Sunday, December 16, 2007
EDU 125 and SED 125
This past semester has been a very influential time for me as far as my career goes. I have always known that I want to be an educator and my preference has always been elementary school. After taking EDU 125 and SED 125, I am beginning to consider other possibilities for my career. I still know that I want to be in education but how is the question. I am looking into possibilities outside of the classroom like speech pathology. I have also broadened my outlook on the age group that I would like to teach. Middle school is not such a bad age. The other day I went to my 13 year old brother-in-law's 7th grade math class to teach a lesson on LCM and GCF. I had such a blast that I am considering changing my major to secondary education. But that is still undecided. All I know for sure is that I truly enjoy being involved in education.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Diversity in the Classroom
I think that I should start out this blog by writing out my personal definition of diversity. Diversity to me is the differences between people that make everyone unique and special. It should not separate people; instead, it should bring people together.
My own experience with diversity is very diverse (haha). In most of the schools that I have attended, there have been quite a few different types of students. I've been friends with African American people, Hispanic people, Dutch people, African people and many others. I have also had a wide range of friends and family members with different religious affiliations. I, personally, am Lutheran as is most of my family. Those that are not Lutheran are Catholic, Jewish, Mormon or Wiccan. I have also married into a Catholic family. In my family and friends, there are many different sexual orientations. I have friends who heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual; I accept all of them as they are. For the better part of my high school years, I was very much into Italian culture and I tried to learn as much about Italy as I could, although I did not get the chance to actually go there. In the first few years of college, I became interested in Spain and Latin America. Eventually, I hope to travel to as many different countries as I possibly can. My own personal diversity is very mixed. I am very much an American mutt. The majority of my heritage is Irish (I'm a quarter.) I also have Scottish, Austrian, Norwegian, Mexican and Native American heritage. Of all of these different backgrounds, the only ones that I feel tied to are Irish, Scottish and Austrian. These were the only ones that I learned anything about from my family when I was growing up. But I like to think of myself as a physical representation of America as a melting pot.
I believe that teaching diversity as a subject in itself is a very important idea. Since the world today is blending and mixing in ways that have never happened before, it is crucial that we adjust our ways of thinking to match the changes. Students in today's classrooms need to be culturally aware of the differences in the world and they need to be taught these differences in a positive way so that they can appreciate the beauty in diversity. We are all different and that is a good thing. The world would be very boring if we were all exactly the same. Seeing as how I live in house with three school age boys, I feel that it would be appropriate to use an example from one of their favorite television shows: Fairly Oddparents. There is an episode of this show where the main character, Timmy, wishes that everyone in the world was exactly the same because a mean dentist from down the street made him feel bad about his really big teeth. Since he has fairy godparents, his wish came true. All of the people in the world became big, grey blobs that looked exactly the same. Even though everyone looked the same, the mean dentist down the street still made fun of Timmy for not being "grey enough" or "blobby enough". This show demonstrates that even when there are no differences at all, people will still find ways to make themselves seem better than others. I think that letting kids watch this episode in class could help them to appreciate the differences that people have instead of making fun. Teaching diversity is very important in classrooms because students need to be able to value the person next to them for who they are, not by what makes them different.
Teaching diverse students seems like it would be fun. I would enjoy learning about all of their different cultures or backgrounds and figuring out solutions to any problems that they may have adapting to our ways and culture. Anytime that a person is given the opportunity to grow and develop is a good day in my book. Teaching diverse students would give me and the student that opportunity. Of course, there would be difficulties that come up along the way but meeting challenges like that is all a part of being a teacher. This is what we are here for, to help students in their quest for knowledge. Not only would I benefit from having a diverse classroom, the students and parents would as well because they are also given the chance to broaden their understanding of the world.
My own experience with diversity is very diverse (haha). In most of the schools that I have attended, there have been quite a few different types of students. I've been friends with African American people, Hispanic people, Dutch people, African people and many others. I have also had a wide range of friends and family members with different religious affiliations. I, personally, am Lutheran as is most of my family. Those that are not Lutheran are Catholic, Jewish, Mormon or Wiccan. I have also married into a Catholic family. In my family and friends, there are many different sexual orientations. I have friends who heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual; I accept all of them as they are. For the better part of my high school years, I was very much into Italian culture and I tried to learn as much about Italy as I could, although I did not get the chance to actually go there. In the first few years of college, I became interested in Spain and Latin America. Eventually, I hope to travel to as many different countries as I possibly can. My own personal diversity is very mixed. I am very much an American mutt. The majority of my heritage is Irish (I'm a quarter.) I also have Scottish, Austrian, Norwegian, Mexican and Native American heritage. Of all of these different backgrounds, the only ones that I feel tied to are Irish, Scottish and Austrian. These were the only ones that I learned anything about from my family when I was growing up. But I like to think of myself as a physical representation of America as a melting pot.
