote above, all of which I find really important, it makes me realize that although schools now and when I was in school, are not at the level of greatness that I, as a future teacher, desire, they have come a long way since the 1900s. I was amazed at what this video showed me, how students and people during this time lived and were forced to live educationally. This video enforces the fact that standardized testing and education based on only one culture is SO wrong. The idea of “Americanizing” makes me so sad to think that there were people who, as much as they would have been proud of their heritage- a part of who they are, that they had to push it away. I cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like for someone to tell me, not to be me.
This video on education through the years 1900-1950 was definitely not what I anticipated. I expected a boring movie with lots of facts and dates that made the educational system look dull and uninteresting. Instead, the movie was really detailed and described situations, events, and people I have never heard of before. The beginning of the video opens with the idea that through these specific years most schools were aimed at “Americanizing” those that went to school, more specifically those who were of various nationalities. From the years 1890-1930 there were 22 million immigrants that came to America, most of whom were searching for the “American Dream”. The neighborhoods in and around cities were full of social pressures from education. The people were feeling as if they had to be “like everyone else”. There were 125 children applying at once to schools, which were only part time at that. This introduces us to child labor. There were 2 million children working in 1910, I was shocked. I never realized how many children had to work, or in some cases choose to work instead of going to school. But much of this was due to the schools being dangerous, seen as a dark, unsanitary, and a sick place. As child labor laws were put in place the practice of education came to change.
John Dewey came into the educational scene, known as the “father of progressive education”; he believed that school should focus on the whole child, to learn by doing and exploring inside and outside the classroom. Gary, Indiana soon became a place of interest as William Wert pushed himself into the education scene and suggested new ideas for students. He created modern, lavish buildings and curriculum that kept students moving (from class to class), which lead to students having a “rich school experience”. As a follower of Dewey, he gave students opportunities to learn with zoos, art, nature, automotive classes, animal care, and other various aspects of life, as well as introducing health and hygiene to the school scene. With 53 different nationalities in schools, the social and economic scene was falling into disarray. Labor strikes and riots erupted affecting every aspect of society. With 200 cities adopting the “Gary” plan, 30 New York schools were now following the example lead from Dewey and Wert, thus creating violent controversy.
But this provided more controversy with students only being prepared for social work, working in factories or industrial education. With the election of Highland, a new person in political power, schools returned to traditional education. Teaching was now focused on patriotism, citizenship, and language. Ages were mixed in the classrooms and so were languages. Schools continued to expand but were focused so highly on education favoring the majority or the “white American” population. Until Melwood P. Coverty proclaimed that schools are not one size fits all and introduced “science of school management”. We then began to see “tracking” come into play and students divided by jobs. People were now going to school to get a job versus to get an education. It is unbelievable that we allowed our schools to be so discriminatory towards so many people, cultures, and ages. We move into IQ testing and the problems that came with it, facing the various ethnicities. Laws against child labor only added to more children in the classroom being tested and being segregated by their supposed IQ. This discrimination hurt many students with aspirations for particular jobs and futures held back by their IQ.
Towards the end of the movie, not only was I frustrated and overwhelmed with the problems in the early education system but I was sad for all of the students who were held back by people telling them who they "should" be. I wondered if I had been born in the age of all of this going on, where would I have been put and what would have happened to me? After WWII we see that more students were staying in schools and the education system adjusting more for life. Schools began including relevance to students’ lives. In 1958 the national defense of education act changed schools. This era was one of mass education and different groups were educated differently. I sat trying to absorb all of the information that I wrote above, all of which I find really important, it makes me realize that although schools now and when I was in school, are not at the level of greatness that I, as a future teacher, desire, they have come a long way since the 1900s. I was amazed at what this video showed me, how students and people during this time lived and were forced to live educationally. This video enforces the fact that standardized testing and education based on only one culture is SO wrong. The idea of “Americanizing” makes me so sad to think that there were people who, as much as they would have been proud of their heritage- a part of who they are, that they had to push it away. I cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like for someone to tell me, not to be me.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Generations Gap
Greg Hammill, author of “Mixing and Managing Four Generations of Employees” , discusses in this article the generation gap that occurs in the workplace between veterans, baby boomers, generation x and generation y. Each of these generations has their own ideas and traditions set forth by their time, as well as social and personal ideas. This is the first time in our history where there are four generations working together in the workplace. With this high a number of different people working in one place there are bound to be differences. The rules or guidelines for not just work but life, for each generation are different. These differences can cause problems in the work place making it difficult to impossible to continue working with the other generation. The task here, as suggested by Hammill is to find a common ground on which all of the generations or just a few can work together. For all four generations, they have their own ideas of what the core values, family, education, money and communication should be like and entail. However working to understand these “personal and lifestyle characteristics” is crucial in balancing the work place. Hammill continues on to discuss the workplace characteristics of all generations which only adds to the variety found in ideas, implementation, and work ethic. However learning how to use these differences “effectively or to their advantage”, is the way to finding true success.
