Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Reflections: Connecting theory to Practice
Hello EDPE 4005. This space has been created so that you can share your reflections during the Seminar and Curriculum of Learning at the Secondary Level course, University of Puerto Rico - Aguadilla. The reflections are due on August 29, September 26, October 24, November 21 and the final reflection is due December 5. Feel free to comment back to all or any of the reflections as they are posted. Happy Blogging!:)
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21 comments:
Refection #1 on "The Method of Curriere"
I totally agree with "The Method of Curriere", but it was not until I read it that I became aware of the relationship between the past, the present and the future, and their influence in our lives. There's no doubt that most of us make our decisions and live our present life based on the past and the future. We constantly evaluate our past experiences in order to improve and not make the same mistakes, likewise we consider our future goals in order to achieve them. If we set goals that we truly envision in our minds, we are very likely to fulfill them. Therefore, it is inevitable to try to forget the past or not to think in what has not yet happened (the future) if we really want to be successful.
As teachers we can apply this to our career experience. We should estabish goals that make us better teachers and allow us to improve our teaching strategies and techniques. This is very important because we have to be open-minded and accept that what may have been once our favorite teaching strategies or techniques will not always work and we will have to change and develop along with them. We have to evolve as teachers in order to cope with an ever-changing society, and we can only do this by taking a look at our past and change the things that were wrong in order to plan a successful future.
Thinking about what I wanted to reflect on I thought that this class up to now has helped me understand even more why I love teaching. I know being an educator is "difficult". Trying to mix approaches, being EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY the students need me to be, making decissions about what is best for them, being in tune with DEPR rules and standards, etc. is not an easy task but I find myself saying to every person I know "I am in love with what I do".
Remembering my past, which "The Method of Currere" made me think about, I have always wanted to be an educator, I cannot disconect from my past because everthing that has happened to me forms of part of the ME I want to be with my students. The past struggles will help me to advice them, my victories will help me motivate them, my sucess will be the fruit of my hard work which they will learn from and my lessons learned will teach them how to grow. My present is to be what I know I am; an educator, one who strives for excellence. My future will be to sow what I've helped to cultivated in my childrens' (students') minds but especially in their hearts.
I can't wait to be living my dream and impacting lives with all that I've learned and grown.
When I first started reading this chapter, I must admit that I was a bit confused at first. But, as I continued to read, Curriere’s method became clearer and clearer to me. In this chapter, the author stresses the importance of reflection and its power to shape who we as teachers. Since I was little, I always used to pay special attention to the things that I liked and did not like from my teachers. I never really wanted to become a teacher when I was young, but I always reflected just in case. Now, as a pre-service teacher, I am grateful for the fact that I could clearly remember my past classroom experiences. The author made me think in a new way in the sense that I never knew that reflecting about the present or about the future was also important. He is right. We are a product of what we were, what we are, and what we hope to become. I think that this author really opened my eyes to a new way of thinking. This Christmas vacation and throughout this semester, before doing my Practice Teaching, I vow to reflect on all of my life so that I could be the best teacher that I could be when I walk into my first classroom in January.
From the readings assigned up to now, the one I have enjoyed most is "The Method of Curriere". It helped me auto exam myself to get to an understanding of who I am and who I can become as a future teacher. Like the reading mentions, most of the time we are in our conceptual present, where we are unconsciously thinking about our past experiences. These past experiences are what contribute to our present. Past experiences help us be more mature in the present. Also, these experiences help us construct our future because we will be aware of our mistakes and try to make better decisions.
I applied the method and I reflected on my past school experiences as a student. That helped me understand how I got where I am today. Today, I am a more mature person due to the past experiences that helped me become the person I am today. I explored my conceptual present in order to understand my concrete present. We cannot change the past, but we can sure take the past to improve our future. I believe we can make of our future anything we want because it doesn’t exist yet. There is nothing impossible in our future, but it depends on ourselves to become who we want to in the future. The future, like the past, also helps us construct our present because we set different goals which we work on in our present so that some day, what we turn that future into our present. It sounds kind of confusing, but when we analyze all of this together, we can see ourselves as teachers. In my case, I can think of when I was a student: how I felt, what worried me at that age, making decisions, how teachers didn’t seem to care enough, etc. Those thoughts and many others will help me understand my students, try to connect with them no only educationally but touching lives and helping them construct their future. I will remember how hard it was for me and I will try to help them enjoy their learning process and get the best from it. That is why I liked the method of currier, because it helped me reflect on my past to think about who I want to be as a teacher.
