Culturally Relevant

It is important for teacher to be culturally relevant. Because schools today are diverse, it is important for educators to focus on the purpose of schools—education. However “changed” society seems to be today, it sadly has not improved much. Curriculums can still be biased, as can be teachers. This disrupts the purpose of education (making it irrelevant to the students) and becomes about getting schooled versus being educated. Although in today’s public schools all the testing makes it seem impossible to teach anything more than the curriculum given, there should be a way to help make the message more relevant to children (therefore more valid). This cultural relevance is about differences in general—seeing diversity as a unique thing and not a thing to shape into something else. It is about teaching children to appreciate themselves as individuals versus teaching them to conform to society. In an effort to do this, teachers must get to know their students. They need to understand what the children are like and get a feel for the communities in which they live. It is never enough to just convey the curriculum. Instead, emphasis should be placed upon making it relevant to the students. Without this difference, teaching is simply narration.

Creative Classrooms

I believe it is easier for a child to focus when they are interested. It is then that they develop a desire to explore and learn more. A way to spark this natural curiosity, which is essential to a love for learning, is to get the children to be creative. By giving them an idea and letting them express their individuality, they feel more inclined to produce their best work because they feel as though the project is truly theirs. Of the blogs I have researched, there was one I particularly liked which featured a teacher who had a student put together a scrapbook. I liked this idea initially because I love to scrapbook, but it made me think of how this was such an unconventional project. Over the many years that I've been in school, I've lost count of all the posters and power points I've completed. Even the most colorful and entertaining piece has become boring as it is monotonous. A unique project like a scrapbook or other like project is just the thing to help kids be uniquely creative while getting the job done. As a teacher, I hope to bring my creativity to the classroom. I believe being creative precedes being an intellectual.

Connecting Parents to the Classroom

As I have already established in my other posts, I believe that students should be children first. As such, it is certain that much learning takes place within the home. Parents are the primary teachers. They were there in the beginning and will be there until the end shaping their children. Therefore, it only makes sense that parents be involved with the formal education process. I think it would be a very good idea for teachers to get to know their students' family before the children step foot into a classroom. This would include the parents more, and help foster a relationship with the teacher. A relationship between the parents and the teacher is not always guaranteed but comes in handy when discussing appropriate learning styles, discipline, coaching procedures, etc. Also, it helps the teacher understand the home dynamic, so that he/she knows how to further help the student succeed. If meeting the parents is out of the question, I believe blogs, phone calls, emails, etc. could be useful tools to help the parents feel "in the loop." After all, children spend like eight hours a day with their teacher, which is more than many parents feel they have with their children. Because it is important for parents to be involved in their childrens' lives, a relationship with someone who sees them as (or almost as) much as they do is beneficial.

Break the Mold

I believe that teachers should take into the classroom their experiences as a student. I would not push or enforce something on the students under my watch that I deplored as a student. As a child, I remember the good teachers and the bad. I remember their techniques and what did (didn't) work for me. There were the teachers who either did not know or otherwise did not care about different learning styles, technology, and relevant (student) issues. I remember being infuriated when those teachers expected me to fit their preset of what I should be and their criticism when I failed them. I remember becoming upset when I could not maitain my individuality within the barriers that were the classroom walls. It was like I had to take on a different persona. I had to put down the Ashley that everyone else saw for the always focused, always studious Ashley. It is a lot of work to effortlessly maintain two separate me's! I believe that "students" are children first, and embracing the rigidity of the traditional rules makes them see the information presented as something that has no relevance in their personal life, therefore making them more of memorizing machines focused intently on getting that grade instead of curious children diligently seeking information to better themselves. Learning should not begin and end at the door. You should be teaching your children skills that they need to learn, to be curious, to be self-disciplined, to ask the right questions to get the desired answers--NOT teaching them to be silenced, listening only, and regurgitating YOUR facts on the test. Therefore, I intend on being a teacher who breaks the mold that is traditional expectations for students. I want my students to talk back to me. I want them to say, "I disagree." These are not challenges but opportunities for me to actually do what tax payer's pay for me to do--teach. I want my students to feel as though they are individuals, able to express themselves, unafraid of people who look down on them for their age. I believe that once we treat children like sophisticated individuals capable of making the right choices, everything else will fall into place...no line leader or bubble mouth needed!

Technology Enhanced Classes

I would like to embrace the idea of using technology in the classroom. Blogging within the classroom is an invaluable tool, as it serves many purposes. The degree of involvement can be manipulated to fit individuals' needs. 1) Students can use the blogs as a recap of what was learned, so that when test time approaches, the students has a place where all their notes have been stored and can then easily review the material in a domain that is more accessible to them, as the internet is with today's youth. 2) Teachers can assign blogging projects. I studied one blog in which the teacher helped the students put together virtual scrapbooks. They wrote and illustrated the stories on paper and then transferred those into a computer equivalent and added music and their voices. 3) Another teacher assigned the children a topic for their blogs. This seemed to serve the purpose of teaching the children how they can use technology for their own future personal gains versus giving them a grade for an online project like the teacher above. One student was responsible for blogging about the classroom pet; one student published a blog on a particular project everyone completed the week before, etc. Every child's blog was different. 4) The blogs serve as a greater connection to parents. Another blog I studied was maintained by the teacher, and she basically composed scrapbooks or articles on what the students did in the classroom daily. She always included either a picture or sound. The parents commented on the blog about how much they appreciated the teacher for going "above and beyond" the call of duty. They felt like they knew more of what was going on because they could see and hear, just as if they were there, versus the old-fashioned way of a paper newsletter (updated only weekly). The parents not only felt more included in the education process, but they were happier because the children were excited to share with them the classroom blog.
As a teacher, I would hope to bring the use of blogs to the classroom: if not for a project for the students to complete, then as a tool for the parents to have so that they feel more involved and so that they could give feedback on what teaching method works best for their child. At any rate, blogs seem to be a most positive idea.