This article, I found extremely appealing. Not only did I not realize that during my lifetime four generations are working alongside each other, but I did not realize that these generations were so different. Almost everyone can take a look at other generations and find differences, but to see the generations as having gaps so large between them that the work place can’t be helped is absurd. Hammill suggests that there are ways to help these situations but I find him to sound negative. I wish that he would try to see it not just as differences but also in similarities between the two and how to use the good to iron out the “bad”. The point of this article, for me as a future teacher, is to inform me of the differences and hardships I will encounter in the workplace. Although there are going to be many challenges, seeing them as bumps in the road and not road blocks is important. I do realize I am traveling down the path to a teaching profession surrounded by people who either don’t know how to drive (teach) or people who won’t drive effectively for all. The problem with a lot of situations where generational gaps occur is the notion that people claim to not understand the differences when they simply don’t want to understand the differences. I sincerely hope that through my education, my positive and optimistic life attitude, I can bridge the gaps and see others the possibilities that lay ahead in working together.
This article, I found extremely appealing. Not only did I not realize that during my lifetime four generations are working alongside each other, but I did not realize that these generations were so different. Almost everyone can take a look at other generations and find differences, but to see the generations as having gaps so large between them that the work place can’t be helped is absurd. Hammill suggests that there are ways to help these situations but I find him to sound negative. I wish that he would try to see it not just as differences but also in similarities between the two and how to use the good to iron out the “bad”. The point of this article, for me as a future teacher, is to inform me of the differences and hardships I will encounter in the workplace. Although there are going to be many challenges, seeing them as bumps in the road and not road blocks is important. I do realize I am traveling down the path to a teaching profession surrounded by people who either don’t know how to drive (teach) or people who won’t drive effectively for all. The problem with a lot of situations where generational gaps occur is the notion that people claim to not understand the differences when they simply don’t want to understand the differences. I sincerely hope that through my education, my positive and optimistic life attitude, I can bridge the gaps and see others the possibilities that lay ahead in working together.
Reading Reflection 2
This section of the book is entitled, and rightly so, “Challenges”. After the first section, I did not know what to make of the next section until the third sentence. I realized that this portion would not be “pretty”. It was the reality of what teachers face, the brutality behind the “realness” of their lives in and outside their classroom. One of my favorite lines that made me contemplate the actual “job” of being a teacher states, “What no one told you was that you’d be overwhelmed with stress, have an unmanageable workload, and have no option but to break up even the worst of fights wearing pantyhose and your good pair of heels.” (pg. 45) Students come into the classroom with “baggage” carrying with them homelessness, pregnancy, poverty, gangs, deaths, drugs, and other issues that plague the children of today’s society. Teachers do not just have one job, they have many. Teaching is really a job, within a job, within a job, within a job. You are expected to be everything at once, all while still staying true to you, earning less than almost every other profession in the world, even though we should make the most simply because no other profession would exist without a teacher first beginning the knowledge.
With all of the challenges that kids face these days the struggle becomes not what you will encounter but how to handle it when you finally do. How do you assist a student, get students help, and continue the help long after they are in your class and in your school? The answer is found within a simple material object, a mirror. Students don’t need a superhero, they just need someone who is willing to care more than the rest of the people in their lives, who obviously haven’t or can’t. Being able to relate to your students is the first step in the right direction. Reassuring them that you are someone they can turn too, you are more than a teacher, you’re a human being, someone who has all too well experienced hardships of your own and overcame them in order to pursue being a teacher. (pg. 63) The other issue is change, the students and other people involved in the particular situation or issue have to be willing to make a change, without this “will”, students cannot step forward. But as the teacher, learning when to speak up and when not to speak is a continual problem, something that I know I will struggle with and be forced to face many a times. (pg. 60)
Change as an important part of helping students help themselves, is something that must “begin from within”. (pg. 69) Helping a student to find a path, find a reason for surviving daily life, and find their voice all starts here. But more than teenage problems and those issues of society are the issues of the country, of the world that affect not just the school and the classroom, but the students directly. Learning how to deal with this concern lets students know they are not alone. At the end of the day, what does a student really want? Do they want that A on the test, to be popular in school, to have new clothes or food on the table, to have a safe place to life or a place at all, well maybe, but most of all what these students need is someone to stand there and be willing to say, against everything they have done or not done, said or not said, that you are still there, loving them. “As teachers, we have to know each one of our students, so that we can reach them in order to teach them. I encourage us to be that teacher who cares for those who are labeled ‘lost’ and for the students called ‘unteachable,’ because the only thing kids really want is love.” (pg. 88)
