week 4

Quotes and comments from Buchmann Article

“You must think, not what you know, but what they do not know; not what you find hard, but what they will find hard; then, after putting yourself inside their minds, obstinate or puzzled, groping or mistaken as they are, explain what they need to learn… In general a shift of concern from self to others comes more from acknowledging ‘this is the kind of work I am doing’ than from stating ‘this is how I feel’ or ‘this is how I do things.’

This seems pretty difficult! It is such common sense though; so plainly written yet it comes as a surprise to me. Someone was joking with me once and said, “Oh, you just want to be a teacher because you’re controlling and now you’ll have a whole classroom of children to control.” But, based on the above a successful teacher would be doing just the opposite. They are not controlling a group but guiding them in selfless concern. What’s shocking but not a surprise is the following comment from the reading:

“A three-year study of fourteen fifth-grade classrooms examining curriculum and learning in science concluded that teachers’ reliance on personal beliefs and teaching styles hindered student learning.”

It’s too bad that research and observation have been done enough to note these circumstances. Like any other profession, I’m sure there are days that teachers would like to just do the bare minimum. Obviously we all need some sort of balance in our lives. I personally have not received these negative comments that my classmates are referring to. I was excited when I decided this was the right time to go back to school and I’m excited now when I tell people that’s what I’m doing.

I have been working since college for a textile design company in Seattle. When I told my immediate boss that my husband and I decided I am going to go back to school, she informed me that the owner of the company is not very nice to people once he knows they are going to quit. I told the VP but I asked her to tell the owner so she could put it in better words and help support my decision. He ignored me for a few months and now, six months later, has he at least acknowledged to me, that I am leaving the company soon. He told me I should quit going back to school and come back and work full time. Not once did he say he was happy for me or support as I made this next step in my life. I did not consider myself much of an asset to the company, but even if I am, he should have at least acknowledged that I would not be there full time anymore.

Reflection

I have always wanted to be a teacher in the back of my mind, and it just took time to decide when was appropriate to quit work and go back to school. But, I am mainly leaving my job now because I’m getting tired of it not being challenging and there is no potential for growth within the company. I know teaching will be time consuming and challenging, so that part is covered, but I’m wondering what I’m going to think of the “no-growth within the company” aspect. Maybe since each year will be a different group of students that will create enough diversity and change to detract from that issue. I obviously won’t know until I’m in that situation. At this point, I have been thinking more and more about the student teaching and getting a bit nervous. We are only 4 weeks into the program so I’m sure there’s time to learn more about that actually part of teaching.

Volunteers in the classroom

Overall, I am still excited about the program but disappointed to hear others are receiving negative comments. Teachers who work with young children are so involved in that child’s life. As I work on this reflection process I try to go back and remember what I can from elementary school. I was very close with my teachers, as were my classmates I’m assuming, but how was our teacher able to make us all feel like we were important?

Maybe all the parent-involvement provided more adults available to work with the students. I know some teachers who are very against parent involvement. They don’t want parents telling them how to teach or contributing too much input. As long as there are clear guidelines and expectations, I think it would be good to have parent involvement in the classroom. I always looked forward to the days my mom or dad was going to come to class. I can see how this could be a bad thing, but with clear expectations and organization, it could and should go smoothly as long as everyone remembers their role and expectations while helping out in the classroom.

If some teacher's don't like parents to be involved in the classroom, then why don't they use outside volunteers as you commented last week?

Ayers-

I am pretty impressed that this boy decided to do all this for his coming-of-age celebration. His mentality and comments seem very mature for a boy of that age. I cannot remember things I did for my birthday as a child besides family dinners and one birthday party I had with friends, but I can’t remember my age. He has taken a very spiritual and enlightening approach to himself. I know Ayers said he seems motivated about doing this because it involves himself, but I don’t know many kids who would decide to do this for their thirteenth birthday instead of a pool party with friends or something like that.