Reflection #1
Reflecting on the reading “Effective Teaching” (chapter 3), something that got my attention and made me think was the part of the article that talks about continuing to grow as a teacher. To grow as a teacher, states the article, avoids burnout and continues improvement.
An English teacher spoke to me yesterday about another English teacher, and she said that the other teacher had a problem because she was not interested in growing as a teacher and wanted to teach now, the same way she taught years ago when she first started. I admire the teacher I was talking to a lot, and the conversation combined with the article put me on reflective mood, very convenient since I have to post a reflection here. So, as I do every time I reflect on my future career, I asked myself what kind of teacher I wanted to be. I want to be a teacher who keeps on growing, not only for the benefit of my students but for my own benefit too. I want my students to relate to my class, be interested, understand it, learn from it, and every other positive thing available, I want for my students. I also want to keep on learning, have the freedom to ask and learn from my colleagues, learn new approaches and never stop reflecting on my classes.
And I believe I had a teacher moment, relating to this newfound knowledge about growing as a teacher. There is this short novel I love titled ‘The Outsiders’, which I read a few years ago when I was in high school. Now I am reading it again for a project for the Young Adult Literature class, and I have noticed that the language used is dated and maybe students will not understand some things they are saying and/or reject it since the young characters in the novel do not speak their slang. I realized, although I love it, they might not, and I do not think I will give it to my students when I become a teacher. Not because I like the novel, it will be good for my future students. I believe that is an example of how teachers need to be aware of the time changes to give the best lesson possible at a specific time, understanding that that great lesson might not be so great a few years forward.
Nataly Rodriguez
EDPE 4005 L11
Reflection #1
After having read the “Method of Curriere” it made me think a lot about the word experience. How is it that our past experiences can help us become a better human being in the future? Everyone has had experiences either bad or good from which most of the learning is gained from difficult situations encountered or mistakes committed.
An experience is a great tool that helps us grow and clarify what our boundaries are. When we commit a mistake, which is really not consider one because learning is taking place, it means we go out into the world and try new things without knowing the outcome. Every once in a while we must set aside time to look at what we have accomplished in our life. Moreover, we must become aware of how far we have come in life and feel proud of it. When we look back at our experiences, we are making a difference in our future. We are adding knowledge which will help us make better judgment and decide where we want to go. In addition, our past experience not only helps us personally, but helps us aid others. Likewise, these people must go through their own experiences to learn from their errors. In other words they must create their own past to learn from it. The biggest mistake a person can commit is not learning from their past experience.
I have a question for you: What mistakes have you committed in the past that turned out to be a great learning experience?
Lesliebeth Acevedo
Reflection #1
As days go by our class calendar is starting to get full of materials to cover. So far we’ve talked a little on the Balanced Literacy Approach, Currere, and Content Standards.
In this blog entry I want to talk a little about the Balanced Literacy Approach. This is basically a balance that teachers say they are using combining the Whole Language and the Phonics Approach. Yesterday I learned that our English department is integrating the Whole Language Approach to the curriculum this semester. I think this approach is better than the phonics because it’s not based on rules, rules, rules but more of making reading be learned in a natural way. I think that it is necessary to teach rules every now and then but not always from day one till the end of each semester because students get frustrated and bored. When teacher’s emphasis only on rules reading will not be appreciated and they’ll just dislike it. But going back into the approach on balanced literacy I think that teachers shouldn’t just focus their teaching on one or two approaches that have demonstrated on test scores that aren’t working well on students. I think teachers should always be informed about latest researches that are working on students so from here they can construct strategies and lessons to use in the classroom.
Reflection #1
My reflection is based on the article, "A Culture of Fear". I particularly enjoyed this reading because everyone is consumed by fear and this may distance us from our objective. I remember being consumed by fear when I first found out about my teaching hours. I set my fears aside and reflected on the present. Having done that helped me focus on my objective which is teaching. I tend to forget that students themselves are fearful in failing, just like I am.
In found the Student from Hell section to be very sad because throughout the years I have seen teachers put aside students because of their behavior and assumptions of that student. It is sometimes easier for teachers to alienate or label a students because they are fearful when working with them. I believe every student has a story ans as a future teacher I am there to guide them through life. Reading this article helped me get a better sense of what teaching is like and how I want to teach in the future. My goal is to just inspire and be positive in the future to come.
