Tool Belts

I like the metaphor of teachers having tool belts and various tools to maintain a harmonious classroom. The reason so far I appreciate this licensure program is that is offers many different ideas or tools to succeed. It also allows you to compare and contrast techniques or philosophies and to ultimately adopt or dismiss them. I prefer the more concrete technique approach, as you can measure the outcomes.

Charter Schmarter

If I could create a great charter school, one that I would be proud to have my son attend, it would be multifaceted. The school would focus on the subjects that mostly get cut from public schools. These would be art, music, physical activity, naturalism, and creative writing. Math, science, and reading would also be taught of course, but the school would have a lot of elective activities for children who want to explore more avenues. Newspaper, art, photography, drama, music classes, and yoga and dance classes to name a few. I would have math, reading, and science be incorporated into these electives. That way students are learning but in a more creative way, which will keep their interests.

view points

It's easy to see the world from only one view point, because we only have one set of eyes. I believe this is why it is all too easy to favor one group of people over another. People like to group themselves based on commonality and familiarity. This however presents a problem when you are faced with a different type of culture or people because you group them as others and then treat them differently.  The only way to appreciate the differences of others is to see the world from their eyes. That is why it is so important to read about the experiences of a black feminist or a white privileged woman, because without hearing their stories they just become people to group as others.

Teacher of the year

One of Albuquerque’s own teachers was recently voted “National Teacher of the Year” by her peers in a large scale contest led by the Department of Education.  This contest was endorsed by President Obama and the First Lady in their hopes to motivate citizens to select a Career in Education instead of the more economical Business option.  

Sarah Dixon is a 3^rd  grade Teacher at Atrisco Elementary located in Albuquerque’s South Valley.  This is a heavily Hispanic community that has been influenced by economic disparity and social injustice.  In fact, the recent population growth has outgrown the current facilities for this community.  This is where Sarah Dixon comes in.  After graduating from CNM’s certificate program, Sarah immediately gained employment at Atrisco Elementary where she introduced herself to the Spanish language in order to gain a better perspective on the community.  

The principal of Atrisco, Mr. Gorge Ramirez, noticed “how passionate Sarah is when it comes to connecting with her students. She really puts in the extra effort to make them feel comfortable and respected.”   Over the next few years that Sarah taught at Atrisco, she wanted to help out in a bigger way, so she designed a bi-lingual after school reading program to benefit children who were struggling.  “I noticed a great improvement with Johnny and his reading after a few months,” says Crystal Pedras, mom of a struggling student.  “I’m a single mom so I don’t have the time to read to him like I want and having him stay an extra hour after school let’s me get more work done.” 

Sarah designed the program with one goal in mind “to improve the lives of children who often get overlooked.”   It was an instant success with parents, students, and even her colleagues, who have also devoted their after hours to help with the growing program.  “Sarah has such charisma when it comes to teaching that it was hard not to get involved too.” Said Mrs. Johnson, a 4^th grade teacher at  Atricso.  One of Sarah’s students, Lupita Gonzales (age 7), said “Ms. Dixon let’s us pick out books I like reading because it’s more fun that way.”

The program not only helps children receive the essential building blocks they need to thrive in this world but it also provides snacks before the reading begins, which is “very important because many of these children simply don’t get enough to eat at home, so concentrating becomes difficult when they have empty bellies,” says Sarah.  The snacks are donated by small businesses from the community. 

“This whole collaboration has made the school a better place, and we have Sarah to thank for it” said Mr. Ramirez, “and that is why she was selected for teacher of the year.”

The first blog I want to follow is the elementaryteacherblogspot.com because it has posts from teachers that talk about their days and experiences as teachers. The other blog I am following is the http://eduoptimists.blogspot.com/ because they talk about current events invilving education.

Fundamentals

I believe the fundamental purpose in schooling and education is to have a successful society. There is a correlation between education and family size. For instance the average family size in the United States is 2.5. because we value education. Generally the more education an adult has, the fewer children he will have. This is because school is expensive, especially higher education. But with the money and other resources that a parent will invest into their children, comes an expectation that the investment will pay off.

Since the amount of education you acquire relates to the type of career you will have and ultimately the amount of resources you will receive.  Having successful children will allow them to compete for resources and therefore be able to have their own offspring. According to Charles Darwin, a persons fitness is not having a bunch of offspring but to have grandchildren. 

The fundamental purpose in learning is to know that you are invested in your own self and your own  reproductive success. My answers are universal, shown across space and time.  Having read multiple scientific studies and journals of human evolutionary ecology is what has given my thoughts fuel.

Reflection

Looking back at my college days I always enjoyed those classes in which my professor's breathed life into the coursework. A consistent theme in which I had noticed about my learning experiences at UNM was that if I found the class interesting I consistently showed up and I consistently did better in the class.  For example, I had a professor named Steve Alley who taught "Psychology of Personality."  His class was outstanding and I always looked forward to going and learning. Now the reason his class was so stimulating to me was because he taught different from most of the professors I had encountered throughout my education. He was definietley not the norm. Everyday we walked into the classroom, Alley had music playing from a boombox, and it was always an uplifting or innovative song recommended by his students.  Right off the bat you got a good feeling about coming to class. Then Alley would teach his courses by going over the textbook material and readings but  he offered his own life experiences to the material. I found that this teaching style made an easier connection to the material being referenced. Having another persons real life story connected to Pavlov's theory of conditioning was so much more interesting than just reading the chapter and taking a multiple choice test. As a prospective teacher, I wish to have Alley's enthusiasm and personal touch while teaching any students.