With all of the challenges that kids face these days the struggle becomes not what you will encounter but how to handle it when you finally do. How do you assist a student, get students help, and continue the help long after they are in your class and in your school? The answer is found within a simple material object, a mirror. Students don’t need a superhero, they just need someone who is willing to care more than the rest of the people in their lives, who obviously haven’t or can’t. Being able to relate to your students is the first step in the right direction. Reassuring them that you are someone they can turn too, you are more than a teacher, you’re a human being, someone who has all too well experienced hardships of your own and overcame them in order to pursue being a teacher. (pg. 63) The other issue is change, the students and other people involved in the particular situation or issue have to be willing to make a change, without this “will”, students cannot step forward. But as the teacher, learning when to speak up and when not to speak is a continual problem, something that I know I will struggle with and be forced to face many a times. (pg. 60)
Change as an important part of helping students help themselves, is something that must “begin from within”. (pg. 69) Helping a student to find a path, find a reason for surviving daily life, and find their voice all starts here. But more than teenage problems and those issues of society are the issues of the country, of the world that affect not just the school and the classroom, but the students directly. Learning how to deal with this concern lets students know they are not alone. At the end of the day, what does a student really want? Do they want that A on the test, to be popular in school, to have new clothes or food on the table, to have a safe place to life or a place at all, well maybe, but most of all what these students need is someone to stand there and be willing to say, against everything they have done or not done, said or not said, that you are still there, loving them. “As teachers, we have to know each one of our students, so that we can reach them in order to teach them. I encourage us to be that teacher who cares for those who are labeled ‘lost’ and for the students called ‘unteachable,’ because the only thing kids really want is love.” (pg. 88)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Fun and Flirty
Thursday September 8th:
Dr. Grace wore a fun and sassy outfit for this day! She wore a fun brown skort, perfect for the weather. The matching shirt was an off white with brown flowers, fun and bringing back a sense of summer passing. The shirt contained red beads in the center of these brown flowers which add a splash of color. Once again completing this look was her "go to" black sandals. This look gets a finger "snap" for being fun and cool!
Dr. Grace wore a fun and sassy outfit for this day! She wore a fun brown skort, perfect for the weather. The matching shirt was an off white with brown flowers, fun and bringing back a sense of summer passing. The shirt contained red beads in the center of these brown flowers which add a splash of color. Once again completing this look was her "go to" black sandals. This look gets a finger "snap" for being fun and cool!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Reading Reflection 1
I was taken aback when I began reading "Teaching Hope stories from The Freedom Writer Teachers and Erin Gruwell", I was expecting a somewhat educational book on some sort of stories that teachers had compiled trying to be inspirational, leaving out essential points that, "crap happens". I read the foreward, preface, and introduction, loving the wording that has invited me to read this book not just for inspiration but for a "reality" of teaching. Students are not just children by another name but instead are individuals that deserve the same respect we as teachers and adults want as well. The reality of balancing me a teacher and having a life outside the classroom comes through not only in the beginning of the book but throughout the first section entitled "Anticipation". The start of this book was already giving me a want to read more.
Reading through the first section of the book, I found myself not just connecting to the stories but wishing I could read more from each entry, from each teacher, from each caring person. An overall theme of the section that stood out to me was "questioning", questioning yourself, your abilities, your job, and at times your sanity to be in the teaching profession. One line that stood out for me was on the first few pages, "The first lesson I learned from my students is that I'm up against their past, present, and future." (pg. 4) This first section really echoed the idea that when students arrive in your classroom you don't just have their lives cut, the 2 hours a day you see them or their current age. You are battling or working with their entire lives up until they walk into the class and the life they will lead after they walk out. Making a connection early on to the students not just as those "kids who sit in your room" but as "individuals" is crucial.
Throughout the section I struggled with the ideas that kept coming up about society's, the specific community's role, and their influence on students. What is the world around these children, teaching them? The students in my classroom are, no matter how many may disagree, a reflection of the society in which they live- "the beliefs and expectations" (pg. 11) And as such it is more than academics that should be taught in the classroom. As teachers, we should be teaching them life lessons not just who wrote the "Great Gatsby". Many teachers come from a troubled background or situations similar to their students. The major plus that they possess is that they battled the rough times and came out, even if not always on top, but made it to teach others how they should have been taught or how to empower themselves.
Although the teachers' stories revealed that they had a connection to their students' trouble past and present, finding a way to convey is not always easy. But learning from these stories, uncovers the idea that in order to learn, a little bit of discomfort isn't a bad thing. Some of the greatest lessons can be learned when a person, teacher or student is uncomfortable. And even when students ask tough questions, teachers have to remember "the only thing scarier than the questions would have been if they didn't have anyone to answer them at all." Reading this first section of the book made me want to read so much more! I loved the stories, as raw, truthful, and caring people, these teachers genuinely want others to be able to learn and grow not just from their successes but from their mistakes.