Connecting theory to practice is what calls my attention more than anything. Since my first year I’ve been given a lot of theories and speculation on how to teach and slowly there has been a build up of things I want to apply and things I don’t. The fact that the class has already started with a very insightful reading on what the mind has to be constantly aware, that we are the past, present and future, makes me be more confident as to when I get to be in front of a classroom full of students that depend on me. Another thing the text book assigned to class is like a key to actually specify what I want to observe, change or learn. Seminar I am confident will give me peace of mind over some blank spots that are still in my knowledge when it comes to teaching.
Reflection #1
As this semester started, I had already begun to reflect upon my future as a teacher. I was remembering the awesome experience in my methodology class. This was when I actually went to a school to give an English class. My heart was racing a million miles an hour. Yet even after all the planning and having to get used to certain situations, I was absolutely fascinated with it. I could only dream of doing this for the rest of my life. I fell in love with these kids. I would always be talking about them in my house, to my boyfriend, and, basically, to anyone who would listen. It was at that point that everyone, including myself, understood that teaching is my passion; it is what I was made to do.
When I read Pinar’s “Method of Currere” it all made sense. I am who I am as an educator as a consequence of my past and as a result of what I aspire to achieve. Every teacher that gave class to me was a life lesson. They showed me what to do or what not to do as a teacher without ever directly saying it to me. These, both positive and negative, experiences also take part in my decisions and actions today. I know of people who are stunned by negative experiences from the past. Idealistically speaking, the best to do is learn from those negative situations and grow. But you know what? That takes a lot of courage. Having the will and the courage to overcome life’s obstacles makes me complete and successful as a student, a daughter, a sister, a girlfriend, a teacher, and basically as a human being. I like to use the expression: “my attitude will determine my altitude”. It is the reality of life. Optimism will takes me to a higher level each day that goes by. That is why the goals I have, and the things I want to achieve in life are entwined with the present. Bottom line is that I will be the person who I see myself becoming with the wisdom gained from the experiences of my past.
Hello everyone!!! I'm going to reflect on what I had learned during the class... I think that this class helps us think and analyze why we want to become teachers, and if we really are willing to accept all the challenges it involves.
The Method of Currier is something that if you analyze it is totally true... We are our past; things that we did are going to affect use for the rest of our life. As the same as our present... what we do today is going to affect our future and the chain between past, present and future will be never broken. We have to know that decisions are always there and if we not take into consideration our past decisions we will have a tendency of failing in life; we are humans and we all have the right of fail but also we need the power of learning from our experiences and tend to be successful.
Reflection #1: "Method of Currere"
First of all I would say that this method is very interesting. This method makes you think about what you have done in the past that can affect of benefit what you have now in the present. I never thought of the relation that the past, present and future have in our lives until I read about this method.
As teachers we should use this method in our classes because it will help us a lot in heading our carrer and our students to the right direction. A very good thing that I do often is to think about the past. What have I done right? What have I done wrong? In what aspects of my life would affect or benefit my actions in the past? and I ask these questions because these thoughts can make me a better person. Any bad desicions that I had made in the past would make me think better in order to not make the same error again. We learn about the obstacles we have in our lives and these obstacles help us to be stronger and better persons.
Another good point found in this method is to think about the future. Everybody should have a goal in their lives that can guide this person to a good path. Thinking about what I want and who I want to be in the future, makes me construct these goals that I should follow in order to be a better person and of course be a better teacher.
Melissa Torres
EDPE 4005 L11
August 29, 2008
Reflection on: A Culture of Fear
This reading gave me great insight into some teachers mind; it was really worthwhile, interesting, constructive and meaningful. It talked a lot about fear and how it can rend you powerless, and how it can diminish your potential. It is true that most people are afraid, and this happens most of the time, we sometimes are afraid that we might fail, or that we are inadequate. The important part is to not let fear dominate our lives, for we are strong. I truly believe this, because people have so much potential, that is sad that not all of them can see this, and that they don’t let themselves shine, like they were meant to. It scares people to be great, because if they fail is that much harder, so its better to not even try, but we were born to be great and powerful its our destiny. In the reading it mentioned the so called students from hell, these are the ones that sit in class quietly and that are slackers. These students are the ones that are the most full of fear, and they feel safe not talking and not contributing in the class. A good teacher is one who can listen to their voices even before they speak. Maybe these students have encountered a teacher that is there just to receive a paycheck, and that hides behind their positions, letting time slip by and trying not to care or to attach themselves too much. It is safe to say that some teachers are also full of fear, maybe fear of having their work go unappreciated, being inadequate or just caring too much, while others don’t. To face your fears it is important to understand the core message of the words “BE NOT AFRAID”, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have fears or that we should get rid of them, what it means is that we should not become our fears, for we are better than that. To finish my reflection I would like to leave you with a quote from Marianne Williamson, which says “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” I believe that this quote expresses everything that Parker was trying to convey in the article and that with the power that was bestowed upon us by God; we can achieve everything that we set our minds to, and it is as just as simple as believing that we can.
