Blog 2

Hello my fellow Education peers!
350
This week we talked mainly about our missions and goals together as a class. 

Building our classroom culture.

We talked about cultural expectations of our 350 class which is how students work together and are expected to treat each other.

We together worked on our mission statement as a class. Our mission is what we are striving for as a class and what we want to learn from this 350 class.

We want to become better educators by learning about the culturally diverse classrooms we will have very soon. Together we came up with a list of things we want to strive to learn this year.

1. Instruct diverse populations to better meet the needs of our students.
2. Learning how to build class culture
3. Get a good grade in this class
4. Build each other up
5. Sense of community
6. Learn to embrace any culture

After we brainstormed we compiled everything into one short mission statement : In EDUC350 we will become better educators through immersing ourselves in diverse populations to better meet the needs of our students by creating a sense of community inside and outside the classroom.

Our class goals:

1. Pass

2. Build/Create class culture

3. Learn how to get to know our students

4. Learn how to deal with hard situations

5. Learn how to embrace all cultures

6. Be aware of biases

7. Learn how to construct different lessons based on certain circumstances 

I thought it was awesome to see the class come together and get these ideas out in the open. Our communication skills as a class group really impressed me and I am proud to get to work with the my peers in my class.  At the end of our discussion we came up with a concise mission statement.
"In EDUC350 we will become better educators through immersing ourselves in diverse populations to better meet the needs of our students by creating a sense of community inside and outside the classroom." I am so excited about learning how to thrive in a diverse classroom and make it as useful as I can for my students. Dr.Clark then had us do an activity that I found super interesting. She asked us to write down things we find annoying or frustrating that our peers do. We then had to take these negatives and change them into positive scenarios.  Being in a diverse classroom, we are going to have to learn to deal with things that are not in the "norm" for us and learn to handle and accept them. This was good practice for that. This entire class tied right into NCTCS 2, which is "Teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of learners." Clark had us establish goals and rules for ourselves and she let us take charge and ownership. 

 https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/creating-respectful-classroom-environment/

This article talks about what needs to take place in order for a diverse classroom to work smoothly and respectfully. 

"In our class: 1) everyone is allowed to feel they can work and learn in a safe and caring environment; 2) everyone learns about, understands, appreciates, and respects varied races, classes, genders, physical and mental abilities, and sexualities; 3) everyone matters; 4) all individuals are to be respected and treated with dignity and civility; and 5) everyone shares the responsibility for making our class, and the Academy, a positive and better place to live, work, and learn.”

 It is super easy to act like this is all easy when you don't really have a diverse classroom and are surrounded by one people group or certain culture. I think our clinical hours are really going to help us expand our horizons.

410-
 Today in class we participated in a Socratic Seminar about Teaching Standards. I really benefited from this seminar and feel that I really understand fully how important teaching standards are. They give teachers an all around baseline to teach of of and even the playing field. They provide a detailed road for teachers to follow so that students are fully prepared for the next grade level. We also talked about why it is really important for students to be aware of teaching  standards. Students are more prone to feeling confident if they are aware of the class goals for that day and can advocate for themselves better when they don't feel lost. I have distinct memories of feeling embarrassed to ask questions at the end of class because I truly did not know what I was supposed to take away from a subject time that day. If I had an "I Can" statement to keep me feeling confident I think it would have been really helpful. 
 I researched some technology standards for K-12th graders and I found some ideas for turning those standards into "I Can" statements. 

  “I CAN gather details from watching a video, going on a virtual field trip, or interacting with an expert online.”

Standard:  Develop strategies for information gathering (ask an expert, use a book, make observations, conduct simple investigations, and watch a video).

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gYmVpzJxsnN_xPrq4O1EXGCnxbKjy__a7OnEbA6FqSg/edit

NCTCS standard 3 says that teachers are to KNOW and understand the content they teach. It is our responsibility as aspiring teachers to be as familiar with what our students need to know so that we can be great teachers in this generation. If we are not on top of the curriculum and start to flounder, students will sense this and feel less confident about themselves. 

First Blog of Junior Year

What is Culture?  Teaching in a Diverse World

This week I had my first Diverse Populations in 21st Century School class.
I really enjoyed getting a brief rundown of what the class is going to look like this semester. I think it is going to be very enriching and most of all, prepare me to teach in a diverse classroom. We talked about a lot and I can tell this class is going to be interesting. I thought I had a rough idea of what the word culture meant until I was asked to provide a brief definition. The word culture is very deep and complex and can be looked at a variety of different ways. Together as a class we came up with our own definition and it was awesome to hear everyone's ideas compile. The definition we created is this: "Culture is the growth/development of human characteristics and social norms through the integration of beliefs, values, and traditions based on place and time, shared by a group of people." Culture has so many different aspects and views and it is really important to learn how to teach kids who come from all sorts of backgrounds. 
This relates back to NCTCS Standard number 2 which says "Teachers Establish a Respectful Enviornment for a Diverse Population of Students."
I researched this standard and really tried to understand all that it involved.

"Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a

positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults.

Teachers encourage an environment that is inviting,

respectful, supportive, inclusive, and flexible.

Teachers should:

Encourage an environment that is inviting,

respectful, supportive, inclusive, and flexible.

Teachers embrace diversity in the school community

and in the world.

Teachers demonstrate their knowledge of the history of

diverse cultures and their role in shaping global issues.

They actively select materials and develop lessons that

counteract stereotypes and incorporate histories and

contributions of all cultures."

I found a really cool website article that talk about how different cultures influence how students learn. This is a great topic to begin to research because the more I learn about this now, the easier it will be when I get to my future classroom. 

https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/cultural-differences-student-performance/

"Children in various cultures learn different rules for communicating with adults through facial expressions, body language and physical gestures. Learn how cultural differences can play out in the classroom. "

In my Philosophy I wrote in 250 I mentioned that I want to make sure every child in my class feels welcomed and safe. Learning about where they grew up and the culture they came from can ensure that this happens.

Educ 410

I can already tell this is going to be a really awesome and learning intensive class!
It is all girls and we played a fun game of Baby Blob within the first 15 minutes- for sure going to be an awesome environment to live in and I am so so excited. After playing this game Dr.Clark explained that this type of game can be integrated into many different types of lesson plans. Since we were playing tag, it can be a health game, we could talk about math, or even a science lesson plan. I can for sure see myself using that game in my classroom one day. This was our intro to "integration" I was pretty shocked at first because I didn't realize one type of lesson could be creatively used in so many different ways. This connects to at least two NCTCS Standards. I researched them and the ones that most closely connected were Standards 4 and 5.
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/effectiveness-model/ncees/standards/prof-teach-standards.pdf

Standard 4 says that teachers facilitate learning for their students. This means they create a learning environment and they know the best ways that learning takes place for their students. Teachers have to know how students think and learn in order to teach them best.

Standard 5 says teachers reflect on their learning and need to not only assess their students, but assess themselves. Teachers have to analyze student learning and figure out what works and what doesn't work. Teachers should also use a variety of methods of assessment to see that students have learned.

Feeling super excited about this first day and I can't wait to learn more!