Dillusionment

Is this book supposed to make me hate teaching? Is it's goal to make me believe that I will never succeed in all aspects of life? Am I never going to get married or have a family? Will I even find a job???

Maybe I need to give up reading this book. I don't think that I have received one positive lesson from this book. If teaching/students/administrators/family life is as bad as many of these teachers make it out to be, maybe I need to change my major and do something safe. Something with job security. I am worried enough as it is not being able to find a job and these excerpts don't exactly help me feel less stressed. The overall themes of this chapter included failure as a teacher, a person, and a parent. The prevalence of ineffective coworkers, injustice, and racism. The stupidity of standardized tests. And the difficulty of teaching students with a terrible home life. Is that what I want for my life? I hope that teaching is a lot less negative than this book makes it out to be or else I am doomed to die an early death.

The Story of Schools from the 1950s to the 1980s

In this time period, schools were making great strides in education for middle class white Americans. African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asians, and disabled students were still not receiving the education that they deserved. A high school in Topeka, praised for having integrated classrooms, still segregated students in school activities, sports, and after school programs. One quote in the video that really stood out to me was a young African American girl who stated that she was excited that segregation was overturned but refused to go to a school where she was not wanted. Evidently legal action was not sufficient enough to end racism in schools. Even when African American students were allowed in schools that had once been all-white, most of the faculty was still Caucasian. Intelligent, educated African Americans lost their jobs due to integration. Students all over the United States wanted (and deserved) "quality and equality" in Education. This is exactly what former school teacher Lyndon Johnson wanted too. Finally, women have their own sports teams and scholarships. Disabled children are now welcome in schools and many even are learning to function in mainstream classes. The changes in education today are noticeable and exciting.

Engagement

This section really focused on the struggle and importance of getting students to open up. I think that having an understanding of student's backround and life outside of school is important because it can explain why a student acts the way he or she does. On page 110. a student tells her teacher that she feels safe in his classroom. She can tell that he cares about what she has to say, so she can let her guard down and apply herself in the class. It is important to create an open and safe environment where students can come with problems. In story 54, a teacher has to deal with a student who has strong feelings about African Americans. She handles it seriously but respectfully. She does not belittle the student but lets him know that he was wrong. Maintaining a respectful attitude toward students is important because it helps them feel safe. In story 48, the teacher learns about a particular student through her journal. I believe that journals are a great way to get students to open up, especially those that are less talkative. This way, teachers can find out what interests that student and what makes he/she tick and this can help them teach.

The Story of School Part II: 1900-1950

It was very interesting to see what schools were like in the 1900’s. While I was watching the movie, I found myself thinking back to my own students from my practicum class. The different between students in the early 1900’s and now, in my mind, is discipline. Students were expected to sit still in their seats, pay attention, and do their work. Consequences were much different too. I have a feeling that many students were motivated in school to avoid disappointment from their parents. Now, many parents are not very concerned with their child’s performance in school. It’s amazing how teaching techniques have improved drastically while the expectations have, in my opinion, decreased. I was also interested to see how the history of schools has shaped today’s schools. Schools now seem like a mixture of many different teaching ideas. For instance, physical activity, interest-based classes are still in schools today, but so are standardized tests and ranking students. I think that all the improvements that have been made are wonderful, I believe that one of the biggest change that still needs to be made is an improved attitude toward education.

Generations

This article describes the differences of generations in the workplace. Right now there are four different generations all working together. There are veterans, who are born before 1945. Then there are the baby boomers, like my mom. I fit into the generation Y category since I was born in 1989. Each generation has its own set of personal and lifestyle characteristics and also uses different skills and methods in the workplace. The challenge for any business is to learn how to use each generation to its full potential and also how to help them work together with each other. This can be challenging when each generation is predisposed to do the same task in different ways.
While I think that these characteristics may hold true in a broad sense, I don’t think that every person fits perfectly into any one category. For instance, my mom was born in 1962, is very technological and would probably prefer to send an email than to communicate in person. What I would like to know is how this article applies to teaching. While I understand that I will have colleagues who fit in each generational group and that collaboration among teachers occurs, I feel that a school environment is a lot different that an office building with rows upon rows of cubicles. Also, how am I supposed to use this information in regards to my professional interactions? I personally don’t see the relevance of this article.

Challenges

At first, I thought that I can't relate to these stories because many of them are about gang violence and I don't plan on teaching in an area like that. But then I thought back on my experience at Mount Blue High School and realized that if one of my students came out and told me that he gets beaten at home or if a girl confided in me that she was pregnant, I would not be the least bit surprised. The question I still have is how to handle it. One teacher was too afraid to open up to a student out of fear of being unprofessional. Another one was completely open about his alcoholism and her childhood in the projects or an unintended pregnancy. What is the balance of professionalism and helping the students? Because I believe that having a teacher or trusted adult that a student with a crisis can relate to is very valuable. While I didn't grow up in the projects and I've never been the victim of gang violence, I know what it is like to grow up in a split household and to be a latch key kid and I know what it is like to have a parent struggle with depression. Maybe someday I will be able to relate to a student who is struggling with divorce like I did in high school.

Cultural Identity Shield

Anticipation

I put myself in the shoes of the authors when reading the stories about first day nerves and excitement. To this day I still get nervous on the first day of school, mostly due to a fear of the unknown. I feel that this day must be even more nerve-wracking for teachers than students. The first day of class is a first impression. Kids will either leave feeling excited for what is in store for the year or dreading the semester. That is a lot of pressure!

It is interesting to read about diversity in schools because I have grown up in a place where most people are white middle class Americans. I haven’t witnessed firsthand someone get beat up based on religion or the color of his or her skin. A friend of mine did her student teaching only twenty minutes away in Portland and had eight kids in her class named Muhammad.

The story that I could most relate to was the story when a teacher inadvertently became a sex education teacher. Answering the questions that the students asked of her was way out of the teacher’s comfort zone, but she was able to determine that this was valuable knowledge for the students. She was able to put her own discomfort aside and be open with the students with a subject that was important. I have struggled with saying words I previously had thought were inappropriate to say in school when I was working at Mt. Blue high school for practicum. I definitely had to leave my comfort zone for classes such as the reproductive systems and contraceptives, but it definitely was a valuable experience.

Diversity, Learning Style, and Culture

In this article, Pat Burke Guild identifies the contradiction of being aware that every student learns and thinks and does in his or her own unique way, and yet schools promote uniformity. The challenge is to have student achieve a “common mission” while supporting various learning and thinking styles. To create a valuable learning experience, teachers must have an understanding of every student’s style. Just as students have one or a few dominant learning styles, so do teachers tend to favor one type of teaching. Along with an awareness of how students learn, a teacher needs to be aware of how he or she tends to teach. This knowledge will provide “greater opportunities for success” for both students and teachers.
I learned last year that I am a very strong visual learner. I learn best by being able to see something in front of me, such as a diagram or picture. As a teacher, it is easy to try and teach in the same way that I learn. If I am aware and observant of my students’ strengths, I can then improve my own teaching strategies to meet the needs of my students. I look back on my own experience in elementary and high school and see signs of uniformity. No teacher ever made it evident that he or she had noticed my learning strengths. Instead, everyone was given the same assignment with the same parameters. If I didn’t do as well as my straight A classmates, I assumed I just wasn’t as smart. I have always noticed that I learn well when I can see something in front of me, but I never thought much about how we all learn differently. I believe that when a teacher cares enough to try to reach every student by using the various teaching and learning styles, it shows that the teacher cares about the student and wants that student to learn and to succeed.