Happy

I have been looking over the syllabus realizing that we only have 3 weeks left of class and over the past 7 weeks I feel like I have learned so much about the teaching profession that I never knew of before taking these classes. It amazes me how much responsibility teachers have when it comes to running their classroom and how much little respect that teachers do get. I do not think society understands how hard teachers work to educate the children of the future and in order to educate these students the right way there needs to be changes. Testing needs to stop being the priority in the classroom and instead teachers need to reinvent learning so that creativity and discovery are the focus. Students deserve to learn what is important for life, not what looks good on statistics.

I want to be the difference in my student’s lives. I do not just want to make a difference in one student’s life, I want to make sure that ALL of my students feel like their voice matters and that they are somebody important. In order to do that I think that teachers need to have a voice in the decisions that the government makes for the classroom. Because teachers are the one’s seeing what is happening in the classroom. I am looking forward to seeing how I can make a difference in my learning community and work with a teaching community where my colleagues and I work together to create common goals and themes for our classrooms. Community is key to making sure that students have a voice and feel they are cared about. As professionals going into this field we must learn to create a professional community where we can learn from one another as well as from our students. I am so happy to be involved in this program because I am happy to be finally learning and doing what I am passionate about.

 I feel so much joy and happiness working with students and my colleagues!

Tracking and Untracking in the Classroom

In our Monday’s class my group presented on the topic about tracking, standardized texting, NCLB, and how we can create a classroom where we are not just teaching to a test instead we are allowing students to explore the real meaning of what is important in life and what they will need to know in their futures. As teachers we have students for the majority of the day and we need to be teaching them about the community and world they live in. We need to give students the opportunities for discovery and surprise instead of teaching to a test, students need the opportunity to learn material that matters instead of just memorizing material to pass a test. How do we create this curriculum where we are not just teaching to a test? Why has school become just about passing a test instead of learning and understanding material? It is disappointing how children are our future and instead of allowing these students to thrive in their education we force them to learn material in order to pass a test so it will look good on the school.

 I find the whole idea about test taking in schools to be ridiculous because as a society we have lost the real meaning of that school should mean to our students. School should be a community of learning where students feel like their opinions, thoughts, culture, language and so much more are valued. As educators how can we get back to valuing these in the schools? I know that most decisions about schools are made from the government level but how can teachers feel empowered to change what is going on in schools if they don’t feel supported from their state governments? Educators, administrators, and teachers should be the ones making decisions that affect students in the classroom because they are the ones seeing what is going on day to day with students. Earlier in the quarter we talked with our small groups about teaching students by using real life examples and allowing students to be able to learn subjects by integrating them in ways that makes it fun and exciting for students to learn.

Creating a Learning Community

Learning should be fun and I love that I am learning from my fellow cohort member’s different ways to integrate subjects, creativity, assessment, community, and fun into the classroom. I really enjoyed reading Vivian Paley’s book so far because I really like what she did in her classroom because I remember a few times in school being told that I couldn't play with a certain group of people because they didn't want me to or because I didn't have what they were playing with. It was extremely hurtful and I remember going home crying to my mom because I was the new girl in school and I had not made friends yet and I wanted to make friends but nobody gave me that opportunity. It took me a very long time to make friends when I started at a new school. If this type of rule was placed in my classroom then I probably would not have gone home crying as many times as I did growing up. 

I am excited to be able to create a community in my own classroom where students will have choice and they will be able to learn about one another and collaborate with one another. I want a classroom community where every student has a voice and feels important. That should be one of the main goals for every teacher in that EVERY STUDENT IS IMPORTANT and that they are SOMEBODY IMPORTANT! I am excited for this journey that I have committed to and I am looking forward to continuing this journey with my fellow cohort members. Our assignment this week was to create a poem about where I am from. I think that as college students it is a great way to reflect on who we are and where we are from, but I also think that for our students it will be a good way for them to discovery who they are and where they are going. I plan on using this poem in my own classroom. 