I believe that teaching diversity as a subject in itself is a very important idea. Since the world today is blending and mixing in ways that have never happened before, it is crucial that we adjust our ways of thinking to match the changes. Students in today's classrooms need to be culturally aware of the differences in the world and they need to be taught these differences in a positive way so that they can appreciate the beauty in diversity. We are all different and that is a good thing. The world would be very boring if we were all exactly the same. Seeing as how I live in house with three school age boys, I feel that it would be appropriate to use an example from one of their favorite television shows: Fairly Oddparents. There is an episode of this show where the main character, Timmy, wishes that everyone in the world was exactly the same because a mean dentist from down the street made him feel bad about his really big teeth. Since he has fairy godparents, his wish came true. All of the people in the world became big, grey blobs that looked exactly the same. Even though everyone looked the same, the mean dentist down the street still made fun of Timmy for not being "grey enough" or "blobby enough". This show demonstrates that even when there are no differences at all, people will still find ways to make themselves seem better than others. I think that letting kids watch this episode in class could help them to appreciate the differences that people have instead of making fun. Teaching diversity is very important in classrooms because students need to be able to value the person next to them for who they are, not by what makes them different.
Teaching diverse students seems like it would be fun. I would enjoy learning about all of their different cultures or backgrounds and figuring out solutions to any problems that they may have adapting to our ways and culture. Anytime that a person is given the opportunity to grow and develop is a good day in my book. Teaching diverse students would give me and the student that opportunity. Of course, there would be difficulties that come up along the way but meeting challenges like that is all a part of being a teacher. This is what we are here for, to help students in their quest for knowledge. Not only would I benefit from having a diverse classroom, the students and parents would as well because they are also given the chance to broaden their understanding of the world.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Maria Montessori and Jean Piaget
The two influential educators that I am researching for this project are Maria Montessori and Jean Piaget. I'm going to talk about them separately so I'll start with ladies first.
Maria Montessori was a woman who was born in Italy in 1870. She was the first female physician in the whole of Italy but about 5 years after graduating from medical school she started to become more interested in psychology and returned to school once again to pursue this new career. The ideas and groups that she is best known for are the Montessori method of education, the philosophy of children teach themselves, the "glasshouse schoolroom" exhibit and the Association Montessori Internationale. The Montessori method basically is letting the child grow and learn at their own pace and creating environments to stimulate that child. This method emphasizes individuality, social interaction and real world learning. Children are not drowning in facts and figures that are thrust at them. They learn the way that they, individually, need to learn. Her philosophy of children teach themselves is pretty self-explanatory. She believed that children have an inherent love of learning that can be helped along by willing and able teachers.
Print Source
Montessori : the science behind the genius
Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland in 1896. He is considered to be the father of cognitive psychology. He first began his illustrious career with a paper on albino sparrows when he was 11 years old. Eventually, his interests turned to psychology and, after having children, he developed his theory of cognitive development in children. This theory includes four stages of development: the sensorimotor stage (0-2 years), preoperational stage (2-7 years), concrete operational (7-11 years) and the formal operational stage (11+ years). His theory has helped to develop the constructivist method of teaching children. This method basically is a philosophy that we learn from our own experiences and we each have our own unique ways of thinking.
Print Source
Child Development 11th Ed. (pgs. 211-228)
Maria Montessori was a woman who was born in Italy in 1870. She was the first female physician in the whole of Italy but about 5 years after graduating from medical school she started to become more interested in psychology and returned to school once again to pursue this new career. The ideas and groups that she is best known for are the Montessori method of education, the philosophy of children teach themselves, the "glasshouse schoolroom" exhibit and the Association Montessori Internationale. The Montessori method basically is letting the child grow and learn at their own pace and creating environments to stimulate that child. This method emphasizes individuality, social interaction and real world learning. Children are not drowning in facts and figures that are thrust at them. They learn the way that they, individually, need to learn. Her philosophy of children teach themselves is pretty self-explanatory. She believed that children have an inherent love of learning that can be helped along by willing and able teachers.
