American Schools Blog

The licensure that I am seeking is like most in the class, K-6. I would love to teach 2nd or 3rd graders so I am going to focus on that age level. Teachers are there to be a role model, a nurturer of talent, and someone who is able to bring out the best in the very worst situations. Some of the teaching strategies that I will implement in my own classroom to develop responsibility are going to have to be used consistently and on an every day basis. To make my students into responsible young people I will use various strategies. In class I will assign homework and will expect that they get it done and return it the next day, children need to be prepared to be able to do at least some homework. If they do not bring their work back as told they will be disciplined whether in their grade or a reward system of some sort. I will make sure every student knows that they are responsible for their own actions by not accepting that a child has a behavior issue and “catching” the child being good and thus reinforcing the good behavior. As children get older these responsibility issues should be less of a problem, but if it still is we will sit down and write a contract and they will help sculpt their own expectations. Then by signing to these terms of behavior and responsibility the child will have to learn the worth of his or her own word.
An effective classroom for the third grade level would be one with standards and a mission set out forthright for the student and their parents or guardians. To be truly effective the parents, administration, and all teachers would all be on board. The school and my class would specialize in teaching so that every child has the chance to learn. If the entire school is working actively towards a cohesive goal then the whole school, especially the students, will benefit greatly. If my school was organized into this cohesive unit my standards wouldn’t change if I was in an urban setting. I would still expect a high level of learning, responsibility, and respect for themselves and others no matter what the situation the classroom is situated.

American Students

Within the different dimensions of diversity I was affected by a couple of those listed. I grew up on military bases overseas and within the United States. The socioeconomic status was a part of the influence on me and my classmates. The children who had fathers or mothers who were of a higher rank in the Air Force were more affluent and usually were the head of the class. They always had all of the supplies that were necessary. Children who were the offspring of airmen usually were not taken care of as well and sometimes had behavioral issues. I fell in the middle of all of that and was lucky enough to have parents who cared enough to push me in school and help me in any way possible. I was never what is referred to as a latchkey kid as many of my friends were. My mother never started work until I was in high school and could take care of myself sufficiently. My personal development was positively influenced by the diversity that I saw. Although I was never really negatively influenced by things such as crime, sexuality, or substance abuse I did witness these dimensions of diversity in other students lives. In high school I saw numerous teen pregnancies and drop outs, this just pushed me even harder to succeed and fulfill my dreams. Witnessing the problems that substance abuse and violence caused for my peers drove me away from the people I knew would be 'cool' to hang out with, but would only cause trouble for me. Although I did witness a lot of diversity throughout my educational experience thus far, I will need to fill in the gap by becoming more knowledgeable on the dimension including obesity. As a teacher I need to be prepared to help every child no matter what their learning style or obstacle to overcome happens to be, such as obesity. At risk students aren't just the students who come from the projects anymore they are everywhere and will certainly be a part of my own classroom population. When I become a teacher I will be able to identify the students who are at-risk and need some extra support. Children who are negatively and personally influenced by these dimension of diversity need to be provided with the love and support that is usually lacking at home. Because I have dealt with people who are at risk all my life I will be able to relate to them and get them the assistance that they need. I will need to help build their self-esteem and understanding and respect of themselves.

Philosphy Reflection

As students we don’t really think about what philosophy of education our teacher’s are adhering to. We figure out what kind of learners we are, such as visual, oral or hands on. When teachers use certain techniques that fall into our specific learning category we learn better and usual remember the teacher. Although we notice things such as methods, as the student we don’t usually analyze their educational philosophy. Looking back on my experience as an elementary school student I remember my teacher Mrs. Alleger. Her educational philosophy seems to have been progressivism. We would always have hands on projects and real life problems to solve. For example at one point we had a caterpillar/butterfly garden within our classroom. We had to make sure that they were fed with sugar water and had places to build their cocoons. We eventually released them into the wild, and my classmates and I never forgot our part in the metamorphosis of a butterfly. Hands on projects like that with real world application was always a part of her class, thus placing her within the progressive philosophy. She was also involved within our social and emotional development. She wasn’t afraid to be a part of our lives, help us make decisions and ultimately help shape our personalities and views on life.
As I moved into my middle school years I noticed that the teaching methods became less hands on and more about just learning the material. The teacher’s methods seemed to shift from pure progressivism to a mixture of progressivism and essentialism. The teacher’s had to make sure that we were ready to move onto high school. We had to demonstrate that we comprehended the information through recitation and traditional testing. The shift in philosophies went with the students getting older and the need for the students to learn at a higher level.
High school was also a mixture of progressivism and essentialism. Although progressivism was still a part of the educational philosophy for most teachers there were some who obviously were following the essentialist philosophy. I had an AP English teacher who taught in a way that only emphasized the critical core of knowledge. Their wasn’t any personal involvement in the class or from the teacher to his students. When I got to college I found that most of my classes have been fueled by the essentialist and perennialist philosophies. In my opinion the college classroom does need to be run like that, simply because we are held to higher standards and are trying to become qualified enough for a ’real life’ career.
After all my years of school I’ve been able to observe many different educational philosophies and how teacher’s execute them. Since I am aspiring to be an elementary school teacher I am going to implement the progressive philosophy as much as I can. Since my teacher, Mrs. Alleger, made my years with her so memorable by using many hand on techniques I will too. I feel that if I use the philosophy of progressivism rather than just essentialism my students will remember the lessons, thus remembering the concepts and knowledge taught.

Critical Review Book Selection

The book that I chose to read is called Teaching Passionately; What's Love Got to Do with It? by Joan Wink and Dawn Wink. Although the title lends itself to be a wishy washy love story of teacher's and the art of teaching, it is much much more. With one look inside at the content of the book this misinterpretation is squashed. I chose this book to discover what true passion is within the education process. I want to be able to start out teaching with passion, joy, and love for my students and my profession. This book shows methods and theories of the place of love in the classroom and how to keep students learning and loving along with you. Passion is not something that can be taught, but it can be acquired through study, further knowledge and experience. This book is interesting and useful not only in active teacher's lives but in pre-service teachers ,like myself, alike. I look forward to getting through the book completely and applying some of the new methods I learn in my practicum classroom experience.