Reflection 4

a.    A.      I believe the commonality of seeing stereotyping within the secondary classroom has to do with the educator. The variety of teachers within the field nowadays offers for a variety of views and educational opinions. I think in larger and more urbanized schools you see either teachers that really stereotype or you see teachers that completely do not. In smaller more rural schools, I think all teachers stereotype a little. The secondary field is quite a bit different than the elementary field in that students already stereotype themselves before they even step inside your classroom. This makes it hard for educators to not already have swayed opinions on how these students are going to act and respond to situations within the classroom. However, it is important for me, as a future educator, to have a neutral view and treat students equally to allow them to all receive the same equal treatment and opportunity.

b  B.  As an educator, I must keep a positive and proactive attitude when working to view future students equally. By keeping the correct mind set when meeting new students year to year I can guarantee to allow students to affect my opinions positively. I must allow students to show me who they are without judgment on my end. I have practiced this way of thinking this semester just by allowing students to show me who they are in the classroom and shop. Not being from where I am student teaching and coming in brand new made it easier for me to not stereotype students as I met them. 

Reflection #3

As a future educator, I believe in an inclusive classroom for all students. An educator cannot pick and choose which students they want to teach. However, meeting the needs of all the students that walk through your classroom door can be very taxing. Students have different learning styles, abilities, and needs. A teacher must work diligently to work to meet these needs and shape curriculum to fit different varieties. “For a teacher to prepare environments that facilitates interaction between children with and without disabilities, to teach methods of communication with each other, to model them and to get others to be noticed about handicapped child’s qualifications, first of all her/his attitudes and thoughts should be positive” (Aydin & Kuzu, 2013). Being positive provides a welcoming and inspiring environment for all types of learners. No matter what comes your way in the classroom, you must work to always find a way to improve upon previous practices to maintain an inclusive classroom. There is no reason I cannot work diligently to make accommodations for all my students.

I can work to have an inclusive classroom while student teaching this semester by working with my cooperating teacher to shape and form current curriculum to match specific needs within our courses. Along with shaping curriculum, I can work to consistently shape my assessments to include reviewable levels of content competency to allow me to review different needs levels. The results can help to focus efforts on specific areas certain students are struggling.  This will give me an idea on specific students I need to target to shape instruction accordingly.

Reference:

Aydin, A., & Kuzu, S. (2013). Teacher Candidates' Attitudes towards Inclusion Education and Comparison of Self-Compassion Levels. Online Submission.

Reflection Week

   The reflection week was very self gratifying, as the week ended in a job interview. The semester has been full of challenges and I don't expect it to get any easier. The most rewarding thing about the semester so far has been connecting with students while teaching and watching them understand the material. The job interview went very well and I look forward to the other opportunities headed my direction.

   As I continue to learn and grow as an educator, I hope to master classroom management. I hope to achieve a level of mastery within my content area. Also, I hope to have outstanding judging teams and project winners. Most of all, I hope to have many scholarship finalists and winners. I look forward to what the future holds and the challenges ahead. I'm going to continue to work hard and learn as much as I can this semester.