Print Source
Montessori : the science behind the genius
Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland in 1896. He is considered to be the father of cognitive psychology. He first began his illustrious career with a paper on albino sparrows when he was 11 years old. Eventually, his interests turned to psychology and, after having children, he developed his theory of cognitive development in children. This theory includes four stages of development: the sensorimotor stage (0-2 years), preoperational stage (2-7 years), concrete operational (7-11 years) and the formal operational stage (11+ years). His theory has helped to develop the constructivist method of teaching children. This method basically is a philosophy that we learn from our own experiences and we each have our own unique ways of thinking.
Print Source
Child Development 11th Ed. (pgs. 211-228)
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
The Scopes Monkey Trial
The Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 took place in Dayton, Tennessee. It centered around a young science teacher and football coach named John Scopes who had mentioned teaching his students the theory of evolution despite a Tennessee statute that prohibited the theory of evolution being taught in classrooms. The issue being debated was not necessarily whether Scopes was guilty of violating the law, rather, the prosecution used the trial as a way to disprove Darwin's theories and to shove biblical ideas down the public's throat. The two lawyers that fought this battle were William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution and Clarence Darrow for the defense. Oddly enough, Darrow actually wanted his client to be found guilty because then he could appeal the case to a higher court and get the Butler statute evaluated. The trial ended with a famous question and answer between the two lawyers that convinced the jury to find Scopes guilty of violating the law. Later, the decision was appealed by a higher court but only because of a technicality and not because the law was found unjust.
It was not until 1967 that Tennessee finally got rid of the Butler Act. Afterwards, many other states began to appeal their laws banning evolution and even began to require that schools require equal coverage of biblical ideas and the theory of evolution. Emphasis was put on the fact that it is a theory and should not be taught as fact. Later, these laws emphasizing teaching creationism and evolution equally were also appealed on the basis that they were unconstitutional. In the classroom today, there is still a huge debate over how to teach students about how life came to be the way that it is. No one knows for sure and everyone has their own ideas of what students should learn.
It was not until 1967 that Tennessee finally got rid of the Butler Act. Afterwards, many other states began to appeal their laws banning evolution and even began to require that schools require equal coverage of biblical ideas and the theory of evolution. Emphasis was put on the fact that it is a theory and should not be taught as fact. Later, these laws emphasizing teaching creationism and evolution equally were also appealed on the basis that they were unconstitutional. In the classroom today, there is still a huge debate over how to teach students about how life came to be the way that it is. No one knows for sure and everyone has their own ideas of what students should learn.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
My Informal Education Curriculum
All of my life I have been exposed to school, my mother was a kindergarten T.A., and I would often go to school with her even before I had started school myself. I was also very happy to go; I guess you could say that I was born for school. As a natural consequence of loving school, I got the reputation of being an egghead and a goody-two shoes. Once in middle school, I realized that I didn't have very many friends because of how I liked to get every answer right and I was a bit of a show off when it came to grades. After I had this revelation, I stopped and took a good look at myself. That was when I realized that I would rather be modest and have friends than to have everyone see how smart I was and hating me for it. This is when I learned that people don't like a show-off so I changed my attitude.
Last year, I went through a bit of a rough experience with my parents and sister so, consequently, we are currently not on speaking terms. (Their choice, not mine.) Right now, I am living with my husband's family while he is deployed to Afghanistan. (As a side note, I am constantly talking about him and I will probably find a way to work him into any topic of conversation so I'll introduce him to you; his name is Andrew.) The experience of living in a family that is so radically different from my own (in a good way) has taught me so many different things. An especially important one is one that I learned from my mother-in-law. Every weekend, we do at least one activity outside of the house. Whether it is going all the way to York Animal Farm or just down to the lake at the end of the road, we are out of the house for a couple of hours. This in itself would not teach me anything that I would not have already known, except for the fact that I lived a very sheltered life with my parents where we never went anywhere or did anything. What my mother-in-law taught me was that life needs to be lived fully. We aren't meant to sit around on our butts at home all day doing nothing. It is much more fun to get out and do things in the world. That is how we gain experience, knowledge and wisdom. My life is much more fulfilling and enjoyable than it was before (except that Andrew's not here, which is a downer). I've noticed that ever since I started living my life this way, my anxiety levels have become much more manageable. I don't need medication for anxiety attacks anymore, which is great. Life is fun!
