If Education 250 hasn’t taught me
anything else, it has taught me that nothing about the teaching profession is
easy. As I continue to battle my plethora of homework, I am constantly reminded
of how I only think this is hard. I am currently prone to complaining about how
I am doing all I can and still not getting decent sleep. Looking forward makes
me realize that I, quite frankly, need to get used to it. While this semester
is taxing and all of these projects are stressful, actually being in the field
is so much harder.
Teachers are not just teachers.
They wear many hats that require them to be, among other things, disciplinaries
and caretakers. This has been a large part of my class’s conversations this
week as we have discussed effective lesson planning, classroom climate and
diversity. Once one becomes a teacher, he or she is no longer solely focused on
planning the information that must be covered the next day. They must now
consider the different needs and learning styles of each student and shape the
lesson to best compliment everyone. Teachers must be sensitive to the social
situations that occur inside and outside of their classroom so that they can
provide a classroom environment that promotes comfortability, acceptance and
growth.
Recognizing students’ needs and
finding ways to meet them are mandated directly by NCTCS Standards 2 and 4. Not
only are these things we should want to do but they are guidelines that we, as
educators, are required to meet. As I look forward to my desired special
education classroom, these two components will be crucial to my building of a
cohesive classroom environment. I will have to be prepared for all kinds of
diversity. This fact is nothing new to me. From my experiences with
volunteering in these classrooms in the past, I have seen not only the varying
mental/emotional capabilities but have found many differences in home life,
social status, attitude and background as well. This classroom, more so than my
standard math classrooms, will be an extremely difficult challenge in balancing
diversity and understanding. As I realize how prepared I will need to be, I am
refreshed by the fact that Education 250 is helping me grow so that I will be
ready!
Sydney,
ReplyDeleteGreat perspective about one of the key differences between teacher prep and teaching. In teaching, everything funnels to you...in teacher prep (sometimes) we only focus on helping you deliver instruction. We want to be intentional in EDUC 250 to not let you get tunnel vision. - This is why some of the class discussions are very real.
JP
I couldn't agree more with your first paragraph! Education is definitely very challenging and anything but easy! As athletes we have all of our classes, projects and homework for those classes plus around 3 hours a day for our sport. This semester has been a lot of "what is sleep?" but like you said when we are actually teachers we will not be getting much sleep either so its better to get used to it now. I also liked the sentence "teachers are not just teachers" because that is so true! As we have been leaning this past week, teachers have a lot more responsibilities that anyone can imagine!
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