What Am I Willing To Do To Educate All Children?

 

As teachers, our job is to educate our students, but as individuals we have to be willing to educate all of our students no matter their race, beliefs, or gender. I want my students to feel welcomed in my classroom and not feel like they do not belong or are insignificant. In one of the videos I watched in this week’s module, the speaker presented a rap that a student had created and the student speaks about sitting in the back of the class waiting to escape, and that even when he does want to raise his hand in class, he knows it will go unseen. I believe that should never be case, a student should not want to raise their but shy away because the teacher does not acknowledge their hand. In order to help every student feel recognized, I will try and call on different students all the time and not call on the same hands. I will also occasionally call on students who do not have their hands raised because I know from personal experience that sometimes you have the right answer, but you do not feel confident enough to share it with the class. I also know that I may run into the problem of time and calling on each raised hand so my solution is to vocally acknowledge and thank them for raising their hands and ask if they have anything important to add before we move on since we have already answered the question. I will also mimic students’ own personal and cultural learning tools. In order to do this, I need to build a connection with each of my student so I can give them the kind of education they deserve. To make connections with my students, I can have my students create an “All About Me,” poster that will include insight on their home life and who they are and then be presented to the class. I could also send an iPad home each week with a different student and they will be tasked with recording a weekend in their life. By recording their weekend I can get a sense of their family structure and what they may deal with outside of school. I will also simply talk to my students and let them know I care for them and only want what is best for them. If the child feel cared for, they will feel safe and want to participate in the classroom. Another way of educating all my students is using parent involvement. Parent involvement helps me as the teacher get to know they family better and also builds a teacher-parent support system. Most importantly, classrooms should not be a place where discrimination occurs, every child deserves to be educated, and educated correctly based off each individual.

Until our next post readers,

 Holly. 

Does Gender Affect the Teaching Profession?

 

It is 2021, we would think that by now, gender does not affect the teaching profession but unfortunately, it still does. While trying to find an image for this blog post, I typed "teacher" into google and all the images that immediately loaded were of predominantly white and female teachers. I think the stereotype and view that teaching is a woman's profession is still in place today. Throughout my K-12 experience I have had eight male teachers and four out of the eight were athletic coaches. The coaches always went by coach in the classroom, but the female coaches were never referred to as coach in the classroom, but why? The female coaches had step into the teacher role in the classroom, but the same standard was not set for the coaches, because they thought of themselves as coaches, not teachers. There is still a significant difference in the pay of male and female teachers. Even if both genders are coaches and teachers, the males still earn more. During my senior year of high school, I was given the opportunity to visit the admin building for our school district meet all the available staff members. I cannot remember her name or her position anymore but her job position was directly below the superintendent, and since my class was all girls except for two boys, she told us a secret. She said, "They don't want us to make it, they believe that we (females) should stay in the classroom and leave administration up to the "big guys" but that we could change that by never giving up on a position we want just because of our gender." She then explained that she had wanted her current profession for two years before she was even considered for the position and she said she was even overqualified for the job and they were still hesitant because a woman had never held that position before. Since were able to speak to her in office, it was clear that she had followed the advice she had given us. In The Teacher Wars, there was a statement made that woman should be teachers because they are motherly and should take care of and educate the children. That once again emphasizes the stereotype that woman should stay home and raise the children while the men went out and did the "real" work. I have had motherly teachers, but what is wrong with fatherly teachers? I have had male teachers who cared for their class just as much as my female teachers, does that make them fatherly? I also do not agree with the idea that mothers should be forced to just be stay-at-home spouses, while their husbands get to receive an education and be a part of the workforce. Also, with how sexuality and gender and becoming more open today, I think schools should be more open-minded also. They look down on teacher who do not dress "proper" but really, they mean "girly." Then we also have teachers who do not identify with a gender and I can only imagine all the struggles they face in the teaching profession. Although, we have made advancements for teachers, we still have a long way to go. 

What is the Purpose of Schools?

The purpose of schools has changed throughout history. In the beginning, school was primarily based upon growing the country economically and to promote democracy. When religion was big in the colonies, it was based around the church. Then, school moved onto purposely only focusing on educating the elite and leaving the poor to self-educate or learn through the clergy. Schools were not equally accessible, they often left out students who had to work and they also did not see a point in educating women. After awhile, views shifted on the education of women and they began to learn more than reading and writing to help raise moral children. Once again, schools focused on educating children to help them learn the foundations of democracy to be able to be knowledgeable voters. They also saw education as a way of creating bonds among the diverse classes and promote American unity. I believe the purpose of school is to educate the future and prepare them to not only be apart of democracy. but to also be kind, smart, and upstanding citizens to help society improve with each following generation. 

The Big Question- Why Teach?

 Every teacher gets asked the question, "Why did you become a teacher?" My response to why I want to teach would have to be that being a teacher is all I have ever wanted to be. Of course, when I was little, I wanted to grow up and become a celebrity, but once I got to school and entered the classroom, I knew. I knew this was where I wanted to be, in the classroom, not just as a student, but as the teacher. I admired my teachers as they led the class and just thought to myself, "I cannot wait until that is me at the front of the classroom." The very first day of school I came home and told my parents I wanted to become a teacher when I grew up and I have never changed my mind since. I do not come from a family of teachers, and I am the first in my immediate family to attend a university. Fortunately, all through elementary school I had fantastic teachers who I looked up to, but I met THE teacher in high school. Her name was Mrs. Palmer, she really took my hand, opened my mind to see all the possibilities, and touched my heart. As I stated before, I always knew I wanted to become a teacher, but she helped me bring out my full potential and showed me that I could be just like her and all of the other teachers I had admired growing up. I loved and still love the way Mrs. Palmer teaches. Her classroom does not just feel like a school classroom, it feels like home - exactly how I want my classroom to feel for my future students. I could tell she cared about us not just as students, but as individuals. I want to teach because I want to be that teacher, I want to reach my students not just academically but also personally, because they are the future. 

I want to go on teaching grades K-2nd but I have a passion for reading that I want to share my passion with students who might struggle when it comes to reading. After teaching for two years and acquiring my master's degree, I would like to become a reading specialist at an elementary school. Reading is all around us and it can take us to extraordinary places if we embrace it. Reading also helps us communicate and understand others and we may feel lost if we struggle with reading, so I want to help those children find their way. I believe no child should feel lost academically, because there is always someone willing to help, and if there is not, I want to be that person for them. I want to work in the elementary setting because I have always worked with younger children and absolutely enjoy it, but also because I believe our foundation for reading takes place as soon as we enter school.