Possibly the most important part of my informal curriculum (probably only in my eyes though) is my love of books. I started reading books when I was extremely little. I remember in Kindergarten, reading books that didn't even have pictures in them which impressed all of my classmates immensely (sometimes my show-off attitude comes back in small flashes, don't worry, it'll subside). I loved everything that came in written form. I would read labels on bottles, posters on buses, I even started reading out of the dictionary one time (I didn't get very far, so don't be too worried about me). Over time my love of books developed into something much more sophisticated than just reading for the sake of reading; I started to really become interested in using books to advance the way that I learned. I absorbed everything that I read and kept little bits and pieces in the back of my mind that would come up randomly in conversation. I still pop up with random information even now; I often lose track of what I was saying before and can't seem to get back to my main point. I also started to develop an avid imagination and this was reflected in my favorite types of books, which are science fiction and fantasy. Even now, my favorite book series is the Harry Potter series. I have been following the series since I was 12 years old. You can probably imagine the excitement I went through when the final book came out this past summer. Eight years of loyalty and patience have finally paid off! (By the way, J.K. Rowling is a total business genius because she just let Dumbledore out of the closet. Not only has she gained a new fan base but she has also brought attention back to the series when people were starting to forget about it after the release of the final book. Genius!) I don't just read novels though, I still love to read magazines, the newspaper and maddox.xmission.com. My point though, with telling you about my love of books and reading, is that this love has fostered an inquisitive and imaginative mind in which I never get tired of learning new things. The world has so many interesting facets that I discover through reading and I will never get tired of it.
Last year, I went through a bit of a rough experience with my parents and sister so, consequently, we are currently not on speaking terms. (Their choice, not mine.) Right now, I am living with my husband's family while he is deployed to Afghanistan. (As a side note, I am constantly talking about him and I will probably find a way to work him into any topic of conversation so I'll introduce him to you; his name is Andrew.) The experience of living in a family that is so radically different from my own (in a good way) has taught me so many different things. An especially important one is one that I learned from my mother-in-law. Every weekend, we do at least one activity outside of the house. Whether it is going all the way to York Animal Farm or just down to the lake at the end of the road, we are out of the house for a couple of hours. This in itself would not teach me anything that I would not have already known, except for the fact that I lived a very sheltered life with my parents where we never went anywhere or did anything. What my mother-in-law taught me was that life needs to be lived fully. We aren't meant to sit around on our butts at home all day doing nothing. It is much more fun to get out and do things in the world. That is how we gain experience, knowledge and wisdom. My life is much more fulfilling and enjoyable than it was before (except that Andrew's not here, which is a downer). I've noticed that ever since I started living my life this way, my anxiety levels have become much more manageable. I don't need medication for anxiety attacks anymore, which is great. Life is fun!
Possibly the most important part of my informal curriculum (probably only in my eyes though) is my love of books. I started reading books when I was extremely little. I remember in Kindergarten, reading books that didn't even have pictures in them which impressed all of my classmates immensely (sometimes my show-off attitude comes back in small flashes, don't worry, it'll subside). I loved everything that came in written form. I would read labels on bottles, posters on buses, I even started reading out of the dictionary one time (I didn't get very far, so don't be too worried about me). Over time my love of books developed into something much more sophisticated than just reading for the sake of reading; I started to really become interested in using books to advance the way that I learned. I absorbed everything that I read and kept little bits and pieces in the back of my mind that would come up randomly in conversation. I still pop up with random information even now; I often lose track of what I was saying before and can't seem to get back to my main point. I also started to develop an avid imagination and this was reflected in my favorite types of books, which are science fiction and fantasy. Even now, my favorite book series is the Harry Potter series. I have been following the series since I was 12 years old. You can probably imagine the excitement I went through when the final book came out this past summer. Eight years of loyalty and patience have finally paid off! (By the way, J.K. Rowling is a total business genius because she just let Dumbledore out of the closet. Not only has she gained a new fan base but she has also brought attention back to the series when people were starting to forget about it after the release of the final book. Genius!) I don't just read novels though, I still love to read magazines, the newspaper and maddox.xmission.com. My point though, with telling you about my love of books and reading, is that this love has fostered an inquisitive and imaginative mind in which I never get tired of learning new things. The world has so many interesting facets that I discover through reading and I will never get tired of it.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
First Day
Well, I never thought that I would ever have a blog but I guess I was wrong. So here it is.
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