Reading through the first section of the book, I found myself not just connecting to the stories but wishing I could read more from each entry, from each teacher, from each caring person. An overall theme of the section that stood out to me was "questioning", questioning yourself, your abilities, your job, and at times your sanity to be in the teaching profession. One line that stood out for me was on the first few pages, "The first lesson I learned from my students is that I'm up against their past, present, and future." (pg. 4) This first section really echoed the idea that when students arrive in your classroom you don't just have their lives cut, the 2 hours a day you see them or their current age. You are battling or working with their entire lives up until they walk into the class and the life they will lead after they walk out. Making a connection early on to the students not just as those "kids who sit in your room" but as "individuals" is crucial.
Throughout the section I struggled with the ideas that kept coming up about society's, the specific community's role, and their influence on students. What is the world around these children, teaching them? The students in my classroom are, no matter how many may disagree, a reflection of the society in which they live- "the beliefs and expectations" (pg. 11) And as such it is more than academics that should be taught in the classroom. As teachers, we should be teaching them life lessons not just who wrote the "Great Gatsby". Many teachers come from a troubled background or situations similar to their students. The major plus that they possess is that they battled the rough times and came out, even if not always on top, but made it to teach others how they should have been taught or how to empower themselves.
Although the teachers' stories revealed that they had a connection to their students' trouble past and present, finding a way to convey is not always easy. But learning from these stories, uncovers the idea that in order to learn, a little bit of discomfort isn't a bad thing. Some of the greatest lessons can be learned when a person, teacher or student is uncomfortable. And even when students ask tough questions, teachers have to remember "the only thing scarier than the questions would have been if they didn't have anyone to answer them at all." Reading this first section of the book made me want to read so much more! I loved the stories, as raw, truthful, and caring people, these teachers genuinely want others to be able to learn and grow not just from their successes but from their mistakes.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
September 7th 2010 (Clothes Today!)
Today Dr. Grace is wearing a lovely Hawaiian shirt, a theme for this early fall season, and decked out in bright PINK. The bright shirt includes fun wording such as "Tropics"! This shirt is paired with a bright pink skort with cute pockets for "cell phone" holding. Completing the look are flat, black, open toed sandals. This look gets two thumbs up!
Diversity, Learning Style, and Culture
The “Diversity, Learning Style and Culture” article really expanded upon the idea of teaching not just, to all students, but for all students. This article develops the notion that there are many factors involved in a student’s learning. The battle between uniformity and diversity surround many types of students and their cultures. This leads us to the question of “what is good for the whole” and “what is good for the individual”. Taking learning styles and the vastly growing number of students with diverse cultural backgrounds into consideration, we have to figure out what should stay the same in schools and what should be different. We revert back to the opposition between equality and equity. Students’ cognition, conceptualization, affect, and behavior are all factors in their learning styles. Thus, in order to better understand our students and the way they learn we must understand them, their culture, and their cultural and personal connection to learning. Teachers must now put their personal culture and learning style aside to teach and reach the larger number of diverse cultures and learning styles in the classroom. Taking into consideration the culture, learning styles, and achievement can help teachers to identify a student’s individual as well as social path to take on learning.
I now feel my position as a teacher needs to be transformed and molded into, not just a job but a lifestyle, a person that not only has to, but wants to know their students inside and out. It is not enough anymore to know the various learning styles and understand them. As teachers we must leave our own style behind and become unbiased to other cultures and learning styles. I feel that I need to make a better effort to transform my classroom into an open space for those who don’t have one, a place for those who don’t yet realize what they are capable of but I can show them. I think I have a lot of learning and growing to do along with my students. At the root of this opposition between how to serve all cultures, learning styles, students and even myself as a teacher, is the idea that all have the ability to achieve and succeed. However, they just need my reassurance and guidance that I will be and I want to be the one to help make it happen.
I now feel my position as a teacher needs to be transformed and molded into, not just a job but a lifestyle, a person that not only has to, but wants to know their students inside and out. It is not enough anymore to know the various learning styles and understand them. As teachers we must leave our own style behind and become unbiased to other cultures and learning styles. I feel that I need to make a better effort to transform my classroom into an open space for those who don’t have one, a place for those who don’t yet realize what they are capable of but I can show them. I think I have a lot of learning and growing to do along with my students. At the root of this opposition between how to serve all cultures, learning styles, students and even myself as a teacher, is the idea that all have the ability to achieve and succeed. However, they just need my reassurance and guidance that I will be and I want to be the one to help make it happen.
September 7th 2010
Today is the first day of my blog for EDU 402 with Dr. Grace. This blog will be based upon my thoughts and feelings on educational issues, articles, books read, class materials, events, and discussions. But for a kick of fun, I will be documenting the amazing fashion style of my incredible teacher every class period. A tribute to the highly acclaimed fashionista Dr. Grace!
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