Teaching is like..

Teaching is like the universe. You are constantly discovering new ways to teach just like they keep discovering new things in the universe. Once it seems like you have settled on a certain something, something else that is new and interesting comes along. It is important to always discover and try new things because you never know what is out there that just might be the answer to everything! We are always curious and we want to know what is out there in our universe, just like we always want to keep learning in the classroom.

One thing I found very interesting was the international assessments and where the US stands. I found this interesting because I honestly had no idea that we were ranked that low when we are the country who spends the most money on education. It honestly blows my mind, and we clearly need to start making some changes. Other countries are setting the bar high and setting great examples so maybe we should start to do some more research.

Another things I found very interesting was when we talked about all of the different schools. For example; the outdoor kindergarten and Summerhill. I honestly had no idea that those types of schools even existed. I found this so interesting because I feel that schools are becoming less safe and I know that a lot of parents feel the same way so these types of schooling might become more and more popular throughout our future generations. I found these schools to be very intriguing.

I also found the factors influencing classroom attitudes to be very informative. As a beginning teacher, it is important to know how to respond to these students and how to develop relationships with these students in order to break the barrier. You have to form a bond and trust with your students so they feel comfortable in your classroom. If they are comfortable and they want to learn then your students will be successful.

Throughout this course, I have learned to see different perspectives. By reading and responding to others every week, I was able to get a different look at things and get insight to new information. I think it was very beneficial. Just like our students, every child is unique, and so is everyone in this course. It is about respecting others and their ideas and thoughts.

Social Justice

When teaching for social justice, it is important to make sure all groups of people receive equal treatment in order to succeed in the classroom, and that they all have the same rights and opportunities as one another. As each student is tended to, this will activate them to become a contributor in society and enable them to start to have a positive outlook  in order to fulfill their needs in life. Social justice is about reality, and really knowing what is happening in your surroundings. 

When it comes to social justice in the classroom, you want your students to be aware of every culture and to be positive about it as well. Each student has their own identity and they start to become more aware of human development and why certain things are important to educate yourself about. 

In the article Rethinking our Classrooms it states that "Unfortunately, too many schools are training grounds for boredom, alienation, and pessimism. Too many schools fail to confront the racial, class, and gender inequities woven into our social fabric. Teachers are often simultaneously perpetrators and victims, with little control over planning time, class size, or broader school policies".

I think this is true because I feel that so many children are actually being "hidden" or teachers are "sugar coating" reality more and more. This isn't good because it isn't helping our future generations because they are going to grow up being naive. Schools need to confront more issues and parents need to stop worrying as much. For example, I was a nanny for one family and these children were 10 and 12. She did not want me turning on the TV just in case there was anything on the news she didn't want them seeing. I understand they are young, but this stuff is going to be talked about throughout the schools the next day and these children will have no idea what went on. Parents and teachers need to take control and confront these situations because you don;t want your children being naive about the harsh realities of the world. It is only going to make it harder for them. It is a teachers job to really incorporate this stuff in the classroom while teaching so the children can have something to relate their lives to.  It is important that teachers discuss the similarities and differences of cultures, and although we are all equal and have equal opportunities, that is it okay to embrace the diversity in the classroom. That is what makes us so unique, it is because there are so many different cultures and backgrounds that we can learn from. We are all different, but we should all have equal opportunities in the classroom in order to succeed. It doesn't matter who you are, anyone can make positive changes.

Teachers, do not let funding stop you!

I decided I would like to discuss the topic of school funding and how teachers lets it prevent them from doing certain things such as environmental learning. Place Based Education and or environmental learning is so CRUCIAL to our schools systems now-a-days. Children of our current and future generations are becoming more and more materialistic and are relying on all of this technology. Although technology does have its benefits for sure, it does however have its downfalls. Students and teachers are loosing sight of how important our environment is and how important our students are to our environments as well. As teachers, it is our job to open our students' eyes to our surrounding environmental issues, so they are realizing what is as risk for them in the future. If our students realize these risks, they will WANT to learn because this now becomes relevant to them, therefore this provides them with a more hands-on approach to learn and become more engaged. We need to become more persistent with our school systems and making sure they provide at least some resources in order for our students to contribute to their communities in a positive way. 

TEACHERS! It is important to not let funding get in the way of incorporating environmental lessons and place based learning into your curriculum's. Unfortunately, especially in Urban areas, most schools will lack the necessary resources for this to be included because their first priorities , for example, are to make sure these children are being fed breakfast and to have the proper nutrition throughout the day. This is completely okay! Students like this NEED to be introduced to the issues in their environment because these are the students who want their neighborhoods to change. Do I mean take your students outside where they can be at risk to be harmed? Absolutely not. First step is to make sure that the environment you are in is safe. This even includes the smallest things such as, will there be glass in that area? Are there too many cars? Too many people? Things like this we need to take into consideration, and if that is the case, what about taking some of the environment into the classroom? As a teacher it is our job to be creative and to find different ways of learning. Personally, if my school could not provide my students and I with the proper funding or even a bus to a park/beach/etc near by, I would take this matters into my own hands and find ways to bring some of the material I wanted them to study into my classroom. I would have them research certain issues in their neighborhoods and communities so they can then become creative. Chances are, your students will have SO MANY ideas to make some positive changes in their communities. So why not let them have that opportunity just because your school does not have the proper funding? That is OKAY! No problem at all! Become creative because chances are your students will make the experience well worth it if you provide them with the opportunity.

http://clearingmagazine.org/archives/2087

Above is a link I found while I was pinning on Pinterest about Place Based Education, and provides ten different ways for developing environmental literacy. I think it is great and definitely well worth looking at.

Gardner vs. Freire

The Bank Concept by Paul Freire

"Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat. This is the “banking” concept of education. In which the scope of action allowed to the students extends only as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits" (1).

The Multiple Intelligence Theory by Howard Gardner 

This theory consists of seven different intelligence's. This means that every student has strengths and weaknesses and can learn, process, memorize, and understand in different ways. The seven intelligence's are visual/spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic, and logical/mathematical. 

I personally have always been a BIG fan of the multiple intelligence theory and that is why I chose to discuss about Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence theory. Throughout my entire college education, Gardner and his theory of the seven different intelligence's have always been a great topic of discussion. When I become a teacher, I know that I will follow this theory because every child does learn in a different way, and every child does have their strengths and weaknesses. For instance, I am very hands on and I work well working with actual objects, so I am very bodily-kinesthetic. However when it comes to logical/mathematical, I am completely lost. I hate math and I always have. I never found easier ways for myself to learn in math UNLESS we were using blocks, or some sort of objects to help me visualize and play with. 

As for Gardner accepting Freire's theory? I don't think so. I think that they are complete OPPOSITE. Freire's banking concept is very strict and to the point. He says that education is basically teachers teaching this content, and the students are just memorizing the facts, but not actually going in depth. Freire uses the example "four times four is sixteen", and the students will memorize that the answer is sixteen, but they do not know why the answer is sixteen. I feel as if this theory is basically saying that students are becoming robots, just memorizing information and repeating it. They aren't actually going in depth as to why things are the way they are.

Gardner is completely different because he discusses so many different ways students can learn. If they use their strengths to learn, the information won't just be facts that they memorize and repeat. The information will be in depth because they will be learning the way they want to learn which will have the students more engaged. If a student is more engaged in their work they are willing to go more in depth with what they are learning. 

Overall, I agreed with Freire's theory because I think the school systems are becoming more like this with all the assessment testing and how they are teaching information. Do I like Freire's theory and do I hope this changes? Yes, of course. Schools should be more like Gardner's theory and they should be more open to theories and concepts like this.