Where I’m From

I am from my grandparent’s pool on a hot summer day,

from homemade potato salad and guacamole.

I am from the flowers blooming in the garden

(smelling the roses and watching the hummingbirds fly.)

I am from the coffee cup that overflows on to the counter

where the coffee never stays hot enough.

I am from playing Apples to Apples,

from Spoons to Rummikub.

I’m from holiday celebrations

from birthday cards and laughter.

I’m from friendship bracelets with Sarah

from playing house in the backyard.

I am from watching Riley and Halley grow up

from Sydney becoming a mom.

I am from family,

from memories we make with one another.

I’m from scrapbooks, photographs, and hope chests

from the bench at the Botanical Gardens.

I’m from it’s not goodbye but see you later

from hugs and kisses.

I am from my mom being my rock

and my dad being my coach.

I am from it is what it is,

from slow down and nice and easy.

I am from the only place that stays the same

from city to city and school to school,

my grandparent’s house always was a

place I called home .

It was the place my dreams developed

and it is the place that I still go to pursue my dreams.

                                   

Reflection on my own Experience with Poverty

After our class discussion on poverty in the classroom, it started to stir up many memories I have had growing up when it came to poverty in my own life. Growing up my family moved all over the place because rent would increase but my dad's income would not. I was born in Idaho and lived in a few place in Pullman while my dad was finishing school. After he finished school we moved in with my grandparents because my dad was looking for work. After he found a job we moved to Everett to an apartment, and lived in a couple of different apartments, then we moved to Marysville, then Bothell, then Bellevue and all the while my dad worked as much as he could to support our family. My mom also got a job which put a lot of responsibility on me to take care of my brother and sister. Those years were extremely difficult on my family because we lived pay check to pay check trying to make ends meet each month. I have seen the notices on the door for final shut off, or going without TV for a few months because the bill was too much. 

I can remember one time being at the grocery store in the checkout line waiting to pay for our groceries and getting to the end of the checkout line and my family not having enough money to pay for the groceries. I remember at the time I was embarrassed because people were staring and we were trying to pay with change and search for any extra money we had in our wallets. In the end we had to put things back, it was a very hard day for my family because we finally realized that we need to do something differently with our money and budget better. Now that I look back, I do not remember one person willing to help us in that grocery line and I know now that if I ever see that type of situation going on I am the first to help someone. Why don’t people who are more privileged then others lend a helping hand? 

As an educator, I know that I will be faced with issues like these in the classroom and because of my own experience with living pay check to pay check and not having any extra money I hope that I can relate and help my own students. 

Poverty in the Classroom

I have really enjoyed the start of my teaching career and I am learning so much from my professors, my readings, and most of all my other cohort members. This program has created such an amazing learning environment to learn from all different sources, and I find myself truly blessed to be a part of this experience. Reading this week’s article on poverty really hit home with me, because even though I have been raised more under the lines of working middle class, I have always been stereotyped for being a rich white girl from Bellevue. This is beyond the truth because if people knew where I came from they would know that I am far from being that stereotypical middle class white person. Looking back I can remember moving a lot I think, I have lived in ten different houses and went to three or four different elementary schools where I was always seen as the new girl in school. It was very hard starting at new schools and not having money like a lot of my classmates. My family has struggled over the years and I am very lucky that I have been able to go to school and that I am graduating in June.

 I am very proud of what I have accomplished and I am looking forward to being a positive role model for my own students. One interest that I have in working in the classroom is that I want to work in a community where diversity is the main goal in the school. I also would love to work in a title 1 school district where I can work with low income students as well as first generational students going to school. I am also interested in working in building schools for underprivileged children across the US and possibly overseas. I would like to help eliminate the misconceptions and stereotypes of the roles in the school that low income students take on, I also would like to research more on poverty and see what other authors have to say about the poverty rates in the U.S.  How can we as teachers educate our students about poverty without isolating or making some students uncomfortable?