Philog #5

This week seemed to be a lot of work but now that I have done all the tasks, it seemed to bring together what I have been thinking and writing about.

Regarding this weeks readings… I am kind of frustrated.  My first thought is:Why does everything have to be a color issue?  Then I can step back and recognize that though color has not been an issue for me, it is for many people of color.  My physical appearance has allowed me to move into both sides of my color.  In Oklahoma, I did not advertise my Hispanic side and it was not questionable because my coloring could go either way and my last name was German.  In Albuquerque, I claimed being a Hispanic. I had a harder time here because my last name was German. hahaha.  This ability to choose happened mainly because we moved around most of my life and finally came back to Albuquerque when I was a sophomore in high school.  So I guess, in actuality, I too have reacted to what the dominant culture wanted or thought.  I still truly believe that it is a person’s decisions that decide who you are; it should not be your color or your background.  However, I also know that personal background and your color helps to shape what decisions you make and knowledge of that background in a student will bring awareness and understanding to who they are.  Ideally, I will be a teacher that can embrace every student who comes into my classroom and meet them where they are.  I don’t think that multiculturalism should discount the dominant culture in order to uplift the other.  Everyone has worth.  As a teacher, regardless of where I am at, I want to assist students discover and reach their dreams and educate them in a fashion that achieves that goal.  I also want to teach equally and to my best ability every student I have the opportunity to have in my classroom regardless of their beginnings. 

Here is the outline for my POE.  Two of my references will be my textbooks from 2250 and 2252 and an article I found.  They are School and Society and Psychology Applied to Teaching and the article is Kings and Castles.

I.                   Intro

II.                Beliefs – EEO & right of student

III.             Purpose

a.       Positive impact

b.      Challenge

c.       Reach all students

d.      Student success

IV.             Personal Expectations

a.       Role Model

b.      Highest effort

c.       High expectations

d.      Students as people

V.                Involvement         

a.       Parental

b.      Fellow teachers

c.       Administration

VI.             Goals

a.       Future preparation @ local, national and international

b.      Expand student knowledge

c.       Achieve greatest potential

VII.          How

a.       Basic Facts – Building Blocks

b.      Maintain interest

c.       Acceptance, respect and appreciation

VIII.       Methods

a.       Traditional and Constructivist

b.      integrated curriculum

c.       high expectations

d.      application to real world

e.       technology

f.       grading methods

IX.             Why?

a.       Reach multiple learning styles

b.      Propel students to success

X.                Conclusion

Philog #4 History of Education Impact My P.O.E.

Though I have always thought that all have the right to an education and that it should not matter who you are or where you came from, after all the readings we have had to read it just strengthens my desire.  I don’t believe a person should be excluded in education unless it benefits the student as it did with the schizophrenia student on the video we saw last class.  Though I agree with CNM’s core values, I think that my core values would include that regardless of our differences and unique qualities, we are all people and have rights that are affiliated with that.  I would add that I believe in life, humanity and faith.  Rules are put in place to avoid chaos and I try my best to accept and value all because we are all people.  These values, especially that we are all human, will affect my teaching practice in positive ways, it will not matter who you are, I will give each student my best.  I will attempt to teach each student in a way that they can learn the information and be able to succeed.  These values are intrinsic to who I am and what choices I make in life.  Obviously I am interested in society and people because I would not be trying to become a teacher if I didn’t. How do race, ethnicity, background, life experience, and identity influence my philosophy of education?  Well, before applying for this program, I did not focus on any of those things.  I saw people as individuals that all have choices to make in life.  I am from technically an interracial family, my mother is white (so many different races she calls herself a Heinz 57 sauce), was one of 13 children and was very poor.  My father is of Hispanic/German decent but is very dark in complexion and was raised in South Valley.  I was raised that it isn’t the color we are or how much money we had but what choices we made in life.  I have family that has decided to take welfare assistance to the limit, and others who work hard and make a life for their family.  I also have family who have gone to college and received a degree.  All this variety was the norm in my family.  I never thought of things in these (race, ethnicity) ways before this program.  Ultimately, I think I will retain my original thoughts:  It isn’t the color we are or how much money we had but what choices we make in life and we all have choices that will be presented.  I will accept students and respect students based on who they are and the decisions they make.  If they make a decision I do not agree with, I will have compassion and try to understand but it will not change the way I treat them.  I will however take with me that a student's background, ethnicity, SES, etc., affects the learning experience and I will attempt to help my students to learn to the best of their ability and to achieve all they can be. 

