Teaching Is Like....

             I think teaching is like being a chef. Every customer is different just as every child is different so you must be able to always cater your meals/lessons to the individual. For example you could compare a picky eater to a child who is a visual learner. The picky eater orders the deluxe burger with no toppings because they don't like those toppings. Chefs must figure out a way to make sure that the burgers are still delicious even without all the extra other stuff. Teachers must do this with students who learn certain ways. A teacher must be able to identify the children who need specific types of learning and make sure they give them this type of learning in a way that they are still getting the same information and lesson material as the non visual learners. Another way that teaching is like being a chef is that chefs are always trying to improve their recipes to make them better just as teachers are always trying to improve their lesson plans and curriculum for the better. At the end of the day the feeling of accomplishment is the same as well. Just as chefs feel accomplished when someone compliments their food or enjoys their food, teachers feel accomplished when they see a student succeed at something. When preparing a big meal chefs must plan to make sure that all the food is ready at the same time despite different foods taking longer or shorter to be ready they must give each food the attention it needs. Teachers must do this for their students. A teacher must know how to make sure that by the end of the school year all the students have learned what they need to in order to succeed in the next grade, despite the fact that some students pick things up less quickly than others. Those individuals that struggle must be given the attention to be ready at the end of the year. Teachers and chefs have alot in common!

             I've learned so much from this education class this year. There are so many things that will stick with me as i continue this journey onto becoming a teacher. The first thing I learned was about culturally responsive classrooms. I think it is so important to create this safe and culturally accepting environment in a classroom and through reading others blogs and pins I have learned a few really awesome ways to do these things. I also learned about the different types of learning beliefs and school systems such as montessori. I think through these assignments i've learned that i can incorporate some of the ideas I like from these schools into my own planning and curriculum. A third thing I learned that will stick with me is the Place - Based Education idea. I think that learning especially science learning should be hands on and relevant to the student. I think as much as I am able to in the future I will try to implement place based science lessons in my classroom. I've learned alot from my classmates and their blogs this semester. It was so interesting getting to see everybody's take on issues and subjects. I learned alot of really cool ideas from people sharing past experiences and I think that It helped me get a better understanding of who I am as a teacher. This class was great.

Gender Bias Is An Educational Social Injustice!

             Social justice is defined in the dictionary as "the distributions of advantages and disadvantages within a society." As a future teacher social justice in the classroom is something extremely important to me. Thinking back on my own school past I would say one major social injustice I witnessed was gender bias in the classroom. In the novel "Failing at Fairness: How Our Schools Cheat Girls" by Dr.Myra and Dr.David Sadker one quote sums up gender bias in our schools. "Sitting in the same classroom, reading the same textbook, listening to the same teacher, boys and girls receive very different educations." (Sadker, 1994). Unfortunately this is still true ten years later. In a world that is so progressive it bothers me that this is still happening in classrooms today. Teachers who allow these types of gender bias' a place in their classroom are only creating a generation who will accept and think of these biases as normal which is not what they should be. 
            So what exactly are some of the issues regarding gender bias that are seen in schools? Research has shown that girls tend to receive significantly less attention than boys in elementary school settings. Studies also show that boys are more likely to repeat grades or drop out. Girls are being taught that being quiet and submissive is the best in the classroom but the boys are being taught that completely different behaviors are allowed in the classroom. Teachers definitely need to make sure that they are not encouraging this type of social injustice in their classrooms. Treat each student as an individual not focusing on their gender at all. Equal education isn't just about disabled students vs. non disabled students it should refer to all forms of differences that exist. It's about being fair and teaching these students to be the best they can be, overcoming these gender stereotypes found in all parts of life.

http://family.go.com/parenting/pkg-teen/article-772188-dealing-with-gender-inequality-at-your-child-s-school-t/

My Experience With Environmental Education.

                After learning what a place-based or environmental based education was I discovered that I had experienced examples of this throughout my time as a student. I decided to write about this in a blog post because I figured some of the ideas my past teachers had about implementing this idea of place based education into a regular public school classroom could give ideas to other teachers looking to do the same. 
                Place based education is a type of education that "immerses students in local heritage, cultures, landscapes, opportunities and experiences, using these as a foundation for the study of language arts, mathematics, social studies, science and other subjects across the curriculum.(http://www.promiseofplace.org/what_is_pbe)" Though this idea is not common in public education there are ways to incorporate the ideas of this into a classroom. 
           I'll start with the first example in my experience. There are these things called "butterfly kits" that you can order off the internet. `Basically they send you a couple of caterpillars and a place to put the butterfly's ( a netted container ). You get to observe these butterflies through each step of the process of metamorphosis. Once they become butterflies you release them outdoors. We planted flowers in a small garden outside of our school and released the butterflies there when I did this in the third grade. I remember every time I saw a monarch butterfly I wondered if it was one of the ones i'd watched transform from caterpillar to butterfly. It really fostered an interest in learning about nature and butterflies and how they went from caterpillar to butterfly because I got to experience it first hand. 
         Another example of place based education programs that I participated in Nature's classroom a program that takes kids from city schools on a week long trip into the depth of the forest to experience nature and the earth. I attended Nature's classroom in the fifth grade, we packed up our things and headed off into Maine. The whole week was spent living and experiencing and learning about nature and our environment. I remember we did all sorts of activities such as taking water samples from a marsh and finding insects in the woods on long hikes. My group leader was a bird watcher and pointed out all sorts of birds that we saw. This program was a great program to get us students excited about nature and science. It was awesome.
         When I was in ninth grade I took a biology class at my high school. I remember we did an activity that I thought was really cool. There is a pond across the street from the school and one day my teacher told us to get our stuff because we were going outside to learn. I remember thinking "we're going outside for class, in highschool?" I was so confused. I was used to studying things under a microscope in that class but it was always stuff provided on slides for us, we never really had much background on where it came from. My teacher had us go to the pond and take samples of the water so we could look for forms of life that were found in the pond. We took the samples back to the classroom and observed them under a microscope and then used a book to identify what we were seeing. It was so cool to have the topic relevant to our school and our environment it created a really memorable experience.
           Overall you don't need to have a full place based education school to be able to let your students experience nature. There are ways to incorporate lessons into regular public school classrooms. This type of learning is extremely beneficial to students and will foster a love of learning and of nature in the student.

My Educational Philosophy

       Throughout this week i've learned alot about different educational philosophies and how they effect the classroom environment and the teaching styles of individuals. I was really intrigued by this and was curious as to what philosophical style my ideas and thoughts would fall under. After taking a survey I found that I matched up with the humanism philosophy. I decided to research this further and see what it was really all about to figure out what that meant as far as my teaching in the future.
       Humanism, i learned, is an educational perspective that really stresses the importance of the individual learner and their development of self esteem. Humanists believe that "There is a natural tendency for people to learn, which will flourish if nourishing, encouraging, environments are provided." It also believes in the importance of children setting high goals and working hard to reach them. Reading this I realized that the survey completely nailed it as far as determining my philosophy of education. I believe that education should be based on each individual student and that the students interests and feelings should help shape the educational experience they receive.
        As far as my future classroom I think this philosophy will be visible and present in it. I will make sure that each student has what they need to succeed and I will make sure that I adjust my teaching style and techniques to the way my class at that time needs in order to learn. I will encourage my students to explore and learn on their own and to learn that education and learning need to come from them working and discovering the world in a way that relates to them. I believe that this humanistic approach will be a big part of my personal teaching style and philosophy