Being a teacher means to have deep vacation and great love for children. A second language teacher should have many other characteristics, but the most important is the respect for language; language should be pure in its whole expression. It is important for students to learn effective techniques to become literate. The educator should select carefully the methods that work better for each group, considering their special needs. Pupils should be motivated and exposed as much of comprehensible input as possible to acquire a second language. The ambient in which the instruction will take place should propitiate learning. Total physical response should be a theory to apply throughout the development of the class; audiovisuals are also essential to help children create concrete ideas and learn new vocabulary. When we acquire a first a language we do it naturally by the exposition to it and the constant social interaction, the same why for learning a second language. The teacher should be aware of what students learn and how they learn. The goal should be to help students become independent in the language and get prepared to be in the real world.
Sherley Ríos
I learn to become a good teacher which I’m not yet but hope to be a successful one and is to learn to be yourself so your student will have the confidence to be themselves and be able to learn without been scared to be judge by their peers or teachers. Students need to be feedback every time as same as us teachers. As professional teacher that we should be we need to take the student beyond their knowledge. I personally get really nervous in front of a crowd but me as myself realize that in the same classroom everyone is nervous and want to do their best as me. We should have in mind that we are all equal and we have a lot to learn from each and one of us. We all came to learn and to teach when we are in that classroom. Knowledge is the key of freedom, expression and self-respect.
Yahaira Cordero
The Balanced Literacy Approach is a teaching method I have never heard before it is interesting because it combines both the Whole Language Approach and Phonics. Neither of these approaches share the same strategies for teaching. The balanced literacy approach is great for teaching students reading skills since the whole language deals with reading comprehension and appreciation and the phonics deal with reading precision. One approach completes the other to fulfill a reading strategy great to teach our students reading skills from every angle possible. I believe this approach is beneficial for our students since the majority of them do not like to read or do not have the correct style of learning for them to have the will to learn. On the other hand, the whole language approach is not explicit; teaching with just examples and the phonics are explicit and make the students come up with the rules them selves. Providing students with examples for me is like giving them the answers that means they almost do not have to think. But having students decipher the rules they need to know and apply, helps them have a more active brain and boost their knowledge to a higher level of thinking which is what every teacher should look for inside their classroom.
We have to exercise our student’s brains so they acquire more knowledge and advance to their subsequent grade levels with the knowledge they are supposed to have and more. They also need the will and courage to keep on studying, so they can become our society’s future professionals.
Reflection on my past.I was nervous when I had to write my educational philosophy because I had never been asked to do and I was “blank” as a white paper about the subject. I knew what I wanted to teach but never asked myself truthfully and to do that I needed first to ask myself, how I do see my students? I see them as a blank page. Why? Because most of the time the students lack structure in the language. I see them as little children who need guidance and structure to learn the language. Some of them know how to read or write, but not to speak, because they are afraid of failure. Others understand a short reading but go cold when it’s time to write or speak. Because of their situation I started remembering how I learned a third and a fourth language (French and Italian), meaning that English must be taught as a foreign language; it doesn’t mean is a grammar translation technique which is not the technique they use. My professors never spoke in Spanish always in French and if you did not understand something you should ask it in French. They use memorization of dialogues, reading and writing started from the first day, and the professors help the students in any way to motivates them to work with the language. They create activities that involve real communication; one of them was to describe one of my peers. Looking into the approaches now I see they were using a combination of Audio-lingual and Communicative Approaches. So I started writing my educational philosophy thinking about in my past experiences and using it for the future. Teach English using my French professor’s techniques.
I strongly believe that the "Method of Curriere" really makes you second guess what you think you know about yourself. This is why I believe that is important to do the method specially the regressive step.Your past inevitably affects everything since the moment it becomes past. Your Past is critical on your present because every decision you make is based on experiences from your past. To have it all come together and analyzed its a positive step both professionally as well as personally.
Personally, this article made me reflect on when I was a student. I made me realize i made a lot of mistakes, yet I do not regret any of them because it made me who I am today. It also made me view my actions from another perspective, the one of the teacher.
I have just finished reading all the posts. I was moved in seeing that you have began the reflection part where you are connecting some of the theories your have studied to a vision of your future practice. Good! That is the goal of this blog. We will take a look at some of these in class. Looking forward to your next reflections.
Prof. Lopez
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