Last Class Period!

Today was a great way to end the semester. Everyone got the chance to talk about their cultural events. Sarah's blew me away. The amount of work this girl did on her presentation was tremendous. I really enjoyed everyones stories and everyones experiences. I really liked Betty's experience on her trip to a chinese wedding.I think talking about different cultures and even going to a cultural event is a great way for anyone to learn more and become more open-minded, especially for a teacher. Everyday is a new challenge and new lesson for teachers. Every year we are faced with new students and every student is completely different from one another. Being culturally aware is being open-minded to new possibilities. Whether it be new students, new food, new discussions, or even new places. A teacher needs to be culturally aware and open at all times. Being culturally aware ties in with having empathy towards students and understanding that we all come from different places. Some students may not participate in the classroom because maybe they were raised in a certain way where they were told not to. Teachers need to be aware of this. I have experienced students with hygiene issues due to cultural ways. I loved this assignment because I feel that it really opened all of our eyes. It helps us relate to students in different ways. Seeing the chinese wedding video really opened my eyes to something that I have never even experienced and I'm really thankful that I saw it. This has been a great semeseter with great discussions. I really enjoyed our class!

Week 8 Reflection

In class on Wednesday, we watched a video on YouTube. The video was called RSA animate by Sir Ken Robinson. The main focus was to answer the question: How do we educate our children to take their place in the economics of the 21^st century, and how do we teach them to have cultural identity? I thought it was really interesting how the video talked about how as older generations grew up they were told to go to school, work hard, graduate college, and they were guaranteed a job. Today it is far beyond that way: It’s not like that in a sense that people can work hard and get their degrees but they will not be guaranteed a job. Economy is struggling and it is not guaranteed to get better. No body knows how things will be in the future. We had a discussion in class about ADHD, and how there are many students in today’s society struggle with it. We discussed how some people take advantage and make it an excuse as to why they can’t learn. I have mixed feelings about this topic. I have seen good friends of mine say that they “have ADHD” and say that when they take Adderall they can focus more than they ever have. I do not think that those friends of mine actually have ADHD; I just think that they procrastinate and can be lazy. I personally think that they use “having ADHD” as an excuse for why they do not like school. But at the same time, I have seen many students struggle with ADHD and I feel really bad for them; therefore, I have two opinions about it.  

The topic of gifted students also came up, and if they should be placed in higher-level classrooms. My opinion on this is that it is the teacher’s job to challenge those students. I was surprised that no one in class brought that topic up. There are honors and AP classes for those over achievers and gifted students. That will definitely give them a better sense for education and keep them intrigued. If those classes are not available, teachers can find different ways to challenge those students; whether it is to give them different assignments, or change instruction so that they can be more engaged. After the video discussion, we had a group assignment (pop culture) where we were paired with a partner. I actually had a good time doing this one with Matthew! I thought this assignment was a pretty clever way to include student’s interest into class instruction.