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!