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!

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.

                                   

Building A Safe Community

      I really enjoyed reading the community article because I do agree that the essence of community is to create a safe space to grow, a space that welcomes the persona fully, that sees the person for who they are, that invites participation, and that holds the person gently while they explore (Sapon-Shevin, Pg. 102).  This I feel should be the main goal of any teacher’s classroom, to build a community where the students feel safe to grow and use their imagination. In school exploration, discovery, participation, freedom, and imagination are all important attributes in the classroom that should be embraced by teachers and students to make a successful learning environment. I also agree that in order to focus on community building as an essential component of teaching, one must accept the following premise: “Time spent building community is never wasted time.” It is important to spend time on building a community in the classroom and making it a priority and an ongoing commitment.

            In our education classes this quarter we have been learning that in order to build a safe classroom community it needs to be one in which students are comfortable showing themselves, being themselves, and being honest about who and what they are. As a teacher I know that one of my biggest struggles will be to make sure that every student has a voice in my classroom and that I need to embrace and learn about my students cultures. I also need to make sure to not isolate or favor specific students based on race, class, heritage, and gender. As a professional educator I need to educate myself on current issues in the classroom and ways in which to approach these issues.  Students should feel proud of whom they are and feel that their voice matters. When building a classroom community it should be all about opportunity, and making sure that our students have as much opportunity as possible to be who they are and get to know one another as much as possible. I think doing ice breakers, who I am and where I am from poems are great ways for students to get to know one another. 

How exactly do we build a safe learning community for our students? What does that community look like? Is it best to build that community from the beginning of the students education? Can teachers make cohesive and collaborative communities with one another in order to help their students in their classroom? 

How do we bring in the ME?

How do we bring different students cultural backgrounds into the classroom? How do you make all students feel comfortable to share their lives with their peers and their teachers? I think it is extremely hard to make a difference in all students’ lives because some students don’t always trust others and it takes time for them to warm up to other adults. The big picture here is to always go into the classroom with an open mind and be willing to learn from your students, your colleagues, and yourself. I am hoping that in my own classroom I can incorporate bilingual education, culture, language, and diversity so that my students can have the most enriching education that they deserve and more.

 I think it is best to think about what are the core issues happening in the classroom today? and how can educators educate themselves in order to teach their own students? I think in order to answer these type of questions we need to take as many classes as we can to learn about the education system and how it affects the students we are going to teach. But being educated on the issues doesn't make someone an outstanding teacher, in order to be an outstanding teacher we have to get to know our students and their way of learning we have to show compassion for our students and be willing to listen. These things can not be taught in education classes, we can research and learn about the issues but we as individuals have to come up with our own methods for listening to students and introducing our own version of ME curriculum. We are given the tools in this teach certification program but it is our job to incorporate what we find important for our students education. 

Another concept that I really liked from reading Ayers book was the whole idea about the ME curriculum because I find it endearing and exploratory. It allows the students to face and see one another and it allows the teacher to behold the student. (Ayers 2010) The ME curriculum is a great way for students to feel involved in their education and to feel cared about by their teacher and their students. By integrating the ME curriculum in the classroom the teacher can find important dimensions of each student through the work. (Ayers, 2010) Each student in the classroom has their own story to tell, they have their own cultural background, they have their own personal family problems, and they have their own way of viewing world. In order to be able to understand how to teach my students I need to integrate a ME curriculum where I get to know my students and learn about my students so that I can be an outstanding teacher. 

What are the best ways to integrate a ME curriculum? How can we integrate a ME curriculum without putting students on the spot? How can we build trust between our students and their peers and us as their educators? What are the first steps for getting to know students?

Teaching is all about Love

              One idea that is being confirmed about my beliefs about schools and teaching is the idea that teaching is primarily a matter of love. Teaching to me is a matter of love. I fell in love with the concept of teaching in high school. I was sixteen years old and working at my first job as a hostess. One of the busser’s that worked there asked if I would teach him English and for the next year we worked almost every day on his English and after that year he had learned so much and was so proud of himself for learning English and because he felt so confident in his English he started to teach his family members the language. 

               After this experience I knew that teaching was what I wanted to do, so during my senior year in high school I was given the opportunity to take a teaching academy class where I learned the basics of teaching and I was able to work with many different types of students. One concept of teaching that I love is the idea of language, culture and communication. I have taken an invested interest in language and making myself knowledgeable in different language and culture so that when I am given the opportunity to work with students of a different cultures other than my own I can be prepared to relate to them and hopefully make them feel comfortable. I believe this has been a good preparation for teaching and helps to build the love that I have for educating. 

                I am so happy to be continuing my education to becoming an educator, I am looking forward to learning as much as I can from the teaching certification program especially from my peers, my professors, my mentors and most importantly the students I will be working with through out my time in the program. My main reason for wanting to be a teacher is that I want to be able to make a difference in every child's life that I teacher and that they go away from my classroom feeling as much love as I can possibly given them. Every student deserves to feel accomplished, loved, successful, encouraged, and happy in the classroom and I am going to do my best to make sure that can happen. I know that sometimes the classroom will not always be so sunny and happy and there will be some rain storms but I do plan on continuing to be a teacher through the good and the bad.