Philogging #3 - Equal Educational Opportunity

The term ‘equal educational opportunity’ as defined in our text on pg. 159 as “students would receive different kinds of education, but all students would have ‘equal opportunity’ to receive the education appropriate to them”.  My definition however is very different.  I think I would be more along the lines of Aristotle and Mann.  When I hear the term ‘equal educational opportunity’ I think of non discriminatory practices.  All students have the opportunity to receive an education regardless of race, color, gender, ethnicity, location, socio-economic status, etc.  Similarly to the current definition is today of ‘equal opportunity’ in the workplace. Quite a difference don’t you think?

My goal in teaching is to assist each student to achieve their potential in all aspects… to be the best student and person they can be specifically in the educational arena.  So to put it concisely, my educational goals would be to educate children in the basic tenents of learning, to present the material in interesting ways, and to come alongside each child and help them perform to their personal best.  How will I attain those goals?  I would implement traditional and constructivist methods.  I think that if you present information in a variety of ways (traditional ways) that target the learning styles of students, the student will learn the subject matter, for instance, lecture followed by worksheets, having them explain it to each other, and using manipulatives.  Constructivist (or hands-on/project learning) approaches will serve to cement the information in a real way while remaining interesting to the student.  By blending methods and using multiple ways to present the material, I will hopefully catch all the students preferred learning styles as well as give the students an understanding of how the material applies to their life.  Why keep traditional methods?  If we just use constructivist methods and never show the children the traditional way of presenting the information, when they get to a standardized test (as we know they will) the student will not know how to answer the problem.  Until we move away from testing as we know it, we need to make sure our students are knowledgeable in the testing practices that will be used.   I think that by presenting the information in class in different ways (essentially modifying instruction for different learning styles) differences in the students’ backgrounds and skill levels will become a non-issue.

When it comes to using strategies and methods that ‘ensure’ students’ performing in an advanced level, I am not sure.  I personally do not believe you can ‘ensure’ a student performing at an advanced level.  No matter how well a teacher presents information, it is a student’s choice whether they will perform at an advanced level.  Teachers cannot be responsible for everything.  Now, that being said, I do feel if a teacher has high expectations, and has the support of the parents and administration, a student will end up achieving at a higher academic level without even realizing it.  My son was in an inclusion kindergarten class.  His teacher had previously taught the inclusion 1^st and the inclusion 2^nd grade classes.  She knew what was expected at higher levels and thus told us parents she would ‘push’ our students as far as she could.  My son was learning things in kindergarten that would not even be introduced until 1^st or 2^nd grade.  I appreciated her high expectations of herself and her class.

Overall, I believe each child has a right to a good education, regardless of who they are and where they live.  How well they do, in part, is in the hands of the teachers.  They way you present the material and what you expect of a child (with the support of parents and administration) can be the determining factor to their success. 

Phlogging Assignment # 2

I believe that the role of education in our society should be to teach the basic facts of learning: Expand students' knowledge through the subject matter, and to prepare the next generation for a future in our society in a local, national, and international scale.  I believe that we, as a nation, have moved away from teaching the basics of education toward including so many areas to broaden the horizons of students that our core areas are being sacrificed.  Our system seems to be moving to a more philosophical system rather than a factual system.  We need to get back to the basic mechanics of reading, writing, mathematics, and science. Teachers are feeling the need to teach to the tests rather than teaching to the subject matter.  They are also so caught up in the paperwork required, that they have little time to do any actual teaching.  I have heard a teacher say that with testing and test preparation, she has lost an entire quarter (16 weeks) of instruction time. 

I believe my personal values and beliefs conflict with today’s overall societal function of education due to agendas being pushed through education.  I feel that today’s system is being used to plant the seeds of ideas into our youth.  Learning is based on the philosophies and agendas of those who write the textbooks rather than actual fact.

My role as a teacher in this system is to make sure that my students are learning the basic mechanics of the subject matter.  I want to nurture each student, make sure that I am a role model to look up to, encourage students to expand their knowledge, keep the subject interesting, and make sure that each student feels appreciated and respected in my classroom. Though these thoughts seem to be simple, I believe they are fundamental in my teaching career.