Chapter 14: Succeeding in Your Teacher Education Program--and Beyond

Thinking about my concerns as I prepare myself to become a teacher, I do feel concerns. I'm concerned about staying relevant once I am a teacher. I'm concerned about being able to find work, and about what the climate will be like in the field when it comes time for me to teach at a school. I worry about keeping up with the technology, because that is a deep field in and of itself and new advances are happening all the time.

Yet in spite of all of these concerns, I still feel confident in my ability to become a teacher and brighten the lives of students. No obstacle is insurmountable.

Chapter 13: Improving Teachers and Schools, and School Reform

Before I graduate, I'd like to have lots of experience in the classroom to put on my resume. I feel like that is really the most valuable thing a teacher can have. To be an educator is really more of a mindset to learn than anything else, and the best way to demonstrate a mindset is to put it to use in the field.

In my first five years of teaching, I'd like to continue my own learning, in and out of the classroom. I will attend whatever workshops are available and applicable, and I will also begin work on a master's degree. All of these things will play a part in keeping me sharp and relevant to the current educational climate. In terms of what I'll do to change the school I work at, I will try to encourage the use of technology and the further individualization of learning for students.

Chapter 7: Thinking about Teaching and Learning

I. I will incorporate quotes from students about how important they feel their inclusion in the decision making process is when it comes to their learning.

II. I will incorporate information about the Socratic method of teaching.

III. I will use information from the chapter to compare and contrast teacher-focused and student-focused classrooms.

Chapter 6: Social Context of Schools

Anybody can be a target for bullying, harassment, and intolerance. With this in mind, my future classroom will be focused on teaching that bullying, harassment, and intolerance are not appropriate ways to express oneself. In the spirit of the Henry Rollins quote I read in an earlier class, I will seek to show my students ways to embrace differences as much as they do similarities, and they will leave my class having been exposed to a variety of viewpoints. I will accomplish this by teaching material from a wide variety of cultures. Intolerance is almost always begat by a simple lack of exposure to a certain culture, and one of the best ways to become familiar with a certain culture is to read its literature. There are always stylistic differences, but even more fascinating are the ever-present similarities in writing from cultures around the world.

Chapter 5: The History of Schools in the United States

Free and universal education has been has been discussed in the United States for a long time, as evidenced by Jefferson's 1813 letter to John Adams. At first, education had a religious focus, and was built around the belief that children were born evil. Schools were used as a place to instill moral values in children, and that continues today, though the methods are now different, as well as the outcomes. The grade range of public education has expanded, from only earlier grades to today's system, which includes high school. The curriculum has shifted as well, according to the needs of the time, from industrialization to today's focus on computer technology.

Debates over school curriculum have raged through the ages. This is because people always have an idea of what they'd like their children to learn, but those ideas are always informed by different goals. For instance, religious people would like for their children to learn from a religious framework, while secular people object to that. These debates will always be similar, because the underlying goal is always the same. For the most part, people want their kids to learn in a way that's in line with what they themselves know and are comfortable with.

How do I start thinking like a teacher?

There's a clear distinction to be made between learning how to become a teacher and learning to think like a teacher. One I think I have a pretty good handle on; the other I think I'm making good progress on, but I'm not quite satisfied with. When I make an effort, I can see a particular lesson as a teacher might see it, but for the most part I'm still looking at school through the eyes of a student. Probably the most helpful thing in this area is the mentoring program at Mt. Blue Middle School. When I'm there, helping a student to understand a mathematical concept or introducing them to a reading comprehension strategy, I feel the most like a teacher.

Which theories and historical influences should most impact the schools we'd like to have?

I don't feel like I've learned much about this subject yet, but I think there's a lot to learn. I'm looking forward to hearing about just what the historical basis is for our current educational system.